Author: Patrick

Categories
Folktales

How Hawk Learned of the Shallow Hearts of Men

In a certain tree called the Palmolin tree, in which the palm birds live and Chameleon has his home. Men plant those trees in the center of their villages, and thus it was that chameleon lived in a tree by a village market place.

People feared this animal, for although it was quite small it possessed a surprising strength. It would spring on the backs of passing men and could not be removed until frightened by lightning and thunder. Then it would fall to the ground and run back to the Palmolin tree.

One day when Hawk was flying above the town he saw Chameleon on the ground, and sweeping down he seized the little animal in his beak and carried him into the air. The people in the village below rejoiced and sang the praises of clever Hawk.

“O Hawk!” they cried, “O greatest of all birds! You have captured the awful Chameleon, that wicked animal who has lived among us causing us fear and trouble. O clever Hawk, with all our hearts we thank you!”

The people were very happy. But up in the air Chameleon confided to Hawk:

“Brother, let me go back to my tree. Long have I lived among men, and I know they have two tongues. Today they praise a man and tomorrow they speak against him, for their hearts are shallow and their minds are weak. Let me return, O brother, to my tree.”
But Hawk was full of the praises of the villagers.

“The people praise and love me,” he declared. “I have found great favor with them. I will eat you, and they may make me Chief.”
“Unhappy bird!” Chameleon said. “Tomorrow men will curse you. Their memories are brief. Men only love themselves, as you will see.”

Suddenly he grasped Hawk by the throat, and so powerful was his hold that Hawk began to strangle, and fell down, and dropped breathless in the market place. The people quickly gathered, and saw Chameleon had overpowered Hawk.

“Noble Chameleon!” they cried. “O good and clever animal! You have defeated wicked Hawk, the thief who steals our chickens. With all our hearts we thank you for ridding us of that evil bird!”

They heaped praises on Chameleon and rejoiced. The little animal whispered in Hawk’s ear:

“You see now, brother? Now do you realize how shallow are the hearts of men? They have double tongues, and how short their memories are; a little time ago they praised you and cursed me. Now they curse you and heap honor on me.”

“I understand,” Hawk murmured. “Forgive me, Chameleon. Let us always be friends, for I know that Man will always be our common enemy!”

Then Hawk flew up into the air, and Chameleon went back to his Palmolin tree, and these two today are allied in friendship against the treachery of Man.

Categories
Folktales

The Fisherman Who Married a Water Spirit

Once upon a time there was a fisherman who went forth every day to sit on the river in his canoe and fish. He was a clever an industrious man and his name was Wana, but always when sitting alone in his canoe he felt a great emptiness within his heart.

“Ah,” he would sigh, “if I only had a wife!”

He would have preferred a wife to all the fishes in the river, for he was a lonely man with no family at all, and every evening he returned to an empty hut, prepared his own meal, and passed the night alone.

As he sat in his canoe he often told the river how much he desired a wife, and prayed that he might be blessed with many children.

A river spirit overheard him. She had the form of a crocodile and lived on the bottom of the river, but when she watched and watched the man and saw that he was gentle, good and honest, she began to plan a plan.

One day, as was his custom, Wana left his fishing early to attend the weekly market. The river spirit waited until he had gone; then she climbed onto the river bank and stepped out of the crocodile skin to reveal herself as a singularly beautiful young maiden. She carefully had her crocodile skin beneath a rock and went to the town market. Many people from neighboring villages attended this weekly market, and everyone wondered whom the beautiful stranger could be.
When nightfall came and the market was over she went to the fisherman’s house; he was preparing his evening meal.

“O fisherman,” she said, “I am a stranger here, and my village is far off. I beg you to let me sleep in your house tonight.”

Wana welcomed her courteously. She prepared his simple meal for him in such a wifely fashion that first he ate from hunger and then from sheer delight: never had he tasted such exquisite cooking. The beauty of this woman filled his heart with such admiration, he gave her his own bed and she slept there in peace.

In the morning the maiden asked him to escort her a little way, but near the river she begged him to leave her and turn back. Alone she went to the river bank, and having carefully looked about she slipped into the crocodile skin and went into the river. During the following days she heard Wana sigh longingly for the lovely maiden who had passed the night within his house.

Next market day the river spirit came out of the water again, hid her crocodile skin beneath the rock, and went to market. Again she begged shelter at Wana’s hut, and he was glad when he saw her. She passed the night, and in the morning went away.

This continued for some time, and Wana came to love her with a great and urgent love. Since he was a humble man and considered her the daughter of some important chief he could not bring himself to ask her hand in marriage; but when he inquired of her village and home and family, the maiden was so evasive in her answers that finally his suspicions were aroused.

There came a certain day when he escorted her, as usual, some little way along the path towards the river, and, as usual, when they reached a certain place she asked him to turn back. Wana pretended to turn back, but walking softly, softly, he followed the maiden until she reached the river bank. Thinking herself alone she took the crocodile skin from beneath the rock, put it on, and went into the river.

Wana was astonished.

“Can this be true?” he asked himself. “Is she, then a water spirit? How can I win and wed a maiden who lives inside the river for six days of the week?”

Deep in thought he went away, and planned a plan to win her for all time. Next market day the maiden came again, so beautiful that the fisherman was oppressed by burning love. That night, as she slept, he slipped away. He ran to the river bank. He took the crocodile skin from underneath the rock and carried it to a far, far place, buried it, and returned to his house before dawn broke.

As usual he escorted the lady towards the river, and turned back at her request. He waited in his house. The river spirit went to the river and put her head beneath the rock to find her skin.
The skin was gone! It had completely disappeared.

She searched about and about, and up and down the bank, under other rocks and everywhere one could; but search as she would, the skin was nowhere to be seen. What could she do? Spirit laws obliged her to return to her own place, but now she could not. She sat upon the rock and wept a while, then she rose and went to the fisherman who had been so good to her, and whom she hoped would one day take her for his wife.

She entered his house.

“I have come to you,” she said, and she went to him. Thus they were wedded, and passed the night together, and in the morning when she awoke she said:

“O Wana Yoryer, know that I am the happiest of wives. But last night I dreamed a terrible dream, and I tell you this: If any man should bring the skin of a crocodile to this town, I shall surely die! so if you see such a thing yourself anywhere along the river bank, drop it in the river if you love me.”

Thus it is seen that the Sky God hears the prayers of honest men and fills their needs.

Categories
Folktales

The Otter Who Ate Crabs

An otter lived in a river and consistently ate crabs. He ate crabs every day and several times each night; the crabs along the river were most disturbed. They decided they would hold a conference to discuss what should be done.

“This wicked animal must be removed,” they said. “He’s eaten all our uncles, aunts and brothers, and soon he’ll eat us too. What shall we do?”

Some said he should be trapped and slowly eaten, others thought that crabs should stay in holes; a few suggested a mass attack, but no one wished to lead it. so they sought the River Spirit’s good advice.

“The gall-bladder of a crocodile is a very poisonous thing,” the River Spirit said. “One of you must eat some gall and die. He will be a deadly bait for Otter.”

No crab wanted to eat the gall, so an elderly crab was seized and stuffed with gall by force. His body was left on the river bed, and all the other crabs hid in their holes till Otter came. Otter found the poisoned crab, ate it, and soon died.

The crabs came scuttling from their holes dancing and rejoicing.
“What clever people crabs are!” they cried happily. “Our great skill and wisdom killed the evil Otter. We are brave and noble animals of great intelligence!”

The forget that they had acted on the River Spirit’s advice; they forgot to give him thanks. They danced about poor Otter singing their own praises, then swarmed on Otter to feed upon its flesh. The River Spirit was annoyed by the foolish vanity of the crabs, and sent word to another Otter in a river far away. This second Otter was angry when her heard a clan of wicked, stupid crabs had caused his brother such a tragic death, and he decided he would travel to that river and expect a just revenge.

The river crabs had grown bold and confident; they wandered where they wished now that Otter had been killed, and their holes had all filled, so when this new Otter suddenly appeared the crabs were taken by surprise — they had no place of refuge, and the slaughter which the Otter caused is still talked about in whispers to this day.
And Otter stayed amongst them, eating every crab he caught.

Thus it is soon that when a victory is gained the people, while rejoicing, should remember to thank God, and should take care lest over-confidence should invite disaster.

Categories
Ethnic Origin

Origin of the Sande Society

In ages gone by there lived a woman called Sande who earned her living fishing. She was so successful that after some years there were no fish left in the rivers of that country. Hearing of a fine river in a nearby land she left her town and went there, and began to fish.

The Chief of that land warned her not to walk in a certain part of the river, but suspecting that this place held many fish she took her net and went there. She sand as she threw her net again and again, and snared many fish.

While wading in the water Sande noticed a hole in the bank, and putting her hand inside she found a cooking spoon and a stirring stick. She placed them in her net.

Putting her hand in the hole again she discovered a pot and a bowl, and then a bucket and a drinking cup… and then something cold and evil grasped her hand and began to drag her into the hole.

Sande cried out in a loud voice, and women in the nearby town ran to assist her. When they arrived half her body was already in the hole; they tied a rope about her waist and all began to pull. They pulled and pulled, and began to drag her out; and they dragged with her a terrible Thinwhich held tightly to her hand.

Brave women attacked the Thing, but it made fearful sounds and began to swallow the women one by one. The Zoe women of the town came with her magic and took the Thing to a sacred bush, and called it Ter-Fahr-La. Ter-Fahr-La became the women’s devil, and those who know where and what it was, and how best to control it, became a secret society.

Thus the Sande Society was organized, and named in honor of Sande who discovered Ter-Fahr-La; the ceremonies still performed within that sacred bush are known as Sande-Koo to this day.

This story is criticized by the Bureau of Folkways as being inaccurate and misleading, and the following comment is offered:

“Just as a Dazoe is head of the Poro, so a Zoe is head of a Sande bush; and thus it is obvious that if a Zoe woman lived in the town described, a Sande Society already existed there.

“Ter-Fahr-La’ means sour cane leaf, and is the symbol of certain cultural societies among people from the Western boundary to the St. John River: it is not, therefore, a woman’s devil.

It is possible that this story was told by a member of the Sande Society and was deliberately distorted to conceal certain secret facts which may not, for any reason whatsoever, be revealed to people who are not initiates of the Society.”

Categories
Ethnic Origin

How Spirit Societies Began

A man was walking through a forest when he came upon a deserted village, and since he was far from home and night was falling, he decided to sleep in one of the village houses. He entered the largest house and climbed into the loft, between the ceiling and the roof.
While the man was asleep the moon arose and a Gofe came into the house. A Gofe is an evil spirit belonging to a dead man.

Soon after a second Gofe came, then a third and fourth, until Gofes were arriving thick and fast from every direction: for this house was their meeting place. that was why all the villagers had run away.

The noise of the Gofes talking woke the man, and when he realized he was in a spirit-house he began to fear for his life. More and more Gofes came, crowding in through doors and windows until they filled house, then they began climbing into the loft, and the terrified man had to scramble up under the roof and hang from one of the topmost beams.

Gofes overflowed the house, sat on the roof, and swarmed up nearby trees. They had their medicine pouch in the room below and began to dance around it, singing an awful spirit-song. Then they began discussing the best way to avoid Waras and Softlys.

Wara is a small animal which lives in hollow logs and makes scary noises in the night. No one has ever seen one or know exactly what it is, but they devour evil spirits.

A softly is an animal like a lemur, about the size of a kitten but with strong hands which can seize and strangle even the biggest spirits; these are the two animals which evil spirits fear. But they are particularly afraid of the Wara’s call.

The man hanging from the roof realized this, and began to see a way in which he might escape. He carefully cleared his throat, and above the noise which the Gofes were making he shouted:

“Oooo–Wara, Wara, Wara!”

Which is the noise which Waras make. One of the spirits below said:

“I thought I heard the call of something.”

“What kind of something?” asked a fellow-spirit. The first one shuddered and looked over his shoulder.

“It was the call of a … of a Wara!”

The spirits who heard this turned pale. Gofes. can.

“You’re lying. It cannot be true. Please don’t say such awful things in here.

“Then let’s listen,” said the first Gofe. they all listened, and in the middle of the silence the man gave a fearful cry which filled the house:

“Oooo–Wara, Wara, Wara!”

“A Wara!” cried the Gofes. “A Wara is upon us!”

Gofes leapt down from the left, slithered from the roof, fell from trees and threatened to burst the sides of the room below. They poured from doors and windows like beans from the mouth of a bag. Each of them wanted to escape first: and when outside they rapidly disappeared.

But in their hurry they left their precious medicine bag behind; the man found it, and in the morning he took it to his home. He built a strong fence about his house to keep out evil strangers and invited the members of his clan to come and use the medicine.

That was how secret Spirit Societies began among men.

Categories
Folktales

How a Wuni ate Nine Evil Spirits

An evil spirit lived in a hole in the ground, as evil spirits do, and he had a wife and seven children. When hungry season came and there was nothing left to eat, the seven children cried:

“Father, find us something to eat, or we will die!”

The wicked spirit went out to see what he could find, and when walking along a road he overtook a man who carried a kinjah of rice on his back.

“Stranger,” he said politely, “since we travel the same way I will help you. Place your burden on my back, and rest awhile.”

The man willingly agreed to this, but as soon as he had the kinjah strapped securely on his back the spirit started running. He ran so fast the man could not keep up, and escaped into the forest with the load of rice.

He was feeling proud and happy as he drew near to his home, for evil spirits love stealing even better than they love eating, and he made pleasant noises for his family to hear. Also he sang a song:

“Put on the pot and make it hot; To cook what I am bringing. I bring a prize, a fine surprise; Which makes a song for singing.”

The rice was cooked and the happy family ate till their stomachs swelled. In the days which followed the spirit went out regularly to find men who carried burdens of food, and he always managed to steal something and bring it home. He was too lazy to grow his own food, and too dishonest to buy any.

For several months he continued stealing, and finally things came to such a pass that men in a nearby town asked their Head Mawni to help them rid the land of this cunning thief.

The Mawni Society is the most secret and important of all Loma tribal societies, and the Head Mawni in every town possesses at least one Wuuni. A Wuuni is an unseen something which has no respect for evil spirits and will catch and devour one whenever it can; and it talks Loma through its Head. Mawni calls upon it only in cases of great need.

The Head Mawni of this town talked to his Wuuni and put it in a kinjah which appeared to be full of rice. The Mawni put the kinjah on his own back, and singing lustily to attract the spirit’s attention he walked through the forest.

Soon the spirit appeared, stole the kinjah and ran away. As he drew near his home he made pleasant noises for his family to hear, and sang a song:

“A bag of rice is rather nice, And better if it’s stolen; Let’s fill the pot and eat the lot; Until we’re fully swollen”

The Wuuni laughed quietly to himself, and a shiver trickled down the spirit’s spine. The Wuuni softly sang:

“An Evil Thing should never sing while bearing bags untied; They might have nice instead of rice; Or something worse, inside.”

The spirit heard someone singing and hurried quickly to his hole. His family gathered around while he untied the kinjah – and out jumped the Wuuni!

The spirits cried out in alarm, and huddled in one corner of the hole.

“Give me food, snarled the Wuuni. The spirit trembled, and pushed his wife across. The Wuuni tore her to pieces and cracked her bones.

“More!” he demanded. The helpless spirit pushed his children across one by one, although they cried out bitterly against his treatment, and when all seven had been swallowed the father spirit tried to make himself as small as possible.

“O Evil Thing,” the Wuuni sang, You’ve stolen, lied, and cheated. All those who do such things as you Must be severely treated.”

But he did not eat the spirit at once, for the Head Mawni had requested him to bring the thief back to the town that night.

The spirit, of course, was the undead part of a man who had died in the town some years before; and the family to which he had belonged, and the Head Mawni, wanted to find out why he had been doing such wicked things instead of helping with the crops.

As is the custom in such cases a two-roomed house was chosen as the place of the trail; the descendants of the spirit gathered in one room, and the Head Mawni, the Wuuni, and the evil spirit entered the other one, which was quite empty except for a few dry sticks.

The Head Mawni asked the spirit why he had been so wicked since he left his mortal body.

“My family was unkind to me,” the spirit complained. I told them my spirit would trouble them when I died, but they only laughed. They made me suffer. When I died they neglected my grave. Why should I love such people?”

His family and descendants in the next room hotly denied this, and gave examples of their kindness to him. The Wuuni could be heard crying, “Let me kill him” in a nasal voice. The spirit argued bitterly with the people in the next-door room, but finally judgment was given against him, and it was decided that he must die.

“Can I kill him?” the Wuuni asked excitedly.

“You can kill him,” the Head Mawni agreed. The spirit shrilled in panic. The people in the next-door room heard the Wuuni cracking his bones as if they were dry sticks of wood, and then heard the sounds of eating.

When they went in later the Wuuni had already gone away, and not even a crumb lay on the floor to mark the passing of the evil spirit. There was only the Head Mawni and a few broken sticks.

The spirit no longer existed even as a spirit, and would never return to trouble the town again. Thus an evil spirit suffered a terrible death and justice was done, as it always is done with liars, thieves, and cheats.

Categories
Folktales

A Riddle of Two Women

Two rich women who lived in the same town fell in live with a poor man who lived in the forest.

The first woman built him a fine house and garden, and put cattle and goats in the nearby fields, and sent a messenger to bring him in.

The second woman into the forest to find the poor man; she gave him rich food and wine, and brought him back to town.

Which of these two rich women deserved to have the man?

Categories
Folktales

Leopard and Black Deer

While playing in the forest Black Deer met Leopard, and finding it too late to run she begged for mercy.

“Quickly tell me three true things foremost in your mind,” said Leopard, “and I will let you go.”

Deer thought: “This is the first,” he said. “If I return home and tell my friends I met you, they will call me a liar.”

“Excellent,” Leopard declared. “Go on.”

“The second is that if I say you asked me riddles, they will laugh at me.”

“True enough.”

“The third is that you are not hungry anyway.”

Leopard nodded in agreement, and yawned. “True, Black deer, quite true. If I had been hungry I would have eaten you by now. You are free to go and be laughed at, and called a liar.”

Categories
Folktales

How Quilla Humbled a Crocodile

In some unknown city by a river — the name was forgotten long ago — the people were so rich and lazy they spent all their time at gambling. They gambled day and night, and even animals and spirits came to join them.

A farmer whose name was Quilla came down the river in his canoe seeking land to farm; he brought his wife and baby girl with him. He built a house on the edge of the city and made his farm on the far side of the river. He also made a second canoe and taught his wife to paddle, so that she could bring him his midday food.
Quilla was a good and honest farmer.

One day a crocodile seized the woman and her child as she was crossing the river with Quilla’s noonday meal, and carried them under water.

Quilla meal time came and passed, and he grew weary and impatient; but at length he decided his wife must be sick, and he continued working until dusk.

When he went home he found the second canoe was missing, and so was his wife and child. He became alarmed. He searched for his wife in the city, he cried her name in the forest; he ran to and fro in the darkness, and his heart was heavy inside him when he found no trace of either his wife or child. He wandered along the river bank and came to a place where he saw a curious thing.

He saw a crocodile undress and hang its skin upon a tree; and as the crocodile-man set off towards the city to gamble it sang a little song:

“Crocodiles are clever; Especially under water;Weaker beasts can neverCatch a woman and her daughter.”

Quilla immediately became suspicious. He stole the skin and hid it in his house, then went into the city and sat down beside the crocodile-man to gamble. The crocodile-man called himself Namol.

Namol threw the gamble three times in the air, and each time it fell to the floor he said:

“I win, as I won a man’s wife and daughter today.”

“What do you mean?” Quilla inquired.

“I mean what I said. Let us play.”

Quilla threw the gamble into the air three times, and each time it fell to the floor he said:

“I win, as I won a crocodile’s skin tonight.”

Namol became excited.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing special, let us play.”

But Namol hurried off to see if his skin was safe, and when he found it gone he returned to Quilla’s side and asked:

“What do you know of my skin?”

“What do you know of my wife and child?” Quilla asked, tossing the gamble again. And he sang a song:

“A crocodile is somewhat vileTo steal a woman and her child.I know well that such a sinMay cost that crocodile his skin.”

Namol burst into tears and at one offered to bring back Quilla’s wife and daughter. When he did this, Quilla gave him back his skin: and since then the crocodile has never taken anyone without first paying for him.

Or so people say.

Categories
Folktales

How Three Men Saved a Woman From Lausing

Three men fell in love with a beautiful maiden. Each man wanted to marry her, but since all of them were poor her father said:

“I shall not give my only daughter to a poor man. Go then, and return with riches; do not return without them.”

The three men went away to a distant land and worked for a powerful Chief. The Chief was pleased with their work and when they wished to leave he gave them riches, and to each he presented a special gift.

To the first man he gave a magic mirror. By looking into the mirror one could see things happening in distant places.

To the second man he gave a magic canoe which would travel swiftly through the air to any place one wished to reach.

The third man received a magic spear which, on command, would leap to the heart of any evil creatures.

Now the beauty of this maiden which the three men sought was known far and wide, and the Lausing, or Forest Thing, decided he himself would have this girl. So from a serpent he changed himself into a handsome man, and coming to her father with many splendid gifts he asked, and was granted permission to wed the daughter.
The wedding was arranged.

When the first man looked into his magic mirror he saw the Lausing, the dread and Evil Forest Thing, was on the point of marrying the lovely maiden. He told his two companions. With the second man’s magic canoe the three of them were rapidly borne over forests and rivers to the wedding place.

When they arrived the third man commanded his magic spear to leap at the heart of the Lausing. The Lausing fell dead beside the girl, and as he fell he changed back into an ugly black and yellow serpent.

The beautiful girl was saved, and in gratitude her father agreed that she should instantly marry one of the three young men. But which one them deserved her most?

Categories
Folktales

How Spider’s Waist Became So Thin

Two neighboring villages planned to hold feasts on the same day. Nan-sii, the greedy Spider, wished to attend each feast, but did not know which one would start first.

So he tied a rope around his waist and gave the free end to the chief of the first village, saying:

“When your feast is about to commence, pull this rope.”

He tied a second rope about his waist, and the free end he gave to the chief of the second village, likewise telling him to pull the rope when his feast was about to begin.

Nan-sii then waited at a point halfway between the two villages; but the two feasts began at the same time, so that one chief pulled against the other chief. The ropes became tighter and tighter and

Nan-sii’s waist became smaller and smaller. He never did get to either of those feasts, and his waist has been narrow and squeezed in ever since.

Categories
Ethnic Origin

The Kru

The largest language family in Liberia is that of the Kru, which includes six groups — the Kru proper, Bassa, Grebo, Krahn, Dey and Belle. The Kru proper, Bassa and Grebo offer the main bulk,occupying the coastal lowlands between Monrovia and Cape Palmas.

The Coastal Krus are seafarers and quite fearless. They are typical Negro stock, sturdy and good-natured, intelligent and industrious.

They were never sold into slavery; they resisted European slavers with such persistent ferocity that the Europeans learned it was just not worthwhile trying to enslave them. Instead, the foreign shipmasters made treaties with the Krus, who became middle men and raided weak or hostile peoples inland to barter slaves for European cloth, guns and rum.

Kru men were distinguished by a blue line running down the center of their foreheads, representing a ship’s mast, and few European slavers would dare to seize a man who bore this mark.

Shards of pottery and iron devices found on Liberian hilltops suggest that an aboriginal race of hill men may have lived in this country half a thousand years ago when many of Liberia’s contemporary peoples arrived. This aboriginal race appears to be extinct, and it is possible that slave raids by the Krus encouraged their disappearance.

Jacob Nma, a Kru-man whose unpublished writings cover an intensive study of his people, reveals that legends claim the Grebo and Kru proper migrated south to the coast from a point somewhere north of Mount Druyle.

On the other hand Bai Moore, who devoted many years to study of the coastal groups, suggests the Kru peoples may have come from the vicinity of Timbuktu by following the Niger River down to the Nigerian coast, and traveling west. He points out that the Krus are essentially a water-loving people and are largely dependent on rivers and the sea for their living; their fishing methods and traps are of advanced design and bear an interesting resemblance to some of those found along the Niger today.

Bai Moore points out that the Kru tongue has nothing in common with the language of any other group on the Guinea coast, and, since it is unlikely that the Kru are an aboriginal race, considers this proof that they must have come from some inland point.

A people so devoted to water would obviously have lived near a large body of water, and various factors point to the upper regions of the Niger, possibly near Timbuktu, as being the point of origin in question. In migration they would have been reluctant to leave the water and move by land, and the seaward-flowing Niger would have provided and obvious temptation and an admirable means of transport for a thousand miles.

However this hypothetical river-sea movement is not mentioned in any available Kru legend, and an equally plausible theory seems to be that they moved up the river, southwest and towards the source of precious salt.

By scaling Liberia’s northern mountains, which are part of the Niger’s source, they would have been able to reach the sea by the Cavalla, St. John, and Cestos rivers which run through their present territory.

The Kru were originally known as the Kedae. Prior to the establishment of the Republic of Liberia they had no chief in the strict sense of the word; they were governed by a council of elders, and the leader of the council was called the Kedakudu. When the masters of foreign ships made treaties with the group and hired Kedae men as seamen, such recruits were called Kedakudu’s men.

This name was inevitably abbreviated, and became Kudu. The Portuguese corrupted it to Kru, and doubtless this served the English and Americans very well, as Kru men or crew men would be a facile and familiar term.