Kru cultural-linguistic group

E767837

The Kru cultural-linguistic group is a cluster of related West African peoples and languages, primarily in Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire, known for their distinct linguistic traditions, maritime history, and resistance to external domination.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Kru cultural-linguistic group canonical 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf West African people
ethnolinguistic group
colonialExperience limited integration into transatlantic slave trade compared to some neighbors
strong resistance to incorporation into colonial structures
continent Africa
culturalPractice age-grade associations in some subgroups
elaborate oral traditions
masking and dance in some communities
storytelling and praise poetry
demographicStatus minority populations within Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire
economicActivity coastal trade
fishing
subsistence agriculture
hasPart Bassa people NERFINISHED
Dida people NERFINISHED
Godie people NERFINISHED
Grebo people NERFINISHED
Guéré people NERFINISHED
Klao people NERFINISHED
Krahn people NERFINISHED
Kru people NERFINISHED
Wee people NERFINISHED
Wobe people NERFINISHED
historicalRole crew on European and American ships
suppliers of skilled seafarers
identityFeature strong local and subgroup identities
use of ethnonyms such as Kru, Grebo, Bassa, Dida, Krahn
knownFor distinct linguistic traditions
maritime history
resistance to external domination
languageFamily Kru languages NERFINISHED
laterReligion Christianity
linguisticFeature complex verbal systems
high internal diversity of languages
tonal languages
locatedIn West Africa NERFINISHED
neighboringGroups Akan peoples NERFINISHED
Kpelle people NERFINISHED
Mande peoples NERFINISHED
politicalStructure relatively decentralized communities
primaryCountry Côte d’Ivoire NERFINISHED
Liberia NERFINISHED
region Liberian coast
southwestern Côte d’Ivoire
socialOrganization segmentary lineage system
subfamilyOf Niger–Congo languages NERFINISHED
timeDepth precolonial presence in coastal Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire
traditionalReligion African traditional religion

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (1)

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

Krahn people partOf Kru cultural-linguistic group