Le phénomène 'Krouman' à Sassandra

The local populations of the West African coast have embarked on European sailing vessels since at least the fifteenth century. However, the insertion of different ethnic groups into such activities along the coast occurred neither at the same time nor in the same manner. If the initial marine activities of the Kru of Liberia, followed by the Kru of the extreme southwest of the Côte d’Ivoire, date from the fifteenth century, four centuries were to pass before the Neyo of Sassandra embarked on European ships in the second half of the nineteenth century. All African sailors aboard European ships were known as “Krouman” regardless of their ethnic identity. Local societies along the coast became dependent on these seaborne activities of their peoples—so much so that it is appropriate to speak of a “Krouman phenomenon.” Since its spread to the Neyo villages of Sassandra, the “Krouman institution” has garnered the attention, first, of colonial authorities (from 1894 to 1954); then, of the general administration of the independent ivoirien State (from 1960 to the present); and, finally, of the municipal authorities of Sassandra (since 1980). This article traces the evolution of the institution and analyses its impact on local society in Sassandra

Administration (probate law) · Ancient history · Archaeology · Colonialism · Economic history · Ethnic group · Ethnology · Fifteenth · Geography · Institution · Political science · State (computer science) · African history and culture studies · Classical Antiquity Studies · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · History · Law