The Gambian Creole people, or Krio or Aku, are a minority

ethnic group An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

with connections to and roots from the Sierra Leone Creole people.Frederiks, M. (2002). The Krio in the Gambia and the Concept of Inculturation, Exchange, 31(3), 219-229. doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/157254302X00399Shaka Ashcroft (2015) ''Roots and Routes: Krio Identity in Postcolonial London'', Black Theology, 13:2, 102-125, DOI:10.1179/1476994815Z.00000000051 In Gambia the Aku account for about 2% of the population. Some estimates put the figure higher. However, according to the 2013 Gambian Census, the Aku make up 0.5% of the population or around 8,477 people.

Origins

Gambian Creoles are the descendants of

Sierra Leone Liberated Africans The liberated Africans of Sierra Leone, also known as recaptives, were Africans who had been illegally enslaved onboard slave ships and rescued by anti-slavery patrols from the West Africa Squadron of the Royal Navy. After the British Parliament ...

, Sierra Leoneans of Nova Scotian and Maroon descent, transatlantic immigrants to the Gambia, and liberated Africans released in the Gambia directly. Gambian Creoles are partly an extension of the Sierra Leone Creole community, and some Gambian Creoles have roots in the West Indies, North America, England, and various African communities. Some Gambian Creoles also have some European heritage through intermarriage and through their connections to Sierra Leone Creoles who settled in the Gambia between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Language

Many Gambian Creoles speak the Krio language, an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

-based creole also spoken by Sierra Leonean Creoles.

Aku Marabouts

In Sierra Leone, the terms 'Oku' or 'Aku Marabouts' or the 'Aku Mohammedans' refers to the

Oku people The Oku people or the Aku Marabout or Aku Mohammedans are an ethnic group in Sierra Leone and the Gambia, primarily the descendants of marabout, liberated Yoruba people who were released from slave ships and resettled in Sierra Leone as Libera ...

, while in the Gambia, the term Aku refers to the Creole population not the

. In the Gambia, "Aku Marabout" or Oku Marabout is the term used for the

while Gambian Creoles or Akus in and around Banjul are

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

Notable Gambian Creole people

This is a list of notable Gambian Creole people. *

Belinda Bidwell Belinda Bidwell (22 April 1936 – 28 April 2007) was the first female speaker of the National Assembly of The Gambia. In 2002, Bidwell, who was previously a teacher, was nominated to serve in the National Assembly, and she became deputy speaker. ...

, first female speaker of the National Assembly of The Gambia * Mark Bright, sports correspondent and former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

Crispin Grey-Johnson Crispin Grey-Johnson (born December 7, 1946
United Nations Press Release BIO/3411, UN.org, March 12, 2002.

, current Secretary of State for Higher Education of the Gambia *

Augusta Jawara Hannah Augusta Darling Jawara (''née'' Mahoney; May 1924 – 21 January 1981), was a Gambian nurse, playwright and activist for women's rights. She was the first wife (from 1955 to 1967) of Sir Dawda Jawara, Prime Minister of the Gambia. Life Han ...

(''née Mahoney''), was a nurse, playwright, women's rights activist and former

first lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

Saikou Jammeh
"A Hand of Destiny"
, ''The Daily News'', 21 January 2011. Accessed 21 November 2012. *

Julia Dolly Joiner Julia Dolly Joiner (born November 11, 1956 Banjul, Gambia) is a Gambian politician. She is Commissioner of Political Affairs for the African Union, based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also ...

, politician and Commissioner of Political Affairs for the

African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the Africa ...

* Florence Mahoney, author, historian, and first Gambian woman to be awarded a PhD * Basiru Mahoney, lawyer and Judge * Dej Mahoney, legal and business consultant *

Louise N'Jie Louise Antoinette N'Jie, ( Mahoney; 23 January 1922 – 22 May 2014) was a Gambian teacher, feminist and politician who was the first woman to serve as a cabinet minister in The Gambia. Early life and education Louise Antoinette Mahoney was ...

, teacher,

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

and first woman to serve as a

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, � ...

in The Gambia * Lenrie Peters,

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

, novelist, poet and educationist *

Edward Francis Small Edward Francis Small (29 January 1891 – January 1958) was a Gambian statesman who has been described as the "trailblazer of Gambian political consciousness." One of the few educated Africans in the Gambia Colony and Protectorate during the ...

, trade unionist, nationalist and pan-Africanist * Susan Waffa-Ogoo, politician and former Minister of Foreign Affairs *

John Carew John Alieu Carew (born 5 September 1979) is a Norwegian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He was capped 91 times, scoring 24 goals for the Norway national team. As of 2023, he has been hired until the end of 2024 at Norw ...

References

Sources

*http://today.gm/hi/arts/the_aku.html *http://www.accessgambia.com/information/aku.html African-American diaspora in Africa People of Sierra Leone Creole descent Ethnic groups in the Gambia Repatriated Africans Gambian Creole people People of Gambian Creole descent People of Liberated African descent Gambian people Gambian Christians {{SierraLeone-stub