Bruce Grindal as Ijapa, the Yoruba Secular Trickster

The Y oruba have two key T rickster figures. One is sacred the other secular. Each represent aspects of Y oruba life. The sacred T rickster is E shu, a defender of proper behavior and values, while I japa, the tortoise, is an innovator. He is a kind of L ord of M isrule. Eshu tales are told in formal settings. However, I japa tales are generally told around a camp fire or within the home. The storyteller may be a family member or a friend of the family, and the settings are informal. Often the lessons challenge the accepted norms and value wit and improvisation. A repeated theme is that nothing is as it seems to be and that everything at all times is changing. In numerous ways the lessons and the behavior of I jaba parallel the beliefs and behavior of B ruce G rindal. Bruce consistently taught that everything must be challenged. He believed that rules were artificial and hindered creativity. He played pranks in public, upsetting the status quo, in order to get people thinking. Working with B ruce was sometimes a trial but was always fruitful. Bruce was a firm believer in the power of the oppressed and of finding ways and means to empower the oppressed. In this work I look into some of the truths that B ruce shares with the T rickster I japa. With B ruce I also explore the ways in which the weak can teach the powerful about the meaning of life and the value of questioning rules.