essay

The Kpelle of Liberia

Peoples of AfricaNew YorkPublished In 1965 • Pages: 197-240

By: Gibbs, James L..

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This article presents an excellent culture summary of the Liberian Kpelle, particularly those living in Panta Chiefdom. The Kpelle of Guinea, known as the Guerzé, are not discussed. Given special emphasis in the source are: economy, the community and territorial organization, the life cycle, stratification, political organization, the tribal societies (e.g., the Poro and Sande societies), law, religion, and cultural change. This document presents a good cultural background for further studies on these peoples.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Tillage
Community structure
Lineages
Social control
General character of religion
Marriage
Sodalities
Household
Towns
Classes
Chief executive
Sociocultural trends
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Kpelle
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2009
RegionThe area the document pertains to
Africa
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Western Africa
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
essay
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Ethnologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
John Beierle ; 1984
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1957-1958
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1950-1965
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Liberia
NotesAdditional notes
James L. Gibbs, Jr.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 236-240)and index
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
65010276
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Kpelle (African people)