Yoruba Culture and Religion in Brazil, Cuba, and Other American Countries: By Gbadebo Opeibi

One of the major ethnic groups in Sub-Saharan Africa that was forcibly transported to Brazil during slavery were the Yoruba people of West Africa, whose rich cultural and religious influence is unending in Brazil, Cuba, and other American countries. 

Enslaved Yoruba people were called Nagos or Lucumi in the new world. The word Nagos was derived from the word Anago, which was one of the oldest names Yoruba people in West Africa were called. Anago means someone who is wise or intelligent, as the Yorubas were seen by other groups. Lucumi, on the other hand, was also derived from the Yoruba word "O luku mi," which means my friend.

The enslavement of Yoruba people in Africa was influenced by the breakup of the ancient Oyo Empire as a result of intertribal conflicts. This breakup led to constant raiding and conflict between various groups. Constant slave raiding by Dahomey Amazons and their armies also played a major role in the enslavement of Yoruba people. Slave raiding by rebels empowered by greedy individuals and colonial authorities played the biggest role in the enslavement of the Yoruba people, especially when the demand for slaves grew in America and rebels were empowered with guns to kidnap innocent people.

You must have heard these sayings: "Black People Enslaved Black People" and "Slavery existed in Africa before the white men came." First of all, I need to establish one fact: "slavery is evil," but I also need to set the record straight. 

The narrative that "black people enslaved black people" came from a colonial and uninformed point of view. The people did not see themselves as black. The "Black and White" Construct was a colonial weapon used by the colonial authorities to suppress, abuse, and bully people who they considered black. A form of racialized slavery and social status.

In West Africa, the people mostly identified with their cultural identity; many of these groups were often in smaller numbers, most especially during the war. The people fought based on unresolved issues, different ideologies, and not racial color, which was created through the lens of racism.Secondly, "slavery existed in Africa before the white men came" in the same way slavery existed around the world. The only difference was how it was practiced.

Historically, slavery was a form of punishment in Yorubaland. Some of the people who got sold into slavery, mostly by traditional leaders and wealthy people in society, were either thieves, debtors, war captives, rapists, murderers, etc. This form of punishment was temporary, depending on the offense. War captives and debtors easily got reintegrated back into society.

The narrative that the people also sold their brothers and sisters into slavery is false. In fact, during the 18th century, in the Gonja Salaga Slave Market in Ghana, the Yoruba residents of the town would not allow their fellow countrymen to be captured and brought to the markets to be sold to the Ashantis, who would march them to the coast. 

Rather, they would barter for the release of the Yoruba captives, who would in turn work for their benefactors as tradesmen until they earned their release.

Slaves from the market were mostly exchanged for Kola nuts, cowries, and gold. It is very important that I make this clarification.

Over 4 million African slaves were transported to Brazil between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. More than two million slaves arrived in Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, and other locations. Enslaved Yoruba's carried along the Yoruba culture, heritage, and religion when they were taken to Brazil, Cuba, and other parts of America. For example, Lucumí was derived from the lexicon of words and short phrases derived from the Yoruba language, which was used for ritual purposes in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and their diasporas.

Comparing the pronunciation of Lukumí from Cuba to Yorùbá
📸 Sangowale Oyinbo on YouTubepic.twitter.com/g5HYEszdqV

— Yorùbáness (@Yorubaness) August 29, 2023

Lucumi also refers to an Afro-Cuban ethnic group of Yoruba ancestry. 

Acarajé is a street food in Brazil. According to Márcio de Jagun, he stated that the word is derived from the Yoruba àkàrà n'je, or "come and eat àkàrà"; the phrase was used to call out to customers by women selling acarajé on the street. 

It also serves as a religious offering to the gods in the Candomblé religion in the region. Yoruba Religion and tradition in the Americas are evident in Cuban Santería, Brazilian Candomblé and Xangô, and the Orisha and Shango religions of Trinidad and Grenada: Òrìṣà is the spelling in the Yoruba language, orixá in Portuguese, and orisha, oricha, orichá, or orixá in Spanish-speaking countries. They are devotees of various Yoruba orishas, like Sango, Ogun, Osun, and many more.

This is a testimony to the memory and determination of those Africans and their descendants who retained their sacred traditions, often in the face of attempts to marginalize or eliminate them. The African religion and tradition were strongly discouraged by the enslavers, and the Yoruba people had to embed Catholic religion and Yoruba religion together in order to protect their heritage. 

Today, some have returned to Yorubaland to renew their knowledge. Brazilian candomblé has been nourished by ongoing contact with its original source.

The influence of enslaved Yoruba people and others of African descent eventually led to the freedom of many enslaved Africans. The Male Rebellion in Brazil, also known as The Great Revolt, was a Muslim slave rebellion by Yoruba and others of African descent in Salvador, Bahia, during Ramadan in Brazil on January 18, 1835. 

The word "male" was derived from the Yoruba word "imale." Imale is the Yoruba word for Islam that designates a Yoruba Muslim. Islam was known in Yoruba as Esin Imale (“the Malian religion”). This rebellion was considered one of the best recorded slave rebellions in the Americas and is considered the most important enslaved uprising in Brazilian history.

Picture: A FRAGMENT OF THE QUR’ĀN SHOWING SURAT AL-QADR, AS WRITTEN BY A SLAVE AS A FORM OF PROTECTION AND SEEKING BLESSINGS FOR THE REBELLION TO BE LAUNCHED ON THE NIGHT OF QADR.

The fate of the rebels was severe after the Malê Uprising of 1835. Many of the leaders were beaten, killed, or deported, and any formal or informal gatherings of Africans became incredibly suspect.

The aftermath of the rebellion led 200 slaves to court, where they received different types of sentences and punishment, which included jail time with hard labor, beating, death, or deportation to Africa.

The rebellion contributed to the legal cessation of the importation of slaves from Africa in 1850, religious freedom, and the abolition of slavery in Brazil in 1888. While many Yorubas returned to Yorubaland and were given free land to resettle in places like Lagos and Abeokuta, many freed Africans stayed back in Brazil and other American countries.

Another revolt was led by a powerful Yoruba woman, Carlota Lucumi, in Cuba in 1855. Carlota Lukumi was a Yoruba woman born in the Kingdom of Benin. 

When she was 10 years old, she was kidnapped from her home. Carlota broke through the male-dominated legacy of rebel leaders to place herself firmly in history. It was the largest revolt ever orchestrated against slave owners in Cuba, and though it was not successful, it instilled a permanent fear in the island’s white community. This revolt later inspired Fidel Castro. There is now a monument to the legacy of Carlota Lucumi at the Triumvirato sugar mill in Matanzas Cuba, where the scene of the first slave uprising took place on the island, this endearing memorial commemorates Carlotta lucumi, Cuba's very own rebel leader. The monument sits amid a significant "Slave Route" landmark and museum.

With an already-growing religious community in the Americas, interest in Yoruba and African-influenced religions increased. Some of the Yoruba slaves who remained in Brazil kept the Yoruba culture, religion, and tradition alive until today.

Many Afro-Brazilian devotees cherish these Orishas and have been doing so for over 500 years. In Brazilian cities such as Salvador, the Yoruba influence, dating back to the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, is still very tangible. This gives birth to the Òrìsà-worshipping people of Brazil.Salvador, Bahia State, is one of the many Brazilian areas influenced heavily by West African slaves, birthing traditional worship of Yoruba Orisha's festivals and food.

In 2023, when the Ooni of Ife, Arole Oduduwa, Olofin Adimula, and Ooni Adeyeye Enitan Babatunde Ogunwusi Ojaja II CFR visited Brazil, he addressed the Brazilian Parliament in Brasilia, thanking the Brazilian Parliament for introducing Isese Day.

While he also inducted President Lula DaSilva and his wife as descendants of Oduduwa.

Ooni of Ife also proclaims Quilombola, Yoruba Territory, during the same visit to Brazil.

Residents of Quilombola could not hold their joy as they celebrated the delivery of the title of Yoruba territory, which will strengthen and preserve Yoruba history, culture, and language in the community.

Some of the special cultural Yoruba landmarks in Brazil include the Oduduwa Temple in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The beautifully crafted Yoruba murals on the walls of the Oduduwa temple speak volumes. 

The Yoruba "ORI OLOKUN" sculpture in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is another beautiful physical representation of the beautiful Yoruba heritage in Brazil. Various Orisha festivals are celebrated in places like Brazil, Cuba, Argentina, and others. 

The Cultural group Michael Jackson featured in "They don't care about us" Song is Olodum, Olodum takes its name from the Yoruba "Olódùmarè". Olodum is a cultural group from Bahia Brazil that focuses on issues such as black power and the growth and development of the African globally. Even this little cultural details can not be easily missed.

Yoruba Village in Trinidad & Tobago is another place which Yoruba culture, religion and tradition are been preserved.

At the entrance of the East Dry River in Port of Spain, near the Riverside Plaza, is a sign within a small park which pays tribute to the Yoruba Village which once covered areas of East Dry River, Belmont (then Freetown), Laventille and Morvant. 

The Yoruba people came in the post-emancipation era as recaptives, Africans captured on foreign slave ships after the termination of the slave trade in 1807. Among the traditions retained and passed on by the Yoruba people were drumming and the Orisha religion. During colonial times, there was a legal ban on drumming so it is fitting now that there is an annual Yoruba Village Drum Festival which aims to keep the tradition alive.

Scholars have also cited the influence of Yoruba on Carnivals and calypso art forms as well as in the language in Trinidad and Tobago.

The New National monument dedicated to the Yoruba People at bandstand, Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago is a beauty to behold.

Yoruba culture and religion have a big impact on the Americas and the Caribbean spreading through the slave trade across the Atlantic. People worship Orishas in Cuba, Mexico, Brazil, and other places mixing Yoruba spiritual beliefs with local traditions. 

This blending of cultures has created lively ceremonies, music, dance, and stories that honor the beauty and strength of Yoruba heritage. Yoruba culture matters in these areas because it links the past to the present bringing different groups together and keeping a rich history alive. By respecting and maintaining Yoruba customs, communities in the Americas and the Caribbean continue to find motivation, togetherness, inspiration, unity, and transformation in this enduring cultural heritage and legacy.

About Gbadebo Opeibi 

Gbadebo Opeibi is the team leader for Yorubaness and Culturedy. He focuses on history, culture, art, and filmmaking.

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