Unique traditions of Indigenous Peoples in my country (Yoruba)

Hello steemians I am grateful to be participating in this contest organised by @ridwant. I come from a country with over 200 ethnic groups. Nigeria is blessed with diverse group of people from diverse backgrounds and cultures.

_{Designed by @rexzitek}

For this contest I'll be talking about the beautiful and wonderful people of the Yoruba dynasty.

The Yoruba people are a West African ethnic group who mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by the Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. In Nigeria alone there are about 42.6 million of Yorubas living in Nigeria alone.
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The Yoruba people are known for their unique tradition and rich cultural heritage.
Of this customs and traditions I will be picking out one which I find particularly fascinating, one that defines the Yoruba culture. The "Gelede Festival," is a celebration that blends art, spirituality, and community in a captivating display of creativity and reverence.

The Gelede Festival is a masquerade festival that is held to honour the powerful and mysterious deities"Iyami Osoronga" also known as the "mothers of the world." These deities are are speculated to have supernatural abilities and play a vital role in Yoruba cosmos as intermediaries between them and the spirit realms.

_{Rocking my Yoruba attire}

What makes this tradition unique is that the Gelede festival uses elaborate performance art which involves dancers wearing intricately crafted masked and costumes. These dancers portray various characters from the Yoruba mythology and life. These can also include animals, spirits and mimicking of some community members.

I will not fail to state that the highlight of the festival is the fact that each dancer mostly men wear a towering headdress called "gele", adorned with colourful fabric, beads and symbols which represents specific deities. The color and design of the gele represents the richness of Yoruba culture.

Another uniqueness of this tradition is the fact that it is dual purpose as both an entertainment and spiritual reference. Amidst the joyous dancing, music and laughter, the Gelede festival also serves as a form of worship and reverence to the ancestral spirits and deities. The dancers who make this rhythmic movements do so to seek and appears the divine forces that govern their lives.

Pexels

Thank you for reading my post, I hope you have learnt something from it.
I invite my friends @vudeme123, @rexzitek and @comfortpeter to participate in this contest

My Introduction Post