Reflections on Ijala and Oriki as Sources of Historical Reconstruction: Amuye Faforiji in Perspective 1905 - 1950s

Abstract

Traditional songs preserve historical happenings among the Yoruba people in the Southwestern part of Nigeria. Among these numerous songs, Ìjálá and Oríkì – a song-texted usually chanted by traditional hunters and self-appraised song, respectively, stand out. This study critically examines the position of these two significant traditional songs among the Yoruba people of Amuye Faforiji and its environs specifically. It attempts to make a comprehensive analysis of the evolution of these songs and how their existence in society affected their socio-economic, religious, and political affairs in response to critical issues of the time like wars, diseases, inter-group and inter-community relations, artistic display, and other peculiarities of the region as preserved in their oral histories and oral traditions. Using both primary and secondary sources, this study shows that the two songs, being the most significant traditional songs in Amuye Faforiji during this period, had, and still have, significant implications on the preservation of the history of the people, their relations with both friendly and hostile neighbours, the artistic display of the period and finally their emergence to modernity.