The Glebo/Grebo-(Gle/jle= monkey)swift and agile as one.
The people who became the “Coastal Grebo/Glebo are said to have originated in the Krahn area of the Interior. They were driven out by Strangers encroaching on their Land and tapping their Palm wine trees. Eventually the strangers joined with other local Groups in expelling the Grebo/Glebo, then known as “Gbobo”, from their territory. According to Wallace, this event occurred in the year 1699.
By 1700, the “Gbobo” had migrated southeast to the Atlantic coast at “Bereby” in present-day Ivory Coast, joining a people they called the “Muniwe”.
They were originally welcomed, but desired a Land of their own not under “Muniwe” domination. Following the advice of a wide-ranging hunter, they decided to move west and southwest, up to the Coast to Cape Palmas. Stealing the Canoes of the Muniwe, they set off. Many Canoes capsized and some groups were discouraged and turned back. Those who survived reached Cape Palmas, according to Wallace, on June 4, 1701, and Renamed themselves “Glebo” because they had “Climbed the Waves” as the “Gle”(monkey) climbs trees.
(In the 1960s, Wallace worked with the U.S. Peace Corps program in Boston and later with linguists at the University of Liberia to standardize the Glebo/Grebo Orthography developed by Bishop Auer in the nineteenth century)
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ReplyDeleteWas this this same Grebo that spread to other parts of Liberia?
What do you mean spread to other part of Liberia? Grebo people before migration of people coming from the dissolving Malian-Sudano emphire were mostly hunter-gatherers before transitioning into farming and only ever occupied the East of the County from Nimba to Southeast and further East Into Grand Bereby. When the Dan arrived, that’s when they concentrated in the Southeast. Besides Monrovia where every other group migrated (after the establishment of New Kru town in the 1800s due to the sailors and navigators profession), they can only be found in the Southeast from Eastern Rivercess to Maryland along with their Kru related ethnic group.
DeleteSo what Grebos that spread to other parts of Liberia are you talking about?
Thanks for this information. It had help me a lot
ReplyDeleteWhile I do appreciate this short article, the story could not be true. Simply because we (Grebo/Kroumen) were occupying the land from the hinterland of Grabo-River Gee to the Coast of Sansandra, Tabou, Berebe Cape Palmas- Fish-Town alone the Coast, before the arrival of the Europeans.
ReplyDeleteInfact, we and the Kru fought the European Slaves masters, to the point where some were executed by us in violent fight, leading they (Europeans) to used we (Grebo) and Kru as middle men and women in trading.
We were also encouraged to be working on their vessels/ships due to our natural born talents at sea/in the marine environment.
However, We and the Kru could not easily be captured alive and turn into Slavery due to our constant resistance. And whenever we were captured, the alternative was to commit suicide instantly!
This brought severe fear to the Europeans for which they had to cooperate with us in the execution of the Atlantic Slave Trade, mainly as seamen providing labor assistance on their ships and trade as stated above.
The dates cited in the article are prior to the arrival of the Europeans though. The Europeans arrived after the Grebo had reclaimed the land and settled on it. Maybe I'm missing something but that's my understanding.
DeleteYou have to keep in mind that when they say Grebos, it’s not a singular people but various tribes of Grebos some where coastal which we call seaside which later became Krus while others stayed in the hinterland which is Bush Grebos. The ones that were “driven out of the land” where not one singular Grebo people as the Grebos were coastal have been living along the coast and had been canoeing and sailing and trade with other similar ethnic community for well over 1,000 years. People that move from the interior to coastal towns don’t automatically become master of sailing rough Atlantic Ocean. It takes generations to gain that skill.
DeleteIs the Grebo king pictured here related to Prince Kaboo (name changed to Samuel Morris)? He was born in Liberia in 1873 and died at hospital in Upland Indiana in 1893 at age 20. Prince Kaboo belonged to the Kru tribe.
ReplyDelete