Distinctive cultural norms prevail in Yorubaland and among the Yoruba people.Kola Abimbola, Yoruba Culture: A Philosophical Account, Iroko Academic Publishers, 2005.
Religion (Ẹ̀sìn)
The Yoruba are said to be religious people, but they are also pragmatic and tolerant about their religious differences. Whilst many profess the Yoruba school of thought; many more profess other faiths e.g. Christianity (Ẹsìn Ìgbàgbọ́), Islam (Ẹsìn Ìmàle) etc.Baba Ifa Karade, The Handbook of Yoruba Religious Concepts, Weiser Books, 1994. Ifá is a religious practice that originated from the Yoruba people of Nigeria and Benin. It is believed to be a divination system made up of large sets of sacred verses and stories called Odus. Priests known as babalawos interpret the messages using the sacred divination system that creates a specific pattern when thrown.
Law Yoruba law is the legal system of Yorubaland. It is quite intricate, each group and subgroup having a system that varies, but in general, government begins within the immediate family. The next level is the clan, or extended family, with its own head known as a Baálé. This chief will be subject to town chiefs, and these chiefs are usually themselves subject to their Oba, who may or may not be subject to another Oba himself.
Most of what survived of this legal code has been assimilated into the customary laws of the sovereign nations that the Yoruba inhabit.
Language (Èdè)
Yoruba people traditionally speak the Yorùbá language, a member of the Niger–Congo language family. Apart from referring to the aggregate of dialects and their speakers, the term Yoruba is also used for the standard, written form of the language.Yorùbá Online Yorùbá People And Culture: Yorùbá Language
Literature
Yoruba written literature begins with the formation of its grammar published in 1843. The standard language incorporates several features from other dialects.Fagborun, J. Gbenga, Yorùbá verbs and their usage: An introductory handbook for learners, Virgocap Press, Bradford, West Yorkshire, 1994.
Philosophy
Yoruba culture consists of the folk/cultural philosophy, the autochthonous religion and folktales. They are embodied in a large literary corpus, known as the Odu Ifá in Yorubaland and in its diaspora. Other components of the Odu Ifá are psychology, sociology, mathematics, cosmogony, cosmology, and other areas of human interests.
Yoruba cultural thought is believed to be a witness of two epochs. The first epoch is a period according to oral culture during which the legendary divine philosopher Ọrunmila was the head and a pre-eminent diviner. He supposedly pondered the visible and invisible worlds, reminiscing about cosmogony, cosmology, and the mythological creatures in the visible and invisible worlds. This philosopher, Ọrunmila, epitomizes wisdom and idealism. He has been said to be more of a psychologist than a philosopher. He is the cultivator of ambitions and desires, and the interpreter of ori (head) and its destiny. The non-literate world, compelled by the need to survive, impelled by the need to unravel the mysteries of the days and nights, is believed to have made Ọrunmila to cultivate the idea of divination.
The second epoch is the epoch of metaphysical discourse. This commenced in the 19th century when the land became a literate land through the diligence and pragmatism of Ajayi Crowther, the first African Anglican Bishop. He is regarded as the cultivator of modern Yoruba idealism.
The uniqueness of Yoruba thought is that it is mainly narrative in form, explicating and pointing to the knowledge of the causes and nature of things affecting the corporeal and the spiritual universe and its wellness. The Yoruba people have hundreds of aphorisms, folktales, and songs, and they believe that any lore that widens people's horizons and presents food for thought is the beginning of a philosophy.
As it was in the ancient times, Yoruba people always attach philosophical and religious connotations to whatever they produced or created. Hence some of them are referred to as artist-philosophers. This is an accretion to the fact that one can find a sculptor, a weaver, a carver or a potter in many households in Yorubaland.
Despite the fact that the Yoruba cannot detail all the long pedigrees of historical and legendary figures such as Oduduwa, Ọbatala, Ọrunmila, Ṣango, Ogun, Ọṣun, Ọya, Ọba, Ọranmiyan etc., (many of which were deified), they have all impacted the Yoruba people and contributed to the wellness and well-being of the Yoruba society through lessons and other media gotten from their lives. It is believed that without their various contributions, Yorubaland could have been lost in a hay of confusion.
Although religion is often first in Yoruba culture, nonetheless, it is the thought of man that actually leads spiritual consciousness (ori) to the creation and the practice of religion. Thus thought/philosophy is antecedent to religion.
Today, the academic and the nonacademic communities are becoming more interested in Yoruba culture, as well as in its literary corpus. Thus more and more research is being carried out on Yoruba cultural thought, as more books are being written on it — embossing its mark and advancing its research amongst non-African thinkers such as the political philosophers and political scientists who are beginning to open their doors to other cultures, widening their views.
Yoruba idealism Idealism in Yoruba-land and for the Yoruba people is equated with the ideal purpose of life, the search for the meaning of life and the yearning for the best in life. Orunmila, the cultivator of Ifa-Ife divination, is the father of ancient Yoruba idealism. His (divine) idealism has inspired the entire Yoruba people in Africa and in the diaspora, especially those who were stolen (to the Americas and the West Indies) during the inhuman slave trade.
Based on the definition of the Yoruba idealism, which is the search for the meaning of life and the yearning for the best in life, Yoruba idealism is a kind of Enlightenment Movement in its own right, as every scion in the land endeavors to reach the height or the acme of his idealistic ambition.
Orunmila's idealism ushered in a more modern idealism that inspired the pragmatic Dr. Ajayi Crowther in the 19th century, and Chief Obafemi Awolowo in the 20th century, who succeeded in creating a moral atmosphere for the Yoruba land to thrive, impacting a moral majority to which idealism belongs and from which realism emerges. His leadership philosophy helped him with big ideas. He built the first Radio and TV Houses in Africa. He cultivated the big ideas that led to the building of the first modern stadium in Africa and the first Cocoa House in the world. Generally speaking, Yoruba people are idealists by nature.
Art
Sculpture
The Yoruba are said to be prolific sculptors, famous for their terra cotta works throughout the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries; artists have also made artwork out of bronze.
Esiẹ Museum is a museum in Esiẹ; a neighbouring town to Oro in Irepodun, Kwara. The museum was the first to be established in Nigeria when it opened in 1945. It once housed over a thousand tombstone figures or images representing human beings. It is reputed to have the largest collection of soapstone images in the world. In modern times, the Esie museum has been the center of religious activities and host a festival in the month of April every year.
Textile Weaving is done on different types of looms in order to create hundreds of different patterns. Adire and Aso Oke are some of the popular textiles in Yoruba land. Adire(tie and dye) is the name given to indigo dyed cloth produced by Yoruba women of south western Nigeria using a variety of resist dye techniques. Adire translates as tie and dye, and the earliest cloths were probably simple tied designs on locally-woven hand-spun cotton cloth much like those still produced in Mali.
Cuisine
Some common foods native to the Yoruba include moin-moin (steamed bean pudding) and akara (bean cake). Native Yoruba soups include ewedu (jute), gbegiri (which is made from beans), and efo riro (a type of vegetable soup). Such soups as okra soup (locally known as obé ila) and egusi (melon soup) have become very popular in Western Nigeria in recent times and, in addition to Amala (yam flour), a traditional Yoruba meal made of yam flour, these can be eaten with ewedu and gbegiri. Numerous Nigerian meals, including pounded yam (locally referred to as iyan); lafun, a Nigeria fufu made from cassava; semolina; and garri (eba).
Some dishes are prepared specially for festivities and ceremonies. Jollof rice, fried rice and Ofada rice are very common in Nigeria (especially in the southwest region, which includes Lagos). Other popular dishes include Asaro, Efokore, Ekuru and Aro, stews, corn, cassava, and flours (such as maize, yam and plantain flours), eggs, chicken, and assorted meat and fish). Some less well known meals and many miscellaneous staples are arrowroot gruel, sweetmeats, fritters and coconut concoctions; and some breads such as yeast bread, rock buns, and palm wine bread. Yoruba cuisine is quite vast and often includes plantains which can be boiled, fried and roasted.
Music
Music and dance have always been an important part of the Yoruba culture; they are used in many different forms of entertainment. Musical instruments include bata, saworo, sekere, gangan etc. Musical varieties include Juju, Fuji and Afrobeat, with artists including King Sunny Ade, Ebenezer Obey, and KWAM 1.Ruth M. Stone (ed.), The Garland encyclopedia of world music, Routledge, 1997.
Naming customs The Yoruba people believe that people live out the meanings of their names. As such, Yoruba people put considerable effort into naming a baby. Their philosophy of naming is conveyed in a common adage, ilé ni a n wo, ki a to so omo l'oruko ("one pays attention to the family before naming a child"): one must consider the tradition and history of a child's relatives when choosing a name.
Some families have long-standing traditions for naming their children. Such customs are often derived from their profession or religion. For example, a family of hunters could name their baby Ogunbunmi (Ogun favors me with this) to show their respect to the divinity who gives them metal tools for hunting. Meanwhile, a family that venerates Ifá may name their child Falola (Ifa has honor).
Naming Since it is generally believed that names are like spirits which would like to live out their meanings, parents do a thorough search before giving names to their babies. Naming ceremonies are performed with the same meticulous care, generally by the oldest family member. Symbolic of the hopes, expectations and prayers of the parents for the new baby, honey, kola, bitter kola, atare (alligator pepper), water, palm oil, sugar, sugar cane, salt, and liquor each have a place and a special meaning in the world-view of the Yoruba. For instance, honey represents sweetness, and the prayer of the parents is that their baby's life will be as sweet as honey.
After the ritual, the child is named and members of the extended family have the honour of also giving a name to the child. The gift of a name comes with gifts of money and clothing. In many cases, the relative will subsequently call the child by the name they give to him or her, so a new baby may thereafter have more than a dozen names.
Preordained name Amutorunwa (brought from heaven) Oruko - name