Sierra Leone Creole people

TheSierra Leone Creole people(Krio:Krio pipul) are anethnic groupofSierra Leone. The Sierra Leone Creole people aredescendantsof freedAfrican-American,Afro-Caribbean, andLiberated Africanslaves who settled in theWestern Areaof Sierra Leone between 1787 and about 1885. Thecolonywas established by theBritish, supported byabolitionists, under theSierra Leone Companyas a place forfreedmen. The settlers called their new settlementFreetown.Today, the Sierra Leone Creoles are 1.2 percent of the population of Sierra Leone.
The Creoles of Sierra Leone have varying degrees of Europeanancestry,similar to theirAmerico-Liberianneighbours and sister ethnic group inLiberia.In Sierra Leone, some of the settlers intermarried with English colonial residents and other Europeans.Through theJamaican Maroons, some Creoles probably also have indigenousAmerindian Taínoancestry.The mingling of newly freed black andracially-mixedNova ScotiansandJamaican Maroonsfrom the 'New World' withLiberated Africans– such as theAkan,Bakongo,Ewe,IgboandYoruba– over several generations in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, led to the eventualformation of a Creole ethnicity.
The Americo-Liberians and Sierra Leone Creoles are the only recognised ethnic group of African-American, Liberated African, and Afro-Caribbean descent in West Africa.Thoroughlywesternizedin their manners, the Creoles as a class developed close relationships with theBritishcolonial administration; they became educated in British institutions and advanced to prominent leadership positions incolonial Sierra LeoneandBritish West Africa.Partly due to this history, many Sierra Leone Creoles have first names and/or surnames that areanglicizedor British in origin.
The Creoles are overwhelmingly Christianand the vast majority of them reside inFreetownand its surroundingWestern Arearegion of Sierra Leone.From their mix of peoples, the Creoles developed what is now the nativeKrio language, acreolederiving from English, indigenous West African languages, and other European languages. It is the most widely spoken language in virtually all parts of Sierra Leone. As the Krio language is spoken by 96 percent of the country's population,it unites all the differentethnic groups, especially in their trade and interaction with each other.Krio is also the primary language of communication among Sierra Leoneans living abroad.
The Sierra Leone Creoles settled across West Africa in the nineteenth century in communities such asLimbe(Cameroon);Conakry(Guinea);Banjul(Gambia);Lagos,Abeokuta,Calabar,Onisha(Nigeria);Accra,Cape Coast(Ghana) andFernando Pó(Equatorial Guinea).The Krio language of the Creole people influenced other pidgins such asCameroonian Pidgin English,Nigerian Pidgin English, andPichinglis.As a result of their history, theGambian Creole people, orAku peopleof theGambia,theSaropeople of Nigeria,and theKrio FernandinosofEquatorial Guinea,are sub-ethnic groups or partly descended from the Sierra Leone Creole people or their ancestors.
TheEnglishwordcreolederives from theFrenchcréole, which in turn came fromPortuguesecrioulo, adiminutiveofcria, meaning a person raised in one's house.Criaderives fromcriar, meaning "to raise or bring up", itself derived from theLatincreare, meaning "to make, bring forth, produce, beget";— itself the source of the English word "create". The word creole has severalcognatesin other languages, such ascréole,creolo,criol,criollo,crioulo,kreol,kreyol,krio,kriol,kriolu, andkriyoyo.
InLouisiana, the term Creole has been used since 1792 to represent descendants of African orethnically mixedparents as well as children of French and Spanish descent with no racial mixing.Its use to describe languages started from 1879, while as an adjective, from 1748.In some Spanish-speaking countries, the wordCriollois used today to describe something local or very typical of a particularLatin Americancountry.
In theCaribbean, the term broadly refers to all the people, whatever their class or ancestry —  African, East Asian, European, Indian — who are part of the culture of the Caribbean.InTrinidad, the term Creole is used to designate all Trinidadians except those of Asian origin. InFrench Guianathe term refers to anyone, regardless of skin colour, who has adopted a European way of life, and in neighbouringSuriname, the term refers only to the descendants of enslaved Africans.
In Africa, the term Creole refers to any ethnic group formed during theEuropeancolonialera, with somemixof African and non-African racial or cultural heritage.Creole communities are found on most African islands and along the continent's coastal regions where indigenous Africans first interacted with Europeans. As a result of these contacts, five major Creole types emerged:Portuguese,African American,Dutch,FrenchandBritish.
TheCrioulosof African or mixed Portuguese and African descent eventually gave rise to several ethnic groups inCape Verde,Guinea-Bissau,São Tomé e Príncipe,AngolaandMozambique.TheMauritianandSeychellois Creolesare Africans with some French cultural ancestry and areChristianized. OnLa Réunion, the term Creole applies to the descendants of enslaved Africans born on the island,while inSouth Africa, the blending of East African and Southeast Asian slaves  withDutchsettlers, later produced  acreolizedpopulation.TheFernandino Creole peoplesofEquatorial Guineaare a mix ofAfro-CubanswithEmancipadosand English-speakingLiberated Africans,while theAmerico-Liberiansand Sierra Leone Creoles resulted from the intermingling ofAfrican RecaptiveswithAfro-CaribbeansandAfrican Americans.
Perhaps due to the range of divergent descriptions and lack of a coherent definition, Norwegian anthropologistT. H. Eriksenconcludes:
Today, Creole communities have more in common with each other than they have with anyAfrican ethnic groups. On the islands of Africa,creole languagespredominate while on the mainland, creole languages arelingua francaornational languagesin Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone,Liberia, and South Africa. In island communities, Creoles are found in many occupations ranging from agricultural workers to members of society'selite. In the coastal areas of mainland Africa, Creoles acquired economic and politicalleveragedue to their education, culture and close relationships with the colonial administration. They developed a strong sense of ethnic identity and formed their own political organisations. During theindependence eraof the mid-1900s, some Creoles supported colonial rule but many fought for independence and held positions of power afterwards. In most countries however, Creole political influence gradually gave way to ethnic groups from the interior that were considered 'more African'.
Creole communities in Africa have grown in several ways. Elements of their culture, including language and music, have come to dominate popular culture on the islands. In Creole-established cities on the African mainland, some non-Creoles haveassimilatedinto Creole societies, which are perceived to enjoy privileged  status. Those seeking acceptance into a Creole community usually converted to Christianity, the religion shared by nearly all Creoles.
In 1787, the British helped 400 freed slaves, primarily African Americans freed during theAmerican Revolutionary Warwho had been evacuated to London, and Afro-Caribbeans and Africans from London, to relocate to Sierra Leone to settle in what they called the "Province of Freedom." Some of these early settlers had been freed earlier and worked as servants in London. Most of the first group died due to disease and warfare with indigenous peoples. About 64 survived to establish the second Granville Town following the failed first attempt at colonization between 1787 and 1789.
In 1792, 1200Nova Scotian Settlersfrom Nova Scotia settled and established theColony of Sierra Leoneand the settlement ofFreetown; these were African Americans and their descendants. Many of the adults had left Patriot owners and fought for the British in the Revolutionary War. The Crown had offered slaves freedom who left rebel masters, and thousands joined the British lines. The British resettled 3,000 of the African Americans in Nova Scotia, where many found the climate harsh and struggled with discrimination from white Nova Scotians. More than 1,200 volunteered to settle and establish the new colony of Freetown, which was established by British abolitionists under theSierra Leone Company.
In 1800, the British government also transported 550Jamaicanmaroonsto Sierra Leone and subsequent waves of African American andAfro-Caribbeanimmigrants would settle in Sierra Leone throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
After Britain and the United States abolished the international African slave trade beginning in 1808, they patrolled off the continent to intercept illegal shipping. The British resettledLiberated Africansfrom slave ships at Freetown. The Liberated Africans included people from the Yoruba, Igbo, Efik, Fante, and other ethnicities of West Africa.
Some members of indigenous Sierra Leone ethnicities, were also among the Liberated Africans resettled at Freetown; they also assimilated into Creole culture. Others came to the settlement voluntarily, seeing opportunities in Creole culture in the society.
The first settlers to find a colony in Sierra Leone were the so-called "Black Poor": African Americans and Afro-Caribbean. 411 settlers arrived in May 1787. Some wereBlack Loyalistswho were either evacuated or travelled to England to petition for a land of their own; Black Loyalists had joinedBritishforces during theAmerican Revolutionary War, many on promises of freedom fromenslavement.
On the voyage between Plymouth and Sierra Leone, 96 passengers died.However, enough survived to establish and build a colony. Seventy white women accompanied the men to Sierra Leone.Anna Falconbridgeportrayed these white women as prostitutes from Deptford Prison, but they were most likely wives and girlfriends of the black settlers.Their colony was known as the "Province of Freedom" and their settlement was called "Granville Town"' after the English abolitionistGranville Sharp. The British negotiated for the land for the settlement with the localTemnechief, King Tom.
However, before the ships sailed away from Sierra Leone, 50 white women had died, and about 250 remained of the original 440 who left Plymouth. Another 86 settlers died in the first four months. Although initially there was no hostility between the two groups, after King Tom's death the next Temne chief retaliated for a slave trader's burning of his village.He threatened to destroy Granville Town. The Temne ransacked Granville Town and took some Black Poor into slavery, while others becameslave traders. In early 1791Alexander Falconbridgereturned, to find only 64 of the original residents (39 black men, 19 black women, and six white women). The 64 people had been cared for by a Greek and a colonist named Thomas Kallingree atFourah Bay, an abandoned African village.There the settlers reestablished Granville Town. After that time, they were called the "Old Settlers". By this time the Province of Freedom had been destroyed; Granville Sharp did not lead the next settlement movement.
The proponents and directors of the Sierra Leone colony believed that a new colony did not need black settlers from London. The directors decided to offer resettlement to African Americans from Nova Scotia, despite the failure of the last colony. These settlers were Black Loyalists, American slaves who had escaped to British lines and fought with them during the American Revolution, to earn freedom. The British government had transported more than 3,000 freedmen to Nova Scotia for resettlement, together with white Loyalists. Some of the African Americans were from South Carolina and the Sea Islands, of the Gullah culture; others were from states along the eastern seaboard up to New England.
Some 1200 of these blacks emigrated to Sierra Leone fromHalifax Harbouron 15 January 1792, arriving between 28 February and 9 March 1792. On 11 March 1792, the Nova Scotian Settlers disembarked from the 14 passenger ships that had carried them from Nova Scotia to Sierra Leone and marched toward thelarge cotton treenear George Street. As the Settlers gathered under the tree, their preachers held a thanksgiving service and the white minister, Rev. Patrick Gilbert preached a sermon. After the religious services, the settlement was officially established and was designated Freetown. The Settler men cleared the forest and shrub and built a new settlement on the overgrown site that had formerly contained the Granville Town settlement.
They had a profound influence on Creole culture; many of the Western attributes of Creole society were conveyed by the "Settlers", who continued what was familiar to them from their past lives. In Sierra Leone they were called the Nova Scotians or "Settlers" (the 1787 Settlers were called the Old Settlers). They founded the capital of Sierra Leone in 1792. The descendants of African Americans remained an identifiable ethnic group until the 1870s, when the Creole identity was beginning to form.
The next arrivals were theJamaican Maroons; these maroons came specifically fromCudjoe's Town (Trelawny Town), one of the five Maroon cities in Jamaica. The Maroons mainly descended from highly military skilledAshantislaves who had escaped plantations and, to a lesser extent, fromJamaican indigenouspeople. The Maroons numbered around 551, and they helped quell some of the riots against the British from the settlers. The Maroons later fought against theTemneduring the Temne Attack of 1801.
The dispute with the Temne was over "rent" which the Temne felt they were owed by the colony. In a twist that became the hallmark of politics in the subregion, the Temne had indeed signed a treaty granting full sovereignty to the Colony but then turned around to say that this was not their understanding. This misunderstanding became violent, when in 1801, the Temne attacked Freetown. The assault failed, resulting instead in the expulsion of the Temne from the area.
The next migrations of transatlantic immigrants between 1800 and 1819 were smaller in comparison to the early Nova Scotian Settlers and Jamaican Maroon immigrants.Afro-Caribbeanand Liberated African soldiers from the2ndand4th West India Regimentswere settled inFreetownand in suburbs around it in 1819.Barbadianrebels who participated in theBussa Rebellionwere transported to colonial Freetown in 1816 and included families such as thePriddy family.
Thirty-eight African Americans (nine families) immigrated to Freetown under the auspices of African-American ship ownerPaul Cuffe, ofBoston. These Black Americans included Perry Lockes andPrince Saundersfrom Boston; Abraham Thompson andPeter Williams Jr.from New York City;andEdward JonesfromCharleston, South Carolina.Americo-Liberianmerchants and traders also settled in colonial Freetown throughout the course of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Following the Jamaican Maroons and Barbadian rebels, Afro-Caribbean immigrants settled inFreetown, Sierra Leoneand in settlements across the Freetown peninsula throughout the course of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as missionaries, artisans and colonial officials such as thePorter familyfromJamaica.
Prominent Creole families of more recentAfro-Caribbeanancestry include theFarquhar familyand their descendants such as theStuart familyand Conton family who settled in Sierra Leone fromBarbados, theBahamas, andBermudabetween the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The last major group of immigrants to the colony was the Liberated Africans or "Recaptives".Held on slave ships for sale in the western hemisphere, they were liberated by theRoyal Navy, which, with theWest Africa Squadron, enforced the abolition of the international slave trade after 1808.
The Liberated Africans were multi-ethnic and were largelyAkan,Aja,Ewe,Angolan,Wolof,Hausa,Yoruba,Igbo,Bambara,Nupe, andFulanipeople who had been enslaved by illegal slave traders. The Liberated Africans also includedSherbro,MendeandTemnepeople who had been enslaved in territories neighbouring the Colony of Sierra Leone.
The Liberated Africans, also called Recaptives, contributed greatly to the Creole culture. While the Settlers, Maroons, and transatlantic immigrants gave the Creoles their Christianity, some of their customs, and their Western influence, the Liberated Africans modified their customs to adopt those of the Nova Scotians and Europeans, yet kept some of their ethnic traditions.
Initially the British colonial administration intervened to ensure the Recaptives became firmly rooted in Freetown society; they served in the army with the West India Regiment, and they were assigned as apprentices in the houses of Settlers and Maroons. Sometimes if a child's parents died, the young Recaptive would be adopted by a Settler or Maroon family. The two groups mixed and mingled in society.
As the Recaptives began to trade and spread Christianity throughout West Africa, they began to dominate Freetown society. The Recaptives intermarried with the Settlers and Maroons, and the two groups became a fusion of African and Western societies.
The ancestors of the Creoles founded theColony of Sierra Leoneand established the settlement ofFreetownin 1792. They based the plan on what they were familiar with – the grid of a North American colonial town.Thefamilies originally from Nova Scotia– the Balls, Burdens, Chambers,Davis, Dixons, Georges (descendants ofDavid George), Keelings, Leighs, Moores, Peters (descendants ofThomas Petersor Stephen Peters), Prestons,Snowballs, Staffords, Turners, Willoughsby, Williams, and the Goodings – took up residence inSettler Town. The town was in close proximity toCline Town(then Granville Town).  Eighty percent of Nova Scotians lived on five streets: Rawdon, Wilberforce, Howe, East, and Charlotte street.
The next group of settlers wereJamaican MaroonsfromCudjoe's Town, who arrived in Freetown, via Nova Scotia,  in 1800. Notable families such as the Jarretts, Smiths, Hortons, Coles, Porters, Jones,  and the Morgans, settled inMaroon Town, Sierra Leone.  Seventy percent of Maroons lived on five streets: Gloucester, George, Trelawney, Walpole, and Westmoreland street.  The Jamaican Maroon settlement was west of Settler Town between Walpole street and King Tom.
TheLiberated Africanancestors – principally ofAkan,Bakongo,Ewe,IgboandYorubaorigin – settled across theWestern Areapeninsula of Sierra Leone. By the 1850s, they had already establishedAberdeen,Bathurst,Charlotte,Dublin,Gloucester,Goderich,Grafton,Hastings,Kent,Kissy,Leicester,Murray Town,Regent,Ricketts,Sussex,Waterloo,Wellington,WilberforceandYork.
Between the late 18th and early 20th centuries, immigrants from theBahamas,Barbados,Bermuda,Liberiaand theGold Coastlikewise settled in Freetown and eventually coalesced into the Sierra Leone Creole identity.In the 21st century, the majority of Creoles in Sierra Leone continue to reside in Freetown and along the surroundingWestern Areapeninsulawhere their language and culture have a disproportionate influence relative to their population.
The Creole people acted as colonial administrators, traders and missionaries in other parts of West Africa during the 19th century, and as a result, there are also Creole communities inThe Gambia,Nigeria,Cameroon, andEquatorial Guinea.Due to normal migration patterns, theSierra Leone Civil War, and some discrimination at home,  many Sierra Leone Creoles live abroad in theUnited Statesand theUnited Kingdom.  In the United States, Creoles are mostly settled inWashington DC,Maryland,Virginia,Texas,New York,Georgia,CaliforniaandNorth Carolina.
The Creoles are Christians, whether nominal or in practice, at more than 98 percent. A large proportion of the settlers from Nova Scotia and the Caribbean were Christians. Many liberated Africans also converted to Christianity.
The Creoles were instrumental in the establishment ofPan-AfricanChristianity.Between 1840 and 1900, at least six out of every ten black African clergy in the Anglican Church across West Africa was a Creole.By the 1820s, Sierra Leone already had more Christians than the entirety of tropical Africa.Educational institutions such asFourah Bay Collegewere initially established with the objective of training Christian clergy and educators, who were later dispatched across West Africa to spread Christianity.
Creole denominations are mainlyProtestantwith theAnglicanandMethodistchurches having the largest Creole congregants. However, smaller denominations such as theBaptistchurch andCountess of Huntingdondenominations in places such asFreetown, andWaterloo, Sierra Leone, also have Creole attendees, although these are smaller in number compared to Creole Anglicans and Methodists.
Creole church attendees congregate at traditional "Creole" churches in Freetown such asSt. George's Cathedral,Trinity Church,St John's Maroon Church,Ebenezer Methodist Church,Rawdon Street Methodist Church, andZion Methodist Church, Wilberforce Street.
Prominent Creole Anglicans includeEdward Fasholé-Lukeand Creoles such asArthur Thomas Porter,Canon Harry SawyerrandRobert Wellesley-Cole. Well-known Creole Methodists includeSylvia Blyden, a newspaper proprietor and Creoles such asMacormack Easmon,Edna Elliott-Horton, andGeorge T.O. Robinson, the founder of theKrio Descendants Union.
Although Creoles are primarilyProtestant, there are a small number of CreoleCatholicswho attendCatholicchurches such as St. Anthony's Church inBrookfieldsand theSacred Heart Cathedralin Freetown. Prominent Creole Catholics include DrMonty Jones,Bertha ContonandFlorence Dillsworthand, in previous generations,James C.E. Parkes.
Theofficial languageof Sierra Leone is English. In addition to English, the Sierra Leone Creoles also speak a distinctive creole languagenamed after their ethnic group called Creole orKrio. Krio was strongly influenced byBritish English,Gullah,African American Vernacular English,Jamaican Creole,Akan,IgboandYoruba.
Krio is widely spoken throughout Freetown and the surrounding towns, such that Krio speakers are no longer presumed to be of the Creole ethnic group.
The Creole people acted as traders and missionaries in other parts of West Africa during the 19th century.As a result of Sierra Leone Creolemigratory patterns, in the Gambia, theGambian CreoleorAkucommunity speak a dialect called the Aku language that is very similar to Krio in Sierra Leone.Fernando Po Creole Englishis also largely a result of Sierra Leone Creole migrants. A small number of liberated Africans returned to the land of their origins, such as the Saros ofNigeriawho not only took their Western names with them but also imported Krio words likesabiintoNigerian Pidgin English.
In 1993, there were 473,000 speakers in Sierra Leone (493,470 in all countries); Krio was the third-most spoken language behindMende(1,480,000) andThemne(1,230,000). Today, Krio is the most widely spoken language in Sierra Leone utilized by 96 percent of the country's population.It unites all the differentethnic groups, especially in their trade and interaction with each other.Krio is the primary language of communication among Sierra Leoneans living abroad,and has also heavily influencedSierra Leonean English.
Native Krio speakers of the Creole ethnicity lived principally in Freetown communities, on the Peninsula, on theBanana IslandsandYork Island, and inBonthe.
Creole culture is a fusion ofWest African,North Americanand British cultures reflected in bothVictorianandEdwardianmodes of Christianity, morality, norms and values. The Creoles were  economically dominant in trade and held prominent leadership positions incolonial Sierra LeoneandBritish West Africa. They were  influential in intellectual, technocratic, artisanal, commercial and public life in general, actively participating in multiple fields of scholarly and civic importance.
From their earliest presence in Sierra Leone andBritish West Africa, the Creoles, or their ancestors, have significantly contributed science,literature,art,agricultural skills,cuisine,clothing styles,music,language,pan-africanchristianityand cultural innovation.Notable examples
includeNova Scotian settlerssuch asThomas Peters,David GeorgeandMoses Wilkinsonwho werefounding figuresof the nation ofSierra Leone. Inbiomedicine, the discovery of the breakdown ofinsulinin the human body, byDavidson Nicol, was a breakthrough for the treatment ofdiabetes.John Farrell Easmoncoined the termBlackwater feverand wrote the firstclinical diagnosisof the disease linking it tomalaria.Inagriscience,James Pinson Daviesis credited with pioneeringcocoafarming in West Africa,whileWilliam Vivourwas the single most successful 19th-century planter in Africa.Other notable Creoles, or their ancestors, made significant contributions to Sierra Leone and British West Africa, and werepioneers in several categories of human endeavour.
Creoles observe dating and marriage customs that reflect theirwesternizedand broader West Africancultural retentions. Creole wedding ceremonies involve thegejorput stop– an elaborateShakespeareanperformance in which the hand of the bride is asked for, following the appearance of several 'roses'.  Among the gifts presented by the future groom's representatives are acalabash, somekola nuts, various domestic items a wife would use (such as needles and some thread), but also a Bible, a ring, and some money.
Creole traditional wedding attire is amorning suitorlounge suitfor the bridegroom and the  women wear the traditionalwhite weddingdress. Creoles marry in church weddings and in the Victorian and Edwardian era, relatives sought out and introduced prospective suitors from desirable families to their kin seeking a spouse. When a suitor has been chosen by the prospective groom or bride, traditionally the groom's parents set a "put stop" day. After this day, the girl is expected to no longer entertain other suitors. On the evening before the wedding, the groom's friends treat him to "bachelor's eve," a rowdy last fling before marriage.
Ashobis, (parties) at which every guest is expected to wear the same type ofmaterials, are held on the day of the wedding or some days after, for newlyweds.
Creoles live innuclear families(father, mother, and their children), but theextended familyis important to them as well.More affluent family members are expected to help those who are less fortunate. They assist poorer relatives with school fees and job opportunities. In most Creole families, women and elder siblings care for the children who in turn, are expected to complete the household chores.
Twins are important for the Creole who tend to give special names to each one. The naming convention used by the Creoles comes from theirYorubaLiberated Africanancestry.The first of the twins to be born is traditionally namedTaiyewoorTayewo, which means 'the first to taste the world', or the 'slave to the second twin', this is often shortened toTaiwo,TaiyeorTaye.Kehindeis the name of the last born twin and it means, 'the child that came behind gets the rights of the elder'.
Sierra Leoneangumbemusic originates from theJamaican Maroonancestors of the Creole people. It is  primarily a vocal and percussive musical genre that has been associated withnationalistthought since colonial times.
Thegumbe drumis an important cultural symbol played to induce a trance-like state which connects the Creoles with their ancestors.Generally, the music is produced using the gumbe drum, themaracashand the saw. The maracash is a glass bottle and metallic object played together to produce a desirable rhythm. The jagged edge of the saw is rubbed against another sharp object to produce a rasping sound.
In modern times, gumbe music has become a key feature in Sierra Leone's musical landscape. It is often mixed with other more contemporary musical genres to create an authentic local sound.
Present-day Creoles, similar to other Sierra Leoneans, wear both African and Western-style dress. Ethnic groups in Sierra Leone had been accustomed to seeing European dress prior to the arrival of the Creoles, as a consequence of extensive trade with Europeans dating to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
However, the ethnic groups who inhabited Sierra Leone did not customarily wear Western-style dress, until they were popularized by the Creole.Like their Americo-Liberian neighbors,  Creole fashion between the Victorian and Edwardian era consisted of atop hatandfrock coatfor men and apetticoatfor women,although some Creole women sometimes wore the Jamaican MaroonKabaslotandKotoku,the latter aTwiorGaword for money bag.
Although Creoles continue to wear elaborate dress style for special occasions such as weddings and parades, they adapted their styles of dress to incorporate newer Western-style fashion and intricate African-style dresses between the early to late 20th century.
Today, teenage fashion—jeans, T-shirts, and sneakers—are very much in style among young Creole people. However, older Sierra Leone Creoles still dress conservatively in Western-style suits and dresses and some Creole women still wear theJamaican MaroonKabaslot, Kotoku, and carpet slippers and its derivative, the "print" that is a fusion of older African American,Afro-Caribbeanand British dress styles.
Breakfast meal of some Creoles consist ofporridgeorEnglish breakfasttypically consisting of fried,poachedorscrambled eggs, fried tomatoes or mushrooms,fried breador butteredtoast, andsausages.Noonday meal includes Western style or Caribbean-derived cuisines and also African food.
Creole meals often coincide with specific days of the week. On Saturdays,fufua dough-like paste made ofcassavapounded intoflourand a type ofpalaver sauceorplassas(leafy vegetable sauce) is often eaten. This is aspicydish consisting ofspinachwithtripe, fish, beef, and chicken. It is often made withpalm oilexcept forwayt soup(white soup). Additionally, other types of typical Creole plassas may be eaten with fufu, such asshakpa,okra,egusi,bologi,greens,krain krain,bitterleafandsawa sawaamong others.
Sunday dinner is a West African one-pot meal,jollof riceorcouscousandsteworpeanut soup, including someplantainsandsalad.Awujohmeals on Fridays or other festive occasions are usually accompanied bysweet potatocooked in palm oil,black-eyed beans,eba, oleleh,agidi, plantain,rice breadandakarawithginger beer. On other days, a variety oflocal dishesmay be consumed.
Creoles use combined British Christian cultural practices and certain elements of African rituals in connection with rites of passage such as births and deaths. Creoles havechristeningandbaptismalceremonies but also have a naming ceremony commonly referred to aspull-na-dohorkomojadéon the seventh day following the birth, which is held to celebrate a new-born.
Forlife cycle ceremoniesrelated to death among the Creoles, one such ceremony is thebabichuor barbecue ofJamaican Maroonorigin and the subsequently more prevalentLiberated Africanawujohfeast,intended to celebrate the anniversaries of ancestors who have died. Awujoh feasts are held in remembrance of deceased family members, generally on the first anniversary of their death but sometimes on the fifth, tenth, or fifteenth anniversaries, etc.
Among some Creole families, when someone dies, pictures in the house are turned toward the wall and all mirrors or reflecting surfaces covered. At the wake held before the burial, people clap and sing "shouts"(negro spirituals) loudly to make sure the corpse is not merely in a trance. The next day the body is washed, placed inshrouds(burial cloths), and laid on a bed for a final viewing. Then it is placed in acoffinand taken to the church for the service, and lastly to the cemetery for burial.
The period ofmourninglasts one year. On the third, seventh, and fortieth day after death, awujoh feasts are held. The feast on the fortieth day marks the spirit's last day on earth. The family and guests eat a big meal. Portions of the meal andkola nutsare placed into a hole for the dead. The "pull mooning" day – the end of mourning – occurs at the end of one year (the first anniversary of a death). The mourners wear white, visit the cemetery and then return home for refreshments.
Creoles have inherited a wide range of proverbs and folktales, includingAnansistories, from their multi-ethnic ancestors including theJamaican Maroonsand theAkanandEweLiberated Africans. They entertain and provide instruction in Creole values and traditions. Among the best loved are Creole stories aboutAnansithe spider.The following is a typical spider tale:
Anansi stories are part of an ancient mythology that is rooted in Liberated African folklore and concerns the interaction
between divine and semi-divine beings, royalty, humans, animals, plants and seemingly inanimate objects.
Oku people
TheOkuhave origins among theLiberated Africancommunity of settlers in Sierra Leone and have historically intermarried  with some Creole people. However, several scholars such asRamatoulie Onikepo OthmanandOlumbe Bassirclassify the Oku as distinct from the Creoles because of their ancestry and strong Muslim culture.
In contrast to the Oku people, the Creoles are Christian and are a mixture of various ethnic groups includingAfrican Americans,Afro-Caribbeans, and Liberated Africans ofIgbo,AkanandYorubadescent in addition to other African ethnic groups andEuropeanancestry.Furthermore, unlike the Oku people, the Creoles  do not practicecliterodotomy, engage in theBundu society, and aremonogamous.
More recently, some scholars consider the Oku to be a sub-ethnic group of the Creoles, based on their close association with British colonists and their adoption of Western education and other aspects of culture.Those classifying the Oku as part of the Sierra Leone Creole people note their adoption of similar English or European surnames  (although this was a minority of Oku) and  cultural aspects such asegungun,gelede,hunters' masquerade,esusu,awujohandkomojadé.However, as scholars have outlined, the few cultural similarities between the Creole and Oku people are because there are someYoruba cultural retentionsfrom the christianized Yoruba liberated Africans  found among the Creoles and because the cultural orientation, heritage, identity and origin of the Oku people areYorubain essence.
Sherbro people
According to anthropologist Anaïs Ménard, the only Sierra Leonean ethnic group whose culture is similar (in terms of its embrace of Western culture) arewesternizedmembers of theSherbro people.Many Sherbro assimilate as Creoles, as they share the Christian faith and often have similar westernized surnames.
Some of the Sherbro interacted with Portuguese and English traders and intermarried with them in the mid-15th to 18th centuries (producing Afro-European clans such as theSherbro TuckersandSherbro Caulkers). As a result, some of the Sherbro have a more westernized culture than that of other indigenous Sierra Leone ethnic groups.
As Creoles settled in places such asBonthefor trading and missionary purposes, the Creoles intermarried with westernized Sherbros from as far back as the 18th century.
The Creole homelandis a mountainous, narrow peninsula on the coast of west Africa. At its northern tip lies Freetown, the capital.The peninsula's mountain range is covered bytropical rainforestssplit by deep valleys and adorned with impressive waterfalls. White sand beaches line the Atlantic coast. The whole of Sierra Leone covers some 72,500 square kilometres.
Traditional Creole architecture in the colonial period included a variety of architectural styles ranging and consisting of English-style mansions, smaller to medium stone or brick houses, and traditional one or two-story wooden houses built on stone foundations reminiscent of those found in theOld South, theWest IndiesorLouisiana.
The distinctive style of Creole wooden or "board" housing was brought by the Settlers fromNova Scotia, and as early as the 1790s, the Nova Scotians had built houses with stone foundations and wooden superstructures, and American-styleshingle roofs. However, subsequent African-American andAfro-Caribbeansettlers continued to influence Creole architectural styles.
Despite their dilapidated appearance, some of the remaining traditional Creole board houses have a distinctive air, with dormers, box windows, shutters, glass panes, and balconies. The elite live in attractive neighbourhoods such as Hill Station, above Freetown. A large dam in the mountainsprovides a reliable supply of water and electricity to this area.
Creole ethnicitieswere formed during theEuropeancolonialera, from themass displacementof peoplesbrought into sustained contact with others from differentlinguisticandculturalbackgrounds, who converged onto acolonial territoryto which they had not previously belonged.Often involuntarily uprooted from their original home, the settlers were obliged to develop and creatively merge the desirable  elements from their diverse backgrounds, to produce new varieties ofsocial, linguistic and cultural norms that superseded the prior forms.This process, known ascreolization,is characterized by rapidsocial fluxregularized into Creoleethnogenesis.
Like theirAmerico-Liberianneighbours, the Creoles of Sierra Leone have varying degrees ofEuropeanancestry because some of the settlers were descended from white Americans and other Europeans.HistorianDavid Brion Davisnotes the racial mixing that occurred during slavery was frequently attributed by theplanter classto the "lower-class White males" but Davis concludes that "there is abundant evidence that many slaveowners, sons of slaveowners, and overseers took black mistresses or in effect raped the wives and daughters of slave families."A famous example wasThomas Jefferson's mistress,Sally Hemings.
After theAmerican Revolutionary War, theBook of Negroeslisted approximately 3000 "black and mixed-race"loyalistswho sailed fromNew York CitytoNova Scotiain 1783.Additionally, genealogical studies have shown that the majority of free African American families that originated in colonial Virginia and Maryland, descended from white servant women who had children by slaves or free African Americans.Sixty-five percent of those evacuated were from theAmerican South.
Through the Maroons, some Creoles probably also have indigenous AmerindianTainoancestry.Spanish Jamaicaconsisted ofSpaniards, "natives", enslaved Africans, "black freedmen", mixed-race mulattoes, and those born on the island known as "creole Africans".Genetic  studies on theJamaican Maroonssuggest that their ancestry extends beyond Africa, to includeAmerindian,  European andEast Asianprogenitors.
On the voyage betweenPlymouth, Englandand Sierra Leone, seventy European girlfriends and wives accompanied theBlack Poor settlers.There was considerable intermarriage between the Europeans who settled in the colony of Sierra Leone and the various ethnic groups that coalesced into the Creole identity.The settlers generally marriedendogamously, although individuals frommixedand European groups recorded a much higher proportion of women and men involved inexogamousmarriages. Mixed-race individuals intermarried with Europeans and black colonial residents at the same rate as they married their own.
Alongside the Americo-Liberians, the Creoles of Sierra Leone are the only recognised ethnic group of African-American,Liberated African, and Afro-Caribbean descent in West Africa.
Historically, Creoles spread Christianity and their lingua franca throughout West Africa, and because of this, Sierra Leone Creole communities existed inNigeria,Ghana,Cameroon,Senegal,Equatorial GuineaandLiberia. Many Creoles traded throughout West Africa, and some settled in new countries.
Liberated Africans and their colony-born children in the early to mid-19th centuries, and subsequently Creoles between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, who settled in Nigeria, were known asSaros, and there is a thriving community there. Sierra Leone Creoles who settled in the Gambia became part of theAku or Gambian Creole people; they make up an elite community in Gambia. Many recaptives returned to their original homes after being freed in Freetown, as most kept their anglicised names, they took partially new identities back to their homelands.
As a result of normal immigration patterns, theSierra Leone Civil War, and some discrimination at home,many Sierra Leone Creoles live abroad in the United States and the United Kingdom. What has been called the "Creole Diaspora" is the migration of Sierra Leone Creoles abroad. Many Creoles attend formal and informal gatherings. A Creole orKrioHeritage Society is based in New York City, with branches in places including Texas.