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First Tale In the beginning there was nothing on the earth but the great rivers. Olorun the Sky God lowered a chain down to rivers and instructed his son Oduduwa to climb down and give life to the earth. With him Oduduwa brought a special five-toed chicken, a palm nut, and a handful of dirt. Oduduwa piled the dirt carefully over the waters and set the chicken down. The chicken scratched and clawed and slowly the dirt spread over the waters and created the first dry land on our earth. After the dry land was created, Oduduwa created the magnificent kingdom of Ife and ruled over all of Yoruba. In time, as Oduduwa's 16 sons and grandsons grew, he crowned them and sent them out into the world to establish their own Yoruba kingdoms. After this was done Oduduwa planted the palm nut that he had brought with him when he left his father Olorun. The nut grew into a beautiful tree with 16 branches to represent the 16 sons and grandsons. These men were divine rulers, and were the only people allowed to wear the sacred veiled crowns of the kings. |