1910 - Sinkor Village near Monrovia.

Sin-Kor.

Probable Etymology.

Sene = farm.  + Kor/kohr = rice. 

(1) Rice Farm??____ Sene-kor.

Sanja = Town.  + Kor/kooh = rice. 

(2) Rice Town??____ Sanja-Kor.

( S. Weah: based on the Vai vocabulary.)

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Get an insight of this place.

The Sinkor Area.

By the 1850's most of the northwestern tribes were represented here [in Monrovia], the Vai from the Cape Mount region, the Gola from the northwestern part of the country, the Kissi from the Guinea border, the Loma from the Guinea border, the Manding from the Cape Mount region and an interesting group called the Belle, members of the Krahn, in the northwest.

I was trying to learn Belle because the Belle language has six roots, Krahn, Gola, Bandi (my wife is Bandi), Loma, Mende, and another group-I can't remember. I was doing some recording of their music, and I found some expressions from these different languages. This had been the real melting pot in Liberia and many people didn't know. This is a small area, and the people had to learn from each other fast.
The Sande-Poro group accepted Belle and exchanged a lot of ideas. And so I found many Poro-Sande groves in this small area near Monrovia. In fact, where the American Aid Mission is located, they had a Sande Grove and my girl friend, Old Lady Golo—and from what she told me she must be 112-113 years— said that she saw President Arthur Barclay, when he was a young man with goatee and handsome and tall, walking over the cliff coming down to see a Sande grove where the American Aid Mission is located.
And I said, "Did you ever talk with him?"

"No," she said. "But I saw him."

And, then, before she came out of the Sande bush, she saw a young boy who used to follow Arthur Barclay, Daniel Howard, who also became president of Liberia. This was one of the reasons why, when President Arthur Barclay was in the mansion, he had great regard for the cultural institutions of this area-and also President Daniel Howard. And they passed this liking for cultural institutions to other presidents.

President Tubman used to send for me and say, "Bai, don't let the people break up all these other people who have Sande groves in Sinkor; that is part of our roots, and we've got to preserve them."

That was very, very important. Across the street from me is the Sande school, and there is a Sande initiation session going on right now; and it is the oldest Sande grove in the Monrovia area.

And to set up this grove they had to go through the Bassa rites and rituals, and you will see some of the paraphernalia that I have been able to recall dating from 1835-38. So much for the history of where I live.

(By: Bai T. Moore)

The Famous Ship "Elizabeth", Never made it to present day Liberia.

The Famous Ship "Elizabeth",
Never made it to present day Liberia.

The First African-Americans came to Cape Mesurado on the Gun-Boat "Alligator".

In his message of December 20, Pres. Monroe informed Congress that he had appointed Rev. Samuel Bacon, of the American Colonization Society, with John Bankson as assistant, to charter a vessel and take the first group of emigrants to Africa, the understanding being that he was to go to the place fixed upon by Mills and Burgess.
Thus the National Government and the Colonization Society, while technically separate, began to work in practical coöperation.
The ship _Elizabeth_was made ready for the voyage; the Government informed the Society that it would "receive on board such free blacks recommended by the Society as might be required for the purpose of the agency".
Rev. Samuel A. Crozer was appointed as the Society's official representative; 88 emigrants were brought together (33 men and 18 women, the rest being children); and on February 5, 1820, convoyed by the war-sloop _Cyane_, the expedition set forth.

On March 3, however, the ship sighted the Cape Verde Islands and six days afterwards was anchored at Sierra Leone; and Coker rejoiced that at last he had seen Africa. John Kizell, however, whom the agents had counted on seeing, was found to be away at Sherbro; accordingly, six days after their arrival they too were making efforts to go on to Sherbro, for they were allowed at anchor only fifteen days and time was passing rapidly.

Meanwhile Bankson went to find Kizell. Captain Sebor was at first decidedly unwilling to go further; but his reluctance was at length overcome. 

On March 17 Bacon sailed for Sherbro. The next day they met Bankson, who informed them that he had seen Kizell. 

This man, although he had not heard from America since the departure of Mills and Burgess, had already erected some temporary houses against the rainy season. He permitted the newcomers to stay in his little town until land could be obtained; sent them twelve fowls and a bushel of rice; but he also, with both dignity and pathos, warned Bankson that if he and his companions came with Christ in their hearts, it was well that they had come; if not, it would have been better if they had stayed in America.

Now followed much fruitless bargaining with the native chiefs, in all of which Coker regretted that the slave-traders had so ruined the people that it seemed impossible to make any progress in a "palaver" without
the offering of rum. Meanwhile a report was circulated through the country that a number of Americans had come and turned Kizell out of his own town and put some of his people in the hold of their ship. Disaster
followed disaster. 

The marsh, the bad water, and the malaria played havoc with the colonists, and all three of the responsible agents died. The few persons who remained alive made their way back to Sierra Leone. Thus the first expedition failed.

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One year later, in March, 1821, a new company of twenty-one emigrants, in charge of J.B. Winn and Ephraim Bacon, arrived at Freetown in the brig _Nautilus_. 

It had been the understanding that in return for their passage the members of the first expedition would clear the way for others; but when the agents of the new company saw the plight of those who remained alive, they brought all of the colonists together at Fourah Bay, and Bacon went farther down the
coast to seek a more favorable site.
A few persons who did not wish to go to Fourah Bay remained in Sierra Leone and became British subjects.
Bacon found a promising tract about two hundred and fifty miles down the coast at Cape Montserado; but the natives were not especially eager to sell, as they did not wish to break up the slave traffic. 

Meanwhile J.B. Winn and several more of the colonists died; and Bacon now returned to the United States.
The second expedition had thus proved to be little more successful than the first; but the future site of Monrovia had at least been suggested.

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In November came Dr. Eli Ayres as agent of the Society, and in December Captain Robert F. Stockton of the _ Gun Ship Alligator_ with instructions to coöperate.

These two men explored the coast of the Pepper Coast and on December 11 arrived at Mesurado Bay. Through the jungle they made their way to a village and engaged in a palaver with King Peter and five of his associates.
The negotiations were conducted in the presence of an excited crowd and with imminent danger; but Stockton had great tact and at length, for an alleged quantity of bartered goods, he and Ayres acquired the mouth of the Mesurado River, Cape Montserado, and the land for some distance in the interior.

Dr. Ayers then returned to Sierra Leone to effect the removal of the colonists from Fourah Bay.

When  Ayres returned with the remaining African-Americans on January 7, 1822- he found that the Deys wished to annul the agreement previously made and to give back the articles paid.

"Journal of Daniel Coker, a descendant of Africa"

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VESSEL DEPARTURES:

1820-1833
New York
Maryland
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Virginia
North Carolina
District of Columbia
Tennessee
Georgia
Alabama
Mississippi
South Carolina
Port au Prince, Haiti, West Indies

1._Elizabeth, passengers departed from New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, District of Columbia, and arrived in Sierra Leone, Western Africa, 9 March 1820.

2._ Brig Nautilus, passengers departed from Virginia and Maryland and arrived in Sierra Leone, Western Africa, 8 March 1821.

3._ Brig Strong, passengers departed from Maryland and Pennsylvania, and arrived in Monrovia, Western Africa, Western Africa, 8 August 1822.

4._Oswego, passengers departed from Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia, and arrived in Monrovia, Western Africa, Western Africa, 24 May 1823.

5._Schooner Fidelity's Company, departed from Maryland and Pennsylvania, and arrived in Monrovia, Western Africa, Western Africa, 24 July 1823.

6._Ship Cyrus' Company, departed from Virginia and Port au Prince, Haiti, West Indies, and arrived in Monrovia, Western Africa, 13 February 1824.

7._Brig Hunter's company, departed from Virginia and North Carolina, and arrived in Monrovia, Western Africa, 13 March 1825.

8._Brig Vine's Company, departed from Rhode Island, and arrived in Monrovia, Western Africa, 6 February 1826.

9._Ship Indian Chief's company, departed from North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia, and arrived in Monrovia, Western Africa, 26 March 1826.

10._Brig Doris' Company, departed from North Carolina, Maryland and Virginia, and arrived in Monrovia, Western Africa, 11 August 1827.

11._Ship Norfolk's Company, departed from an unknown port and arrived in Monrovia, Western Africa, 10 July 1827.

12._Brig Doris's Company, departed from Maryland, Delaware, New York and Virginia, and arrived in Monrovia, Western Africa, 15 January 1828.

13._Ontario, departed from an unknown port and arrived in Monrovia, Western Africa, December 1828.

14._Schooner Randolph, departed from Georgia, and arrived in Monrovia, Western Africa, 17 July 1828.

15._Brig Nautilus' company, departed from North Carolina and Maryland, and arrived in Monrovia, Western Africa, 19 February 1828.

16._Harriet's company, departed from Virginia, North Carolina, District of Columbia, Maryland and Tennessee, and arrived in Monrovia, Western Africa, 24 March 1829.

17._Brig Liberia's company, departed from Virginia, Tennessee and Pennsylvania, and arrived in Monrovia, Western Africa, 17 February 1830.

18._Brig Montgomery's company, departed from Georgia, Virginia, District of Columbia and Maryland, and arrived in Monrovia, Western Africa, June 1830.

19._Brig Heroine's company, departed from an unknown port and arrived in Monrovia, Western Africa, 4 March 1830.

20._Carolinian's company, departed from New York, Virginia, Maryland, Mississippi and North Carolina, and arrived in Monrovia, Western Africa, 4 December 1830.

21._Brig Valador's company, departed from New York, Virginia, North Carolina and Alabama, and arrived in Monrovia, Western Africa, 12 January 1831.

22._Schooner Reapers's company, departed from Maryland, and arrived in Monrovia, Western Africa, 18 February 1831.

23._Brig Criterion's company, departed from Georgia, North Carolina, Maryland and Virginia, and arrived in Monrovia, Western Africa, 30 October 1831.

24._Schooner Orion's company, departed from Maryland, and arrived in Monrovia, Western Africa, 10 December 1831.

25._James Perkins's company, departed from Virginia and North Carolina, and arrived in Monrovia, Western Africa, 14 January 1832.

26._Brig American's company, departed from North Carolina, and arrived in Monrovia, Western Africa, 16 September 1832.

27._Hercules's company, departed from South Carolina and Georgia, and arrived in Monrovia, Western Africa, 16 January 1833.

http://immigrantships.net/new…/pass_lists/listchristine.html

Coin of The White Governors of Liberia.

Coin of The White Governors of Liberia.

A Copper Coin of the American Colonization Society.

Descriptions:
A copper token issued by the American Colonization Society in 1833 shows a Naked Black Man clutching the "Tree of Liberty" and reaching out toward a ship at sea. The rays of the sun shine in the distance, and the word "Liberia"— referring to an African colony where freed slaves were being sent by the American Colonization Society—is emblazoned across the top of the coin.

( Courtesy of the Virginia Historical Society )

What is the "Tree of Liberty"?

The Liberty Tree (1646–1775) was a famous elm tree that stood in Boston near Boston Common, in the days before the American Revolution (1776-1783). In 1765, colonists in Boston staged the first act of defiance against the British government at the tree.

Ceremonial Spoon of the Dan People of Nimba.

Wunkirmian.

Ceremonial Spoon of the Dan People of Nimba.

These ceremonial ladles, known as wunkirmian or wakemia (which translates as "spoon associated with feasts") are badges of prestige acknowledging an individual woman for her incomparable generosity. Over-sized (they can measure up to two feet), they are not so much utilitarian objects rather than symbols of status and the bearer of spiritual powers. Quality of craftsmanship and complexity of design are constitutive of the work’s importance.

Depiction of legs are not the most common anthropomorphic feature carved as a ladle’s handle: more frequent are handles representing the likeness of a human head (such as the other example of Dan wunkirmian in the Met’s collection, 1979.206.254). Other variations include representations of a human hand, animal heads such as goats or cow, small bowls, and a variety of abstract designs. According to paramount chief Woto Mongru of Kanple interviewed by Barbara Johnson in 1983, legs, when chosen to be featured as the ladle’s handle, represent all the people arriving on foot to be fed by its owner (Johnson 1987, 20); the bowl, rounded and lustrous, symbolizes the womb of the ladle's spirit 'pregnant' with rice.

Emblematic of honor and status, wunkirmian are the possession of the wunkirle or wakede, "at feasts acting woman." A title of great distinction, it is given to the most hospitable woman of a village quarter. German art historian Hans Himmelheber, together with Wowoa Tame-Tabmen, has best described the role of the wunkirle in an article dedicated to the topic (Himmelheber and Tabmen 1965). One woman in each village quarter is honored with the title of wunkirle. When a wunkirle becomes old she chooses her successor from among the young women of her quarter (Johnson 1987, 17) and passes down her wunkirmian. With the honor comes a lot of responsibility— the wunkirle must be of a generous disposition, gladly offering her hospitality to anyone at any time, organizing and providing for important meals, and feeding travelers. In order to be able to afford this largess, the wunkirle must be successful and industrious, and a well accomplished farmer.

In addition to being emblems of honor, wunkirmian also hold spiritual power (Himmelheber and Tabmen 1965, 177). They are a Dan woman's chief liaison with the power of the spirit world and a symbol of that connection. In the words of a wunkirle, Doa, the ladles contain "all the power and fame of the wunkirle" (Johnson 1987, 19). Among the Dan, the wunkirmian have been assigned a role among women that is comparable to that which masks serve among the men. As are masks, each wunkirmian is given an individual name. When a new wunkirmian is carved to replace an old one, sacrifices are made to empower it. In many instances, wunkirmian are featured in the same ceremonies with masks, tossing rice in front of them as a blessing while they proceed through the village.

In that context, one of the wunkirle’s responsibilities is preparing the large feast that accompanies masquerade ceremonies. The excellent farming abilities, organizational talents, and culinary skills of the wunkirle are called upon to properly welcome and celebrate the masquerade spirits. When a woman has been selected as the main hostess of such a feast, she parades through town carrying the large ladle as an emblem of her status. She is followed by a line of women from her quarter, each carrying a pot of cooked rice of soup. With help from her numerous assistants (usually female relatives or friends), she distributes grains and coins to the children of the community while dancing and singing. The event creates a profound visual analogy that honors the hostess, and women in general, as a source of food and life.

In 1926, a young Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966) reinterpreted the Dan equation between a woman’s womb and the bowl of a spoon in his sculpture Spoon Woman (Femme Cuillère). Like many artists of his generation, he was familiar with and admired the bold reinterpretations of the human body imagined and expressed by artists from West and Central Africa that had begun to fill the Parisian artists’ ateliers during the first decade of the 20th century. In this life-size bronze sculpture, considered among his earliest mature works, the artist uses the premise established by Dan carvers as a point of departure, but pushes the form further towards geometric abstraction.

Further Readings.

Fischer, E. and H. Himmelheber. 1984. The Arts of the Dan in West Africa. Zurich: Museum Rietberg.

Fischer, E. and H. Himmelheber. 1991. "Spoons of the Dan (Liberia/Ivory Coast)." Looking-Serving-Eating-Emblems of Abundance. Homberger, L., ed. Zurich: Museum Rietberg.

Fischer, E. and L. Homberger. 2014. Afrikanische Meister: Kunst der Elfenbeinküste.

Himmelheber, H. and Wowoa Tame-Tabmen. "Wunkirle, die gastlichste Frau." In Festschrift Alfred Bühler, ed. Carl M. Schmitz. Basel: Pharos Verlag, 1965, pp. 171-181.

Johnson, B.C. 1984. Seeking a Name: Four Dan Sculptors of Liberia. San Francisco: San Francisco State University.

Johnson, B.C. 1987. Four Dan Sculptors: Continuity and Change. San Francisco: San Francisco State University.

Winizki, E. Afrikanische Loffel: African Spoons. Zurich: Museum Rietberg.

Money With A Soul _ Kissi Pennies.

Money With A Soul.

Called  Kissi Pennies in Liberian English, GuinzÇ or Gweze in Kissi and French, and Koli in Loma and Bandi.
The Loma forged koli from locally smelted iron ore in the form of long rods, with a "T" on one end (called nling or "ear"), and a sort of blade, not unlike a hoe on the other end (called kodo or "foot").

They ranged in length from about 6 to as long as 16 inches. A score of oranges could be bought for two, or a bunch of bananas. Because each one had relatively small value, they were often gathered into bundles (usually of 20).
The Lorma exchanged them for salt, cloth and other imported goods. Early this century, Loma also exchanged quantities of koli as bridewealth.
Although British and French silver and then Liberian and American coins gradually replaced iron asthe principle medium of exchange, koli still circulate in northwestern Liberia and can occasionally be seen in local markets.
When Rev.Hazzard visited northwestern Liberia in 1923, ten koli were exchanged for one British shilling (letter, T. R. Hazzard to A. Wetmore, n.d.); today, one koli is equal in value to one U.S. or Liberian cent.

Among the Loma, koli have several nonmonetary uses which make them virtually indispensable. At musical performances and dances audience members may place one or more koli on an entertainer's shoulder to show their admiration for his or her performance.

Loma people also place koli atop their ancestors' graves to serve as a medium for communicating with their spirits.
Finally, koli are occasionally used to transport ancestral spirits to their natal villages when a death occurs far from home; on those occasions, the spirit of the deceased is asked to jump "into" a koli, which is ultimately lodged in a descendant's home or placed within a new grave.

If an iron rod would accidentally break, it could no longer circulate and its value could only be restored in a special ceremony performed by the Zoe, the traditional witchdoctor – often the blacksmith – who, for a fee, would rejoin the broken pieces and reincarnate the escaped soul.

Therefore, it was said that Kissi money was ‘money with a soul’.

An illustration of koli placed atop and inside graves can be found in Germann (1933, plate between pages 94 and 95).

Ra-Bai Koya - Kingdom of Koya.

The Kingdom of Koya or Temne Kingdom.

Ra-Bai = Kingdom(Temne).

The Kingdom of Koya or Koya Temne or Temne Kingdom (1505-1896) was a pre-colonial African state in the north of present-day Sierra Leone. Its first capital was at Cape Mount(Wah Kohno) in what is now modern Liberia.

The kingdom was founded by the Temne ethnic group in or around 1505 by migrants from the north seeking trade with the coastal Portuguese in the south.

The kingdom was ruled by an O-Bai(king)whose real name was not known . The sub-kingdoms within the state were ruled by nobles titled "Gbana". The Koya Kingdom kept and maintained diplomatic relations with the British and French in the 18th century. Children of Temne nobles were allowed to seek western educations abroad. Koya also traded with Islamic states to its north and had Muslims within its borders.

Cape Mount _ Wah Kohno.

"Wah Konko" "Waa Kono"

Is how the Cape Mountain was Called;

Before the Portuguese named it "Cabo Monte"(Cape Mount)

Kono = hill/mountain in Vai. And Konkoo = mountain in Manding.
"Waaa" a roaring sound of waterfalls, Rain and waves. Ocean waves. That would make it "Roaring Mountain".