Yoruba Essays (Examples)

Yoruba's Influence on Modern-Day Cultures

The Yoruba people were involved in the slave trade most often as captive slaves taken aboard ships bound toward North America (Smith, 1988). Author Ellis (2008) expands on this history of Yoruba involvement in the slave trade as he helps tell his account of the trade itself during the middle of the nineteenth century. The Yoruba played a key role in the trade triangle which occurred between Africa, the Caribbean, and what was to become the United States. Traders would secure slaves in Africa and trade them for sugar in the Caribbean states. This sugar was then bound for the New orld (United States) and then was traded for rum. The rum was shipped back to Africa, completing the trade triangle (Ellis, 2008). It is interesting to note that many of the Yoruba who were sold into slavery are the ancestors of modern-day Caribbean citizens as well as African-Americans. The…… [Read More]

Obatala and Yoruba Myths

Creation Myths

The Arapaho story of creation is definitely a myth that would fall under the category of the earth diver myth. In the myth, the man is focused on protecting the "Flat Pipe." He wants to find land for the Pipe to rest on. In order to achieve his goal of creating the Earth, he tries a variety of different approaches. He first calls on the "four" directions and then the forth seven cottonwood trees with no luck. Later he called the forth creatures of the air and of the sea and has seven total creatures dive for the sod at the bottom of the ocean before the Turtle finally accomplishes the quest.

In the Yoruba creation myth in the beginning there was also only water before there was land. This story is far more complex than the Arapaho creation story, however it begins with essentially the same premise.…… [Read More]

Denver Museum Culture and Visual Identity The

Denver Museum

Culture and Visual Identity:

The art piece chosen is "Soliloquy: Life's Fragile Fictions" painted by Moyo Ogundipe in 1997. Ogundipe is from Nigeria and belongs to the Yoruba culture. Many of the elements within the painting express the ideas and customs of the Yoruba people. The Yoruba people founded their particular part of Nigeria in approximately the 12th century AD. Art was a very important part of the culture; they were especially known for their statues featuring images of human beings. Yoruba religious practices and natural elements were also common characteristics of artwork from the region. The Yoruba were primarily an agricultural people who were harvesters rather than hunters (Mullen). Everything that possessed a life force was considered of equal importance to the Yoruba. They would take the same amount of effort in naming their children as their pets, putting both through a special ceremony.

According to researchers,…… [Read More]

Santeria Origin of and Introduction

The power of the Orisha guides the santero. Alex told me that the attitude of the priests is very humble, because they don't believe that they are doing anything. All their actions are guided by the Orisha and all the credit belongs with the Orisha too.

I asked Alex to expand on two aspects of Santeria that I was particularly interested in because of their uniqueness. First, I asked about spirit possession. Alex told me that spirit possession is a very important concept because it helps the individual communicate directly with the Orishas. An object as well as a person can become imbued with the spirit of an Orisha. When a person becomes possessed by the Orisha, he or she temporarily acts and even looks like that spirit.

Second, I asked about sacrifices. Alex admitted that animal sacrifices do take place but much less often than they used to because…… [Read More]

African Masquerade Significant Thoughts

African Masks

Masquerades are found in virtually all African civilizations, particularly those that are indigenous to this region of the world. Not surprisingly, these masquerades have different forms of significance for different cultures. Nonetheless, there are some basic cultural similarities pertaining to these rituals that transcend individual cultures and pertain to African deployment of this concept as a whole. Firstly, the definition of the very term masquerade can include "a masking performance, a masked performer, or the character embodied by the mask itself" (Uzo, 1997). Moreover, there is an element of spirituality that is strongly associated with this tenet of the masquerade. It is very rare for participants to be unmasked once they have donned a masque and are partaking in a particular ritual or dance. The actual masques themselves are typically emblematic of animals or people, and have a transcendent spirituality. As such, the very participants who don masques…… [Read More]

Traditional Se Asian Bamboo Flutes

Some Chinese researchers assert that Chinese flutes may have evolved from of Indian provenance.

In fact, the kind of side-blon, or transverse, flutes musicians play in Southeast Asia have also been discovered in Africa, India, Saudi Arabia, and Central Asia, as ell as throughout the Europe of the Roman Empire. This suggests that rather than originating in China or even in India, the transverse flute might have been adopted through the trade route of the Silk Road to Asia. In addition to these transverse flutes, Southeast Asians possessed the kind of long vertical flutes; similar to those found in Central Asia and Middle East.

A considerable amount of similarities exist beteen the vertical flutes of Southeast Asia and flutes from Muslim countries. This type of flute possibly came from Persians during the ninth century; during the religious migration to SEA. Likeise, the nose-blon flute culture, common to a number of…… [Read More]

Global Cultural Analysis Nigeria

Global Business Cultural Analysis

Nigeria

Nigerian History

Synopsis of Nigerian government

Nigerian monarchy to presidential system

The evolution of Nigeria from British control to a civilian democratic government

Nigerian major commodities

Oil

Food

The major elements and dimensions of culture in Nigeria

Cultural dimensions

Individualism

Power distance

Masculinity

Uncertainty

Model of culture

Universalism or Particularize

How is the integration of elements and dimensions that Nigerians doing business in the country?

The effects of governments on the prospects for its business around the world

How the elements and dimensions compared with the United States, culture, and business?

The role of women in the workplace

Business visitors must be dressed in an elegant and tie (for men!)

Cross-cultural business transactions between the United States and Nigeria

Conclusion

eferences

Abstract

Thurstan Shaw and Steve Daniels, who are the founder for archaeological research proved in their research that Nigeria has been developed since 9,000…… [Read More]

Religion Comparing and Contrasting Vodou

10).

oth religions are not technically held to be systems of belief by their adherents, but rather as systems of service or patronage to higher powers. The idea was present in African feudalism, but seems to be enhanced and highlighted in Creole religions by the slave experience. Seeking for a path away from the rule of cruel Europeans, African slaves turned to the rule of benevolent and helpful Orishas and Loas. Practitioners serve the demi-gods, and the demi-gods in turn serve the practitioners. The relationship between god and man is mainly business, although love and respect are also required. However, no true worship -- as a westerner would understand it -- is required; instead the Orishas and Loas are propitiated by sacrifices, and communicate their assistance mainly by oracles. In both Vodou and Santeria each Orisha or Loa is associated with a certain constellation of symbols, fetishes, sacrifices, and drum-rhythms…… [Read More]

Ancient Text With Modern Text

Ancient Text ith Modern Text

Because written literature is capable of being transmitted from the person who wrote it across generations, it acquires the status of communal wisdom simply by being recorded. Yet there are limitations to the applicability of such stories, and to a certain degree wisdom consists in knowing that there are limitations to the theoretical knowledge one can acquire in this way, or human error can misinterpret the text. I would like to look at the way in which three texts -- one ancient (by Rumi) and two modern (by Siije and Soyinka) -- offer wisdom at the same time that they suggest limits to our own knowledge, and limits to the applicability of any such wisdom.

The poems of Rumi, by virtue of their age, seem almost to define the way by which wisdom can be transmitted in literature, but also can acknowledge its own limits.…… [Read More]

Syncretism in Art and Public Art in Tucson

Introduction
Designed by Rebecca Thompson and completed in 2007, the La Puerta is located in Curtis Park (2110 West Curtis Road). It is part of the public art collection of Pima County, Arizona. The La Puerta was funded by the Department of Natural Resources Parks and Recreation of Pima County to a commission amounting to $19,548. The piece of art is made up of rammed earth, bronze and measures 14? height x 8? width x 3.5? depth (Thompson).
Selection of the artist
As per regulations laid down by the Public Art and Community Design Committee, the artists’ selection procedure starts with a ‘call to artists’ published by the Public Arts Coordinator for Pima County. The call is made regionally and nationally and artists are requested to send their resume, statement of interest, and their previous work. The Public Arts Committee then proceed to make a selection of the artists to…… [Read More]

Nok Culture the Mystery of the Nok

Nok Culture

The Mystery of the Nok Culture

Only within the last century years has the Western world realized the extent of civilization present in ancient Africa. Up until this time, and throughout most of the colonization of Africa, Europeans had been able to overlook the remarkable civilizations of this continent, quietly believing that the only artifact-producing ancient civilizations were isolated in such known locations as Greece, Rome, Egypt, and the Middle East. Then, in 1936, in a small tin mine near the village of Nok, excavators found a small terra cotta sculpture, apparently the head of a monkey. As Gadalla reports, "We do not know what the people called themselves, so the culture was named after the town of Nok where the first object was found." (Gadalla, 143) This early name, drawn from a speculative ignorance, prefigured the decades of ignorance to come. To this day, despite the fact…… [Read More]

Genetic Structure of the Indigenous Hunter-Gatherer

The Bushmen reached advanced age despite living under harsh conditions caused by periodic famine and untreated illness. Some of the Bushmen coding alleles have been associated with disease. The results of the present study may help to reevaluate these earlier reports. They may also help to identify potential population-specific incompatibilities of drugs that are prescribed globally.

Furthermore, the results of this study have implications of admixtures that may be determined from further research. Population-wide PCA defines the Bushmen as distinct from the Niger-Congo populations as from Europeans. Within-Africa analysis separates the Bushmen from the divergent western and southern population, although ABT is within the southern Bantu cluster. However, variable relatedness of the Xhosa to Yoruba may suggest past admixture and/or historical diversity within this population. Within the Bushmen group, the authors predict that the Ju/' admixture and HGDP are essentially the same population. Divergence of KB1 and MD8 may be…… [Read More]

African Beginnings Africa Was the

This can be traced to the conservative view that lacks have in fact no real history in comparison to the richness and significance of European history. "As astonishing as it seems most of the prestigious academics and universities in Europe and America have ridiculed the idea that blacks have any substantive history."

This derogatory view has its roots as well in the colonial attitude that tended to see all lack people as inferior in status and 'ignorant' in order to justify the intrusion and invasion of their lands and territories.

In other words, the justification for conquest and what was in reality the theft of African land and wealth was provided to a great extent by the ' rewriting' of iblical texts. lacks were cast as 'heathen' people who had not achieved the enlightenment that the white group had attained through the ible and Christianity and therefore lacks were seen…… [Read More]

Cool Or He Even Stopped for Green

Cool, or: He Even Stopped for Green Lights

Experience is the best teacher and when a writer finds a way to express his experiences in a successful way, readers always benefit. An example of how life shapes people and art is seen in Don Lee's poem, "But He as Cool, or: He Even Stopped for Green Lights." Real life experiences and insights brings this poem to life. Lee's background includes abandonment by his father and an alcoholic mother. His mother died when he was 16, forcing him "into the realities of the working world at an early age." (Hurst). His background is diverse but his difficulties did not prevent him from earning a Masters in Fine Arts in 1984. hile he worked, he used "poetry as a means of making sense of and bringing order to the fragmented world around him" (Hurst). Theodore Hudson writes lee's poetry "successfully conveys spontaneity…… [Read More]

Islam in Africa Islamic Law

In fact there are signs of turmoil among religious as well as ethnic groups. An internal war between the Hausa and another tribe called the Yoruba resulted in 300 deaths. More recently tribes called the Tiv and the Jukun have executed tribal raids. In fact, between the successful election of a civilian President in May of 1999 and the end of 2001, over 10,000 Nigerians died in regional conflicts based on religious/and/or tribal differences. The Islamic belief in Shari'a, including the idea that religion and state government should be one, contributes to these problems.

In fact the animosity between Christians and Muslims is quite strong in Nigeria. The province adopting Shari'a, Zamfara, uses Islamic courts to try criminals. The Christians who live in the south do not agree that Zamfara should use a religiously-based legal system. This disagreement demonstrates that the country is divided on multiple levels. It is the…… [Read More]

Regional Development

Regional Development

The differences in the level of development in the world regions emanates from the regional disparities in the individual country economies. This result in regional inequality within that country; therefore, regional inequality with respect to a country is the eminent disparity between the living standards that apply in that country. It is a hard task to quantify the level of development, prosperity or poverty in a country or region. However, some indicators show the level of development. Across the world, every nation has a challenge in achieving regional development equality, the difference coming in through the degrees of underdevelopment. The most affected nations by the inequality balance rank are the developing third world nations, Nigeria being among them. Nigeria has a rich endowment of natural resources, minerals and able population. However, the country faces a challenge in establishing itself as an economic superpower in Africa and the world…… [Read More]

Du Sable Museum a Reflection of African-American

Du Sable Museum

A Reflection of African-American History

The DuSable Museum of African-American History is the oldest major museum related to African-American legacy. Founded by Margaret Taylor in 1961, the museum runs on a self-governing model with focus on collection, interpretation and achievement of African-American history. Its location in Chicago provides it an edge over other museums entailing artifacts related to this subject as Chicago was one of the prime cities where the major migration of African-American migration took place. Therefore, the city has African-American blood and heritage in its roots. This is the reason why the organization receives donations from local communities which ranges from single artifact to entire collection. The Diaspora of black people and the regions that black communities were related to, is well-reflected by the collection of Artifacts provided by local African-American communities. Its extensive collection of African-American heritage gives it a status of connoisseurship in…… [Read More]

Male Bias in the Development Process an Overview

Male Bias

Until the 1970s and 1980s, women were largely ignored by policy makers on the national and internal levels, while neoclassical economic models assumed that the aggregate income of households would be shared equally between men and women. More recent research has proven these assumptions to be false, and that the conflict model of household economics is more the norm in reality. Economists and government statisticians also failed to recognize the value of women's unpaid labor in domestic and reproductive work, or that Structural Adjustment Programs imposed by the International Monetary Fund had a disproportionately negative effect on women. In addition, even in the formal sectors of the economy, women's labor was generally low-paid, unskilled and insecure compared to men. Feminist theorists have demonstrated that gender relations are "socially determined" (Elson 1) and that development issues cannot be considered apart from these. For this reasons, economists and social planners…… [Read More]

Sound Clash Popular Music and American Culture

Popular Music and Identity

Sound Clash-Popular Music and American Culture

Identifying through music is fantastic and creates social movements. People find music to be liberating, relaxing, and calming. Identifying oneself through music a person is able to have direct experiences in their body. This allows a person to place them self in an imaginary cultural narrative. Popular music has been analyzed as though it is a classical composition, which makes the analysts neglect the improvisational and performative aspects of popular music. Analyzing how audiences respond to popular music and how they identify with this kind of music is vital. This would allow people to better understand how different people identify with certain popular songs. Theodor Adorno viewed popular music as a culture industry, which is designed to appeal to society by creating a false need for entertainment. Simon Frith views popular music as a complex world where that values and…… [Read More]

Living in a Time Individuals and Generations

living in a time, individuals and generations do not exactly know what they are contributing in their history. Writers might have an idea that their work will be cited and used in the time to come, yet they do not have an exact idea about how their work will be used in the future and what position will it hold. The African writers have been writing about their culture like authors around the world. These writings are a source of information for us today to find what the culture of Africa is. The paper studies how the African authors have defended their culture and the journey of culture through time.

What is the contribution of African writers in defense of their culture?

African Authors

The African writers have taken special interest in writing about the general harmony as well as the common contrasts. Popular African authors like Chinua Achebe, Alan…… [Read More]

African Literature

DEATH AND THE KING'S HORSEMEN

The purpose of this paper is to compare and discuss the play, "Death and the King's Horseman," by Wole Soyinka. Specifically, it will discuss the style and language used by the Praise Singer throughout the play, and show how the Praise Singer fits the understanding of oral literature and storytelling. It will also look at the part ritual suicide plays in the story.

DEATH AND THE KING'S HORSEMAN

Soyinka's work as a playwright, essayist and novelist won the 1986 Nobel Prize for Literature. Many critics believe he is the best writer in modern Africa. One critic wrote, "His unique style blends traditional Yoruban folk drama with European dramatic form." This play takes place in Soyinka's native Nigeria in 1946, and he based it loosely on true events. He wrote it while he was a fellow at Cambridge, England in the early 1970s, and it was…… [Read More]

History of Africa

Harmony to Holocaust

The Portuguese reached the Gold Coast of Africa in 1439. At first, they were impressed with the culture they found. As they worked their way down the coast "[t]hey found people of varying cultures. Some lived in towns ruled by kings with nobility and courtiers very much like the medieval societies they left behind them." (Obadina). Many years later, a visitor from Holland was equally impressed and records his impressions of Benin City in 1600: "As you enter it, the town appears very great. You go into a great broad street, not paved, which seems to be seven or eight times broader than the Warmoes Street in Amsterdam... The houses in this town stand in good order, one close and even with the other, as the houses in Holland stand..." (qtd. In Obadina). Clearly, at this early stage, the Europeans had a fairly positive view of the…… [Read More]

Role of Women in Developing Culture in Nigeria

In spite of Nigerian society's patriarchal nature, the nation's females are actively involved, and have central roles to play, in cultural developmental activities. The main occupations women are employed in are farming, mat making and small trading, with only some employed at schools and in offices. The chief responsibilities of women lie in the areas of childbearing and raising, societal transformation, production, and community management. Reproducing, bringing children up and assuming domestic responsibilities are regarded as natural tasks for females. Even in instances where the patriarch is negligent, the wife in a Nigerian household will continue bearing child-raising responsibilities as they feel this is both their natural and cultural obligation (Chigbu, 2015).

Nigerian females of the period before colonialism played a role in kin group sustenance. Subsistence level economy was maintained in the nation before the colonialists invaded the region, and females effectively took part in economic activities. Besides assuming…… [Read More]

Cao a -- a I

hile the religion's founders apparently attempted to devise a new and more effective ideology meant to connect people with the divine, some individuals interpret this as being proof that the Vietnamese culture lost significant ground as elements from both the est and the East pervaded it and encouraged more than two million Vietnamese to join a religion that had nothing to do with their background and with their culture as a whole (Vadas).

Cao Daism is a relatively modern religion and the fact that it incorporates elements borrowed from a series of other, older, religious ideologies is visible through behavior displayed by its followers and through the architecture present in its temples. Both the religion's principles and its temples put across vibrant messages and encourage individuals to open their minds with the purpose of being able to comprehend the complexity of life. The religious ideology largely promotes the idea that…… [Read More]

About Egypt

History Of Egypt

Civilization Emerges in the Nile Valley 2-3

The Age of the Pharaohs (3200 CE - 30 CE) 3-4

ritish Colonial Rule (1914-1954) 4-5

Modern Egypt (1954 -- Present Day) 5-6

Conclusion & Suggestions

Egypt has always remained one of the most intriguing areas on the planet, with historians, archaeologists and laymen alike flocking to the country on a steady basis throughout the last two centuries to indulge their curiosity and explore the heart of human civilization. The home of iconic monuments built by the world's first civilizations -- including the Great Pyramids of Giza, the Sphinx and a wide assortment of temples and ruins -- Egypt has come to represent the age of humanity's emergence for modern society. The age old cities of Cairo, Alexandria and Luxor have become modernized during the last century, but visitors and residents to Egypt have come to recognize the nation's seemingly…… [Read More]

Relationship of Food and Ritual in India

Saving the Cows, Starving the Children" by Sonia Faleirojune and the article entitled "Food Price Inflation in India: Causes and Cures" by Pradeep Agrawal and Durairaj Kumaraswamy in the Indian Economic Review available from JSTOR both address food issues in India. These articles appealed to me because I find India to be a fascinating country where there is so much potential for greatness yet so much inherent contradictory actions and agendas that frustrate the country's advances. Faleirojune focuses on the contradiction at the heart of India's policy towards banning beef: cows are literally everywhere in India and could be used to help feed the nation's poor and malnourished, but the government won't allow the sale of beef in many states -- neither will it permit state schools to offer eggs to school children as part of a meal plan. Even though eggs would be a good solution to the problem…… [Read More]