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Gambian Creoles

Total population
1-2% of The Gambia's population
Languages
Krio, English
Religion
Anglican • Methodist • Catholic • Baptist
Related ethnic groups
Americo Liberians, African Americans, Black British, Gold Coast Euro-Africans, Sierra Leone Creoles, Afro-Caribbeans

The Gambian Creole people, or Krio or Aku, are a minority ethnic group of Gambia with connections to and roots from the Sierra Leone Creole people. 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 Leoneans of Nova Scotian, Jamaican Maroon and Liberated African ancestry, who migrated to the Gambia, along with 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-based creole also spoken by Sierra Leonean Creoles. Krio is spoken by 96 percent of Sierra Leone's population,, especially in their trade and social interaction between ethnic groups.

Aku Marabouts

In Sierra Leone, the term 'Aku Marabout' or 'Aku Mohammedan' refers to the Oku people, while in the Gambia, the term 'Aku' refers to the Creole people, who are Christians residing mainly in and around Banjul. The Aku Marabout people of the Gambia are a non-Creole migrant community descended from the Oku people of Sierra Leone.

Notable Gambian Creole people

This is a list of notable Gambian Creole people.

• Belinda Bidwell, first female speaker of the National Assembly of The Gambia
• Mark Bright, sports correspondent and former footballer
• Crispin Grey-Johnson, current Secretary of State for Higher Education of the Gambia
• Augusta Jawara (née Mahoney), was a nurse, playwright, women's rights activist and former first lady
• Julia Dolly Joiner, politician and Commissioner of Political Affairs for the African Union
• Joshua King, Norwegian footballer
• 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, teacher, feminist and first woman to serve as a cabinet minister in The Gambia
• Lenrie Peters, surgeon, novelist, poet and educationist
• Edward Francis Small, trade unionist, nationalist and pan-Africanist
• Susan Waffa-Ogoo, politician and former Minister of Foreign Affairs
• John Carew
• Nicolas Jackson
• Ebrima Colley
• Omar Colley
• Lamin Colley

References

1. ^ Frederiks, M. (2002). The Krio in the Gambia and the Concept of Inculturation, Exchange, 31(3), 219-229. doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/157254302X00399
2. ^ Shaka Ashcroft (2015) Roots and Routes: Krio Identity in Postcolonial London, Black Theology, 13:2, 102-125, DOI:10.1179/1476994815Z.00000000051
3. "Distribution of the Gambian population by ethnicity 1973,1983,1993,2003 and 2013 Censuses - GBoS". www.gbosdata.org. Archived from the original on 2021-11-19. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
4. "Distribution of the Gambian population by ethnicity 1973,1983,1993,2003 and 2013 Censuses - GBoS". www.gbosdata.org. Archived from the original on 2021-11-19. Retrieved 2021-06-17.
5. Frederiks, M. (2002). "The Krio in the Gambia and the Concept of Inculturation", Exchange, 31(3), 219–229. doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/157254302X00399
6. "CIA World Factbook (2022)". www.cia.gov. 22 September 2022.
7. "Translators without borders: Language data for Sierra Leone". www.translatorswithoutborders.org.
8. Oyètádé, B. Akíntúndé; Fashole-Luke, Victor (15 February 2008). "Sierra Leone: Krio and the Quest for National Integration". Language and National Identity in Africa. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 122–140. ISBN 978-0-19-928675-1.
9. Bassir, Olumbe (July 1954). "Marriage Rites among the Aku (Yoruba) of Freetown". Africa: Journal of the International African Institute. 24 (3): 251–256. doi:10.2307/1156429. JSTOR 1156429. S2CID 144809053.
10. Sonko-Godwin, Patience (2004-01-01). Trade in the Senegambia Region: From the 12th to the Early 20th Century. Sunrise Publishers. p. 68. ISBN 9789983990041.
11. Othman, Ramatoulie Onikepo (1999). A Cherished Heritage: Tracing the Roots of Oku Marabou--early 19th to Mid 20th Century. Edward Francis Small Printing Press. p. 31.
12. "Former Speaker Belinda Bidwell Passes Away". Africa gm. 2 May 2007. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
13. "Former Port Vale star returns to school to help African children". The Sentinel. 11 June 2009. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
14. "JAMMEH CREATES NEW MINISTRY"". February 9, 2007. Archived from the original on 2010-01-05.
15. Saikou Jammeh, "A Hand of Destiny" Archived 2012-04-19 at the Wayback Machine, The Daily News, 21 January 2011. Accessed 21 November 2012.
16. "allAfrica.com -- Gambia: Julia Joiner Resigns". 2003-02-25. Archived from the original on 2003-02-25. Retrieved 2019-01-09.
17. "Manchester United's forgotten international striker who's fighting for his Old Trafford future". Talksport. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
18. David Perfect, "Mahoney, Dr (Asi) Florence Kezia Omolara", Historical Dictionary of The Gambia (Fifth edition), Rowman & Littlefield, 2016, p. 281.
19. "The Gambia name squad for first Nations Cup finals". BBC Sport.

Sources

• http://today.gm/hi/arts/the_aku.html
• http://www.accessgambia.com/information/aku.html

v t e Ethnic groups in the Gambia
Aku Bainuk Balanta Bassari Biafada Fula Jakhanke Jola Mandinka Manjak Mankanya Serer Laalaa Ndut Niominka Noon Palor Saafi Soninke Wolof
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