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Home | Ethnic Group | Temne people
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The Temne people are one of the two largest and most dominant ethnic group in Sierra Leone, along with the Mende. They are currently the single largest ethnic group in Sierra Leone at 35% of the population and are predominantly found in the Northern Province and the Western Area of Sierra Leone, including the capital Freetown. The Temne are rice farmers, fishermen, and traders. Temne culture revolves around the paramount chiefs, and the secret societies, especially the men's Poro society and the women's Bondo society. The most important Temne rituals focus on the coronation and funerals of paramount chiefs and the initiation of new secret society members. During the 16th, 17th, and 18th century hundreds of thousands of Temne were shipped to the Americas as slaves. Today the Temnes are mostly Muslims (about 80-85%) who interweave Islamic beliefs with traditional African practices (synchretism). About 15% of Temne are followers of Christianity. Before British domination, Temne were ruled by a king called the Bai or Obai. In 1898, the Temne fought in one of the most brutal rebellions in the history of West Africa against British rule, known today as the Hut Tax War of 1898. The war was initiated by Temne chief Bai Bureh against British colonialists. The cause of the war was the perceived overtaxation of the Temne people by British tax-collectors. The English word cola (as in Coca-Cola, which originally contained extracts of the kola nut), is said to derive from the Temne word aŋ-kola 'kola nut.' The Temne people speak T(h)emne, a language in the Atlantic family of the Niger � Congo languages. The Temne language, along with the creole Krio language, serve as the major trading language in northern Sierra Leone. As well as being spoken by the Temne people, Temne is also spoken by other Sierra Leonean ethnic groups as a regional lingua franca, especially in Northern Sierra Leone; the language is spoken by around 40% of Sierra Leone's population. Sierra Leone's national politics centers on the competition between the north, dominated by the Temne and their neighbour and allies, the Limba; and the south-east dominated by the Mende, who are a Mande people like the Mandinka, Bamana, and Malenke (of Guinea, Senegal, Mali, etc.). The current president of Sierra Leone Ernest Bai Koroma is the first Sierra leonean president from the Temne ethnic group; he receives most of his support from Temne-dominant areas in the north and the western regions of Sierra Leone. |