Songs of Praise and Invocation: The Orisha Sacred Songs of Trinidad

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.