Krahn people

The Krahn arrived in an area of Liberia previously known as the "Grain Coast" as part of early 16th-century migrations from the northeast and what is now Ivory Coast. This migration occurred due to pressure on local populations resulting from the emigration of ethnic groups from western Sudan after the decline of medieval empires, as well as an increase in regional wars. At the time, the African slave trade was becoming more prominent within Liberia. Some Kru subgroups were sold into slavery by their neighbours, but it was more common for the Krahn and other coastal peoples in Liberia to serve as local traders, brokering deals within the Western slave market. Many Kru committed suicide rather than face enslavement. With a Krahn leader serving as a key political figure, the once disparaged Krahn were now more prominently included in Liberia's governing body. 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. 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. == Culture ==

Liberia's Krahn were originally hunters, fishermen and farmers, traditionally focusing on rice and cassava production. Slow or failing development of regions with many Krahn settlers led many of the younger Krahn generations to migrate to areas such as Monrovia. Like the Krahn in Liberia, the Wee traditions of hunting and farming have become unsustainable, and in more recent years many have taken work in diamond camps and on rubber plantations. Early Krahn political organizations were traditionally decentralized in both Liberia and Ivory Coast. Religion in Washington, DC 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." ==Language==

The Krahn language is one of the Kru languages in the Niger–Congo language family. Although many Kru-speaking tribes have adopted English as their second language, recent studies have shown that Kru is still spoken by many Liberians. Within the Kru languages there are several subcategories, with Eastern and Western Kru offering the first significant division of tribal language breakdowns. Krahn falls under the Western Kru, Wee subgroup. Some scholars further denote a difference between Eastern and Western Krahn, with Eastern variations typically spoken in northeast Liberia and Western Krahn spoken throughout Grand Gedeh County and Ivory Coast. As of 2020, there were approximately Eastern Krahn speakers within Liberia, with an additional Western Krahn speakers in Liberia and, according to a 1993 estimate, in Ivory Coast. == See also ==