The Loko (

IPA IPA commonly refers to: * India pale ale, a style of beer * International Phonetic Alphabet, a system of phonetic notation * Isopropyl alcohol, a chemical compound IPA may also refer to: Organizations International * Insolvency Practitioners ...

: Lɔkɔ) are one of the indigenous

ethnic groups in Sierra Leone Sierra Leone is home to about sixteen ethnic groups, each with its own language. In Sierra Leone, membership of an ethnic group often overlaps with a shared religious identity. Ethnic groups and national politics The largest contest within Sierr ...

. Landogo is used as an

endonym An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, ...

for the people and language, but other groups refer to them as Loko. They speak a

Southwestern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

Mande language that is also called Loko. The majority of the Loko people live in the Northern Province of the country, particularly in

Bombali District Bombali is a district in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. Its capital and largest city is Makeni, which is also the largest city in the north. The Bombali district is one of the sixteen districts of Sierra Leone. Bombali is one of the lar ...

, and around the capital city of

Freetown Freetown is the 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, educational and p ...

in communities such as Regent. Important regional towns include

Tambiama Tambiama is a town in Sierra Leone. {{Bombali District Populated places in Sierra Leone Northern Province, Sierra Leone ...

Kalangba https://www.facebook.com/groups/KALANGBAFAMBUL Kalangba ( /kælæŋbæ/)(Loko: ''Ngangba'') is a rural village in Bombali District, Northern Province, Sierra Leone."Kalangba, now a small village in central Sierra Leone of approximately 3,000 inha ...

, and

Gbendembu Gbendembu is the chiefdom seat town in the Gbendembu Ngowahun Chiefdom (an amalgamated Chiefdom), in the Bombali District, Northern Province of Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the s ...

, though other groups such as the Mandingo people of Sierra Leone, Mandingo,

Fula Fula may refer to: *Fula people (or Fulani, Fulɓe) *Fula language (or Pulaar, Fulfulde, Fulani) **The Fula variety known as the Pulaar language **The Fula variety known as the Pular language **The Fula variety known as Maasina Fulfulde *Al-Fula ...

and Temne peoples live there too. The Loko belong to the larger group of Mande peoples who live throughout West Africa. The Loko are mostly

farmers A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer mi ...

and

hunters Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler, et ...

. Loko believe that most humanistic and scientific power is passed down through the

secret societies A secret society is a club or an organization whose activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence a ...

, such as the Kpangbani. The Loko people also utilize practices of the Bondo secret society which aims at gradually but firmly establishing attitudes related to adulthood in girls, discussions on fertility, morality and proper sexual comportment. The society also maintains an interest in the well-being of its members throughout their lives.

Notable Loko

* Sheik I. Kamara, member of parliament of Sierra Leone * Bai Kelfa Sankoh, paramount chief of Kambia District * Ibrahim Sesay, member of parliament from Kambia District

References

* Fyle, C. (2006). Historical Dictionary of Sierra Leone. * Babaev, K. (2010). Person Marking in South-West Mande Languages. A Tentative Reconstruction, 1–46. * Babaev, K. (2011). On the Origins of Southwest Mande Ethnonyms, 1–3. * Hyman, L. M. (1973). Notes on the History of Southwestern Mande. Studies in African linguistics, 4(2). * Speed, C. K. (1991). Swears and swearing among Landogo of Sierra Leone: aesthetics, adjudication, and the philosophy of power. {{authority control Ethnic groups in Sierra Leone Female genital mutilation Female genital mutilation by country