Gender relations and social grading system in pre-colonial Akoko: Isua Akoko example.

Akoko is a Yoruba subgroup in south-western Nigeria, where people from different origins are found in clusters of autonomous communities. A common identity of Akoko is heterogeneity of its cultures. This heterogeneity is more profound in its social practices, such that there is fundamental departure from general Yoruba tradition. Drawing evidence from Akoko's social relations, this paper discusses peculiarity of social grading system in pre-colonial Isua Akoko (an Akoko community). Like many communities in this sub-group, the history of origin of Isua is shrouded in migrations and connections from different directions such as Edo and Yoruba. This diversity makes the history interesting to gender, particularly the cultural fluidity in its social grading system. The grading was crucial to Isua's identity. This paper argues that social grouping cannot be homogenised between the two sexes: while males were grouped through age, females were categorised with the parameters of marriage and procreation. However, these trajectories of female grouping created a vacuum of uncelebrated women: the infertile and childless that did not have progeny. Inculcating these women in social grouping makes this research germane. With focus on Isua, the paper advances existing scholarship by discussing intersections that knit gender and micro history. The paper is approached from historical perspective with the methodology of narration and critical analysis of data. Theory of African womanism is used to interpret gender narratives in the sources and analyse data. This study concludes that social grading in Isua reflects gendering unique to its history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]