Oyotunji: A Yoruba Kingdom in the United States of America

Oyotunji: A Yoruba Kingdom in the United States of America

The Yoruba culture is one of the most prominent and highly celebrated cultures globally. The language of the people, dialects, food, traditions, and beliefs is one to be reckoned with. In Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Cuba, and African countries such as Togo and Benin Republic, the traditions of the Yoruba people are highly revered. The United States of America also holds some of the most prominent traditional leaders of Yoruba origin as well as a Yoruba community named O̩yo̩tunji African Village, located near Sheldon, Beaufort County, South Carolina.

O̩yo̩tunji is regarded as North America’s oldest African village. It was founded in 1970 and is the first authentic community in North America, that celebrates the culture of the Yoruba and Benin tribes. Oyotunji has sustained the Yoruba traditional sociology and values for 51years in the diaspora. The village is named after the O̩yo Empire, which when translated means “O̩yo returns,” “O̩yo rises again” or “O̩yo resurrects”. The village occupies about 27 acres of land.

O̩yo̩tunji was founded by the late O̩ba O̩funto̩la Oseijeman Adelabu Adefunmi I, the first documented African-American initiated into the priesthood of the Yoruba religion. On August 26^th, 1959, O̩ba O̩funto̩la became the first African-American to become fully initiated into the Oris̩a-Vodoo African priesthood by African Cubans in Matanzas, Cuba, and became known as Efuntola Osejiman Adefunmi (previously, Walter Eugene King). This marked the beginning of the spread of the Yoruba religion and culture amongst African-Americans. O̩ba O̩funto̩la was also initiated into the Ifa priesthood by the Oluwo of Ije̩un at Abeokuta, Ogun state, in August of 1972, and was proclaimed Alase̩ (Oba-King) of the Yoruba of North America at O̩yo̩tunji Village in 1972.

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O̩ba O̩funtola was responsible for establishing a new lineage of the priesthood, Orisha Vodoo in Oyotunji, to spotlight the Yoruba tradition and its root in Africa. Today, over 300 priests have been initiated into this lineage. The African Theological Archministry, founded by him in 1966, now serves as the umbrella organization for O̩yo̩tunji village.

Oyotunji Village which was earlier home to just two hundred people is now a residential community consisting of a few African American families, governed by an oba and an appointed council. Each family in Oyotunji Village is committed to the teachings of the Yoruba tradition, including a religious understanding of the world as comprised primarily of the supreme being, Olodumare, the orisha deities, and the ancestral spirits. This religious world is maintained spiritually through rituals, chants, music, sacrifice, and annual ceremonies.

The village is currently being ruled by O̩ba O̩funtola’s son, Oba Adejuyigbe Adefunmi II. The O̩ba title in the village is referred to as “O̩lo̩yotunji” of O̩yo̩tunji.