Oyotunji
Oyotunji African Village is a village located near Sheldon, Beaufort County, South Carolina that was founded by Oba Efuntola Oseijeman Adelabu Adefunmi I in 1970.
Oyotunji Village covers 27 miles. During the 1970s, the era of greatest population growth at the village, the number of inhabitants grew from 5 to between 200 and 250. (Goldstein, Hunt, and McCray) 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, but was eventually settled into its current position after disputes with neighbors in Sheldon proper over drumming and tourists.
References
- Capone, Stefania. Les Yoruba du Nouveau Monde: religion, ethnicité et nationalisme noir aux Etats-Unis. Karthala, 2005.
- Clarke, Kamari. Mapping Yorùbá Networks. Power and Agency in the Making of Transnational Communities. Duke University Press, 2004
- Davis, Rod. American Voudou: Journey into a Hidden World. Denton: University of North Texas, 1998.
- Goldstein, Joshua. “A King in South Carolina.” The New Republic, 27 May 1978, 18.
- Hunt, C.M. (1977), 'Oyotunji Village: Yoruba Movement in America.', PhD Dissertation, West Virginia University.
- Hunt, Carl M. Oyotunji African Village: The Yoruba Movement in America. Washington, D.C.: University Press of America, 1979.
- LeFever, Harry G. “Leaving the United States: The Black Nationalist Themes of Orisha-Vodu.” Journal of Black Studies 31, no. 2 (2000): 175-195.
- McCray, Kenja. "Black Gods, Black Power: Life at Oyotunji Village, 1970-1990." M.A. Thesis, Clark Atlanta University, 2002.
- Yemi D. Ogunyemi (Yemi D. Prince)Oyotunji African Kingdom: "Literatures of the African Diaspora,"2004.