Krahn people

During the late 1970s, Liberia faced heated civil unrest in which opposition to the Americo-Liberian and Tolbert government led to a military coup, organized in part by indigenous tribal members. The tension culminated in coup on April 12, 1980, in which Master Sergeant Samuel Kanyon Doe, a member of the Krahn ethnic group and leader of the group involved in the coup, seized power, becoming Liberia's first native leader and head of state.[7] With a Krahn leader serving as a key political figure, the once disparaged Krahn were now more prominently included in Liberia's governing body.[4]

This rise in status led many Krahn speakers to move to the capital, Monrovia. Doe began showing favoritism to the Krahn, particularly to those from his own tribal group. These measures included appointing members of the Krahn's ethnic kin from Ivory Coast, known more commonly as the Wee, to the Executive Mansion Guard, as well as taking steps to prevent people of other ethnicities from reaching key government positions.[4]

By 1985, Doe's response to his opposition created a large "anti-Doe" contingent.[7] In December 1989, exiles and local recruits began organizing military groups, resulting in another civil war against Doe and his Krahn supporters. As this war progressed, the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) began attacking Krahn civilians in Nimba and Grand Gedeh counties, destroying entire communities as they moved through the country.[4][7]

By mid-1990 the war had escalated, prompting foreign intervention. Doe was kidnapped and executed by opposition forces. Following the removal of the Doe regime and the continuation of the civil war, Krahn refugees began fleeing from Liberia to Ivory Coast, some taking the Krahn language with them.[7]

Although Doe was removed from power in 1990, the civil war did not officially end until 1996, at which time Charles Taylor ran for the presidency, winning the 1997 general election amid much controversy.[8] Because of their opposition to Taylor and their affiliation with the previous regime and with rebel groups like ULIMO, Taylor initiated a crackdown against the Krahn. In 1998, Taylor attempted to murder one of his political opponents, the former warlord Roosevelt Johnson, causing clashes in Monrovia, during and after which hundreds of Krahn were massacred and hundreds more fled Liberia. This event was one of the factors that led to the outbreak of the Second Liberian Civil War.[9][10]

In 2003, members of the Krahn tribe founded a rebel group, the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL), opposing Taylor. The group disbanded as part of the peace agreement at the end of the second civil war.[4]

The stability that followed the civil war has allowed the Krahn to resettle throughout the country. As of 2022, Krahn are typically found in Nimba, Grand Gedeh, and Sinoe counties, as well as Ivory Coast.[11]

Wee Face mask on exhibit at the Indianapolis Museum of Art[13]

Early Krahn political organizations were traditionally decentralized in both Liberia and Ivory Coast.[4] The tribes often lacked a central governing power, instead turning to a village "headman" who rose to a position of social esteem through skill, hard work, and luck in hunting and farming. These individuals often formed councils consisting of young warriors for protection and village elders to serve as consultants in village affairs. This governing group would broker trades with neighboring tribes, as well as make important decisions for the tribe members.[12]

Within these tribal groups, it was not uncommon for ceremonial face masks to serve dual roles in rituals and politics. These masks were often modeled after animals and were utilized in community mediations. They may also have been a means of implementing social control in the years prior to adoption of Western laws during the colonial period.[14]

A Krahn mask on exhibit at the National Museum of African Art in Washington, DC[15]

Many Krahn people believe that objects have spirits or souls (animism). The Wee of Ivory Coast also believe that the natural world is made up of "bush spirits."[12] These spirits are part of the world untouched by man, and the Wee believe that keeping these spirits appeased is vital to the health of the tribe. Whenever new land requires cultivating for fields or expansion, or when tribesmen needed to venture outside the village, it becomes necessary to make offerings to the spirits. It is further believed that the bush spirits take corporeal form in order to interact with the villagers and participate in ceremonies.[12] The Wee believe that the bush spirits can communicate with humans through dreams, often demanding ceremonial masks be created in their honor in either male or female form. These masks then serve a variety of functions, ranging from ritual ceremonies, entertainment, and focal points in moral stories to judicial and political controls. Typically, female masks are viewed as less imposing and more beautiful than male masks and are in turn used more for ritual and entertainment purposes, while the male masks are often more ferocious-looking and used in sociopolitical contexts. All Wee masks are believed to deflect sorcery, and many undergo shifts in their primary function during their lifetime.[16]