target tradition
comment: The Afro-Atlantic tradition this movement seeks to reclaim or revitalize. Range: iroko:TraditionScheme concept.
minimum access level: access-public-unrestricted
range: Concept
domain: Reclamation Movement
type: ObjectProperty

grounded in
comment: The heritage relationship assertion that grounds this return event or reclamation movement. A TransAfroAtlanticReturn or ReclamationMovement is typically predicated on a claimed relationship between an Afro-Atlantic tradition and an African source tradition; this property links the event or movement to that formal assertion. The heritage claim may be widely attested, lineage-specific, or contested — the property records the claim without adjudicating it.
range: Heritage Relationship
type: ObjectProperty
minimum access level: access-public-unrestricted
domain: Class
  union of: Trans-Afro-Atlantic Return
  union of: Reclamation Movement

Reclamation Movement Types
has top concept: Other
preferred label: Tipos de movimento de reclamação @pt
has top concept: Tradition reconstruction
type: ConceptScheme
has top concept: Decolonization
has top concept: Validation-seeking
preferred label: Types de mouvement de réclamation @fr
has top concept: Re-Africanization
has top concept: Heritage tourism / pilgrimage
preferred label: Àwọn ìrú ìgbiyànjú ìpadàbọ̀ @yo
has top concept: Repatriation
preferred label: Tipos de movimiento de reclamación @es
has top concept: Purification / orthodoxy movement

Repatriation
in scheme: Reclamation Movement Types
type: Concept
definition: Physical return of Afro-Atlantic people to African source communities, creating new hybrid communities and exchanges. Examples: Brazilian returnee (aguda/tabom) communities in West Africa who brought Afro-Atlantic Candomblé elements back to Benin and Nigeria.

Validation-seeking
in scheme: Reclamation Movement Types
definition: Efforts by Afro-Atlantic practitioners to obtain formal recognition, initiation, or endorsement from African source communities or their representatives. May involve travel, correspondence, or receiving African elders in Afro-Atlantic contexts.
type: Concept

Afro-Atlantic tradition
minimum access level: access-public-unrestricted
range: Concept
type: ObjectProperty
comment: The Afro-Atlantic side of the claimed heritage relationship. Range: iroko:TraditionScheme concept.
domain: Heritage Relationship

Historical influence
type: Concept
definition: The African tradition influenced the Afro-Atlantic tradition without a direct descent relationship. Elements were adopted or adapted.
in scheme: Heritage Relationship Types

return date
type: DatatypeProperty
minimum access level: access-public-unrestricted
domain: Trans-Afro-Atlantic Return
range: date

Claimed but contested
in scheme: Heritage Relationship Types
type: Concept
definition: The Afro-Atlantic tradition claims a relationship to the African source, but this claim is disputed by scholars, the African community, or other Afro-Atlantic communities.

evidentiary sources
comment: The documentary, scholarly, or oral sources used as the basis for reconstruction. Range: iroko:DocumentaryEvidence.
range: DocumentaryEvidence
minimum access level: access-public-unrestricted
type: ObjectProperty
domain: Reconstructed Practice

Reconstructed Practice
comment: A religious practice or tradition that has been assembled or restored from documentary sources, scholarly research, or cross-tradition synthesis rather than direct lineage transmission. Examples: reconstructed Yorùbá practice in communities without living initiatory lineage; synthesis traditions drawing on Farrow, Bascom, or Verger ethnographic documentation; Neo-African traditions developed from scholarly sources in North America or Europe. The reconstruction method and its evidentiary basis are the core data here; the framework makes no judgment about the resulting practice's validity.
type: Class
subclass of: SacredEntity

Rejected
type: Concept
definition: Source tradition authorities have formally rejected or declined to recognize this practice or community.
in scheme: Recognition Status

Heritage Relationship Types
preferred label: Tipos de relación patrimonial @es
has top concept: Direct descent (widely attested)
has top concept: Reconstructed / claimed
preferred label: Tipos de relação patrimonial @pt
has top concept: Other
has top concept: Parallel development from shared source
has top concept: Historical influence
preferred label: Types de relation patrimoniale @fr
preferred label: Àwọn ìrú ìbátan àṣà ìní @yo
type: ConceptScheme
has top concept: Claimed but contested

community recognition status
domain: Reconstructed Practice
minimum access level: access-public-unrestricted
range: Concept
comment: Whether and how this reconstructed practice has been recognized by source tradition communities. Range: iroko:RecognitionStatusScheme.
type: ObjectProperty

Published ethnographic sources
definition: Reconstruction based primarily on published ethnographic literature (Bascom, Farrow, Verger, Cabrera, Herskovits, etc.).
in scheme: Reconstruction Methods
type: Concept

Re-Africanization
type: Concept
preferred label: Ré-africanisation @fr
in scheme: Reclamation Movement Types
definition: Efforts to restore African elements to Afro-Atlantic traditions that have been transformed by colonialism, syncretism, or assimilation. Exemplified by the Candomblé re-Africanization movement in Bahia and the movement to remove Catholic saint imagery from Lucumí/Ocha practice.
preferred label: Re-africanización @es

Direct descent (widely attested)
type: Concept
in scheme: Heritage Relationship Types
definition: The Afro-Atlantic tradition descends directly from the African source tradition through documented enslaved practitioner transmission. Widely recognized by scholars and both communities.

Recognition Status
has top concept: Formally recognized
preferred label: Estado de reconocimiento @es
has top concept: Informally recognized
preferred label: Ipò ìdásílẹ̀ @yo
has top concept: Not sought
preferred label: Statut de reconnaissance @fr
preferred label: Status de reconhecimento @pt
has top concept: Disputed
type: ConceptScheme
has top concept: Rejected
has top concept: Pending

Consultation / divination
definition: Afro-Atlantic practitioner receives divination or consultation from African authority figures.
type: Concept
in scheme: Trans-Afro-Atlantic Return Types

movement name
minimum access level: access-public-unrestricted
domain: Reclamation Movement
comment: The name or designation of this reclamation or revitalization movement. Language-tagged.
range: langString
type: DatatypeProperty

Trans-Afro-Atlantic Return Types
preferred label: Tipos de retorno diaspórico @es
type: ConceptScheme
has top concept: Protocol / knowledge exchange
preferred label: Types de retour diasporique @fr
has top concept: Research / ethnographic
preferred label: Àwọn ìrú ìpadàbọ̀ ará ìjìnlẹ̀ ayé @yo
has top concept: Other
has top concept: Ceremony participation
has top concept: African initiation
has top concept: Consultation / divination

Informally recognized
definition: Recognition exists through interpersonal relationships and mutual respect without formal institutional endorsement.
in scheme: Recognition Status
type: Concept

reconstruction method
comment: The primary method used to reconstruct this practice. Range: iroko:ReconstructionMethodScheme.
domain: Reconstructed Practice
minimum access level: access-public-unrestricted
type: ObjectProperty
range: Concept

Parallel development from shared source
in scheme: Heritage Relationship Types
type: Concept
definition: The Afro-Atlantic and African traditions share a common ancestor but developed in parallel rather than one descending from the other.

Reconstructed / claimed
definition: The relationship is based on reconstruction from historical evidence rather than surviving living transmission.
in scheme: Heritage Relationship Types
type: Concept

Decolonization
preferred label: Décolonisation @fr
type: Concept
in scheme: Reclamation Movement Types
definition: Specifically framed efforts to identify and remove colonial impositions (Catholic syncretism, colonial-era secrecy requirements, European naming conventions) from a Afro-Atlantic tradition. Overlaps with re-Africanization but emphasizes the political critique of colonialism.
preferred label: Descolonización @es

host community
range: House
domain: Trans-Afro-Atlantic Return
comment: The African community or institution receiving the Afro-Atlantic visitors. Range: iroko:House.
minimum access level: access-public-unrestricted
type: ObjectProperty

contestation notes
range: langString
comment: How this return has been evaluated or contested within the broader tradition community.
type: DatatypeProperty
minimum access level: access-public-unrestricted
domain: Trans-Afro-Atlantic Return

contestation notes
minimum access level: access-public-unrestricted
domain: Reclamation Movement
range: langString
comment: Notes on how this movement has been received, resisted, or debated within and outside the tradition community.
type: DatatypeProperty

Purification / orthodoxy movement
type: Concept
in scheme: Reclamation Movement Types
definition: Efforts within a tradition community to establish or enforce a more 'authentic' or 'pure' practice, often by marginalizing innovations perceived as non-traditional. May be conservative (defending existing Afro-Atlantic practice) or reformist (seeking African models).

Tradition reconstruction
definition: Efforts to create or restore a practice from documentary, archaeological, or cross-tradition scholarly sources where direct lineage transmission has been lost.
type: Concept
in scheme: Reclamation Movement Types

movement outcome
minimum access level: access-public-unrestricted
range: Concept
comment: The documented or ongoing result of this movement. Range: iroko:MovementOutcomeScheme.
type: ObjectProperty
domain: Reclamation Movement

return outcome
type: DatatypeProperty
range: langString
comment: The documented result of this return: mutual recognition, initiation, rejection, or ongoing relationship. Free-text.
minimum access level: access-public-unrestricted
domain: Trans-Afro-Atlantic Return

Heritage tourism / pilgrimage
definition: Organized or individual Afro-Atlantic visits to African source sites for spiritual, cultural, or commemorative purposes. Distinguished from TransAfroAtlanticReturn in being primarily observational rather than initiatory.
in scheme: Reclamation Movement Types
type: Concept

Trans-Afro-Atlantic Return
subclass of: SacredEntity
type: Class
comment: A documented instance of a Afro-Atlantic practitioner or community making contact with, seeking validation from, or receiving initiation within an African source community. Examples: Cuban Babalawos traveling to Yorùbáland for Ifá validation; Haitian Vodouisants conducting ceremonies in Benin at Ouidah; Candomblé priests initiating in West Africa. A Trans-Afro-Atlantic return may be documented as an event, a relationship, or a formal protocol exchange. The outcomes of such encounters — including mutual recognition or rejection — should be documented without taking sides.

return type
domain: Trans-Afro-Atlantic Return
comment: The nature of the return encounter. Range: iroko:ReturnTypeScheme.
minimum access level: access-public-unrestricted
range: Concept
type: ObjectProperty

evidence base
range: langString
type: DatatypeProperty
comment: Summary of the scholarly and community evidence supporting or complicating this heritage relationship claim.
minimum access level: access-public-unrestricted
domain: Heritage Relationship

Reconstruction Methods
preferred label: Àwọn ọ̀nà ìtúnpadà @yo
type: ConceptScheme
has top concept: Cross-tradition synthesis
preferred label: Méthodes de reconstruction @fr
has top concept: Other
preferred label: Métodos de reconstrucción @es
has top concept: Community deliberation and consensus
preferred label: Métodos de reconstrução @pt
has top concept: Published ethnographic sources
has top concept: Oral tradition and living practitioners
has top concept: Archival / documentary sources

Community deliberation and consensus
type: Concept
in scheme: Reconstruction Methods
definition: Reconstruction through formal community process: elders and practitioners deliberating together to establish or restore practice.

Protocol / knowledge exchange
definition: Formal exchange of liturgical, ceremonial, or governance knowledge between Afro-Atlantic and African communities.
in scheme: Trans-Afro-Atlantic Return Types
type: Concept

current practicing community
minimum access level: access-public-unrestricted
range: House
comment: The house or community practicing this reconstructed tradition. Range: iroko:House.
domain: Reconstructed Practice
type: ObjectProperty

returning community
comment: The Afro-Atlantic house or community making the return. Range: iroko:House.
type: ObjectProperty
minimum access level: access-public-unrestricted
domain: Trans-Afro-Atlantic Return
range: House

source tradition
comment: The African tradition identified as the reclamation's reference point. Range: iroko:TraditionScheme concept.
type: ObjectProperty
minimum access level: access-public-unrestricted
range: Concept
domain: Reclamation Movement

Ceremony participation
definition: Afro-Atlantic practitioner participates in African ceremonies without receiving initiation.
in scheme: Trans-Afro-Atlantic Return Types
type: Concept

movement type
minimum access level: access-public-unrestricted
range: Concept
domain: Reclamation Movement
type: ObjectProperty
comment: The typological category of this movement. Range: iroko:MovementTypeScheme.

Research / ethnographic
in scheme: Trans-Afro-Atlantic Return Types
type: Concept
definition: Afro-Atlantic practitioner or scholar conducts fieldwork in African source communities.

Other
definition: Movement type not covered by existing concepts.
type: Concept
in scheme: Reclamation Movement Types

Other
definition: Return type not covered by existing concepts.
in scheme: Trans-Afro-Atlantic Return Types
type: Concept

Iroko Framework: Sankofa Module (Reclamation Movements and Trans-Afro-Atlantic Returns)
creator: Iroko Historical Society
version IRI: https://ontology.irokosociety.org/iroko-sankofa/1.3.0
license: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
modified: 2026-02-25
description: Domain module. Vocabulary for documenting revitalization and reclamation movements, Trans-Afro-Atlantic returns to African source communities, reconstructed traditions, and heritage relationships. Models semantic relationships between Afro-Atlantic practice and African source traditions without adjudicating authenticity. All heritage relationship claims are modeled as iroko:RelationshipAssertion to reflect their contested and negotiated character. Use with iroko-authority to document who may authorize heritage relationship claims and recognition; iroko-narrative for movement histories, oral transmission chains, and contested origin accounts.
imports: iroko-core
is part of: iroko-framework
references: iroko-authority
references: iroko-narrative
created: 2026-02-22
version info: 1.3.0
type: Ontology

Cross-tradition synthesis
definition: Reconstruction by synthesizing elements from multiple related surviving traditions to fill gaps in a fragmented one.
type: Concept
in scheme: Reconstruction Methods

Other
definition: Reconstruction method not covered by existing concepts.
in scheme: Reconstruction Methods
type: Concept

Archival / documentary sources
type: Concept
definition: Reconstruction based on primary archival sources: colonial records, religious registers, fieldwork notes, photographs.
in scheme: Reconstruction Methods

Reclamation Movement
comment: An organized or semi-organized community effort to recover, revitalize, or Africanize a Afro-Atlantic religious tradition. Examples: the Candomblé re-Africanization movement beginning in the 1930s–70s (Mãe Aninha, Martiniano do Bonfim, and later the SECNEB research agenda); the Lucumí decolonization efforts removing Catholic syncretism from Ocha practice; the Ifá revival in Trinidad and other Afro-Atlantic communities seeking direct Yorùbá validation; the African American Ifá reclamation beginning in the late 20th century. A movement is documented without adjudicating whether its claims of authenticity are correct.
type: Class
subclass of: SacredEntity
subclass of: Event

Other
in scheme: Heritage Relationship Types
definition: Heritage relationship type not covered by existing concepts.
type: Concept

Oral tradition and living practitioners
definition: Reconstruction based on oral transmission from living elders or communities with partial survival of the tradition.
in scheme: Reconstruction Methods
type: Concept

Formally recognized
in scheme: Recognition Status
type: Concept
definition: The reconstructed or Afro-Atlantic practice has received formal recognition from a source tradition authority.

Heritage Relationship
comment: A formal assertion of the relationship between a Afro-Atlantic tradition and its claimed African source tradition. Subclass of iroko:RelationshipAssertion: the claim is documented with its source, asserter, and status (widely attested, lineage-specific, or contested) without requiring resolution. Examples: the documented Yorùbá–Lucumí relationship; the contested specificity of Fon vs. Ewe sources for Haitian Vodou Rada; the debated connection between specific Cuban Abakuá potencias and Cross River Ékpè lodges.
type: Class
subclass of: RelationshipAssertion

key figures
range: Person
type: ObjectProperty
minimum access level: access-public-unrestricted
comment: Principal practitioners, scholars, or leaders associated with this movement. Range: foaf:Person.
domain: Reclamation Movement

origin date
comment: Approximate date the movement began.
type: DatatypeProperty
range: gYear
minimum access level: access-public-unrestricted
domain: Reclamation Movement

Disputed
in scheme: Recognition Status
definition: Some source tradition representatives recognize the practice; others do not. Contested.
type: Concept

African source tradition
minimum access level: access-public-unrestricted
range: Concept
comment: The African source tradition claimed in this heritage relationship. Range: iroko:TraditionScheme concept.
type: ObjectProperty
domain: Heritage Relationship

relationship type
minimum access level: access-public-unrestricted
range: Concept
type: ObjectProperty
comment: The type of heritage relationship claimed. Range: iroko:HeritageRelationshipTypeScheme.
domain: Heritage Relationship

Pending
in scheme: Recognition Status
definition: Recognition process is underway; outcome not yet determined.
type: Concept

African initiation
in scheme: Trans-Afro-Atlantic Return Types
type: Concept
definition: Afro-Atlantic practitioner receives initiation in Africa within a source tradition.

Not sought
definition: The community practices without seeking external recognition, asserting autonomy over its own validity.
in scheme: Recognition Status
type: Concept