ORIKI DOCUMENTARY: Each Yoruba family has an oriki. The oriki is a chant that recounts the history of a family and each of its ancestors and goes back generations. It is an oral documentation of the history of a family, clan or a specific person. Oriki’s are beautiful when orated and highlight the poetic nature of the Yoruba Language
Names are extremely important in the yoruba culture. A person’s genealogy can be compressed into a series of names. I’m yoruba, and i’m so proud of my heritage and forever grateful to my parents for forcing/teaching me to learn the language and about the culture.
I remember my late grandma teaching me the family’s praise song, back then i thought she was disturbing me, but now that i’m older i realise what she was trying to do - pass the stories of my ancestors on to me through stories and songs.
There are few people outside my family that i tell my oriki, not to be private but because i love the name so much and anyone that calls me by the name has to know and appreciate the meaning.
(Source: 37thstate.com)
