The Kingdom of Oyotunji African Village covers 27 acres and has, well, we don't know exactly how many citizens (5 to 9 families in the last ten years, according to one tipster). It seems uncrowded.
It was founded in 1970 by King (Oba) Ofuntola Oseijeman Adelabu Adefunmi I, a former used car dealer who, some say, was running from the law. Whatever else he may have been, King Oba was smart enough to see the tax benefits of starting not only his own religion ("New World Yoruba") but also his own country.
Oyotunji is not part of the United States, at least according to King Oba's accountants. It moved to its present site near Sheldon because its old neighbors complained about the tourists and the drumming.
Oyotunji literature pictures its happy residents strutting about in colorful, flowing robes, dancing and playing fanciful percussive instruments. In real life the people of Oyotunji dress like any other small-town South Carolinans. Except, of course, that this "town" was built in the middle of a forest, has dirt instead of streets, bizarre, crumbling concrete monuments, and a "royal palace" that looks like a bargain basement V.F.W. hall. In one corner of the palace courtyard lies the mausoleum of Orisamola Awolowo, one of the founding fathers of Oyotunji, who died in 1990.
A sign outside, painted on a piece of 4x8 plywood, beckons visitors to venture down the "Safari Road" to visit the Village "as seen on TV." The King has been on Oprah, defending his right to practice polygamy (at one point he had six wives).
Some consider a visit to Oyotunji a spiritual experience. For the less spiritually inclined, this sandy, marshy, bug-infested conglomeration of tumble-down shacks and crumbling concrete sculptures testifies to the American right to believe in whatever you want (even if you no longer consider yourself an American).
We give the people of Oyotunji credit for still being around, particularly in light of the rise and fall of the Nuwaubian Pyramids -- another grand exercise in African-American nation-building -- next door in Georgia.
August 2006: Adesoye Adeyini wrote to us: "His Royal Highness, Oba Adefunmi I (iba ara torun,
roughly translated as 'rest in peace') joined the ancestors on February 11,
2005. In
Yoruba culture,
the king is not announced as dead, but as having 'gone up the ceiling' (Oba wo
aja)".
"It is important to note that the Oba was the first African-American to ever be initiated into the priesthood and initiation cult of any African traditional religion. Furthermore, he did not start his own religion and there is no separation between Yoruba culture and religion...the religion is one part of the whole culture. Religion, arts, philosophy, etc. are all things that create culture."
