Countries · Monrovia
Liberia
Forest communities, settler history and a strong tradition of textile and storytelling.
Liberia's culture holds together indigenous Kpelle, Bassa, Gio and Vai traditions with the history of nineteenth-century settlement from the Americas.
We are collecting oral histories, country-cloth weaving knowledge and the Vai script tradition with the families who use it.
Main languages
Kpelle · Bassa · Vai · Gio · Liberian English
Places in focus
Monrovia · Robertsport · Gbarnga · Harper
General cultural context; verified records are added community by community.
The Vai script
One of the few indigenous African writing systems in continuous use, invented in the nineteenth century and still taught in families.
Country cloth
Narrow-strip weaving is used for gifts, marriage and burial, and each pattern carries a family meaning.
Storytelling and song
Riddles, proverbs and moonlight storytelling remain a central way of teaching children.
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From the archive
Liberia
From the community
Contributed to Liberia
Submissions from contributors, published after cultural review.
No community submissions have been published for Liberia yet. Yours could be the first.
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Did You Know?
Cultural knowledge
Did You Know facts from Liberia — coming soon
We are working with knowledge holders, cultural institutions and community partners to record and verify entries for Did You Know facts from Liberia. Every record is reviewed by people before it is published, so this part of the archive opens only when the stories are ready.
Themes being collected
- Oral history
- Music
- Food
- Crafts
- Places
- Traditions
- Folklore
- Languages