Rethinking Ourselves

Researchers have identified many tribes, ancient cultures and flavors tossed into this salad we call African-American.  In recent decades, geneticists, genealogists, anthropologists and historians have discovered (and confirmed) what have been my suspicions about who we really are.

This is the first of several installments of non-sequential posts I call “Rethinking Ourselves” wherein I’ll explore how the sciences and social sciences communities may be redefining what we know about ourselves.

Tribal Origins of African Americans

Fulani Woman

One thing I know: there’s no cookie-cutter Black person in this country … or anywhere. 

It’s not like living in Ghana, Benin, Togo or Nigeria where everyone’s pretty clear which tribe they belong to. There they live with as much certainty of their ancestry as, say, an Irishman knows he’s Celtic.

For us, four centuries of cultural suppression and identity assassination robbed us of what our African-born cousins take for granted. They see themselves according to tribes, not race.

Turns out, African Americans descend from 46 tribes, say Boston University Professors of History and African-American Studies, Linda Heywood and John Thornton, in an article published in The Root.[i] 

Historians have compiled tribal lists over the years. Here’s their version:

Country/Location	Tribe/Ethnic Group
Angola/Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Angola Zambia/Angola Benin Cameroon Gambia/Guinea Ghana/Togo/Benin Ghana Ivory Coast/Ghana Guinea-Bissau Liberia Nigeria/Cameroon Nigeria/Benin Nigeria Senegal Senegal/Gambia Senegal/Sierra Leone, Guinea, Gambia, Ivory Coast, Niger, Liberia Guinea-Bissau Senegal/Sierra Leone, Guinea, Gambia, Ivory Coast, Niger, Liberia, Nigeria, Cameroon, Guinea-Bissau	Yaka, Chokwe, Lunda, Kongo, Luba Mbundu, Oyimbundu Luchaze Fon, Mahi, Bariba Duala, Tikar, Bamun, Bamileke Jola Ewe Ga, Gurma, Dagomba Akan, Asanti, Fanti Blanata, Biafara, Temne Kru, Kpele Ibibio Yoruba Hausa, Ibo/Igbo, Ijaw/(Ijo), Efik, Igala, Kalab ari, Itsekiri, Edo Wolof Serer Mandinka Fulbe/Fulani/Peulh/Fula Sierra Leone: Balanta, Falupo, Mende, Susu, Nalu, Bran[ii]

             
In his book, The Atlantic Slave Trade: A Census, the late, known expert and John’s Hopkins historian Philip D. Curtin figured 3.5 million Africans were exported to North America and the Caribbean between 1711 and 1810. (Importing Africans to the U.S. officially ended in 1808). Curtin arrived at that figure after investigating shipping records and port data, according to a New York Times obituary. He died in 2009 at 87.[iii]

Below is a table illustrating the regions Curtin said were probably the ancestral homes of African Americans:

Senegambia (Senegal-Gambia): 5.8%

Sierra Leone: 3.4%

Windward Coast (Ivory Coast): 12.1%

Gold Coast (Ghana): 14.4%

Bight of Benin (Nigeria): 14.5

Bight of Biafra (Nigeria): 25.1%

Central and Southeast Africa (Cameroon-N. Angola): 24.7%[iv] 

Here is another list of tribes in those regions that were likely affected. You’ll find some tribes here not included in Heywood and Thornton’s list.

SENEGAMBIA: Wolof, Mandingo, Malinke, Bambara, Papel, Limba, Bola, Balante, Serer, Fula, Tucolor

SIERRA LEONE: Temne, Mende, Kisi, Goree, Kru.

WINDWARD COAST (including Liberia): Baoule, Vai, De, Gola (Gullah), Bassa, Grebo.

GOLD COAST: Ewe, Ga, Fante, Ashante, Twi, Brong

BIGHT OF BENIN & BIGHT OF BIAFRA combined: Yoruba, Nupe, Benin, Dahomean (Fon), Edo-Bini, Allada, Efik, Lbibio, Ljaw, Lbani, Lgbo (Calabar)

CENTRAL & SOUTHEAST AFRICA: BaKongo, MaLimbo, Ndungo, BaMbo, BaLimbe, BaDongo, Luba, Loanga, Ovimbundu, Cabinda, Pembe, Imbangala, Mbundu, BaNdulunda

Other possible groups that maybe should be included as a "Ancestral group" of African Americans:

Fulani, Tuareg, Dialonke, Massina, Dogon, Songhay, Jekri, Jukun, Domaa, Tallensi, Mossi, Nzima, Akwamu, Egba, Fang, and Ge.
[v]

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Further Reading

The Atlantic Slave Trade: a Census, Philip D, Curtin, (1969), pg. 221.Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin press.

National Geographic News
“Gullah Culture in Danger of Fading Away,” Dahleen Glanton, Chicago Tribune

June 8, 2001

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/06/0607_wiregullah.html

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[i] African Ethnicities and Their Origins

 By: Linda Heywood and John Thornton  | Posted: October 1, 2011 at 12:26 AM

http://www.theroot.com/buzz/african-ethnicities-and-their-origins

[ii] Ibid.

[iii] New York Times, June 16, 2009, by William Grimes. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/16/us/16curtin.html?_r=0

[iv]The Atlantic Slave Trade: a Census, Philip D, Curtin, (1969), pg. 221.Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin press.
[v] Compiled by Kwame Bandele based on a student email exchanged on the University of Chicago bulletin board.