Kru people

E807112

The Kru people are a West African ethnic group primarily found in Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire, historically known as skilled seafarers and traders who strongly resisted enslavement and colonial domination.

All labels observed (5)

Label Occurrences
Kru people canonical 10
Kru peoples 4
Western Kru 4

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf West African people
ethnic group
artForm ritual masks
wood carving
colonialEraStatus important labor source for European shipping
colonialPowerEncountered France
United Kingdom
United States (via Liberia)
country Côte d'Ivoire
Liberia
culturalPractice age-grade associations
elaborate initiation rites
masking traditions
demographyCountry minority in Côte d'Ivoire
significant minority in Liberia
ethnonym Kru
historicalRole crew on European ships along the West African coast
migrant laborers in coastal shipping
knownFor maritime trade
resistance to colonial rule
resistance to enslavement
seafaring
language Kru language
linked to: Kru languages
languageBranch Kru branch of Niger–Congo languages
languageFamily Kru languages
musicTradition call-and-response singing
drumming
notableTrait refusal to be sold as slaves
strong ethnic identity
partOf Niger–Congo ethnolinguistic family
politicalOrganization village-based leadership
region West Africa
relatedEthnicGroup Bassa people
Grebo people
Krahn people
Wee (Guere) people
linked to: Guéré people
religion Christianity
traditional African religions
settlementArea Liberian coast
southwestern Côte d'Ivoire coast
socialOrganization segmentary lineage system
subgroupOf Bassa people
Grebo people
Krahn people
Sapo people
traditionalOccupation fishing
seafaring labor
trading

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (20)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Krahn people relatedEthnicGroup Kru people
Kru languages ethnicGroupAssociated Kru peoples
linked to: Kru people
West Africans hasSubgroup Kru peoples
linked to: Kru people
Grebo people ethnolinguisticGroup Kru peoples
linked to: Kru people
Grebo people neighboringGroup Kru people
Grebo culture relatedEthnicGroup Kru people
Vai people neighboringPeoples Kru people
Krahn languageBranch Western Kru
linked to: Kru people
Krahn partOf Kru peoples
linked to: Kru people
Clay Ashland hasEthnicGroup Kru people
Amos Sawyer ethnicGroup Kru people
western Côte d'Ivoire hasEthnicGroup Krou peoples
linked to: Kru people
Bushrod Island ethnicGroup Kru people
Bassa language languageBranch Western Kru
linked to: Kru people
Sapo language subfamily Western Kru
linked to: Kru people
Tchien language subfamily Western Kru
linked to: Kru people
Tchien language spokenBy Kru ethnic groups in Liberia
linked to: Kru people