I Will Chant Homage to the Orisa: Oriki (Praise Poetry) and the Yoruba Worldview

Abstract

This chapter explores the role of “oriki,” praise poem/songs and folklore of the Yoruba culture in which I was born and raised. The Yoruba territory lies in southwestern Nigeria, West Africa, commonly known as “Yorubaland.” However, the influence of the Yoruba culture, its music, and its indigenous religion extends into the Caribbean, the United States, and South America, especially Brazil and everywhere black people reside around the world. There are an estimated 20 million Yorubas in Nigeria and millions of expatriates worldwide. Yoruba culture is largely oral. From praise songs and folklore, people have learned basically how to live, what to value, and how to organize a life in a particular time and place. The word “Yoruba” in our culture refers to the people, the land, the language, and the culture. It is in the context of a sentence that a reader understands how the word is being used.