The O’Dua Encyclopedia.
A rich, multimedia reference for the people, places, lineages, and movements of the House of Oduduwa — what Wikipedia would be if it were ours, with the photographs we own, the audio we recorded, and the citations that hold up.
// ARTICLE OF THE WEEK
Ile-Ife — the cradle.
The continuously inhabited city in present-day Osun State, Nigeria, where Oduduwa is said to have descended and from which the great Yoruba kingdoms were founded. This article traces the city from the archaeological record — the Iron Age compounds, the bronze tradition, the period of greatness in the 12th to 14th centuries — through to its modern role as the spiritual capital of the global House of Oduduwa.
Open the article →Six rooms of the library.
What the editors have been writing.
14 ARTICLES THIS MONTH
A·128
The Reign of the OonisAn unbroken line from Oranmiyan to the present.
A·127
Aṣẹ — the force of speechHow a single word does, and does not, do work in the world.
A·126
The Aku of FreetownHow the Royal Navy accidentally seeded a Yoruba colony in West Africa.
A·125
Ifa as the global encyclopediaWhy we treat the Odu as a library, not as a religion.
A·124
Candomblé Ketu — the carrying preservedHow the Yoruba religion survived the middle passage and what it became.
A·123
Ajayi Crowther — from slavery to the mitreThe first African Anglican bishop, and the first translator of the Bible into Yoruba.
A·122
The Founding of AbeokutaHow a refuge city under the rock became the cradle of modern Yoruba politics.
A·121
Iwa l'ewa — character is beautyThe Yoruba aesthetic principle that puts conduct ahead of appearance.
A·120
The Anago of Benin and TogoThe branch of the family the colonial border tried to forget.
A·119
The Oyo Empire at its heightCavalry, tribute, and the politics of the Alaafin and the Oyo Mesi.