Professions
The traditional system of establishing professions
Illustrations of traditional professions
The traditional system of establishing professions
The traditional Yoruba professions are associated with families. Each of the extended family living together is known for a profession. It is mostly uncommon for people to learn a different vocation that is not inherited from within the family. Anybody that does this in Yoruba land is regarded as being lazy. Children born into the family learn the professions as they grow up. They eventually inherit it when their father died. As mentioned above, different professions abound in Yoruba land. While some of these professions are gender specific, others can be taken by both sexes. For instance, both male and female can take to farming as professions but only male can take to drumming or hunting, while only female can take to dying or oil-making business, pottery, soap making, making of indigo dye etc. One thing that is peculiar with professions in Yoruba land is that one can determine the profession of a family from the names they bear. For instance, any family that bears names like, Ayanwale, Ayanbiyi, Ayanyemi, and so on are likely to be drummers, while names like Ogunyemi, Ogunwale, Odebiyi are given by families who are hunters.
Illustrations of traditional professions
While it may not be possible to discuss all the professions that we have in Yoruba land, we will take a look at five of them.
Farming: This is the most prominent of all the professions that we have in Yoruba land. Since food is the sustainer of life, the profession is regarded as the mother of all professions. As they say, Agbe loba "the farmer is the king" and that bebi ba ti kuro ninu ise, ise buse "as long as one can satisfy hunger, one is not impoverished” The basic implements that is used for farming are cutlasses and hoes. But with modern technology; farmers now make use of tractors, planters, sowers, and so on. Farming is categorized according to both the distance and the nature of soil and land. Hence, we have oko-egan, oko-etile, akuro, and ogba. For oko-egan, it is normally quite a distance from the house. The farmer may either leave very early in the morning or come back late in the evening or make it a weekly or even monthly trip to the house. In this case, he constructs a set of huts where he, along with members of his family and probably his laborers live. In the case of oko-etile, the farmer goes to the farm early in the morning and go back home to have his lunch; he may go back to the farm later in the evening to work. Ogba is usually located in the outskirt of the town where the farmer can also go and come back home. In most cases, vegetables are the main product. In the case of Akuro, the farm is located near the bank of a river or a water logged area. The farmer can plant any food-crop any time of the year since there is constant supply of water but this is often used for vegetable farming. Those with large farms enlist the services of their colleagues through Owe and Aaro.In this case, other colleagues work for him on certain days and he only provides them with foods and drinks. Farmers may also employ the services of paid workers or Alagbaro.
This type of farming encourages men to be polygamous. The more wives and children they have, the more hands that will assist the farmers with their work.If the man has male children, they assist him with the farm, however, if he has female children, it is incumbent on their husbands to assist their father in law. There is division of labor between the husband and the wife or wives in the disposal of the farm produce. While the husband produces the farm products, it is the responsibility of the wife/wives to take these products to the market for sale, the husband will then give them certain percentage depending on the sale. There are two categories of farm products; these are cash crops and food crops. Examples of cash crops include rubber, cocoa, kola nut, cotton, and so on, while example of food crops include yam, cassava, maize, pepper, vegetables, and so on.
Hunting: Hunting is another type of profession in Yoruba land. Ogun was regarded as the first hunter. The profession is not just for anybody. Anybody going into it must be generous, brave, must be able to endure, must be swift or slow as occasion demands. A lot of training is required for would-be hunters. Training may take up to five or more years to complete. It is usually very intensive. Part of the training include among others, how to hibernate for animals, how to handle various types of hunting implements, how to act and react in the bush to various situations. Hunters are also expected to be versed in various types of assorted traditional medicines like egbe, afeeri, ajabo, idiwo, and so on. Any hunter without this entire juju must not venture into hunting profession or else, he'll pay dearly with his life. Hunters are expected to offer sacrifices after each hunting expedition, and particularly if they kill certain types of animals. For instance, it is absolutely necessary for them to offer sacrifices after killing elephants, buffalo, pythons, and other big animals in this category. If any hunter defaults, the consequences, in most cases, are disastrous. For instance, he may not kill any other animal for a very long time or even again, he may have abnormal offspring or not even have any. It is forbidden for hunters to cut corners with their colleagues for fear of being strike to death by Ogun-the god of iron. Some of the don'ts of hunters include the following:
- He must not lie to a fellow hunter,
- He must not marry another hunter's wife,
- He must not steal another hunter's game
- He must not sit on the same seat that a fellow hunter’s wife sat or sleep on the mat that the fellow hunter’s wife slept.
Apart from their profession, they also assist the community that they are in other ways. For instance; they are used as night-watchmen against armed-robbers and night marauders. They are used to check external aggression. They are the bedrock for the town's army in case of war.
Cloth weaving: This is another major type of profession in Yoruba land. This is a male dominated job. The types of clothes that can be woven include aso-ofi (of various types and shades like sanyan, alaaari, etu, dendelawo, sanmo-nmi, etc) and kijipa. Before the coming of the Europeans, they have the traditional weaving treads that are soaked in dyes depending on the color and deepness of the dye required by the customers. But now they can purchase any type of weaving tread in the market that has been made to specification. Some of the traditional instruments used for cloth weaving include but are not limited to the following, kokogu, biribiri, oko, omu, asa/iwa, ese ofi, etc.
Blacksmithing: Blacksmiths make simple kinds of objects. Some of these include guns cutlass, hoes axes, and knives, spear, gun, arrow, (go to hell), etc for farmers, hunters, and even household uses etc. They also sharpen these objects whenever they get blunt. Some the materials used for this profession include the following, owu, omo-owu, iponrin, ewiri, emu, ikoko-omi, etc. Aro is the spot where blacksmithing takes place. It takes about four to six years to graduate from learning this profession. It is equally mandatory for the apprentice to be blessed by the master so that he can be prosperous.
Drumming: This is another type of profession associated with the Yoruba. It is also associated with families. Some of the names they bear include the following, Onilude, Ayantunji, Ayanleye, Onigbinde, etc. Beating of the drums can be for the following reasons; for entertainment during ceremony as in naming, burial, wedding, or any other function in the society. It can also be used to wake the Oba or very important chief in the morning. It can also be used to herald the arrival of invaders so that those who are concern will get prepared. Drums are also an important ingredient during any traditional festivals. Drums, the Yoruba belief can “talk”. Those who are familiar with can only understand its different meanings. Some of the various types of drums that we have include; dundun, gangan, adamo, abebe, osugbo, aje, sakara, bata etc.