The World Archives - Page 5 of 8 - The Elephant and Macaw Banner

Archive for the ‘The World’ Category

Oba

In “The Fortuitous Meeting”, Oludara is called from his village to appear before the Oba of Ketu.

During Oludara’s lifetime, the supreme ruler of each Yoruba kingdom is known as an oba. In most cases, they trace their ancestry back to the Orisha Oduduwa, creator of the earth, and thus they are considered sacred. Subjects must prostrate themselves before an oba, after which they may sit or kneel on the ground in his presence.

Subjects prostate themselves before an African oba as the Portuguese make their first contact – Late fifteenth century

(Image: Wikipedia, public domain)

Only obas may wear the sacred Yoruba regalia: a conical bead crown, beaded slippers, and a beaded fly whisk. The crowns are made from red coral beads, first introduced by the Portuguese. Obas have several different crowns for different occasions, and each crown has its own history. These crowns contain lines of beads which cover the oba’s face, in order to protect subjects from his divine gaze.

Oba Ademuwgun Adesida II in full regalia, 1959.

(Image: Smithsonian Institution. Photo by by Eliot Elisofon)

The oba is responsible for resolving problems external to the kingdom, and is the maximum authority on questions of justice. He is aided by a council of elders, who will also choose his successor upon his death. The village bale (chiefs), typically the eldest of the clan, handle local matters.

Due to the oba’s sacred nature, it is unthinkable to commit an act of violence against his person. In some circumstances, however, the oba may have to perform violence against himself. Once such circumstance is when the people rise up in protest against the oba’s rule, in which case the chiefs may demand the oba’s suicide. Tradition also dictates that the oba can also never come face to face with the Oni Oja (the market chief), under penalty of death. Thus, he can never leave the palace on market day.

The crowning of a new oba is a long, ceremonial process, requiring the future oba to make a pilgrimage through various shrines and holy places and participate in many rituals before returning to his city for coronation. It often takes months to complete all the steps. To give one example, the Ida Oranyan (Oranyan’s Sword, the Sword of Justice) must be brought from Ile-Ifé and placed in the the Oba of Oyo’s hand before he can come into power.

Once crowned, the king almost never ventures out during the daytime, except during a few very important festivals. He may, however, leave his palace in cognito at night.

Brass oba head – Sixteenth century

(Image: www.metmuseum.org)

The obas still exist throughout the Yoruba kingdoms today, although traditions have been modernized, particularly during the last hundred years. For example, the custom of suicide has disappeared over time, but the Alaketu Adegbede was forced to take his own life as recently as 1858! When he was called from his palace and saw the Oni Oja (perhaps by arrangement from his enemies), he and two of his wives had to drink poison.

Those who visit Africa today may have a chance to visit one of the Yoruban obas and learn more about their long traditions. I hope to make my own visit soon!

Ketu

In “The Fortuitous Meeting”, Oludara mentions that he “hails from the kingdom of Ketu”.

Ketu was the westernmost of the seven historical Yoruba kingdoms. Yoruba tradition says that these kingdoms were formed by the descendents of the Orisha Oduduwa when they moved west from Ilé-Ife. Oduduwa is credited with creating the Earth, at the command of the supreme deity Olorun.

Sopasan is credited as the first oba (king) in the line of Ketu, even though the city did not exist during his lifetime. Instead, it was he who led forth the people from Ilé-Ife who would eventually inhabit Ketu. Only the seventh king, Ede, would finally found the city.

The town was settled on a plateau with so few sources of water that a saying developed among the Yoruba: “Water becomes honey in Ketu”. To compensate, inhabitants gathered rainwater in cisterns and dry wells. This lack of water limited the size of the settlement. However, the plateau provided excellent protection–Ketu was conquered only once in all its long history.

Sixteenth-century brass plaque, Benin

(Source: Penn Museum)

The town was built around a sacred Iroko tree. According to custom, a human sacrifice was required to protect the town. A hunchback from a nearby Ewe community was sacrificed at the entrance to the city, which is said have provided the town’s name. The question “Who straightens the hump?” is “Ke ‘tu ike?” in Yoruba. The answer: no one can straighten the hump, so no one can destroy the town. The fourteenth oba, Sa, built a massive gate at the same spot. The gate, crafted from Iroko wood, contained two wooden doors, one outside and one inside. It was given the name Idena for “sentry”.

From the gate stretched an immense clay wall which surrounded the city. Outside the wall lay the ditches from which its clay had been dug, providing further protection. As a final defense, a row of thorn bushes was planted outside the ditch.

Remains of Ketou ditch

(Image: Centre of World Archaeology)

The Oba of Ketu takes the title Alaketu: “the one who owns Ketu”. From the twenty-fifth Alaketu on, the position of oba has rotated between five different royal families: Alapini, Magbo, Aro, Mesa, and Mefu. I will discuss the Oba in greater depth in another post.

Ivory belt mask – Sixteenth century Benin

(Image: www.metmuseum.org)

To the west, Ketu shared a border with Fon-speaking peoples who would eventually found the kingdom of Dahomey and become their greatest rivals. After many wars and much history, Ketu and their Fon neighbors both fell under French domination and were eventually united in the modern-day nation of Benin, while most other Yoruba kingdoms fell under British control and eventually became part of Nigeria.

Ketu still exists today, under the French-modified name of Ketou. It is a city with a long and rich history, tracing its kings and traditions back over six-hundred years. Many travelers visit Ketou and speak with the Alaketu himself to learn much of this magnificent history.

Olorun

In religions based on Yoruban gods (such as Candomblé in Brazil), Olorun is the Supreme Being. He is creator of the Universe and of the Orisha deities.

Unlike the Orishas, Olorun is not directly worshipped in ceremonies. He has no specific form, but rather is an all-powerful spirit. The care of Heaven and Earth he leaves to the Orishas, and he does not deal directly with people, although he does dictate their destinies. He sometimes intervenes when problems arise between the Orishas.

Even though he is not worshipped directly, Olorun can be invoked to ask for blessings and to give thanks. That is why, in “The Fortuitous Meeting”, Oludara exclaims “Olorun save us!” when he sees the African Dragon devour a man alive; and in another scene, the Oba of Ketu says to him, “May Olorun protect you.”

Hans Staden

In “The Fortuitous Meeting of Gerard van Oost and Oludara”, Gerard cites Hans Staden as one of his influences in making the voyage to Brazil. Truth be told, Hans Staden was one of my influences in creating the character of Gerard van Oost.

Hans Staden was a German mercenary from Homberg who made two voyages to Brazil in the middle of the sixteenth century. On his first voyage, he participated in a naval raid in the Madeira Archipelago, fought French corsairs off the coast of Brazil, and was one of forty men who broke a siege of eight thousand natives around a small fort in Igaraçu.

Battle against the French near Paraíba

But even all that was nothing unusual in his time–it was in fact his second trip which made him famous. He was shipwrecked near São Vicente island, where he and other survivors were contracted by the Portuguese to man artillery at Bertioga Fort. The Portuguese and their Tupiniquim allies were in constant conflict with the neighboring Tupinambá.

Shipwreck near the island of São Vicente

While he was out hunting alone one day, Hans was captured by the Tupinambá. They kept him prisoner for nine months. During his time among them, he participated in battles, tried to convince French traders (allies of the Tupinambá) to rescue him, and did everything possible to escape, but all to nought. He was also introduced to the original Brazilian barbeque: capturing and eating someone from a neighboring tribe.

The Tupinambá roast an enemy while Staden protests

The Tupinambá intended to eat Staden as well, but with various excuses he managed to delay them until his rescue. In the end, the French captain Guillaume Moner rescused him, tricking the natives into letting him go.

Hans Staden returns home

Upon his return to Europe, Staden wrote of his travels in a book with the extremely descriptive title: “True Story and Description of a Land of Nude and Cruel Man-Eating Savages, Situated in the New World of America, Unknown before and after Jesus Christ in the Lands of Hessen until the Last Two Years.” It is more commonly known as “Two Voyages to Brazil”.

This book became a European “bestseller”, so popular that fake versions were common (proving that pirate copies are nothing new).

Luís Alberto Pereira directed a fabulous movie in 1999 relating Hans Staden’s second voyage. The movie is an impressively accurate recreation of the book. To give one example, it is one of the only movies ever made which uses Old Tupi, the language spoken on most of the coast of Brazil when the Portuguese first arrived there in 1500. What is impressive is that Old Tupi became extinct as a spoken language two hundred years ago! The actors took lessons in Old Tupi from Brazilian historians, and had to memorize their lines one by one. The movie is called Hans Staden, and I highly recommend it for anyone who can find a copy (which isn’t easy, even in Brazil).

(Images: From the original text by Hans Staden (1557). Scribd version can be found here.)

« Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 7 8 Next »