The Yoruba of Southwestern Nigeria
By: by William Bascom.
Series: Case studies in cultural anthropology
Publisher: Holt, Rinehart and Winston
Published: 1969
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 118
Subjects: Yoruba (African people); Ethnology -- Nigeria
Notes: Bibliography: p. 116-118.
Table of contents: title: Introduction. Importance of the Yoruba -- Population -- Urbanism -- The country -- Yoruba subgroups -- Origins and history. Ancient ife -- Linguistic evidence -- Migration legends and the creation myth -- The sons of Odua -- The Yoruba-Dahomey Wars 1698 - 1892 -- The internal wars, 1817 - 1893 -- The postwar period, 1893 - 1960 -- British control, 1851 - 1960 -- Economics. Subsistence farming -- Cocoa : the principle cash crop -- Land tenure -- Craft specialization and trade -- The guild of importers -- Money and credit -- Government. The kingdom -- The king -- The town chiefs and palace chiefs -- The emese, ogungbe, and ogboni -- Other officials -- The legal system -- Social structure. The clan -- The family -- Institutionalized friendship -- Clubs -- Kinship terminology -- The life cycle. Birth and child care -- Childhood and education -- Betrothal and marriage -- Polygyny -- Death and burial -- The spiritual cycle. Ifa divination -- Multiple souls and destiny -- The afterworld -- The deities. Selecting one’s deity -- Olorun, the sky god -- Eshu, the divine messenger -- Ifa, the god of divination -- Odua, the creator of the earth and his allies -- Orishala, the god of whiteness and his allies -- Ogun, the god of iron -- Oranmiyan, the son of Ogun and Odua -- Shango, the god of thunder and his counterparts -- River gods and goddesses -- Shọpọna, the god of smallpox -- Ogboni and Oro -- Egungun, Gẹlẹde, and Ẹpa -- Esthetics. Verbal art, music, and the dance -- Bodily decoration -- Weaving and clothing -- Dyeing and embroidery -- Pottery and calabash carving -- Leatherworking and beadworking -- Metal working -- Woodcarving -- Yoruba style -- Postscript -- Recommended reading.