Kpelle

Kpelle

People occupying central Liberia and part of Guinea. Numbering about one million, the Kpelle speak a Mande language of the Niger-Congo languages. They form about one-fifth of the population of Liberia. They are primarily rice farmers; cash crops include peanuts, sugarcane, and kola nuts. They are known for their elaborate secret societies (Poro for men, Sande for women), which serve a variety of social and political functions.

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Kpelle 

Kpese, Gerse, Pessy (self-designation, Kpelle-ga), a people inhabiting the Nzérékoré region in Guinea and the central part of Liberia (the St. Paul and St. John interfluvial area). They number more than 150,000 in Guinea and more than 400,000 in Liberia (1967, estimate).

The Kpelle language belongs to the southern group of the Mande language family. The ethnogenesis of the Kpelle has not been established. Until recently, their social system (especially in Liberia) preserved vestiges of matriarchal law and secret societies. The religion of the Kpelle consists of ancestor worship and worship of the forces of nature. The chief occupations are tropical farming and gathering the fruits of the oil palm.

REFERENCES

Narody Afriki. Moscow, 1954.
Westermann, D. Die Kpelle, ein Negerstamm in Liberia. Göttingen-Leipzig, 1921.