Oyotunji in the News

He was not yet born when the unusual Kingdom was founded in 1971, But, 35 year-old Oba Adegbolu Adefunmi II is currently the Oloyotunji of Oyotunji a Yoruba village in South Carolina.
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Drums echo from the forest. Wood smoke curls upward from thatch-roofed huts. In the road chickens scratch the dry earth, and alongside the road a voodoo god watches over the village.
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A peacock’s piercing whine echoes faintly behind pounding drumbeats as a dozen African villagers dance in a circle and call forth their Yoruban ancestors. read more.....

The hollow rhythm of conga drums vibrate through the as a host of Yoruban villagers wait before a cluster of huts they have built from wood and tar paper.read more....

"As the reigning Oba in Oyotunji, USA, I found it necessary to come to my cradle and unite with my kinsmen." My tribal marks make me a true Yoruba. Read more...

"We came in the middle of the night," Adaramola said. "The road was not as wide as it is now, and the trees hung over the road and met in the middle. I thought to myself, 'I'll be leaving in the morning.' When I woke up the next morning, it was so beautiful and peaceful. I didn't leave." Read more...

If you have ever wanted to visit Africa but don't like to fly then stop in and visit the Oyotunji African Village in Sheldon. Read more...

I'd been ding a recce in South Carolina, and was on my way to florida to film in Palm Beach, that most frivolous pf party towns, I'd heard rumors that in Beaufort a couple of hours from the grandeur of confederate Charlston, a commune of African Americans had created a yoruba village. Read more...

Oba Adefunmi II, shaded with an umbrella and walking with an elaborately beaded cane, sits on a black chair. He leans his head back and relaxes his hand on the colorful cane as Apena stops singing. Read more...

Sheldon,SC -- On a desolate stretch of dirt road, the staccato beat a talking drum echoes through the forest of majestic oak trees. Read more...

the oyotunji's are very polite, despite my misconceptions about their authentic African village. i was lucky enough to be an honored guest at a termed, "meet and greet". Read more...

Pass through the gates and enter the Kingdom of Oyotunji, Nigeria. Capital of the Yoruba people of the Western Hemisphere. Read more...

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was 1973. The O'Jays were rocking some "Love Train," the last soldier had just left Vietnam, and Carlton Jackson, Jr. was feeling disillusioned. He was working at IBM and studying anthropology at the University of California Berkeley when sometime around Easter he picked up a copy of Jet magazine. read more...

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