MENDE CULTURAL SURVIVAL

The people of Mende being the largest ethnic group in Sierra Leone historically has being known for its cultural domination and expansion (referred to as “mendenization) among its neighboring tribes for a long period of time even the days of colonialism in Sierra Leone. They have strong cultural values, beliefs, and traditions which bind them together and are being passed on from generation to generation. They have come to impact their culture on their less populous neighbors. For instance, the Gola and the Krim affirm to being culturally influenced heavily by the people of the Mende’s.

Their geographic mobility explains aspects of Mende cultural diversity, particularly dialectic differences.

Located in the coastal areas of West Africa they have a typical equatorial climate, with wet and dry seasons each lasting about six months which makes up a good climatic condition for their subsistence method of farming and animal domestication.

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Political leadership is structured that political leadership rests on the shoulders of the section chief or subchief who in most cases is the oldest person and most suitable in the male line usually from a descendant of a victorious warrior and founder of the settlement. The chief and his council of subchiefs, title holders and village heads make decisions on matters of public interest, settle disputes and punish lawbreakers.

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These factors among others are what make the people of Mende unique in their own way and the reason they continue to thrive and adhere to their own traditions in this modern era.