What careers were awa omo oodua into prior to colonization? Oyinbo economies and associated jobs which we have been schizophrenically copying have been collapsing. Many of us are sick of oyinbo/corporate jobs and would like to engage in something traditional (natural and peaceful) part-time and full-time. How can an interested individual start / make the transition? How did our forefathers do it and flourish to the extent that the condescending oyinbo explorers could not deny our prosperity? If you are engaged in such or transiting already kindly share your experience as well.

amor4ce: What careers were awa omo oodua into prior to colonization? Oyinbo economies and associated jobs which we have been schizophrenically copying have been collapsing. Many of us are sick of oyinbo/corporate jobs and would like to engage in something traditional (natural and peaceful) part-time and full-time. How can an interested individual start / make the transition? How did our forefathers do it and flourish to the extent that the condescending oyinbo explorers could not deny our prosperity? If you are engaged in such or transiting already kindly share your experience as well.

Of course, farming and explorations are major part of the ancient enterprise of the Yoruba, farming was done to have enough meal for keep, exploration was engaged in in the name of hunting.

we can not wall ourselves in, we must pick up from where the present civilization has gotten us and develop homegrown version of whatever we think the white folks have with all honesty and spirit of comradeship if necessary.

Meanwhile, the ancestors were empire-builders, we can as well go into planned settlement development and encourage growth and resettlement around less developed places across Yorubaland.

Ancient Yorubas, I think, operated a varied system of occupation. To the North (Oyo area), we had farmers, weapons manufacturers, blacksmiths, traders, soldiers, horsemen, doctors and diviners, hunters of wild-life and philosophers. In the South, majority were farmers, followed by sculptors, hunters, fishermen, doctors and diviners, blacksmiths, money lenders (Ijeshas and Ijebus) and Soldiers.

^^^That's quite diverse. I wonder how profitable they were. In addition to careers varying by location, some were characteristic of certain lineages and some could be engaged in irrespective of location like babalawo. During ceremonies like esentaye for newborns the child's career path is revealed and s/he is brought up along that.

I guess anyone who returns to his/her true career path, which probably has to do with our sojourn in this market called aye, had better be prepared to take advantage of the mass return of our people to our isese.

prexios:

Of course, farming and explorations are major part of the ancient enterprise of the Yoruba, farming was done to have enough meal for keep, exploration was engaged in in the name of hunting.

we can not wall ourselves in, we must pick up from where the present civilization has gotten us and develop homegrown version of whatever we think the white folks have with all honesty and spirit of comradeship if necessary.

Meanwhile, the ancestors were empire-builders, we can as well go into planned settlement development and encourage growth and resettlement around less developed places across Yorubaland.

charity begins at home, hence i am for wallimg ourselves in to achieve self-sustenance as a matter of priority and for self-preservation. oyinbo ways are terribly deviant and anti-nature, and i am sure obatala and oduduwa would not like us using strange ways as our foundation.

I doubt there was any occupation unique to yorubas which werent also found everywhere else.

amor4ce: charity begins at home, hence i am for wallimg ourselves in to achieve self-sustenance as a matter of priority and for self-preservation. oyinbo ways are terribly deviant and anti-nature, and i am sure obatala and oduduwa would not like us using strange ways as our foundation.

You may be right, but if Yoruba has always been at the cradle crescent, they wont have discriminate making use of things from foreign places, but now that we know the advantage and the disadvantage, we can always make better choices for useful outcomes. like t or not, the present use of the internet brought our ideas together without us meeting face to face, yet we still act in spite of this with the spirit of omolu'abi.

tpia@:
I doubt there was any occupation unique to yorubas which werent also found everywhere else.

Well i concur with tpia,

We lag behind because we left the rest of the world for isolation in time past, and that affect the whole of the black race, do not let us repeat history in this same way this time around.

I also agree with tpia. But I see building on strange ways as building one's house on sand and living like a chimera with multiple minds or personality disorders. This to me is the reason for our stagnation and my suggested treatment for us to have clarity in our society is gradual withdrawal from foreign ways. We also need to stop looking down on our trad occupations if we want to call ourselves omo oodua.

yorubas say nse l'aye nyi.

meaning as the world turns, we turn with it.

in any case, i'm not aware informed people look down on traditional occupations [provided they add substance to society]. Only ignorant people do that.

amor4ce: I also agree with tpia. But I see building on strange ways as building one's house on sand and living like a chimera with multiple minds or personality disorders. This to me is the reason for our stagnation and my suggested treatment for us to have clarity in our society is gradual withdrawal from foreign ways. We also need to stop looking down on our trad occupations if we want to call ourselves omo oodua.

we should be equal to or ahead of the task of finding the essence of life even outside the engagements of the mind in such a way that come rain come shine, we are not deluded by the turn of events and change. we just can't hope to be at even with tides of events in isolation.

Say no to cringe in the face of change that will ever make us to hide somewhere, we should be among those virtuoso that create change and we would never be scared of change or find somewhere out of the happening place to hide. No, this is our age, we can't go back.

There is noise everywhere, odd noisome topics, man to man, woman to woman, horrible practices that is even against nature and the spirit of God. You must make your own voice to be heard, or let your voice be the one you heard in the noise of the time.

tpia@:
yorubas say nse l'aye nyi.

meaning as the world turns, we turn with it.

in any case, i'm not aware informed people look down on traditional occupations [provided they add substance to society]. Only ignorant people do that.

that's right.

The victory that the west has is that everything worketh for good for them over the few last centuries of their Renaissance. today, they do not look down on whatever they do for living, and out of that, even less impressive engagements and industries has witnessed tremendous change and wealth.

What do we make of our own cultural-commercial practices? we often find somewhere to link them with old archaic practice. so improvement in that respect is concluded. the problem is, we are people dying for ready made things, ready made answers, we can not task our brain for answers often, so discovery elude us.

Yet it is so close to us. but it is better to tailor different design from what is already en vogue so long as the ready made materials are available. if you choose your own creative adventure, may God help you at the end. Apathy is a pastime in African society, and self-actualization is foreign if it is not just to have daily bread and excess that later come to impress or oppress our neighbors.

Presently, people have been send out of business in various places in Lagos for instance,(okada comes to mind easily) it is easy to do that. but is it equally easy to get this same people engaged in any productive enterprise so that where they were to misunderstand the administration, they will appreciate the administration?

which one is easy?
to destroy what is not good
to replace what is not good with what is good
to destroy what is not so good without replacement.
only God knows.

{pardon the fact that i am astute when it comes to digress}

amor4ce: What careers were awa omo oodua into prior to colonization? Oyinbo economies and associated jobs which we have been schizophrenically copying have been collapsing. Many of us are sick of oyinbo/corporate jobs and would like to engage in something traditional (natural and peaceful) part-time and full-time. How can an interested individual start / make the transition? How did our forefathers do it and flourish to the extent that the condescending oyinbo explorers could not deny our prosperity? If you are engaged in such or transiting already kindly share your experience as well.

Very good initiative.

Mankind must live and subsist on what the land produces.

Farming
Hunting
Trapping
Fishing
Mining
Herding

Personally i would love farming.

I've copied the email address and will get in touch very soon, so you can now delete it to avoid spam mails.

.

amor4ce: For a while I had been thinking of how to use calm language in my writings, and this proverb seems to be the answer. How I love Yoruba proverbs! I thank Olorun for creating me as one of the Egbe Omo Oodua.

When Akamara brought forth the universe into existence the movement of celestial bodies was undefined and chaotic with frequent collisions aka war of the stars which were eventually made to give way to order. Similarly, the lives of our people have been chaotic, ie, characterized by lots of entropy. as our people return the may experience varying degrees of withdrawal symptoms - some may transit easier and quicker while some may find it hard and long. The occurence of withdrawal symptoms is not to be unexpected since growth in nature which we are part of involves initial increaser in entropy. Esu is, in my opinion, the one that opens the way for the prodigal son to return and provides the balance needed to successfully get through the transition and overcome the withdrawal symptoms. This is because Esu maintains balance in creation. Finally, like Moremi we cannot avoid using the strange ways to show ourselves their bluff and vanity and the need to have and build faith in ours. I see reason with prexios.

"Therefore thus saith the LORD,...and if thou shalt separate the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return to thee; but return not thou to them."

MetaPhysical:

Amor4ce, lets talk.

Did you get my mail? Some of my sent mails have been prevented from reaching their gmail destinations e.g. one sent with the word "efa" included in the message body. I noticed this after I posted that essay about osi efa, ona efa and otun efa.

Yes, i replied to you brother.

i have noticed that a number of african slave descendands and those who willingly emigrated to the diaspora advocate the emancipation of our peoples but simultaneously want to do the very same ile dida economic policies of the oppressors. they promote confusion and have been returning to promote and engage in the latter. the oppress want that and give them avenues like bbc and cnn interviews to encourage them. i have been trying not to see them as traitors, agents of the enemy.

amor4ce: i have noticed that a number of african slave descendands and those who willingly emigrated to the diaspora advocate the emancipation of our peoples but simultaneously want to do the very same ile dida economic policies of the oppressors. they promote confusion and have been returning to promote and engage in the latter. the oppress want that and give them avenues like bbc and cnn interviews to encourage them. i have been trying not to see them as traitors, agents of the enemy.

Dear brother,

While i love what you are doing from the intellectual aspect of it, i want to encourage you to eschew bitterness against the white folks. The world owe us nothing, we owe the world a lot, dear brother. if you see the white as the culprit in the past history of Africa, remember the Yoruba proverb, "Agbepo laja kii sole, eni to gbee fun-un gan-an lole." how long are we to dwell on the pains of what we loss? When are we going to "forget yesterday issue to have someone to play with" as the Yoruba proverb stipulate? Did Yoruba often recriminate against their offenders forever, Omoluwabi?

Why will you exonerate the Africans that collaborate with the white in time of the slave trade? You should be angry with everyone right now. Then the issue of Black union, as you are seeing it even from your own perspective is a hoax, people are after their pockets and not any kind of racial loyalty as you may have wanted. Wont your passion for this line of thought end up as a campaign of calumny?

I don't think anyone talk about black race the way it was before, during the time of Bob marley. hope you are not fighting a belated cause? Nevertheless, we can never go back, so please look forward and drop the hate you have for other race. You can not choose for people how to live their lives or run their country even if you are offended that man are permitted to marry animals, what is a pleasure in a land is a taboo in another land. na today?

What did they (whites) steal from the Yoruba? Bible? then imagine that you become a prophet from the way you think, how will the world look like following your sermon? Please i don't mean to insult or offend, but as a bother, i want you to love your enemy as "Esu" may have wanted. E saye ere, kodara. Make the world a better place, that's Yoruba message to all of us, another thing other than this is a strange fire.

Remember the verse on Opiliki, who abandon his own and was attending to other peoples culture? it is Olodumare himself that later better the lot of Opiliki. If you don't believe that which is another mans, who will give you that which is your own? -Jesus

Pls prexios, what is isembaye?

amor4ce: Pls prexios, what is isembaye?

I remember the phrase "Asa Isembaye" as "culture with very ancient origin". So, "Isembaye" could mean "of old or of ancient time". I hope I'm correct though...

Perhaps then it can also be translated as "careers of aye or this life." From yours I guess the "Ise-" prefix has to do with work activities, and "Asa Isembaye" means "traditional/ancient occupations on earth."

amor4ce: Perhaps then it can also be translated as "careers of aye or this life." From yours I guess the "Ise-" prefix has to do with work activities, and "Asa Isembaye" means "traditional/ancient occupations on earth."

I told you then that isembaye to me is isem-baye. Shem begot the world, that is. Yoruba speaks of Ishembaye as the totality of Yoruba antiquity and nothing more. it is not work, it is paraphernalia and culture. they dont say asa ishembaye, i think they used to say nkan-isembaye. "Igba laelae" or "ojoun ana" is the better alternative to "ancient" with the Yoruba.

All pre industrial civilizations that had cities also had identical economic sectors. City life is always fun and markets are always busy with long distance traders going back and forth and leaders trying to increase the territory they control for tax collection while looking out for invaders. It was basically the same all over the world but each civilization had its own peculiarities. The Yoruba had
1. Expertise in wood art
2. Expertise in metal art.
3. Very democratic monarchies where any Oba can be removed without notice and without bloodshed.
4. Long distance communication by talking drums
5. Highly developed theology and philosophy
6. Largest number of proverbs and wise sayings
7. Excessive respect for old age
8.. Pre industrial communism where you are a member of a household whether as a slave or as a freeborn while slaves and free men work together side by side. It was not uncommon for a Yoruba city to have eighty percent slaves with no possibility of rebellion.
There may be others but I think those are the main distinctive characters of the Yoruba civilization. The Oyo were a calvary culture while others were not.
The singular blessing or addition to the civilization from Europe is the industrial revolution. I have no doubt that if the Kiriji War had not happen then Yoruba would have been as organised and technologically advanced as the Japanese. It does not take more than serious leadership and the Japanese also fought a civil war to sort themselves before rising. Someone like Aare Latosisa was not less a nation builder than anyone on Earth back then.