Temne people
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The Temne, also called Atemne, Témené, Temné, Téminè, Temeni, Thaimne, Themne, Thimni, Timené, Timné, Timmani, or Timni, are a
West African West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Ma ...
ethnic group, They are predominantly found in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone.Temne people
Encyclopædia Britannica
Some Temne are also found in
Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...
. The Temne constitute the largest
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, ...
in
Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...
, at 35.5% of the total population, which is slightly bigger than the
Mende people The Mende are one of the two largest ethnic groups in Sierra Leone; their neighbours, the Temne people, constitute the largest ethnic group at 35.5% of the total population, which is slightly larger than the Mende at 31.2%. The Mende are pred ...
at 31.2%. They speak Temne, a
Mel Mel, Mels or MEL may refer to: Biology * Mouse erythroleukemia cell line (MEL) * National Herbarium of Victoria, a herbarium with the Index Herbariorum code MEL People * Mel (given name), the abbreviated version of several given names (including ...
branch of the
Niger–Congo languages Niger–Congo is a hypothetical language family spoken over the majority of sub-Saharan Africa. It unites the Mande languages, the Atlantic-Congo languages (which share a characteristic noun class system), and possibly several smaller groups of ...
.Temne Language
Ethnologue
The Temne people migrated from the
Futa Jallon Fouta Djallon ( ff, 𞤊𞤵𞥅𞤼𞤢 𞤔𞤢𞤤𞤮𞥅, Fuuta Jaloo; ar, فوتا جالون) is a highland region in the center of Guinea, roughly corresponding with Middle Guinea, in West Africa. Etymology The Fulani people call th ...
region of Guinea, who left their original settlements to escape
Fula jihads The Fula (or Fulani) jihads ( ar, جهاد الفولا) sometimes called the Fulani revolution were a series of jihads that occurred across West Africa during the 18th and 19th centuries, led largely by the Muslim Fula people. The jihads and ...
in the 15th century, and migrated south before settling between the Kolenté and
Rokel River The Rokel River (also Seli River; previously Pamoronkoh River) is the largest river in the Republic of Sierra Leone in West Africa. The river basin measures in size, with the drainage divided by the Gbengbe and Kabala hills and the Sula Mountains ...
area of Sierra Leone. They initially practiced their traditional religion before Islam was adopted through contact with Muslim traders from neighboring ethnic groups, with most Temne having converted over time, Some have continued with their traditional religion. The Temne are traditionally farmers, growing rice,
cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively ...
, millet and
kola nut The term kola nut usually refers to the seeds of certain species of plant of the genus ''Cola'', placed formerly in the cocoa family Sterculiaceae and now usually subsumed in the mallow family Malvaceae (as subfamily Sterculioideae). These cola ...
. Their cash crops include peanuts and tobacco. Some Temne are fisherman, artisans and traders. Temne society is
patrilineal Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...
. It has featured a decentralized political system with village chiefs and an endogamous hierarchical social stratification. The Temne were one of the ethnic groups that were victims of slave capture and trading across the sub-Saharan and across the Atlantic into European colonies.


Demographics and language

The Temne people constitute one of the largest ethnic groups of Sierra Leone. Their largest concentrations are found in the northwestern and central parts of Sierra Leone, as well as the coastal 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 ...
. Although Temne speakers live mostly in the Northern Province, they also can be found in a number of other West African countries as well, including Guinea and
The 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 ...
. Some Temnes have migrated beyond West Africa seeking educational and professional opportunities in countries such as Great Britain, the United States, and Egypt. Temnes are primarily composed of scholars, business people, farmers, and coastal fishermen. Most Temnes are Muslim. The Temne people speak Temne, a language in the
Mel Mel, Mels or MEL may refer to: Biology * Mouse erythroleukemia cell line (MEL) * National Herbarium of Victoria, a herbarium with the Index Herbariorum code MEL People * Mel (given name), the abbreviated version of several given names (including ...
branch of the
Niger–Congo languages Niger–Congo is a hypothetical language family spoken over the majority of sub-Saharan Africa. It unites the Mande languages, the Atlantic-Congo languages (which share a characteristic noun class system), and possibly several smaller groups of ...
. It is related to the Baga language spoken in
Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...
.


History

In 1642, a Susu caravan of 1,500 people led by Touré, Fofana, Yansané, Youla, and Doumbouya from the North, invaded the city of
Forécariah Forécariah (N'Ko script, N’ko: ߝߏߙߋߞߊߙߌߦߊ߫) is a sub-prefectures of Guinea, sub-prefecture and town located in western Guinea. It is the capital of Forécariah Prefecture. As of 2008, the population was estimated to be around 21,710 ...
. Directed by Fode Katibi Touré and his brothers Fodé Boubacar Fofana and Fodé Boubacar Yansané, their primary mission was to Islamize the natives of the said locality who were Temne people. The Temne, who refused to convert to Islam, were massively conquered from their region, which resulted in forced migration to northwest Sierra Leone. According to Bankole Taylor, the migration of the Temne to present-day Sierra Leone goes far back as the 11th and 12th century, Mainly due to the fall of Jallonkadu Empire in what eventually became
Futa Jallon Fouta Djallon ( ff, 𞤊𞤵𞥅𞤼𞤢 𞤔𞤢𞤤𞤮𞥅, Fuuta Jaloo; ar, فوتا جالون) is a highland region in the center of Guinea, roughly corresponding with Middle Guinea, in West Africa. Etymology The Fulani people call th ...
. According to oral tradition, the Temne consider their ancestral home to be the Fouta Djallon highlands in the interior of present-day Guinea. In the 15th century, their region was dominated by
Fulani The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people ( ff, Fulɓe, ; french: Peul, links=no; ha, Fulani or Hilani; pt, Fula, links=no; wo, Pël; bm, Fulaw) are one of the largest ethnic groups in the Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. ...
causing a southern migration of the Temne to northwest Sierra Leone. Following their migration they came into contact with the Limba people, the Temnes fought and forced the Limba northeast and the Bullom southwards. The Limba, according to Alexander Kup, had settled in Sierra Leone at some point before 1400 CE invading land then-inhabited possibly by Gbandi people pushing them eastwards into
Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...
. The Temne started resettling in the northern part of the Pamoronkoh River (today is known as the
Rokel River The Rokel River (also Seli River; previously Pamoronkoh River) is the largest river in the Republic of Sierra Leone in West Africa. The river basin measures in size, with the drainage divided by the Gbengbe and Kabala hills and the Sula Mountains ...
). They followed the Rokel River from its upper reaches to the
Sierra Leone River The Sierra Leone River is a river estuary on the Atlantic Ocean in Western Sierra Leone. It is formed by the Bankasoka River and Rokel River and is between 4 and 10 miles wide (6–16 km) and 25 miles (40 km) long. It holds the major port ...
, the giant
estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...
of the Rokel River, and Port Loko Creek, one of the largest natural harbors in the African continent. This re-settlement remained precarious, as more ethnic groups arrived in the region to escape wars and jihads, and as wars began inside Sierra Leone in the coming years. In the mid 16th century, a Mandé army from the east, referred to as the Mane or Mani, invaded and conquered the Temne lands, with the general Farma Tami becoming the ruler of the Temne. His capital Robaga by the Sierra Leone River, now near
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 ...
, became holy and an economic center for the Temne. The Mane generals and captains divided Sierra Leone between themselves into four principal "kingdoms", with several subdivisions within each. However, Kenneth C. Wylie states, the "kingdoms" were
grafting Grafting or graftage is a horticultural technique whereby tissues of plants are joined so as to continue their growth together. The upper part of the combined plant is called the scion () while the lower part is called the rootstock. The succ ...
s atop existing local structures which continued to survive and which influenced the newcomers. Between the 16th and 18th century, several Mandé ethnic groups such as the Koranko, the Susu and the Yalunka also arrived. A Fula ruler styled ''Fula Mansa'' seized power south of the Rokel River. Some Temne of the area fled to Banta near the
Jong River The Jong or Taia river is a river flowing through Sierra Leone. It passes by the city of Mattru Jong, and flows into the Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers ...
, and these became known as ''Mabanta Temne'', while the Temne who accepted the Fula Mansa were called ''Yoni Temne''. The precise origins of the Mane remain intensely debated. The Mane would eventually subsume into the Temne and Bullom peoples, in addition to forming the Loko ethnic group.


European records

The earliest mention of Temne and other ethnic groups of Sierra Leone are in the records of Portuguese financed explorers such as those of Valentim Fernandes and Pacheco Pereira who were traveling along the coast of Africa to find a route to India and China. Pereira's memoirs written between 1505 and 1508 mention Temne words for gold ("tebongo"), water ("'mant 'mancha") and rice ("nack maloo," borrowed from Mandinka). The Portuguese records describe the culture and religion of the Temne people that their ships met as communities living near water, worshippers of idols made of clay, and men having their gods, while women had their own"." A Portuguese citizen from Cape Verde named
André Álvares de Almada André Álvares de Almada ( fl. 16th and 17th centuries) was a Cape Verdean writer, trader and explorer of mestiço (mixed) descent. He was one of the first recorded Cape Verdean writers in Cape Verdean history, in 1598, he was knighted as a Knigh ...
wrote an extensive handbook on Sierra Leone in 1594, urging the Portuguese to colonize the region. This handbook also described Temne society and culture in the 16th century. The text mentions villages, their courts of justice, and lawyers who represented different parties while wearing "grotesque masks", with the chief presiding. Culprits convicted of serious crimes, claimed de Almada, were killed or enslaved. He also described the rituals of chief's succession involving goat blood and rice flour, marriage dances, and a funeral involving the burial of the dead within one's house with gold ornaments. The Dutch and French colonial empires were not interested in Sierra Leone, and left the Temne land to the interests of the Portuguese and the English. The English trader Thomas Corker arrived in 1684 to Royal African Company, starting the presence among the Temne of the influential Caulker family. The Futa Jallon Jihad of early 18th century caused major sociopolitical upheaval among the Temne, because it triggered slave raids and the sale of war captives into the Transatlantic Slave Trade, plus generated a major influx of Susu and Yalunka people from the north and west. It also marked the rise of the Solima Yalunka kings. The Temne king Naimbana (also spelled Nembgana) of the Kingdom of Koya was hostile to slave trading until his death in 1793. These wars brought European slave traders to the ports of the region to buy slaves from African chiefs and slave merchants, but it also brought the navies of the European colonial powers interested in safeguarding their interests in Sierra Leone.


Abolitionists and missionaries

The Temne king,
Naimbanna II Naimbanna II (1720 – 11 November 1793) was Obai (King) of the Temne people of Sierra Leone. Naimbanna had some variants of his name, such as Nemgbana, which may refer to a place called Gbana, with the suggestion that when asked what he was called ...
, opposed slave trading but supported other trade and amicable relations with the European powers. He allowed the British to remain in the peninsula which had been ceded to them by his sub-chief, Tom. Naimbana signed the treaty in 1788 giving this land to the colonists. This may have been done unwittingly, since he was
illiterate Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, hum ...
and may not have realized that the British intended to take permanent possession of the territory. Some of his later actions indicate that he was happy with the presence of the colony in his territory. In 1785, he also granted a French officer land on Gambia Island, close to what is now
Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
. Naimbana provided land and labor to help the newly-freed
Black Nova Scotians Black Nova Scotians (also known as African Nova Scotians and Afro-Nova Scotians) are Black Canadians whose ancestors primarily date back to the Colonial United States as slaves or freemen, later arriving in Nova Scotia, Canada, during the 18th ...
who founded
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 1792, as a resettlement for former slaves liberated by abolition activists, as well as a center of economic activity between the Europeans and the ethnic groups of Sierra Leone including the Temne people. The French attacked and burned Freetown in September 1794 during the
War of the First Coalition The War of the First Coalition (french: Guerre de la Première Coalition) was a set of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797 initially against the Kingdom of France (1791-92), constitutional Kingdom of France and then t ...
. The city was rebuilt by the Black Nova Scotian settlers and by 1798, Freetown had between 300-400 houses with architecture resembling that of the
American South The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...
with 3–4 feet stone foundations with wooden superstructures. The city grew to be a center of European and African abolitionists in the early 1800s, who sought to detect and stop all slave trading and shipping activity. It is now the capital of Sierra Leone. After its founding in 1792, Freetown became the site of the settlement of freed slaves from Britain (
Black Poor Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have ...
), North America (
Black Nova Scotians Black Nova Scotians (also known as African Nova Scotians and Afro-Nova Scotians) are Black Canadians whose ancestors primarily date back to the Colonial United States as slaves or freemen, later arriving in Nova Scotia, Canada, during the 18th ...
), the Caribbean (
Jamaican Maroons Jamaican Maroons descend from Africans who freed themselves from slavery on the Colony of Jamaica and established communities of free black people in the island's mountainous interior, primarily in the eastern parishes. Africans who were ensla ...
) and large numbers of Liberated Africans rescued from blockaded slave ships by the Royal Naval Squadron. These efforts had been inspired and financed by
philanthropic Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...
British abolitionists, African-Americans, and Christian missionaries. Over time, 60,000 such Liberated Africans (many of whom were Yoruba, Ibo, Congolese, Ashanti, Bassa, and other West African groups) joined the Maroons and Nova Scotian settlers to claim Freetown as their home. But this fast-growing center of newly resettled men, women, and children was regarded ambivalently by the Temne. Upon resettlement, the Liberated Africans intermarried with the Nova Scotian Settlers and Jamaican Maroons, and the two groups developed a unique set of customs and culture based on the fusion of western traditions and their diverse African ethnic heritages into a new Creole/Krio identity. https://www.persee.fr/doc/cea_0008-0055_1991_num_31_121_2116 Journal of Sierra Leone Studies, Vol. 3; Edition 1, 2014 https://www.academia.edu/40720522/A_Precis_of_Sources_relating_to_genealogical_research_on_the_Sierra_Leone_Krio_people, originally published by Longman & Dalhousie University Press (1976). Freetown also became a center for Christian missionary activity setting up schools and churches from the coastal south. Around the same time, Fouta Djallon had become a popular destination for higher studies and Islamic learning, with sons from several notable families being sent there to study.


Colonial era

The Temne were a source of timber, groundnuts, palm kernels, palm oil, rubber and other goods which fed the trade between Sierra Leone and the Europe. However, the Temne kingdom of Koya was engaged in regional wars between 1807 and 1888, such as with the Loko, Mende and Susu rulers. The British intervened between the 1830s to 1870s, arranged numerous cease fires to help stabilize the socio-economic situation and trade. The treaties between the different rulers in and around the Temne lands were erratic and intermittent. The ongoing wars between the various ethnic groups, along with the military action from the north by the Futa Jalon Almamate into the Temne territories, threatened the Sierra Leone-related economic interests of the European colonial powers. The French and the British then intervened militarily, with the French expanding into Guinea in the early 1880s and the British expanding from the south through Freetown. In 1889, the French and the British had brought the region under their effective control, and they negotiated a boundary between the
French Guinea French Guinea (french: Guinée française) was a French colonial possession in West Africa. Its borders, while changed over time, were in 1958 those of the current independent nation of Guinea. French Guinea was established by France in 1891, ...
and
British Sierra Leone The Colony and Protectorate of Sierra Leone (informally British Sierra Leone) was the British colonial administration in Sierra Leone from 1808 to 1961, part of the British Empire from the abolitionism era until the decolonisation era. The Crow ...
. The Temne territories went to the British. The British colonial government was directly ruling the Temne lands, enforced their anti-slavery laws, and instituted new taxes to finance their local administration in 1894. This included a hut tax, similar to property tax in vogue in England. This tax was to become effective on January 1, 1898. A similar tax had existed in Sierra Leone before 1872, which the British Governor John Pope Hennessy had abolished within the Sierra Leone colony then ceded by the Temne king to the British. The French, too, introduced a similar tax in Guinea, at the same, but required the chiefs to collect it. The new tax by the British reversed their old decision, and they decided to collect the tax directly from the people. This triggered a Temne response that historians call as a rebellion or Hut tax war of 1898. Between the time Britain announced the tax and it becomes effective, the organized opposition against it grew. Many Temne chiefs told the British that their people would not accept it. These Temne chiefs petitioned Sierra Leone's protectorate governor to repeal it. Still, the British ignored the petition, assumed that the chiefs lacked mutual cooperation for any serious concerted action, and asked their collectors to proceed forward. Further, the British exempted Freetown and their own officials from having to pay an equivalent tax. By mid-1898, the British assumptions proved wrong, Temne people had refused to pay the new tax and launched a coordinated war. A notable Muslim chief named
Bai Bureh Bai Bureh (February 15, 1840 – August 24, 1908) was a Sierra Leonean ruler, Military strategy, military strategist, and Muslim cleric, who led the Temne and Loko uprising against British rule in 1898 in Northern Sierra Leone. Early life and ...
sent a signed letter to the British in December 1898 stating that the tax was a heavy load, and the British ban on "not to barter any slaves again, not to buy again, nor to put pledge again" under penalties of jail was unacceptable. The Temne chief's military response against the colonial British in 1898, states
Michael Crowder Michael Crowder (9 June 1934 – 14 August 1988) was a British historian and author notable for his books on the history of Africa and particularly on the history of West Africa. Early life and education Michael was born in London and educat ...
– a professor of History specializing on West Africa, was a protest not just against the hut tax but against a host of laws that had challenged the embedded social systems within the Temne society. Bai Bureh was partly a descendant of the
Loko people The Loko (IPA: Lɔkɔ) are one of the indigenous ethnic groups in Sierra Leone. Landogo is used as an endonym for the people and language, but other groups refer to them as Loko. They speak a Southwestern Mande language that is also called ...
, became one of the chiefs of Temne people, and led a key role in coordinating the military response to the British. His role in challenging the British laws in his times, and its effect on Temne people, has been widely studied. After Sierra Leone became independent in 1961, the Temne people and the Mende people have often competed for powers of representation, being the two largest ethnic groups with each representing about 30% to 35% of the nation's population.


Religion


Islam

Temne originally practiced a traditional polytheistic religion which included belief in a
Supreme Being In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...
. Following their migration from their ancestral home of Guinea, triggered by invasions from neighboring Fulani in the early 15th century, the Temne resettled in northern Sierra Leone. There the Temne came into renewed contact with Muslims as Islam's influence grew in West Africa. Estimates vary between when Tenme began converting to
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
. The 15th-century Portuguese explorers and traders recorded contacts with Muslim peoples. Early traders, warriors and holy men brought Islam into the Temne area by way of other ethnic groups. According to John Shoup, Islam was brought in the 17th century by Mende traders from the south, and according to Rosalind Shaw it was brought beginning in the 18th century, by the Susu from the north and the Mandinka and Fulani from the northeast. The conversions among Temne to Islam progressed through the 18th and 19th century. In the northern parts of Sierra Leone, close to Futa Djallon, the conversions were near complete, and chiefdoms were Islamic. However, in the southeastern parts of Temne territory (central Sierra Leone), according to Shaw's personal account, the conversion of Temne people have been semi-Islamic where people have syncretized Islam with traditional religious ideas rather than abandoning them outright. These southeastern Temne believe in spirits and
divination Divination (from Latin ''divinare'', 'to foresee, to foretell, to predict, to prophesy') is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic, standardized process or ritual. Used in various forms throughout histor ...
by believing that their ancestral spirits reside in a transitional region before proceeding to the Islamic idea of an eternal paradise or hell. Those who are literate recite Quranic prayers, others offer the daily prayers required in Islam. Those retaining their traditionalist beliefs now categorize them between "Muslim spirits" or "an-yina" (plural "e-yina"), considered good, and non-Islamic spirits or "an-kerfi," often considered bad; while emphasizing the supreme deity "Ala" (Allah) and assigning a key mediatory role to the archangel
Jibril In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብር ...
(Gabriel). "Far from reducing Temne concepts, then, Islamisation (in southeastern Temneland at least) has generated further
cosmological Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in Latin by German philosopher ...
elaboration", states Shaw. Precise estimates of Muslims among the Temne alter. Bankole Taylor states an estimated 90% to 95% of Temne people to be Muslims. John Shoup states that "by the early 20th century, the majority was Muslim", while Sundkler and Steed state "most of the Temne people have become Muslim".


Christianity

Christian missionaries first came to Sierra Leone with the Portuguese in the 17th century. These missionaries wrote that Temne people and their king worshipped idols. The memoirs of Jesuit Barreira state that he had converted and baptized the first group in 1607. According to Vernon Dorjahn, early Christian missions were opposed by Temne elites because it insisted on monogamy, compared to the polygynous households of the Muslim chiefs and landholders. These Temne chiefs also opposed the Christian missionary efforts to end all slave trading, slave exports and resettle the slaves freed from slave ships, plantations and domestic situations. The early start did not, however, trigger mass conversions. The most significant presence and expansion of Christianity within the Temne territories began in 1787, with the establishment of Freetown. The villages granted by the Temne king for resettlement of freed slaves of all ethnic groups, was modeled to include Christian missions and Churches of various denominations such as Methodist and Baptist. The Church Missionary Society founded in London in 1799, made Freetown as one of its major African bases. The Methodist missionaries from the Wesleyan Missionary Society arrived in Freetown in 1811. These and other missions began proselytizing the newly settled slaves, the Susu people and the Temne people in their neighborhood. The presence of Christianity grew as it opened centers of higher education and model schools for children in the 20th century. Christianity among the Temne has had its largest adherents in the Freetown area and southeastern region of the Temne region.


Traditional beliefs

Temne traditional religion involves belief in a Supreme Being and Creator referred to as Kuru Masaba, followed in rank by lesser deities. The term ''Masaba'' was borrowed from the Mandinka phrase ''mansa ba'' which means "the big king". The term ''Kuru'' means God, and is
cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words in different languages that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymology, etymological ancestor in a proto-language, common parent language. Because language c ...
with the word ''kur'' which suggests "old age", but ''Kuru'' also means "sky" or literally "the abode of God". The resulting ''Kuru Masaba'' means God Almighty to differentiate it from lesser deities. According to Taylor, the Temne believe that Kuru Masaba cannot be approached directly but only through the intercession of
patrilineal Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...
ancestral spirits, and sacrifices are offered to them when requesting for help. Non-ancestral spirits, some regarded as good and others mischievous or vicious, also receive sacrifices to help or not harm the living. Chiefdoms partake in
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 men's ''
Poro The Poro, or Purrah or Purroh, is a men's secret society in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, and the Ivory Coast, introduced by the Mane people. It is sometimes referred to as a hunting society and only males are admitted to its ranks. The femal ...
'', ''Ragbenle'' or ''Ramena'', and the women's '' Bondo''. Like with the introduction of Islam centuries later, this institution of societies was introduced to the region by
Mandé peoples The Mandé peoples are ethnic groups who are speakers of Mande languages. Various Mandé speaking ethnic groups are found particularly toward the west of West Africa. The Mandé Speaking languages are divided into two primary groups: East Mandé ...
. The largest of these societies are the Poro and Bondo which are found in the west, while the smaller Ragbenle is found in the east of Temne territory. According to Kenneth Little, writing in the 60s, even the prevalence of Poro societies was more widespread among Mende than Temne. These practices include secret initiation ceremonies, which are rites of passage for young boys and girls.


Society and culture

The Temne are traditionally farmers of staples such as rice and cassava,
fishermen A fisher or fisherman is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishers may be professional or recreat ...
, and traders. The cash crops include cotton, peanuts, palm and kola nuts. The Temne clans have been numerous, each independent, divided as a chiefdom. A chiefdom contained villages, with a sub-chief who would head one or more villages. The headman typically inherited the post, being the descendant of the village founder. In contemporary Sierra Leone, the chiefs are elected.


Social stratification

Some of the Temne people clans have been socially stratified with a stratum of slaves and castes. However, other clans such as the Temne king Naimbana of the Kingdom of Koya was hostile to slave trading until his death in 1793, because his Temne people had been victims to slave raiding and suffered from destroyed families. Slavery and slave trade thrived in some of the Temne territories, in part because it was well connected to two centers of slave demand and markets, the first being Futa Jallon and Niger valley region, and second being the deepest and largest natural harbor of Africa that forms the coast of Sierra Leone which is also connected to its navigable rivers. The trading of various goods as well as slave raiding, capture, holding and trade between Temne lands and interior West Africa was already in vogue before the first European explorers arrived. Portuguese were already trading gold, ivory, wood, pepper, and slaves by the 17th century, while the British, Dutch and French colonial powers joined this trade later. The slaves were held in Temne clans as agriculture workers and domestic servants, and they formed the lowest subservient layer of the social strata. Enslaved women served as domestic workers, wives and concubines. Among some clans of the Temne, there were endogamous castes of artisans and musicians. The terminology of this social stratification system and the embedded hierarchy may have been adopted among the Temne from the nearby Mandinka people, Fula people and Susu people. The caste hierarchy and social stratification has been more well established in the northern parts of Temne territories.


Notable Temne people

* Alie Koblo Queen Kabia II, 44th Paramount Chief of Marampa Chiefdom *
Bai Bureh Bai Bureh (February 15, 1840 – August 24, 1908) was a Sierra Leonean ruler, Military strategy, military strategist, and Muslim cleric, who led the Temne and Loko uprising against British rule in 1898 in Northern Sierra Leone. Early life and ...
, Sierra Leonean ruler and military strategist who led the Temne uprising against the British in 1898 *
Bai Koblo Pathbana II Bai Koblo Pathbana II, was a paramount chief and politician in Lunsar, Port Loko District, Sierra Leone. He was crowned the 43rd Paramount Chief of Marampa-Masimera Chiefdom in 1943. In 1946, he married Ella Gulama, the daughter of Julius ...
, 43rd Paramount Chief of Marampa Chiefdom *
Ernest Bai Koroma Ernest Bai Koroma (born 2 October 1953) is a Sierra Leone, Sierra Leonean politician who served as the fourth President of Sierra Leone from 17 September 2007 to 4 April 2018. Born and raised in Makeni in northern Sierra Leone, Koroma spent mo ...
, Former president of Sierra Leone from 2007 to 2018 *
Foday Sankoh Foday Saybana Sankoh (17 October 1937 – 29 July 2003) was the founder of the Sierra Leone rebel group Revolutionary United Front (RUF), which was supported by Charles Taylor-led NPFL in the 11-year-long Sierra Leone Civil War, starting i ...
, founder of the
Revolutionary United Front The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) was a rebel group that fought a failed eleven-year war in Sierra Leone, beginning in 1991 and ending in 2002. It later transformed into a political party, which still exists today. The three most senior surv ...
who was indicted for war crimes * Issa Hassan Sesay, convicted war criminal who served in the Sierra Leonean army and the
Armed Forces Revolutionary Council The Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) was a group of Sierra Leone soldiers that allied itself with the rebel Revolutionary United Front in the late 1990s. While the AFRC briefly controlled the country in 1998, it was driven from the cap ...
(AFRC) *
Isha Sesay Isha Isatu Sesay (; ; born 6 January 1976) is a British journalist of Sierra Leonean descent. From 2005 to 2018, she worked as an anchor and correspondent for CNN International. Originally based at CNN's world headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, U ...
, British–Sierra Leonean journalist *
Kadi Sesay Kadi Sesay (born March 4, 1949) is a Sierra Leonean politician, feminist, pro-democracy advocate and the vice presidential candididate of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP). She served as Sierra Leone Minister of Trade and Industry from 200 ...
, Sierra Leone's Minister of Trade and Industry from 2002 to 2007 and the current National Deputy Chairman of the SLPP *
King Tom King Tom was the Temne ruler of the land where the Province of Freedom, Sierra Leone was first located. He was described by John C. Lettsome as "a very fine fellow, so far as dress goes, for he generally has variegated bright colours; his hat ...
, Negotiated the settlement of the
Province of Freedom Cline Town is an area in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The area is named for Emmanuel Kline, a Hausa Liberated African who bought substantial property in the area. The neighborhood is in the vicinity of Granville Town, a settlement established in 1787 a ...
with the British *
Momodu Koroma Momodu Koroma (born 1956 in Yonibana, Tonkolili District, Sierra Leone Colony and Protectorate, British Sierra Leone) is a Sierra Leonean politician. He is a former foreign minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and a member of the Sierra Leone Peopl ...
, Foreign minister of Sierra Leone from 2002 to 2007 *
Momodu Munu Momodu Munu (born 1938) is a former diplomat from Sierra Leone. From 1985 to 1989, Munu served as the Executive Secretary of the Economic Community of West African States The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS; also known as in ...
, former Sierra Leone minister from 1985 to 1989 *
Naimbanna II Naimbanna II (1720 – 11 November 1793) was Obai (King) of the Temne people of Sierra Leone. Naimbanna had some variants of his name, such as Nemgbana, which may refer to a place called Gbana, with the suggestion that when asked what he was called ...
, 18th century
Obai The Kingdom of Kquoja or Koya or Koya Temne, or the Temne Kingdom (1505–1896), was a pre-colonial African state in the north of present-day Sierra Leone. The kingdom was founded by the Temne people, Temne ethnic group in or around 1505 by mi ...
(king) of the Temne people of Sierra Leone *
Thaimu Bangura Thaimu Bangura (died 1999) was a politician from Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the ...
, former Sierra Leone minister of Finance and leader of the PDP political party *
Zainab Bangura Haja Zainab Hawa Bangura (; born 18 December 1959) is a Sierra Leonean politician and social activist who has been serving as the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON) since 2018, appointed by United Nations Secretary-Ge ...
, current Foreign Minister of Sierra Leone *
Brima Bazzy Kamara Ibrahim ("Brima") Bazzy Kamara (born 7 May 1968 in Freetown) was a commander of the soldiers of the Sierra Leonean Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) and in 2007 was convicted of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Sie ...
, former commander of the
Armed Forces Revolutionary Council The Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) was a group of Sierra Leone soldiers that allied itself with the rebel Revolutionary United Front in the late 1990s. While the AFRC briefly controlled the country in 1998, it was driven from the cap ...
and convicted war criminal *
Soccoh Kabia Soccoh Kabia is a Sierra Leonean politician and physician who served as the Minister of Health, Minister of Social Welfare, Gender and Children's Affairs, and Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources of Sierra Leone from 2007 to 2013. Early l ...
, Sierra Leone's current Minister of Social Welfare and Children's affairs *
Samura Kamara Dr Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara is a Sierra Leonean politician and economist. He was the All Peoples Congress (APC) Party's candidate for President of Sierra Leone in the 2018 election. He was the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International C ...
, former Finance Minister * Santigie Borbor Kanu, former commander in the
Armed Forces Revolutionary Council The Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) was a group of Sierra Leone soldiers that allied itself with the rebel Revolutionary United Front in the late 1990s. While the AFRC briefly controlled the country in 1998, it was driven from the cap ...
and convicted war criminal *
Teteh Bangura Ibrahim "Teteh" Bangura (born 27 December 1989 in Freetown) is an unattached Sierra Leonean Association football, football striker. Career Kallon F.C. Bangura began his career in his native Sierra Leone, playing with F.C. Kallon. He was the ...
, Sierra Leonean footballer * Umaru Bangura, Sierra Leonean footballer *
Alhassan Bangura Alhassan "Al" Bangura (born 24 January 1988) is a Sierra Leonean former footballer who played as a midfielder. Bangura played for the Sierra Leone national team and is notable for having been the victim of human trafficking when he was a teena ...
, Sierra Leonean footballer *
Mohamed Kallon Mohamed Kallon MOR (born 6 October 1979) is a Sierra Leonean football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is widely considered the most famous footballer from Sierra Leone. He made 39 appearances for the Sierra Leone nationa ...
, former professional footballer *
Mohamed Bangura Mohamed Bangura (born 27 July 1989) is a professional footballer from Sierra Leone. Club career IFK Värnamo On 19 March 2010, Swedish Football Division 1, Swedish third tier side IFK Värnamo (coached by the former Sweden midfielder Jonas Th ...
, Sierra Leonean boxer and participant in the 1980 Summer Olympics *
Mohamed Sankoh Mohamed Sankoh (born 16 October 2003) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Heracles Almelo on loan from the German club VfB Stuttgart. Career In the summer of 2020, Sankoh moved to VfB Stuttgart. He made his debut ...
, professional footballer


See also

*
Mende people The Mende are one of the two largest ethnic groups in Sierra Leone; their neighbours, the Temne people, constitute the largest ethnic group at 35.5% of the total population, which is slightly larger than the Mende at 31.2%. The Mende are pred ...
* Limba people *
Kono people The Kono people (pronounced ''koh noh'') are a major Mande peoples, Mande-speaking ethnic group in Sierra Leone at 5.2% of the country's total population. Their homeland is the diamond-rich Kono District in eastern Sierra Leone. The Kono are prim ...


References


Bibliography

* Brooks, George. (1993) "Landlords and Strangers: Ecology, Society, and Trade in Western Africa, 1000-1630", Boulder: Westview Press. * Rodney, Walter. (1970) "A History of the Upper Guinea Coast, 1545-1800", Oxford: Clarendon Press. * gaeylie, Kenneth. (1977) "The Political Kingdoms of the Temne: Temne Government in Sierra Leone, 1825-1910", New York: Africana Publishing. Company.


External links


PV Investigative Staff, "Our Cabinet Ministers and Diplomats"
''Patriotic Vanguard'', 22 May 2012.

Every Culture
Recordings of Temne Music
, on CDs
Assessment for Temne in Sierra Leone
University of Maryland

* ttp://www.hamillgallery.com/TEMNE/TemneHeaddresses/TemneHeadresses.html ''Tenne Masks & Headdresses, Sierra Leone'' Hamill Gallery {{DEFAULTSORT:Temne People Indigenous peoples of West Africa Ethnic groups in Sierra Leone Ethnic groups in Guinea Muslim communities in Africa Female genital mutilation Female genital mutilation by country