Abstract
The purpose of this project is to study and translate recorded Yoruba chants and praise songs of Trinidad over the past 65 years. Because of the horrific conditions of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, almost all Orisha devotees have lost the meaning of the chants, and consequently, the emphasis is on the rituals. I seek to determine to what degree the chants sung in Trinidad have remained the same or changed and to what degree they have all departed from continental Yoruba. Acquiring the translations allows devotees to attain a philosophical understanding of the religion, and in doing so, this study aims at reconstructing and uplifting the Orisha religion of Trinidad.
Highlights
LIGION, A N D IN DOING SO, THIS STUDY A I M S AT RECONSTRUCTING A N D UPLIFTING
Most Trinidadians still have a colonized mentality and continue to devalue, ridicule, and demonize the Orisha religious movement. Their contempt for African-based religions does not diminish the joy and fulfillment Orisha devotees gain from their faith
With the exception of some of the sacred songs/chants that I sang, the collection of chants translated in this research included those recorded and sung by Ella Andall, a prominent Trinidadian Orisha devotee, i n her most recent CD, Shango Babawa
Summary
LIGION , A N D IN DOING SO, THIS STUDY A I M S AT RECONSTRUCTING A N D UPLIFTING. RELIGION OF TRINIDAD. I n Trinidad, the essence of Yoruba culture still exists, and Yoruba language has survived i n song, primarily because of the vitality of the Shango religion This collection of Orisha chants translated demonstrates the life experiences of African-Trinidadians, from the African continent, to the Middle Passage, the oppressive slave plantation, and the present communities of Trinidad. Most Trinidadians still have a colonized mentality and continue to devalue, ridicule, and demonize the Orisha religious movement Their contempt for African-based religions does not diminish the joy and fulfillment Orisha devotees gain from their faith. Orisha devotees remember the horrors of slavery through the chant of Ara romi 0, but they regain hope and assurance in songs like Babawa ye rona ye rona and Shango mu asefun wa. The beauty of the Orisha drums is that they elevate our being to higher states of consciousness where, through joy i n trance, we dance the dance of our an-
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