Book

The Kpelle: a negro tribe in Liberia

Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht ; J. C. Hinrichs'sche BuchhandlungGö Ttingen • Published In 1921 • Pages:

By: Westerman, Diedrich H., Schütze, Frieda.

Abstract
Although based on only four month's field work in Liberia -- Sept. 26, 1914 to January 1915 (p. i) - this document presents a sufficient amount of well-rounded ethnographic information on the Liberian Kpelle, primarily along the St. Paul River, to make it one of the primary documents in this file. Data for this study were obtained not only from the author's own observations, but also from information provided by a number of native informants (see pp. 1-3). These data were further supplemented by other secondary source materials on the Kpelle. The first three sections of this source provide background information on the Kpelle - geography, physical appearance, general characteristics and outside influences on the culture - followed by major sections dealing with the economy, family and society, language, native concepts of the world (including much information on religion and the various secret societies), and a large section on folktales, of both Kpelle and Mende origin (the latter subheaded to appear in the FC07 Mende collection). In the final sections of the source a brief biographical sketch is presented of one of the author's key informants - William Kwei Pedersen - a Mende by birth, but Kpelle by assimilation, followed by some brief ethnographic contributions (mostly in terms of folktales) by the missionary H. Rohde. The Gola texts of folktales presented in the original German have not been translated.
Subjects
Tillage
Cereal agriculture
Dwellings
Division of labor by gender
Food preparation
Eating
Magic
Ethnobotany
Weights and measures
Government regulation
Districts
Household
Polygamy
Arranging a marriage
Judicial authority
Sanctions
Slavery
Vocabulary
Grammar
culture
Kpelle
HRAF PubDate
2009
Region
Africa
Sub Region
Western Africa
Document Type
Book
Evaluation
Creator Type
Ethnologist
Document Rating
4: Excellent Secondary Data
5: Excellent Primary Data
Analyst
John Beierle ; 1986
Field Date
1914-1915 (4 months)
Coverage Date
1900-1915
Coverage Place
Liberia
Notes
Diedrich H. Westerman
Translation of: [Die Kpelle; ein Negerstamm in Liberia dargestellt auf der Grundlage von Eingeborenen-Berichte]
Includes bibliographical references (p. 622-626)
Translated for the HRAF files by Frieda Schütze
LCSH
Kpelle (African people)