BEN KINGSLEY: Despite generations of contact with other dominant religions, the Yoruba have managed to preserve, virtually intact, the traditional myths that have long organized their religious practices. The Yoruba people are one of the largest religious groups in west Africa, numbering some 15 million people. Although they inhabit much of Nigeria, the Yoruba also inhabit countries stretching from Benin to the Niger river. The Yoruba are not merely a tribe. They once were a flourishing civilization supported by farming and industry.

Yoruba religion is often associated with polytheism, but such an identification grossly misunderstands the nature of Yoruba religion as well as its myths, folklore, and rituals. The Yoruba religion does embrace a pantheon of divinities, but all these Gods are manifestations of one supreme deity.

Two revolutions directly and profoundly affected African culture and religion. The first revolution was a technological advance that made it possible to establish a slave trade in the Atlantic basin. The second revolution was an economic development that made the slave trade highly profitable. Some 10 million Africans were transported to the Americas over the next few centuries, and their traditional religions went with them.

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