Yoruba New Year is June 3 in Yorubaland in parts of Nigeria, Benin and Togo. Yoruba traditions in the Americas are different.
Yoruba New Year 2022
Friday, June 3, 2022 is year 10,064 on the Yoruba calendar.
E ku odun, eku iyedun
Happy New Year (in Yoruba).
Yoruba
Yoruba are a renowned West African people mostly in Nigeria. Modern Yorubaland covers parts of Nigeria, Benin and Togo.
The Yoruba culture is one of the great African civilizations. The majestic beauty of Benin Bronzes (head sculptures) precedes the famed art of the Renaissance by several hundred years. The Metropolitan Museum of Art has a great collection of Benin Bronzes (metmuseum.org).
Yoruba people are known for their diplomatic skills. The Yoruba faith is a rich cosmology based on the forces of nature that is the equal of any human faith in beauty and mystery. Yorubaland is at the junction of West Africa and Central Africa. While each country and region are unique, cultures along the western coast of Africa share many related traditions.
Yoruba traditions survived the terrible journey across the Atlantic and family separation in the Americas. From touchstones in Cuba and Brazil, these traditions have become the dominant African American cultures across Latin America.
In the Americas, the traditions are syncretized (blended). So for example, Yoruba New Year in Cuba is January 1st. It’s blended with the Gregorian calendar.
Some of these traditions remain with us in popular culture, especially in music and dancing. That salsa rhythm or dance move you love may have originated in Yoruba rituals of antiquity.
Most people have no idea what they are singing and dancing to, but the sacred rhythms and movements have been done the same way since the beginning of human time.