Gola people

Gola or Koya
Total population
304,000
Regions with significant populations
Liberia278,000
Sierra Leone26,000
Languages
Gola, English, Krio
Religion
Islam
Related ethnic groups
Kissi, Sherbro, Temne, Baga, Limba

The Gola or Gula are a West African ethnic group who share a common cultural heritage, language and history and who live primarily in western or northwestern Liberia and eastern Sierra Leone. The Gola language is an isolate within the Niger–Congo language family. As of 2015, it is spoken by about 278,000 people.

The name Gola is a possible source for the name of the Gullah,[1] a people of African origin living on the islands and coastal regions of Georgia and South Carolina, in the southeastern United States.

Demography

The Gola are found in the counties of Lofa, Bomi, Montserrado and Grand Cape Mount.[2]

Notable Gola people

  • Morris Dorley, musician and guitarist who was born in 1942.
  • Zolu Duma (aka King Peter) ruled the Gola and Vai areas in the early 19th century. He participated in negotiations with American settlers of Liberia in 1821.[3]
  • Charles Taylor, who ruled Liberia between 1997 and 2003, is of mixed Gola and Americo-Liberian ancestry.[4]
  • Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who was Liberia's president from 2006 to 2018, whose father was Gola, and mother was mixed with Kru and German ancestry.[5][6]
  • Yatta Zoe, singer and dancer whose career spanned four decades.

Sande and Poro

The Gola people participate in the Sande and Poro initiation societies, two important institutions found across much of Liberia and Sierra Leone.[7][8] These societies have historically functioned as systems of initiation, social education, and community organization.[9]

Among the Gola, Sande is the women's initiation society and is associated with the training of girls into adulthood. During Sande ceremonies, masked figures representing powerful spiritual beings may appear in public performances and ritual contexts.[10] In museum and anthropological literature on the wider Upper Guinea Coast region, such masks are often discussed in connection with water symbolism, female authority, beauty, discipline, and social order.[11]

According to Gola oral traditions, spiritual beings associated with Sande may be linked to water, nature, and the moral regulation of society. Some local traditions describe these beings in ways that differ from Mende interpretations of the Sande mask spirit, illustrating regional variation in beliefs and ritual practice.[12][13]

The Poro society serves as the male counterpart to Sande and initiates boys into adulthood. Poro initiation traditionally takes place in forest settings and includes instruction in cultural traditions, social responsibilities, and leadership.[14] Among the Gola, as in other groups of the region, Poro and Sande have historically played important roles in governance, dispute resolution, and the transmission of cultural knowledge.[15]

Both societies became trans-ethnic institutions in the Upper Guinea Coast region, spreading across multiple groups in Liberia and Sierra Leone through long-term cultural exchange and regional interaction.[16]

Gola names

Gola names are very distinctive and similar to the Vai, Mende and Kpelle. Some male Gola names are Siaffa, Seh/Sei, Tarweh, Momolu/Momo, Kayme, Sekou, Ansa, Baimba, Bonokai, Lamie (popular among Vai and Kpelle), Kaijaah, Varney, Varfee, Jallah, Kanneh, Kengbe, Gbessi/Gbessay, Kemokai, Pese, Karmo, Gbotoe, Konowa, Buyamah/Boimah (Popular among the Vai), Kpanna, Lumah (Kpelle and Loma), and Jahn.

Some female names are Fatu (popular among Vai, Mende, and Kpelle), Jebbeh (Vai and Mende), Ciatta/Ciata/Siatta, Miata, Satta, Gbelly, Hawa, Musu, Jandi/Jandae, Jumah, Kemah/Kaymah, Gbessi/Gbessay, Jenneh, Cianna, Maima (Vai and Kpelle), Famatta, Fatumatta (Fula and Malinke), Bendu, Jabateh, Nyanae, Kula, Kumba (Kissi and Loma), Siah, Tenneh (Vai, Mende and Kpelle), Mabasi, Wokie, Weyatta, Yattah, Kpannah, Tatu/Tartu, Somo, Jartu, Fofannah, Zoe, Massa, Yassa, Ciatta, Lorpu, and Somah

Names that Gola and Vai people give their twins are often Konah, Sando, and Zinnah. They are both boy and girl names.

Culture

Most of the Gola people are Muslim. The Gola adopted Islam through the influence of Mandinka merchants from the 16th century onwards.[17]

References

  1. ^ Michael A. Gomez (9 November 2000). Exchanging Our Country Marks: The Transformation of African Identities in the Colonial and Antebellum South. Univ of North Carolina Press. p. 102. ISBN 978-0-8078-6171-4.
  2. ^ Dunn, D. Elwood; Holsoe, Svend E. (1985). Historical Dictionary of Liberia. Scarecrow Press. p. 145. ISBN 978-0-8108-1767-8.
  3. ^ "King Zolu Duma". Liberia History And Culture. Archived from the original on 2022-02-26. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  4. ^ Answers.com, "Charles Taylor: Biography"
  5. ^ Reed Kramer, "Liberia: Showered With Enthusiasm, Liberia's President-Elect Receives High-Level Reception in Washington", AllAfrica.com, 11 December 2005
  6. ^ Britannica Online Encyclopedia, "Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf"
  7. ^ d'Azevedo, Warren L. (1962). "A Tribal Reaction to Nationalism: The Gola of Liberia". American Anthropologist. 64 (3): 640–658.
  8. ^ Dunn, D. Elwood; Amos J. Beyan; Carl Patrick Burrowes (2001). Historical Dictionary of Liberia. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0810838765.
  9. ^ Little, Kenneth (1965). "The Political Function of the Poro". Africa. 35 (4): 349–365.
  10. ^ Boone, Sylvia Ardyn (1986). Radiance from the Waters: Ideals of Feminine Beauty in Mende Art. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300035766.
  11. ^ Phillips, Ruth B. (1995). Representing Woman: Sande Masquerades of the Mende. UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History. ISBN 9780930741440.
  12. ^ d'Azevedo, Warren L. (1962). "A Tribal Reaction to Nationalism: The Gola of Liberia". American Anthropologist. 64 (3): 640–658.
  13. ^ Boone, Sylvia Ardyn (1986). Radiance from the Waters: Ideals of Feminine Beauty in Mende Art. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300035766.
  14. ^ Little, Kenneth (1965). "The Political Function of the Poro". Africa. 35 (4): 349–365.
  15. ^ d'Azevedo, Warren L. (1962). "A Tribal Reaction to Nationalism: The Gola of Liberia". American Anthropologist. 64 (3): 640–658.
  16. ^ Little, Kenneth (1965). "The Political Function of the Poro". Africa. 35 (4): 349–365.
  17. ^ Dunn, D. Elwood; Holsoe, Svend E. (1985). Historical Dictionary of Liberia. Scarecrow Press. p. 172. ISBN 978-0-8108-1767-8.
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