Indigeneity in African Religions: Oza Worldviews, Cosmologies and Religious Cultures

Based on religious ethnography, in-depth interviews and use of archival sources, Indigeneity in African Religions is the first book to explore the historical origins, worldviews, cosmologies, ritual practice and symbolism of the indigenous Oza people in south-western Nigeria. In the context of enormous social, cultural, political, economic and religious change, the book provides crucial empirical insight.

Engaging with methodological and theoretical questions that are relevant to the study of religion in Africa more broadly, Afe Adogame and Olusegun Lawani reveal the complexity of 'indigeneity' in the context of modern religious change in contemporary African milieus. The book contributes to the conceptual understanding of indigeneity, not as a static and stable signifier but as a highly dynamic and modern phenomenon.

Topics covered include oral narratives, myths, music, songs, and dances. The authors explore the names, functions and symbolism of deities, ancestors and spirits in Oza indigenous society, as well as the rites of passage, and evil, sorcery and witchcraft. The final chapter looks ahead and critically explores the future of Oza indigeneity in the face of modernity.

Afe Adogame is Maxwell M. Upson Professor of Christianity and Society at Princeton Theological Seminary, USA. He was previously Senior Lecturer and International Director at the School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh, UK. He is the author of The African Christian Diaspora (Bloomsbury Academic, 2013). He is Secretary General of the International Association for the History of Religion, and has previously been General Secretary of the African Association for the Study of Religion.

Olusegun Lawani is an independent researcher, Paris, France. He is trained as an ethnomusicologist, and has produced a number of visual productions, publications and concerts, including ＂When People Dance Ozah＂ (1991).