Oyotunji African Village is a village located near Sheldon, Beaufort County,

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

that was founded by Oba Efuntola Oseijeman Adelabu Adefunmi I in 1970. Oyotunji village is named after the

Oyo empire The Oyo Empire was a powerful Yoruba empire of West Africa made up of parts of present-day eastern Benin and western Nigeria (including Southwest zone and the western half of Northcentral zone). It grew to become the largest Yoruba-speaking s ...

, and the name literally means ''"Oyo returns"'' or ''"Oyo rises again"''. Oyotunji village covers and has a

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

temple which was moved from

Harlem, New York Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Harl ...

to its present location in 1960. During the 1970s, the era of greatest population growth at the village, the number of inhabitants grew from 5 to between 200 and 250. The population is rumored to fluctuate between 5 and 9 families as of the last 10 years. It was originally intended to be located in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the British colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later t ...

, but was eventually settled into its current position after disputes with neighbors in Sheldon proper, over drumming and tourists. Since Adefunmi's death in 2005, the village has been led by his son, Oba Adejuyigbe Adefunmi II. The village is constructed to be analogous to the villages of the traditional

city-states in modern-day Nigeria, although modernization of the village's public works have been carried out under Adefunmi II.

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.oyotunji.org/
An Oral History of the West African Village That Has Been in South Carolina for Four Decades

Òyötùnjí Village: Making Africans in America - Anthropology Master's Thesis by Antionette B. Brown-Waithe

via

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

About Oyotunji African Village

Against the Odds, A 40-Year Old West African Village in South Carolina Has Thrived
African-American history of South Carolina Intentional communities in the United States Populated places in Beaufort County, South Carolina Religious organizations established in 1970 Yoruba-American history Yoruba culture Yoruba religion Populated places established by African Americans Populated places established in 1970 1970 establishments in South Carolina

References

Further reading

External links