Tribes and ethnic groups in Sierra Leone- David Gray

While doing research on the tribes, I found that there are a total of 16! Number one is Temne 35%, and its located in the southern/ eastern parts. The second most tribe is called Mende 31%, and its located in the northern provinces. Some of the other major tribes are Fula, Limba, Mandingo, Kono, Krio, and Karanko. Personally, that is a lot of tribes to remember! Talking about the top two tribes, the majority of the Temne are Muslims. They also have a small Christian minority as well. Temne and Mende have some similarities like they both are majority Muslim, but they have more Christianity as well.
Looking back at the book, Ishmael Beah is part of the Mende tribe. It says that the book show similarities of the Mende tribe like spirituality, community/ family, and celebrations/ food. For the spirituality part, they believe in animism. Praying/ believing in the sky shows signs of animism as well. Next, the family side of the ethnic group, children were required to respect the elders! The tribe is a big believer on respecting the elders. Lastly, the food side was a big factor to the tribe as well. According to an article, the Mende tribe “eat with their hands. In their first meal together as a family, Beah and his uncle eat chicken off of a communal plate. Beah says, ''To have chicken prepared for anyone was a rarity, and it was considered an honor. People ate chicken only on holidays like Christmas or New Year's''” (Study.com)

Where I got most of the information:
- Winki
- https://www.visitsierraleone.org/background-information/history/sierra-leone-background/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/12345952/
- https://study.com/academy/lesson/cultural-practices-in-a-long-way-gone.html

This is part of the Mende tribe. They are dancing, and wearing colorful clothes