Krio marriage in Sierra Leone

Kids re-enacting a krio wedding

Background of Krio People

The amazing bride and groom smiling for the camera

The Sierra Leone Krio people is an ethnic group of Sierra Leone. The Sierra Leone Krios are descendants of freed African-American, Afro-Caribbean, and Liberated African slaves who settled in the Western Area of Sierra Leone between 1787 and about 1885. The colony was established by the British, supported by abolitionists, under the Sierra Leone Company as a place for freedmen. The settlers called their new settlement Freetown. Today, the Sierra Leone Krios are 1.2 percent of the population of Sierra Leone.

Some of the settlers intermarried in Sierra Leone with English colonial residents and other Europeans. Through the Jamaican Maroons, some Krios probably have indigenous Amerindian Taíno ancestry. The mingling of newly freed black and racially-mixed Nova Scotians and Jamaicans Maroons, from the 'New World' with Liberated Africans.

The Americo-Liberians and Sierra Leone Krios are the only recognized ethnic group of African-American, Liberated African, and Afro-Caribbean descent in West Africa. Thoroughly Westernized in their manners and bourgeois in their methods, the Krios as a class developed close relationships with the British colonial administration; they became educated in British institutions and advanced to prominent leadership positions in colonial Sierra Leone and British West Africa. Due to this history, many Sierra Leone Krios have first names and/or surnames that are Anglicized or British in origin.

The Krios are Christian and the vast majority reside in Freetown and its surrounding Western Area region of Sierra Leone. From their mix of peoples, the Krios developed what is now the native Krio language, a creole deriving from English, indigenous West African languages, and other European languages. It is the most widely spoken language in virtually all parts of Sierra Leone.

Marriage Ceremony

Kids re-enacting a krio marriage (husband and wife)

Krios observe dating and marriage customs that reflect their Westernized and broader West African cultural retentions. Their wedding ceremonies involve the get or put stop – an elaborate Shakespearean performance in which the hand of the bride is asked for, following the appearance of several 'roses'. Among the gifts presented by the future groom's representatives are a calabash, some kola nuts, various domestic items a wife would use (such as needles and some thread) and also a Bible, a ring, and some money.

Krio traditional wedding attire is a morning suit or lounge suit for the bridegroom and the women wear the traditional white wedding dress. Krios marry in church their weddings are based on Victorian and Edwardian eras, relatives sought out and introduced prospective suitors from desirable families to their kin seeking a spouse. When the prospective groom or bride has chosen a suitor, traditionally the groom's parents set a "put stop" day. After this day, the girl is expected to no longer entertain other suitors. On the evening before the wedding, the groom's friends treat him to "bachelor's eve," a rowdy last fling before marriage.

Ashobis, (parties) at which every guest is expected to wear the same type of materials, are held on the day of the wedding or some days after, for newlyweds.

See also

• The krio's Print Dress in Sierra Leone