Bullom-Sherbro
The Sherbro or Bullom (or Bullom-Sherbro ) are a people in Sierra Leone who were one of the first black African peoples to have intensive contact with European traders. Their home area is the island of Sherbro off the coast of the country and the adjacent areas on the mainland. Almost 135,000 inhabitants or 1.9 percent of the total population (as of 2015) are Sherbro.
Most of the Bullom belong to the Christian faith. The Bullom-Sherbro speak the critically endangered Bullom and Sherbro languages .
history
The Bullom-Sherbro have lived in what is now Sierra Leone since at least the 15th century. It was at this time that Portuguese explorers had contact with them for the first time. The marriage between a Bullom Sherbro and one of the Portuguese sailors led to the first Afro-Portuguese group in Africa. This group has long led the trade between West Africa and Europe .
The English arrived in Sierra Leone around 1620 . A very close relationship developed between them and the local tribes. The later colonial rulers began to marry into influential Bullom-Sherbro families. The best known were the Tucker, Caulker, Rogerse, and Clevelands clans. In just a few years, these families became important trading partners and enlarged the tribal area.
In the 18th century slaves were one of the clan's most important trading goods. Above all, the Tucker and Caulker families gained influence. With the support of the Mende and white slave hunters, trade was expanded. With the proclamation of the British colony in what is now Sierra Leone, the Bullom-Sherbro had to submit to British law. They were gradually pushed back and their original form of government, the chiefdoms, disappeared. In 1820 the Caulkers were chased from their tribal territory on the Banana Islands .
Personalities
- John Karefa-Smart (1915-2010), former Sierra Leonean politician
- Peter L. Tucker (1927–2017), member of the Tucker family and Chairman of the Racial Equality Council in Great Britain
- Thomas Caulker (1846–1859), son of King von Bumpe
- Patricia Kabbah (1933–1998), late wife of the former Sierra Leonean President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah
See also
literature
- Adam Jones, History in Africa, Vol. 10, 1983 (1983), pp. 151-162
Web links
- Entwisted Tongues: Comparative Creole Literatures
- The Story of Sierra Leone, by Francis Arthur James Utting
- Amazing Grace: The Story of America's Most Beloved Song by Steve Turner