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| The Temne |
|---|
|
Bai Bureh, a great Temne war chief |
| Total population |
1,770 000(30% of Sierra Leone\'s population)[citation needed] |
| Regions with significant populations | Northern Province |
| Language(s) | Temne language | Religion(s) | Islam (90%), Christianity 10% | Related ethnic groups | Limba, Loko |
The Temne people are one of the two largest ethnic groups in Sierra Leone, along with the Mende. They live primarily in the Northern Province and they make up 30% of Sierra Leone\'s total population.
The English word "cola" (as in Coca-Cola, which originally contained extracts of the kola nut), is said to derive from the Temne word aŋ-kola (kola nut). The Temne speak a language in the Atlantic sub-family that closely resembles the Sherbro language spoken in Sierra Leone and the Baga language spoken in the Republic of Guinea .
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Temnes migrated from the North into what is now Sierra Leone in the 14th and early 15th century, seeking access to new trade that was developing along the Atlantic coast. They followed the Rokel River from its upper reaches to the Sierra Leone River, the giant estuary of the Rokel River and Port Loko Creek which forms the largest natural harbor in the African continent. Historians believe the Temnes were involved in the long-distance kola nut trade during the period of the Mali and Songai Empires when West African trade was directed north across the Sahara Desert, and that they used their commercial expertise gained during that earlier period into the new coastal trade when the Europeans arrived
There were Temne speakers along the coast in what is now Sierra Leone when the first Portuguese ships arrived, in the 14th century. Temne were indicated on subsequent Portuguese maps, and references to them and brief vocabularies appear in the texts. Trade began, albeit on a small scale, in the fifteenth century with the Portuguese and expanded in the late sixteenth century with the arrival of British traders, and later traders of other nations. Slaves, gold, ivory and local foodstuffs were exchanged for European trade goods—mostly cloth, firearms, and hardware.
As Temne traders were in contact with the permanent European factories in the river mouths, so did they establish and maintain relations with the settlement at Freetown after its founding in the late eighteenth century. This settlement, inspired by philanthropic abolitionists, was regarded ambivalently by Temne traders, who had long been involved in the profitable export slave trade. In the nineteenth century, following abolition, Freetown became the primate trade entrepot, attracting trade caravans from Temne and beyond. Creoles from Freetown moved progressively up-county to trade in the second half of the nineteenth century, and relations with the Temne and other ethnic group in the country were not always amicable. The British colonial government at Freetown followed a policy of "stipendiary bribery" punctuated by threats to use armed force in an attempt to prevent Temne and other chiefs from hindering trade from and with areas farther inland. When diplomacy failed, British expeditions invaded the Temne area of Yoni in 1889 and then at Tambi in 1891.
The Protectorate of Sierra Leone was proclaimed in 1896, and, subsequently, a colonial overadministration was instituted. The traditional Temne chiefdoms became units of local government, and a hut tax was levied to support the colonial administration. Armed rebellion broke out in 1898, when a Temne chief, Bai Bureh, led a successful campaigns and became a instant hero.
The Hut Tax War of 1898 was a war initiated by Temne chief Bai Bureh against British colonialists. The cause of the war was the perceived overtaxation of the Temne by British tax-collectors.
Britain\'s imposition of a hut tax sparked off two rebellions in the hinterland of Sierra Leone in 1898, by one by the Temne, led by Bai Bureh, the other by the Mende, led by Momoh Jah. To pay for the privilege of British administration, the military governor, Colonel Frederic Carthew, had decreed that the inhabitants of the new "protectorate" should be taxed on the size of their huts. The owner of a four-roomed hut would pay ten shillings a year, those with smaller huts would pay five shillings. Colonel Cardew was not an administrator, but a professional soldier who had spent years in India and South Africa. First imposed on January 1, 1898, the hut tax aroused immediate and intense opposition, led in the first instance by the sixty-year-old Bai Bureh. The operations against him, from February to November, involved "some of the most stubborn fighting that has been seen in West Africa, that left several British troops dead. Wrote Colonel Marshal, the British commander. "No such continuity of opposition had at any previous time been experienced on this part of the coast.
The colonial era began again after 1898, with a more effective administration and increased penetration of the hinterland. Railway construction and, later, feeder roads were pushed in an effort to increase exports. Towns developed to meet the needs of government and increased trade, and expatriate firms and Sierra Leonean-Lebanese and Creole traders expanded their activities throughout Temne areas. Schools developed slowly under Christian missionary.
Today, the Temne are rice farmers, fishermen, and traders. Temne culture revolves around the paramount chiefs, and the secret societies, especially the men\'s Poro society and the women\'s Bondo society. The most important Temne rituals focus on the coronation and funerals of paramount chiefs and the initiation of new secret society members. Most Temnes are staunch Muslims though, like other West Africans, they combine their Islamic faith with a strong adherence to traditional African religious beliefs and practices.
Sierra Leone\'s national politics centers on the competition between the north, dominated by the Temne and their neighbors and allies, the Limba, and the south dominated by the Mende and their political allies, the Sherbro, Kissi, Kono, etc. Temne culture places great emphasis on individualism, hard work, and personal initiative. Indeed, Sierra Leoneans sometimes refer to their Temne neighbors affectionately as "Germans" because of their reputation for aggressiveness.
Muslim contacts probably go back several centuries, and fifteenth-century Portuguese were cognizant of Muslim peoples. Early traders, holy men, and warriors brought Islam into the Temne area from the north by the Susu and northeast by the Fula and Mandinka. Through the nineteenth century, as the volume of trade grew, Muslim influences increased; in the late twentieth century a significant proportion of Temne claim to be Muslim converts.
Although 90% of Temne have converted to Islam, they still practice their traditional religion, as well. Many of the Temne are superstitious and believe in witches who can be either male or female. These witches are believed to derive pleasure from causing accidents and spreading sickness among the tribe. As a result, many Many fear the witches and carry charms or medicines with them to ward off their evil acts.
Portuguese Christian missionary efforts began before the Protestant Reformation but had no lasting effects on the Temne. The Protestant presence accompanied the founding of Freetown in the late eighteenth century; Church Missionary Society representatives were active up the Rokel River and elsewhere in Temne country throughout the nineteenth century. In the 1890s the Soudna Mission was the first American mission in the Temne area; American Wesleyans and the Evangelical United Brethren subsequently joined the field. Today, 10% of Temne are followers of Christianity.
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