We Are Family!

The typical Ile-Ife family usually includes a grandfather (a Bale), his sons, their wives, daughters, sons and more grandchildren. In this picture of a current day Ile-Ife family, there is a mother, father, daughter, son and grandparent.

Everyone in the family has different roles and responsibilities they do everyday based on their gender, age and skills. The males have certain privileges that they get from seniority. However, all males had privileges over females. The responsibility they had was farming and hunting. The responsibility of females was to gather food from the tropical rain forest, to prepare the food that the males brought from hunting, to dye cloth and to make bead work. They also had to watch and teach their kids how things work and what they had to do in the future. The role of the children had been they had to respect their elders and listen to what their parents say. and they had to follow all customs and traditions.

CHILDREN

Children were considered gifts in Ile-Ife. When a child is born they are no named until eight days later. The name of a child has a specific reason behind it and a special meaning behind the name as well. Certain names are given for many differen reasons, from when the child was born, how the child was born and what order you were born in (first child, second, third- etc).

Something both Ile-ife and the U.S have in common is that names are gender neutral.
Here are some examples of Ile-Ife names:
Ona- Art,
Onafeko- Art needs learning
Ode- Warrior
Osun- The goddess of the river

Ile- Ife had the highest rate of twin births. It was said that children were a gift and joy. Twins are double the joy, double the happiness, double amounts of sleepless nights. Twins are "special beings" that bring love and magic into the already crowded home. The first born twin is actually considered the younger twin. An old folk tale says that the "older" twin kicked the first twin out to see if the coast was clear. Each child has a special name due to when they arrived. The first born twin is called Taiwo. The twin that arrived shortly after is called a Kehinde.

Once a child in Ile-ife is born, it is sprinkled with water. Then it is shaken three times and hung upside down. To the United States that may seem cruel and unusual. However, in Ile- Ife it was a greatly respected tradition to make the baby strong and brave. Once the baby is born the mother and child MUST remain inside of their home for six to eight weeks (six weeks for a baby girl, eight weeks for a baby boy). When a baby is born ONLY women are allowed to attend the birth;if a male were to attend the baby's birth would be delayed. Also it was said that if a male were to attend it was disrespectful and heinous. However, a male doctor can be present ONLY if there were any problems concerning the baby's birth.

A tradition that children had was to hear folktales that their elders would tell them. Some major characters are the hare, turtle and the elephant. Watch an example of a story. I created it based on the kind of Yoruba folktales I studied.



MALES

In Ile- Ife males are greatly respected, they have many important roles and responsibilities as the head of the family. In an Ile-Ife family the Bale is the most important person. Everyone relies on him to make decisions for them. When there is an argument the Bale has to be there to break it up. The Bale of the family always has to be a male. If the Bale passes away, the next eldest male member of the family is now the Bale. The other males are divided into three groups based on seniority. All the elder males depend on themselves and make their own decisions, and the younger groups depend on their fathers. When it is time for them to eat, the oldest male, being the Bale, gets served first and the biggest portion of food. The next eldest male member gets served second and it continues until the last person is served. So in Ile-Ife the males are in charge of the family.

WOMEN

Women in Ile-Ife were a very vital part in their families. Women were important for some specific reasons. One reason is because they were the ones, besides the Bale, who really worked hard for and held the family together. Women worked hard through the birthing of their children, gathering of foods, cooking, taking care of and teaching the children, etc. Women also worked hard because they never really took a break from their work unlike the males in the families who took time off of their work a lot. Women are not looked at as the important family member in many societies but just like in Ile-Ife they often deserve to be recognized more often.

ARCHITECTURE

The houses that the Yoruba families lived in were called Agbo'ile. The Agbo'ile are made out of mud walls that raised up to 7 to 8 feet tall, and the roofs were covered with tall grass. They used various tall grasses which were Sege, Bere, and Ekan. Kira was attached in the back of the Abogo Ife.




Ile- Ife people grooving to the sound of their own traditions. Those traditions are passed down from generation to generation. Family is the way they keep their traditions alive in the hearts of everyone.






Resources:

Johnson, Reverend. The History of Yoruba. London; Lowe and Brydone Limited, 1973.
Anda, Michael. Yoruba. Rosen Publishing Inc. New York.

To See Music Video: "WE ARE FAMILY" by Sister Sledge click "FAMILY" up above.