tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-274975202009-12-05T18:41:31.039-05:00Commentary on African folktales and a companion blog to www.allfolktales.com.folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-50775473061488551632009-11-21T09:09:00.002-05:002009-11-21T09:35:25.328-05:00

Every now and then, I've had people write to ask how they can contribute stories. It would be wonderful to have as many people contribute new stories or their versions of popular tales. I am thinking (as time and other engagements allow) of how to make this easy and seamless. But in the meantime, I'm offering these options:Send me an email to omowunmi [at] allfolktales.com and I will post your

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-59589891688013381792009-03-18T22:25:00.004-04:002009-03-18T23:18:16.559-04:00

Today, I came across the subject of the Olmecs. The Olmecs were a people who lived in South Central Mexico from the 1400BC to 400BC. Apparently, there are some who believe that a large population of the Olmecs were of African origin, specifically, of West African origin. I did google searches and visited several pages but did not read anything that led credence to that claim. What piqued my

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-44393128467897870022009-03-05T21:54:00.002-05:002009-03-05T22:13:45.839-05:00

I set a goal to publish at least one book review per month and yet, February ended without any review. I intend to make it up. The good news is that the book is already picked, "Tales by Moonlight" by Nigerian Television Authority, so my review will follow shortly.In the meantime, here is one of the stories from the book about a man, his three sons and a precious cow. I was very amused by the

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-10923754152324951272009-02-24T20:42:00.003-05:002009-02-24T20:48:30.515-05:00

Long before lie detector tests were invented in the Western world, Africa had a similar but deadlier test. Let's call it a destructive truth test (DTT). Destructive, because if the test subject tested negative for truth, the test subject would be destroyed. No recourse, no appeal. The result of lying during a DTT was instant death.For an example of how this ancient science, DTT worked, read the

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-21387078168667968372009-02-02T21:09:00.005-05:002009-02-02T21:21:16.797-05:00

A Reviews section has been added to the site. I've started off with two reviews:Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears: A West African Tale by Verna Aadema, illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon Sikulu and Harambe by the Zambezi River: An African version of the Good Samaritan Story, by Kunle Ogunneye and illustrated by Bruce McCorkindaleSince I'm so busy - my perennial excuse for not updating this

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-57882109918164025052009-02-02T21:03:00.002-05:002009-02-02T21:09:46.092-05:00

Do you recall a folktale about a greedy boy, his sister and gourd seeds? Or one about a monster who traps a girl in a drum? A reader, Mary, is looking for some folktale volumes she had read as a kid. Here's her note and my response.Mary said: I learned to read from a series of collected fables African fables,Aesop's fables, etc. They were old rebound volumes in 1978. they were shortchildren's

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-70190299276801041512008-12-11T22:11:00.004-05:002009-09-17T20:21:00.024-04:00

A short 5 minute survey is up at surveymonkey to help provide some insight into reader's needs.I've wondered, ever since the first visitors trickled into allfolktales.com, "who visits my site?". Are they kids reading folktales for fun? Or are they reading for an assignment? Are they teachers? Are they parents? What are they really looking for when they stumble on this site?I've received hints

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-50486309205938022982008-12-09T00:11:00.004-05:002008-12-09T00:47:08.393-05:00

For months now, I've been thinking about where I want to take this site, what I want to do next. I'm having a hard time recalling more stories, so is that it? Does that signify the end of this project? "No no no." It can't end like this. Something in me rebels against that thought. But what to do? I don't know. Or, I didn't know.In the past few weeks, my thoughts are beginning to crystallize into

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-38671202245097825872008-08-28T20:45:00.004-04:002008-08-28T21:11:46.947-04:00

I am very excited to receive an email from a reader, Enitan. She (I'm assuming she) sent me an email with lyrics to the story of the three brothers and the pot of porridge and she says the name of the youngest brother, yeah, the culprit, is Tegbe. The song goes like this:`To ba se pe emi ni mo je koko arugbo (If I ate the koko yam)Ko'kun o gbe mi, (Let the ocean take me)K'Osa ko gba mi, (Let the

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-6577570859740872772008-07-15T18:28:00.003-04:002008-07-15T19:37:53.231-04:00

There's an African folktale that tells the tale of how all the stories in the world were lost, and then recovered. I can't recall this tale in detail but think one of the Magic Cellar episodes was based on it. Or maybe I read the story somewhere.Perhaps the story illustrates an actual event - one where the entire (village?) populace forgot their stories or history and needed a concerted effort to

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-41616885995238112672008-06-12T18:32:00.004-04:002008-06-12T19:00:23.430-04:00

Phetolo wrote to ask "May u pls send me the origin of the story about how the chimpanzees bottom got swollen and red."Well, this was one of the stories that I remembered just a small fragment of, but I clearly remember where I knew the story from. It was one of the stories that I learned from Alawiye (by J.F. Odunjo), the textbook that we used for Yoruba when I was in primary school. I can't

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-22029048950487547012008-04-29T22:44:00.004-04:002008-04-29T23:18:36.687-04:00

One of the earliest stories I posted is the story about how Dog hid his mother in the sky during a famine. There's a song that goes with that story and I can't remember why I left it out. I've now updated the story to include the song.Fela Anikulapo Kuti (late Nigerian Afrobeat musician) used it in one of his songs and you can listen to that clip on BBC. The story is narrated on that page, but it

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-71262346309682423822008-04-22T21:07:00.003-04:002008-04-22T21:23:26.268-04:00

The Aesop story of the Tortoise and the Hare is a very popular one and it teaches us that "Slow and steady wins the race". However, when I was growing up, there was another version that was also popular where Tortoise won by tricking Hare.I tried to come up with a short phrase/adage/wise words that perhaps explains the moral of this 'win by trickery' version (which I also think predates the

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-91463235717691192422008-04-13T15:55:00.003-04:002008-04-13T16:11:22.765-04:00

I was told the story of why mosquitos buzz in people's ears over a year ago but I didn't want to post it until I read the book that goes by the same title (by Verna Aardema). After all, I didn't want to be accused of plagiarism in case the stories were the same. Well, how could they be the same? I ordered the book and read it and it's a very interesting story but completely different from my mine

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-24586205182335140862008-03-30T21:43:00.006-04:002008-03-30T22:13:48.131-04:00

Sikulu the spider and Harambe the hippo are two characters developed by Kunle Oguneye. The first book in the series, Sikulu and Harambe by the Zambezi river: An African version of the Good Samaritan Story should be published in July 2008.Now, I haven't read the story, but I'm already won over by the cover illustration. I hope it is representative of illustrations throughout the book. One of the

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-46349271838050331262008-03-30T20:31:00.006-04:002008-03-30T21:41:56.326-04:00

It took about 5 months for me to quit feeling guilty about not even trying to post a new story or say something on the blog. Initially, I blamed the site inactivity on various things - laptop crashed and I replaced it with a desktop instead of another laptop, then I moved to a new city, have a new 'busier' job and now a new baby. When SOLOMONSYDELLE said "Haba, update nah!", I was long gone. And

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-72541130488706098572007-06-21T19:51:00.000-04:002007-06-21T20:25:54.656-04:00

I posted a new story last night - The tortoise and the igbako. In line with other tortoise stories, the tortoise gets greedy and is subsequently punished. But I feel the punishment is unfair in this case since the tortoise was trying to feed every animal during a famine - an admirable act even if his goal was self-aggrandisement. The water goddess who supplied the magic igbako didn't give a

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-36558426465386779072007-06-20T17:07:00.000-04:002007-06-20T17:23:51.500-04:00

I've been away from allfolktales.com for 2 months now. And even before that there was a dwindling down of activity. Well, moving did take more energy than I expected but I'm way past that. Already settled into the new job and new environment for some time now...but yet I found it difficult to work up the energy will to post a new story or comment. It wasn't for lack of energy or lack of time,

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-12848160112561082442007-04-19T19:03:00.000-04:002007-04-19T19:08:02.969-04:00

I've been away from this website for a long while now but for a good reason. I have been very busy rounding up at work, packing, getting ready to move to a new city and a new job. Exciting. But stressful.So before I pack my computer in a box, I thought I should explain why I have been silent...especially since a few people have posted comments on the blog. I'll be responding to those (and

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-54878827159657082992007-03-19T06:23:00.000-04:002007-03-19T12:09:36.510-04:00

I am trying to catch up on writing folktales I have been told and have just posted two new ones. The first is about Olomuroro and the second about a woman who stole the aroma from her neighbor's soup.Olomuroro is a Yoruba word that literally translates into 'one with droopy breasts' but I have no idea what that has to do with the story. Olomuroro is a monster who stole a boys meals while the boy

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-92111751443143711562007-03-05T19:26:00.000-05:002007-03-05T19:56:52.454-05:00

The creation myth of the Yoruba people is one of the earliest stories I posted to this website as it was one of those I 'remembered'. I always loved the story - the climbing down from heaven on a rope, the chicken (or lizard or chameleon - I have probably heard versions with these) spreading the earth which was contained in a calabash and especially one of the creators (Orunmila) getting drunk on

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-9923659412700918552007-03-04T13:06:00.000-05:002007-03-04T17:02:54.567-05:00

The first two stories were posted on allfolktales.com on February 13, 2006 and twenty-two other stories have followed. So it’s been one fun year of allfolktales.com and time to look back at the year.The BeginningI wanted to share folktales I heard while I was growing up with my daughter. I planned to buy folktale books during a trip to Nigeria in 2005 but did not find any. Don't get me wrong,

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-3342748116878413492007-02-04T12:29:00.000-05:002007-02-04T12:32:11.649-05:00

Every fairytale lover is only too familiar with the big bad wolf. I had never come across this character in West African folklore though…at least, not until recently when I was told two separate stories by two separate people that involved ‘creatures’ which swallowed people who were later rescued by being cut out of the ‘creatures’ stomach.Here is the first of those stories – the monster who had

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-12675248904495018332007-02-04T12:16:00.000-05:002007-02-04T12:18:56.318-05:00

Happy New Year everybody! It’s already February and I am just making the first update in 2007 to this site. After my bunch of excuses for slow/irregular updates late last year and promises of many new stories to post, that seems pretty lame. I apologize. The new year is a time of reflection and reprioritization, and that’s what I did. The result? Updating allfolktales.com dropped several

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-66188667909481010772006-12-20T16:20:00.000-05:002007-02-28T19:47:45.303-05:00

Recovered somewhat from the computer crash and enjoying the holiday season with family visiting.I was told the story of the farmer, his wife and their son…their son who wanted to be a hunter to the parents dismay. Then I was asked what the moral of the story was and before I had a chance to think about it, I was told “let your children be what they want to be”.As I write this, there are three

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com0