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THE KRIO IN GAMBIA AND THE CONCEPT OF INCULTURATION

Martha Frederiks

This presents a case study of the Krio in and the questions their existence poses to the concept of inculturation. It begins with a historical sketch of the Krio and a description of their culture, after which some systematic questions with regard to inculturation are posed.

The Krio in The Gambia, sometimes also called Aku or Creoles, form a most remarkable group.' They are not an in the strict sense, as they originally come from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. Nevertheless, the Krio form a distinct group in Gambian society and in their self-description the Krio see themselves as belonging to the Aku tribe.' Besides, they do have some of the characteristics of an ethnic group. The Krio have a common history related to the slave trade, a common language sometimes called Krio

1 According to Wyse the name Krio is derived from the Yoruba expression Kiriyo, meaning: 'to walk about and be satisfied'. Accordingto Wyse it refers to the habit of the Liberated Africans in (a considerablepart of whom were Yoruba) to visit each other after church on Sundaywhen Christians or after the Friday Prayers when Muslims. A. Wyse, The Krio of Sierra Leone: an interpretive history, International Library of Sierra Leone Studies II, : W.D. Okrafo-Smart& Company, 1987, 6. He denies a linguistic connection between Krio and Creole. The term Creole according to Wyse was meant for children bom from the Settlers and Liberated Africans. See: A. Wyse, 'The Krio of Sierra Leone: an ethnographicalstudy of a West Africanpeople', InternationalJournal of Sierra Leone Studies,Vol. 1 1988, 46-49.The word Aku can also be traced to the . The word 'Aku' seems to have been a Yoruba greeting, by which Liberated Africansfrom Yoruba origin greeted each other. These people came to be known as the 'Aku'. Apart from the 'Aku', there were among the Liberated Africans, Ibo and Moko from , Paw-paws(Popo) who originated from , Housa (Hausa) from Northern and Congo from the people from Congo. From 1840 onwardsthe Liberated Africans organised themselves accordingto ethnic backgroundsin 'Friendly Societies'or 'Companies'. These societies were initiallymeant as self-helpgroups. Later, from the 1860sonward these companies also got a social-politicaldimension and were means to lobby with and make critical remarks about the government. As time went by the original ethnic differences disappeared and all Liberated Africans came to known as 'Aku'. See. F. Mahoney, Stories of the , : BPMRU, 1995 (second edition), 68 and 87ff. 2 H. Aspen, Ghost Corporations:The GambianAkus' responsesto dethronement,A thesis for obtaining an M.A. in Social Anthropology at University of Trondheim, 1986 (Unpublished).Location: Gambia National Archives Thesis 1 / 2, 26. See also: A. Wyse, The Krio of Sierra Leone: an interpretive history, 6ff. 220 or Aku', shared moral and ethical standards and to some extend also a common religion. The history of the Krio goes back to the period of the slave trade when millions of Africans were taken into to work in Europe, America and the . From the mid 18th century onwards humanitarian and Christian groups in Britain and America, among which the Methodists, the Quakers, the and the Anglican Clapham Sect, joined their efforts to abolish slavery in what came to be known as the Abolitionist movement. The names of William Wilberforce, Granville Sharp, Charles Grant, John Venn and Zachary Macaulay need to be mentioned here as leaders of the British abolitionist lobby. The abolitionist issue was not just carried by a small intellectual elite but was widely supported by Christians all over in .4 Driven by humanitarian motives on the one hand and the Christian belief that all people are equal before God on the other, the Abolitionists put pressure on the governments to abolish the slave trade. Aware that changes in the West were not enough to end the slavery, and that there was also an African side to the issue, they designed a plan for the African continent which came to be known by its abbreviation: the three CCC's. It meant civilisation, christianisation and commerce. The slave trade was to be replaced by legitimate trade, hence the stimulation of legitimate products such as , cocoa, cotton, oil etc. and the cultures which had brought forth a in which slavery was condoned, had to be changed by civilisation through Christianisation. Thus education and mission played a crucial part in the plans of the Abolitionists in changing the mentality in . In order to make a start with the civilisation of Africa, British philanthropists, belonging to the Abolitionist Lobby purchased as 'a province of freedom' a piece of land in Sierra Leone. There, liberated slaves from America and England, who had been exposed to and Western civilisation, could form the nucleus of a new African society. It was the 5 beginning of what Ajayi called the creation of a middle class in Africa.5 From 1787 onwards groups of freed Africans started returning to Africa. The first to arrive 'back home' were people known as the Black Poor from England, followed by the Nova Scotians from in 1792 and the Maroons from in 1800. The Black Poor and the Nova Scotians were Christians at arrival whereas the Maroons were not and initially resisted any kind of Christianisation.1 They settled in the colony of Freetown, Sierra

3 Krio or Aku is sometimes derivatively called Pidgin English or broken English but nowadays recognised as a language. See: A. Wyse, 'The Krio of Sierra Leone: an ethnograficalstudy', 47. The InternationalBible Societyhas publisheda New Testament in Krio. 4 B. Salvaign, Les missionaires à la rencontre de l'Afrique au XIXe siècle, Paris: L'Harmattan, 1994, 115. 5 J.F.A. Ajayi, Christian missions in Nigeria 1841-189i : the making of a new elite, Evanston: NorthwesternUniversity Press, 1969, xiii ff. 6 Lamin Sanneh, WestAfrican Christianity:the religious impact, London: C. Hurst and