The Yoruba Frontier A Regional History of Community Formation, Experience, and Changes in West Africa
By: Aribidesi Usman
ISBN: 9781594603846
$35.00
Local frontier zones were widespread in pre-colonial Africa, owing to readily available land and a low-density, scattered population. One of these frontier zones is the northern Yoruba region. The dynamic historical experiences of the Yoruba frontier communities from the past to the present urgently need to be documented in the light of recent anthropological and historical interpretations. First, the sociopolitical transformations in the politically and militarily powerful neighboring polities such as Ife, Oyo, Benin, and Nupe inevitably spilled over to the frontier zone. How did these frontier communities respond to these external intrusions and what were the repercussions for their socio-political institutions? What can we learn about the nature of warfare, slave raiding, diplomacy, ethnic interactions, and European activities in North Central Nigeria? Second, as frontier issues have become a crucial key to understanding the predicaments of culture groups in the 21st century, this book addresses the relationship between the frontier experience and the complicated problem of ethnic definition in the region today.