An Expository Analysis Of Ujaamese Religious Chants Of The Ekiti-Yoruba

ABSTRACT

The study of ujaamee chants is an attempt at opening up a new area of Yoruba research, vi2. Research into the genres of Yorùbá oral poetry of the Ekiti Yoruba on which very little work has been done hitherto, whereas there have been postgraduate studies on 16, Rára, ifa, and Sango-Pipe of the Oyo-Yoruba.

The study is in three Parts. Part One which consists of three chapters, gives a comprehensive background to the material. Chapter 1 presents the extent and climate of the area of study, its people, their occupations and the types of oral poetry performed and enjoyed by them. In Chapter 2, the religious background of the chants is described and the deity relevant to the chants, viz. Olúa, is briefly portrayed. There is an account of the Worship of Qiứa in O tan-Ayégbajų, Igède-Ekiti, Igbårà-Odo; and Ido, Igbóle, 116 gb8, Osi and 0și-ikiti. At the end of the Chapter, the establishment of a distinct position for Q11a in the hierarchy of Yoruba deities and divinities, is essayed. Chapter 3 contains a description of the Ekiti-Yorùbá dialect used in the chants.