All the various tribes of the Yoruba nation trace their origin from Oduduwa and the city Ile Ife. In fact Ile Ife is fabled as the spot where God created man, white and black, and from whence they dispersed all over the earth. We have seen in the previous chapter which are the principal tribes that sprang from Oduduwa's seven grandchildren, viz.: The Yorubas proper from Orañyan, the Benins, Ilas, Owus, Ketus, Sabes, and the Popos. Some of the other tribes were offshoots of one or other of these, as we shall see further on. Some authentic tradition will be given relative to the formation of some of them.

An important fact which must also be borne in mind is, that the country was not altogether unpeopled when Oduduwa and his party entered it from the East; the probability is, that the aboriginal inhabitants were conquered and absorbed, at least at the central if not at the remote provinces of the Yoruba kingdom.

In ancient patriarchal times, the king of a country was regarded as the father or progenitor of his people. This view will to some extent explain what would otherwise appear to be a marvellous (if not impossible) instance of fecundity in any one king, e.g., Orañyan peopling so vast a region as that attributed to him, in so short a time—the more warlike the king, the more extensive his dominion, and the more numerous, it would seem, his progeny.