The Sherbro people are a native people of

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

, who speak the Sherbro language; they make up 1.9% of Sierra Leone's population or 134,606. The Sherbro are found primarily in their

homeland A homeland is a place where a national or ethnic identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethnic natio ...

Bonthe District Bonthe District is a district that comprises several islands and mainland of the Atlantic Ocean in the Southern Province, Sierra Leone, Southern Province of Sierra Leone. Bonthe is one of the sixteen districts of Sierra Leone. Its capital is the t ...

, where they make up 40% of the population, in coastal areas of Moyamba District, and in the

Western Area The Western Area or Freetown Peninsula (formerly the Colony of Sierra Leone) is one of five principal divisions of Sierra Leone. It comprises the oldest city and national capital Freetown and its surrounding towns and countryside. It covers an ...

of Sierra Leone, particularly in

Freetown Freetown () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, e ...

. During pre-colonial days, the Sherbro were one of the most dominant ethnic group in Sierra Leone, but in the early 21st century, the Sherbro comprise a small minority in the nation. The Sherbro speak their own language, called Sherbro language. The Sherbro are divided into two main groups: the Sherbro in Southeastern Sierra Leone, and the Sherbro in the

of Sierra Leone. The Sherbro in Southeastern Sierra Leone, which is home to most of the Sherbro population of Sierra Leone, are a close ally of their neighbor the

Mende people The Mende are one of the two largest ethnic groups in Sierra Leone; their neighbours, the Temne people, constitute the largest ethnic groups in Sierra Leone, ethnic group at 35.5% of the total population, which is slightly larger than the Mende ...

, and most Sherbro in Southeastern Sierra Leone speak the Mende language and they have integrated large amounts of the Mende tradition along with their native Sherbro tradition. However, the Sherbro in the Western Area (in and around

) are traditionally allies of the Krio people; and Sherbro in the Western Area in Sierra Leone have also integrated large amounts of Krio tradition. Unlike most Sherbro in Southeastern Sierra Leone, most Sherbro in the Western Area of Sierra Leone do not speak the Mende language. Politically the vast majority of Sherbro support the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP). The current president of Sierra Leone,

Julius Maada Bio Julius Maada Wonie Bio (born 12 May 1964) is a Sierra Leonean politician and former army officer who has served as the 5th president of Sierra Leone since 4 April 2018. He is a retired brigadier in the Sierra Leone Army and was the military ...

, is a Mende-speaking ethnic SherbroAlexander, O. (2022, May 21). Julius Maada Wonie Bio (1964- ). from the Gola Rainforest region of the country. The Sherbro are primarily

fishermen A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishermen may be professional or recr ...

and traders. They have a rich culture and have integrated some

western culture Western culture, also known as Western civilization, European civilization, Occidental culture, Western society, or simply the West, refers to the Cultural heritage, internally diverse culture of the Western world. The term "Western" encompas ...

and ideals. Their culture is unlike that of all other ethnic groups in Sierra Leone. The ethnic group in the nation whose culture is similar (in terms of embrace of Western culture) are the Krio people, descended largely from African Americans (known as

Black Loyalists Black Loyalists were people of African descent who sided with Loyalist (American Revolution), Loyalists during the American Revolutionary War. In particular, the term referred to men enslaved by Patriot (American Revolution), Patriots who served ...

), who had been freed from slavery by the British during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, resettled in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

, and then chose to go to Freetown in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. after the

. The Sherbro and the Krio are close allies; they have intermarried since early colonial settlements in the 1790s. The Sherbro have been an indigenous people in the territory now known as Sierra Leone. In the 18th century, they began to get involved in the

slave trade Slave trade may refer to: * History of slavery - overview of slavery It may also refer to slave trades in specific countries, areas: * Al-Andalus slave trade * Atlantic slave trade ** Brazilian slave trade ** Bristol slave trade ** Danish sl ...

and became more powerful than the European slave traders. They began to employ the

to work for them to find slaves to meet the growing demand. In the 1920s, the Sherbro people were still being ruled by their own chiefs.

History

The Sherbro were one of many indigenous peoples living in the territory of Sierra Leone before the colonial era. The first interaction with Europeans came during the 15th century, when Portuguese explorers, settlers, and traders came to the area. The English followed soon after and, in the 1620s, they had a number of agents trading and purchasing items in the Sherbro Country. The Sherbro intermarried with them. Like the later Krio, who developed in Sierra Leone after the colony was established, the Sherbro have a more westernized culture than that of other indigenous ethnic groups there.Ménard, Anaïs. 2015. ''Beyond Autochthony Discourses: Sherbro Identity and the (Re-)Construction of Social and National Cohesion in Sierra Leone''. PhD Thesis, Philosophische Fakultät I, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Halle/Saale. From the beginning of the settlement of liberated slaves in Sierra Leone, the ancestors of the Krio generally intermarried with their allies the Sherbro.

Relationship with the Krios

Many Sherbro assimilate as Krio (or ''Creole''), as they share the Christian faith and Western names. According to Anaïs Ménard, the only Sierra Leonean ethnic group whose culture is similar (in terms of its embrace of Western culture) are Westernized members of the Sherbro people. Because some of the Sherbro interacted with Portuguese and English traders and intermarried with them in the mid-fifteenth to eighteenth centuries (producing Afro-European clans such as the Sherbro Tuckers and Sherbro Caulkers), some of the Sherbro have a more westernized culture than that of other Sierra Leone ethnic groups. As Creoles settled in places such as

Bonthe Bonthe is a coastal town located on Sherbro Island in Bonthe District in the Southern Province, Sierra Leone, southern Province of Sierra Leone. The town lies on the eastern shore of Sherbro Island, on the Sherbro River estuary. Bonthe is about 60 ...

for trading and missionary purposes, the Creoles intermarried with their allies the Sherbros from as far back as the 18th century. However, since the independence of Sierra Leone, all ethnic groups in Sierra Leone have been inter-marrying increasingly.

Notable Sherbro

, current president of

*Abraham S Tucker , head therapist in Chicago, IL * Sarah Tucker,

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided in ...

and

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition in which the contestants are judged and ranked based on various physical and mental attributes. Per its name, beauty pageants traditionally focus on judging the contestants' physical attractiveness, sometimes sol ...

contestant who represented Sierra Leone at the Miss World 2018 * Thomas Corker – (died 1700) British-born Irish man and progenitor of the Sherbro Caulker clan * Kpana Lewis (1830–1912), Sherbro chief and opponent of colonial rule * Barnabas Root (born ''Fahma Yahny'') (died 1877), clergyman and missionary to his nation * John Karefa-Smart, politician and former leader of the United National People's Party (UNPP) * John Akar, entertainer; he composed the music of Sierra Leone's national anthem * Henry M. Joko-Smart, former Supreme Court Justice of Sierra Leone * Patricia Kabbah, late First Lady of Sierra Leone and late wife of former President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah * John Kizell, African-American immigrant to Sierra Leone born on

Sherbro Island Sherbro Island is in the Atlantic Ocean, and is included within Bonthe District, Southern Province, Sierra Leone. The island is separated from the African mainland by the Sherbro River in the north and Sherbro Strait in the east. It is long ...

* Paul Kpaka, footballer, Sierra Leone * Christian Caulker, footballer, Sierra Leone * Gibril Wilson * John Trye * Michael Tommy, footballer, Sierra Leone * B. J. Tucker, an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

with the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

of the NFL. * Seniora Doll, Sherbro princess during the early years of Sierra Leone * Peter L. Tucker, Chief Executive for the Commission for Racial Equality (UK) * Joseph Christian Humper, a bishop in the United Methodist Church * Thomas Caulker, King of Bumpey * Yeami Dunia * Christian Moses * Daniel Francis * Kevin Wright * George Davies * Kwame Quee * Steven Caulker * Prince Barrie * John Keister * Rodney Michael * Solomon Morris

Clans

* Sherbro Charley * Sherbro Bullom * Sherbro Caulkers * Sherbro Clevelands * Sherbro Hubbards * Sherbro Macfoy * Sherbro Rogers * Sherbro Rutile * Sherbro Tuckers

Notes

References