 |
|
|
M. Sekou Kanneh |
Anthropologists tell us that
culture is the way of life
of a group of people. Such
group can be referred to as
a family, tribe, town,
district, county and even a
country. But for our
purpose, this discussion
will be limited to the
Relationship between and
amongst the ethnic groupings
of Lofa County, particularly
our closest neighbors the
Lormas, who have lived and
co-existed with the
Mandingos for decades.
However, Anthropology will
also tell you that no
culture is independent of
itself, the abandonment of a
perceived negative aspect of
one’s culture for the
positive aspect of the
cultures of others, is what
they refer to as civilizing
one’s culture. One will
surmise to say therefore
that the overall way of life
of the people of Lofa, have
a little or no significant
difference based on human
movements, intermarriages,
religion and trade.
Before the arrival of the two major religions,
Christianity and Islam, coupled with what you now call
government, all of the tribes in that part of the
country now called Lofa, had many aspects of their
cultures in common. Our marriages, fraternities,
relationships, tools to work with, and even how we named
our children were done with the same concepts. It might
be interesting to note that names like Jallah, Lazilee,
Kolako, Mokulor, ect, are common names used by both
Lormas and Mandingoes alike.
Marriage
Just like the Lormas, it is required of a Mandingo man
to pay the full bride price of a woman before bringing
her into matrimony. Even at that, one has to get the
full approval of the prospective brides parents. This is
one reason while marring in the household of one’s
uncles (mother’s relation) was prevalent and honorable,
because uncles were under obligation to give their
nephews their daughter at a reasonable token which could
be considered as the bride price. Infact, in many
quarters a nephew’s wife was selected by his mother from
amongst his uncles children even before she got to the
age of marriage. The mother would assume certain
responsibility for the prospective bride until she
reached the flower of her age and subsequently turned
over to her husband.
Male
Fraternal Society
Just as the
Lormas and other tribes had the secret poro society, the
Mandingo had their Korma society as well. These
societies were responsible for molding young men to face
the future. In male fraternal society, a young man was
required to know every aspect of farming and to know how
to run a family before graduating and facing the future.
As we are told both the Poro and the Korma societies
co-existed peacefully before the Mandingo abandoned
their to the religion of Islam. Infact I vividly
remember, and that was somewhere around 1958 to the 60s,
the “monkey” bridge being built and constantly repaired
over Lofa River linking Bulor to Barkiedu by members of
the poro society from a nearby town called Goala (Wadala).
Whenever the bridge was being repaired, only
members of the poro society and Zoes from the korma
society were allowed to be there. This was done with the
Mandingos accepting their cultural dependency while
incorporating that of the Lormas for their own benefit.
Sandy Society
One cardinal part of the culture that was common to all
of the tribes in Lofa was the Sandy society. Perhaps not
the handling of the society, but the purpose and
practices were virtually the same. A woman who was a
member of the Sandy society from the Mandingo side was
just as good as member to the Lorma side. Infact, “Zoes”
from all sides usually showed up at all major Sandy
feasts within the district and beyond. We are told that
if a woman violated a rule of the Sandy society in
Bellehyella, would be as punishable or outcast in
Barkiedu as it would have been done in Zorzor. The
communication between and among them was very strong and
effective.
Religions.
The coming of the two main religions, Christianity and
Islam, into the county helped to further cement the
relationship amongst the tribes of the county. Voinjama
being an example, our unity in diversity, was
exemplified by the existence of over ten main churches
and two main mosques.
People in both religions worshiped under cordial
atmosphere without confrontation from the other. The
church bells would ring as loud as it deserved and no
one made derogatory comment. Similarly so it was with
the “Tabulay” and the Azan. No amount of loud Azan would
anger anyone to make comment against the other. Those
practices were daily routines people lived with
peacefully.
In Voinjama, people tolerated one another’s religion and
traditional practices to the point that they adjusted
their livelihood to accommodate the norms, and religious
practices of the other. For example: the early morning
Azan was a wake up alerts for those who wanted to go to
their farms very early. They would set their wake up
time to the early morning Azan. Similarly, if you did
not make it to the market ground right after the
Pentecostal Church bell rang, you risk not having a
suitable area in the crowded Market on that day.
So people made it their business to adjust and
accommodate those diversified practices and converted
them into their interests positively..
During the Fast (Ramadan) month, Mandingo youths ate and
played together with youths of their Lorma counterparts
just as we did during Christmas. Infact, Christmas and
Ramadan months were month of not only festivities, but
months of commerce, trade and unity. The sales of farm
products would go to its highest in price, the revenue
of which was used to buy other items. You saw no
difference between a Lorma kid and a Mandingo kid when
they were seen together dancing the Gbegbegi or the
Jagba on either Ramadan or Christmas day. They all sang
and dance to those melodious tunes of the tribal drums
of the other with no tribal barrier.
That is how good Voinjama and the entire district
used to be in tolerating one another.
Relationship Between Lormas and Mandingos
The Mandingos and their Lorma counterpart had a common
bond that we are told has existed for decade. We are
told that the Lormas are the uncle while the Mandingoes
are the nephews. And so it is not possible to see any
Lorma or a Mandingo person to raise his/her hand and
boast of not having a relationship with the other.
With the exception of present day generation that has
been taken over by Western civilization, a significant
portion of the two tribal elements communicated with the
other in either of the dialects. This helped to cement
their relation to the point that an affront on the
Lormas was equally an affront on the Mandingos.
Conclusion
As much as I would want to go further into the subject
mater because of its important, by putting to light how
cordially our forefathers lived in their diversity in
culture, our people say “ It is better to hang the drum
awaiting another feast while it still has its melodious
tone, than stubbornly beating it to destruction”.
Therefore, It is just too clear that we, meaning the
Mandingoes and the Lormas, have had their share of
problems emanating from the evil claws of war mongers,
but we should also keep at the back of our minds that
Lofa without either of us will not be complete. The
creation of a Quardu Gboni District should be regarded
as yet another victory for the both tribes. Our newly
created political boarder should not be construed as
boarders of division but unity.
Though I am yet to trace the root of the history that
makes Mandingo the nephews while the Lormas are uncle,
but our people say, “ The hands that fed your father and
mother can never be the one that will poison you”.
Therefore just as our forefathers respected such
relationship, so shall their offspring continue to
nourish and respect such historical relationship
The writer, M. Sekou Kanneh hails from Barkiedu Town,
Quardu-Gboni District, and he is a businessman presently
living in Lansdowne PA.
He can be reached at morris_Kanneh@yahoo.com
Return to
homepage
