SIERRA-LEONEAN, CREOLES, KRIO - DIALECTICS OF AN IDENTITY

The study of phenomena relating to identity has prompted new approache s to the subject on the part of historians as well as anthropologists. They include the study of ethnicity, a dynamic combination of socio-e conomic, religious, cultural and political factors. In this regard the population of Freetown is particularly interesting, for it stems from several discrete migrations from the end of the eighteenth century on wards. Some of the immigrants came direct from the African continent, 'Liberated Africans' disembarked on the Sierra Leone peninsula, while others, formerly slaves, came from the UK, North America or the West I ndies. The result of this diversity of origin was the formation of a v ery rich and specific society, with a mixture of European, African and West Indian characteristics. Among the town dwellers are those called successively Sierra Leoneans, Creoles and Krio. Since the 1950s sever al studies have focused on these people. After a polemical article pub lished in 1977, new research was undertaken. Krio identity, which is a t the same time a historical theme and politically contested territory , remains at the heart of the debate. In this article, emphasis is pla ced on terminology, to address the question of 'ethnicity' as applied to those known as Creoles. What were they called by administrators or historians (past and present)? What did they call themselves? How did they react to the various attempts at categorisation? How did the name s, which are the visible aspect of ethnicity, evolve? What did the ter ms really mean and how can one move from a given name to the object it represents? These questions take into account several points of view, from within Krio/Creole society and from outside it. The focus of the article is the period from the mid-nineteenth century to the mid-twen tieth, with particular emphasis on the turn of the century. This was a crucial time for the Creoles, who were being eliminated from posts of responsibility and from direct participation in colonisation. This mo ment of changing status in colonial policy allows us to understand the phenomenon of identity, whether as imposed by the administration or c laimed by the population itself in a complex and dialectic process.