SEPTEMBER 2026 NEWSLETTER

PRESERVING OUR LANGUAGE • PROTECTING OUR HERITAGE • EDUCATING OUR FUTURE

“Forward Ever, Backward Never.”

WE ARE IN BENIN

---

FROM THE FOUNDER & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

A NEW MONTH, A CONTINUING MISSION

September is another opportunity for us to look forward while remembering where we came from.

At Ẹdomaye Legacy Foundation, our work is built on a simple conviction: a people cannot confidently build their future if they allow their language, history, traditions and ancestral knowledge to disappear.

Our responsibility is therefore not simply to talk about our heritage. It is to document it, teach it, preserve it and make it accessible to the next generation.

The Ẹdomaye platform continues to bring together language education, cultural documentation, historical storytelling and digital learning. Our work covers the Ẹdo language, Benin history, traditional knowledge, proverbs, numerals, music, festivals, arts and other dimensions of our cultural inheritance.

This September, we renew our commitment to that mission.

We invite parents to speak Ẹdo with their children.

We invite young people to learn the language of their ancestors.

We invite teachers to bring indigenous knowledge into education.

We invite researchers to examine our traditions carefully and responsibly.

And we invite Ẹdo people everywhere to become custodians—not merely consumers—of our heritage.

Our heritage belongs to the generations before us, to us, and to those yet unborn.

Forward ever, backward never.

OTO THE WRITER
Founder & Executive Director
Ẹdomaye Legacy Foundation

---

1. THE ẸDOMAYE MISSION

Ẹdomaye Legacy Foundation exists to help preserve and promote the heritage of the Benin Kingdom and the wider cultural and linguistic heritage represented through our work.

Our programme areas include:

LANGUAGE

Preserving, teaching and promoting the Ẹdo language through lessons, vocabulary, numerals, pronunciation, greetings, proverbs and educational materials.

HISTORY

Documenting and presenting the history of the Great Benin Kingdom through accessible educational resources.

CULTURAL HERITAGE

Recording traditions, festivals, music, arts, oral history and indigenous knowledge.

EDUCATION

Developing resources for children, teachers, families, researchers and heritage learners.

DIGITAL PRESERVATION

Using websites, social media, digital publications and online learning to take Ẹdo heritage to a global audience.

The Foundation’s public mission is centred on bringing the heritage and rich culture of the Benin Kingdom to wider audiences.

---

2. LANGUAGE IS HERITAGE

If the language disappears, part of the memory disappears with it.

One of Ẹdomaye’s strongest areas of work is the preservation and teaching of the Ẹdo language.

Language carries much more than words.

It carries:

• family relationships;
• ancestral knowledge;
• traditional greetings;
• values;
• proverbs;
• history;
• humour;
• worldview;
• identity;
• ceremonies; and
• the accumulated wisdom of generations.

That is why learning Ẹdo is not simply learning another language.

It is reconnecting with a cultural inheritance.

Ẹdomaye continues to develop learning materials covering Ẹdo vocabulary, numerals, alphabetic and orthographic work, proverbs, expressions and practical communication.

---

3. OUR ANCESTRAL GREETINGS PROJECT

One of the areas receiving particular attention is the documentation and study of Ẹdo ancestral greetings and family greeting traditions.

Greetings are not merely polite expressions.

They can reveal:

• age relationships;
• family structure;
• respect;
• social position;
• gendered forms of interaction;
• ceremonial expectations; and
• relationships between generations.

Ẹdomaye’s objective is to document such traditions carefully rather than allowing important oral knowledge to disappear.

Where questions of origin, meaning or historical development arise, the Foundation’s position is that such matters should be subjected to careful linguistic, oral-historical and scholarly examination.

We preserve first. We investigate deeply. We teach responsibly.

---

4. THE GREAT BENIN KINGDOM

A civilization worthy of serious study

The history of the Benin Kingdom is one of the central pillars of Ẹdomaye’s educational work.

Our publications and learning resources address subjects including:

• the origins and development of the Benin Kingdom;
• the Ogiso period;
• the rise of the Oba system;
• Benin political organization;
• royal institutions;
• Benin art;
• the Benin Bronzes;
• traditional festivals;
• music and dance;
• indigenous knowledge; and
• the continuing cultural legacy of Benin.

Ẹdomaye’s existing educational catalogue includes resources on the Ogiso Dynasty, the rise of the Oba system, the origin of the Benin Kingdom and Benin art.

The purpose is not simply to celebrate the past.

It is to understand it.

---

5. FEATURE: THE GREAT BENIN EARTHWORKS — IYA

Africa’s Forgotten Monumental Heritage

The Great Benin Earthworks—known in the Ẹdomaye research programme as IYA—represent one of the most important subjects in our continuing heritage documentation.

The earthworks raise fundamental questions about:

• landscape engineering;
• settlement organization;
• defence;
• labour organization;
• environmental management;
• political authority;
• indigenous engineering knowledge; and
• the historical geography of Benin.

Ẹdomaye’s continuing work seeks to bring this subject into public educational discussion and encourage deeper documentation and research.

OUR POSITION

The story of Africa must not be told only through the records left by outsiders.

African landscapes, oral traditions, archaeological evidence, indigenous knowledge and local historical memory all deserve serious consideration.

IYA is not merely an earthwork. It is a question of memory, engineering, civilization and historical recognition.

---

6. THE BENIN BRONZES

The Benin Bronzes are among the world’s best-known examples of African court art and historical craftsmanship.

They are also historical records.

Through plaques, commemorative heads and other works, Benin artists recorded aspects of royal authority, court life, ceremonies, lineage and political history.

The 1897 British Punitive Expedition resulted in the looting and dispersal of thousands of objects from Benin, creating an enduring international debate over restitution and cultural justice. Ẹdomaye’s educational material addresses both the artistic significance of the bronzes and the continuing restitution discussion.

For Ẹdomaye:

Cultural heritage is not dead property. It is memory.

---

7. ẸDOMAYE DIGITAL ACADEMY

BUILDING THE FUTURE OF ẸDO LANGUAGE AND HERITAGE EDUCATION

The future of indigenous-language education must include digital technology.

The Ẹdomaye Digital Academy is part of this vision.

Our goal is to create accessible learning opportunities through:

• online lessons;
• language materials;
• audio learning;
• cultural education;
• digital publications;
• heritage storytelling;
• structured courses; and
• educational media.

The Ẹdomaye website already presents language learning and heritage education as core elements of its platform.

The objective is straightforward:

Take Ẹdo language and Benin heritage into the digital age without losing their cultural identity.

---

8. TEACHING THE NEXT GENERATION

OUR CHILDREN MUST KNOW WHO THEY ARE

A language survives when children use it.

A tradition survives when children understand it.

A culture survives when children inherit it with knowledge rather than embarrassment.

Parents can begin at home.

START SMALL:

One Ẹdo word a day.

One Ẹdo greeting every morning.

One proverb every week.

One family story every weekend.

One traditional song.

One historical lesson.

Small actions repeated consistently can produce a generation that understands its heritage.

Ẹdomaye’s educational resources specifically address the challenge of raising Ẹdo-speaking children, including the role of home routines, storytelling, cultural activities and digital tools.

---

9. EDO NUMERALS AND LANGUAGE LEARNING

Language learning must include more than greetings and isolated vocabulary.

Ẹdomaye is developing educational materials covering the Ẹdo counting system and practical numerical usage.

Numbers are part of everyday communication:

• counting;
• buying and selling;
• telling time;
• teaching children;
• describing quantities;
• traditional activities; and
• cultural expressions.

Our Edo numbers resource presents the counting system together with pronunciation, number formation and practical exercises.

LANGUAGE LEARNING CHALLENGE

This September, learn your Ẹdo numbers.

Learn them. Say them. Write them. Teach them.

---

10. PROVERBS: THE VOICE OF ANCESTRAL WISDOM

An Ẹdo proverb can carry an entire lesson in a few words.

Proverbs preserve:

• ethics;
• social values;
• wisdom;
• humour;
• discipline;
• cooperation;
• respect;
• responsibility; and
• community knowledge.

Ẹdomaye’s work on Ẹdo proverbs treats them as important vehicles for cultural knowledge and moral education.

THIS MONTH’S MESSAGE:

Do not allow ancestral wisdom to remain locked in the memories of the elderly.

Ask.

Record.

Translate carefully.

Teach.

Preserve.

---

11. MUSIC, DRUMS AND DANCE

Culture is not only written.

It is also heard, seen and performed.

Ẹdo music, drums and dance transmit history, ceremony, identity and community values.

Traditional instruments and performance traditions form part of this cultural inheritance, while contemporary Ẹdo musicians continue to adapt traditional influences to modern forms.

Ẹdomaye therefore recognizes cultural preservation as a living process.

We preserve tradition while allowing responsible creativity.

---

12. RESEARCH, DOCUMENTATION AND ACADEMIC ENGAGEMENT

Ẹdomaye believes that cultural preservation becomes stronger when community knowledge and academic research work together.

Our long-term direction includes engagement with:

• linguists;
• historians;
• anthropologists;
• archaeologists;
• educators;
• traditional knowledge holders;
• cultural institutions;
• schools;
• universities; and
• members of the Ẹdo diaspora.

The Foundation welcomes responsible scholarly examination of questions concerning Ẹdo language, history and heritage.

OUR PRINCIPLE:

CLAIMS MUST BE DOCUMENTED.

TRADITIONS MUST BE RESPECTED.

EVIDENCE MUST BE EXAMINED.

KNOWLEDGE MUST BE PRESERVED.

---

13. SEPTEMBER COMMUNITY CALL

Ẹdomaye Legacy Foundation invites members of the public to participate in heritage preservation.

If you possess:

• old Ẹdo words;
• family expressions;
• ancestral greetings;
• oral histories;
• traditional songs;
• photographs;
• historical documents;
• family stories;
• traditional knowledge; or
• information about important cultural sites,

do not assume that someone else has already preserved it.

The knowledge in your family may be lost if nobody records it.

DOCUMENT YOUR HERITAGE.

TEACH YOUR CHILDREN.

SHARE RESPONSIBLY.

PRESERVE FOR THE FUTURE.

---

14. SEPTEMBER’S FIVE HERITAGE ACTIONS

1. SPEAK

Use Ẹdo at home.

2. LEARN

Study at least one new Ẹdo word every day.

3. RECORD

Write down an oral tradition from an elder.

4. TEACH

Pass one piece of cultural knowledge to a child.

5. SHARE

Help another person discover Ẹdo language and Benin heritage.

---

15. ẸDOMAYE ONLINE

The Ẹdomaye digital platform continues to provide access to language and heritage resources, including educational publications covering Edo language, numerals, proverbs, history, festivals, music and Benin heritage.

VISIT:

ẸDOMAYE.COM

Explore.

Learn.

Read.

Teach.

Share.

Preserve.

---

16. OUR SEPTEMBER MESSAGE

We do not preserve heritage because we are trapped in the past.

We preserve heritage because the future needs a foundation.

We do not teach Ẹdo merely because it is an old language.

We teach it because it remains a carrier of identity, memory and knowledge.

We do not study Benin history merely to boast.

We study it because every generation deserves the opportunity to understand its own historical inheritance.

And we do not preserve culture for ourselves alone.

WE PRESERVE FOR THOSE YET UNBORN.

---

17. THE ẸDOMAYE PLEDGE

I WILL LEARN.

I WILL TEACH.

I WILL DOCUMENT.

I WILL PRESERVE.

I WILL PASS IT ON.

Ẹdo language.

Benin history.

Our heritage.

Our responsibility.

---

18. FINAL WORD FROM THE FOUNDATION

The work of cultural preservation is rarely completed in one year, one book, one lesson or one generation.

It is a relay.

Our ancestors carried the knowledge.

Our parents carried some of it forward.

Now the responsibility is ours.

And tomorrow, it will belong to our children.

Let us therefore carry the heritage forward—not as a burden, but as a responsibility and a source of knowledge.

ẸDOMAYE LEGACY FOUNDATION

PRESERVING OUR LANGUAGE.

PROTECTING OUR HERITAGE.

EDUCATING OUR FUTURE.

FORWARD EVER, BACKWARD NEVER.

WE ARE IN BENIN.

---

CONTACT ẸDOMAYE LEGACY FOUNDATION

Website: Ẹdomaye.com
Email: edomayelegacyproject@gmail.com
Phone: +234 806 071 4525

Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria

ẸDOMAYE LEGACY FOUNDATION

Preserving the Spirit. Restoring the Glory. Inspiring the Future.