Sherbro people

The Sherbro people are a native people of Sierra Leone, who speak the Sherbro language; they make up 3% of Sierra Leone's population or about 201,000. The Sherbro are found primarily in their homeland in Bonthe District, where they make up 45% of the population, in coastal areas of Moyamba District, and in the Western Area of Sierra Leone, particularly in Freetown. During pre-colonial days, the Sherbro were one of the most dominant ethnic group in Sierra Leone, but in the early 21st century, the Sherbro comprise a small minority in the nation. The Sherbro speak their own language, called Sherbro language. The vast majority of Sherbro people are Christian.

The Sherbro are primarily fisherman and traders. They have a rich culture and have integrated some western culture and ideals. Their culture is unlike that of all other ethnic groups in Sierra Leone. The ethnic group in the nation whose culture is similar (in terms of embrace of Western culture) are the Krio people, descended largely from African Americans (known as Black Loyalists), who had been freed from slavery by the British during the American Revolutionary War, resettled in Nova Scotia, and then chose to go to Freetown in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.  after the American Revolutionary War. The Sherbro and the Krio are close allies; they have intermarried since early colonial settlements in the 1790s.

The Sherbro have been an indigenous people in the territory now known as Sierra Leone. In the 18th century, they began to get involved in the slave trade and became more powerful than the European slave traders. They began to employ the Mende people to work for them to find slaves to meet the growing demand. In the 1920s, the Sherbro people were still being ruled by their own chiefs.

History
The Sherbro were one of many indigenous peoples living in the territory of Sierra Leone before the colonial era. The first interaction with Europeans came during the 15th century, when Portuguese explorers, settlers, and traders came to the area. 

The English followed soon after and, in the 1620s, they had a number of agents trading and purchasing items in the Sherbro Country.  The Sherbro intermarried with them. Like the later Krio, who developed in Sierra Leone after the colony was established, the Sherbro have a more westernized culture than that of other indigenous ethnic groups there. From the beginning of the settlement of liberated slaves in Sierra Leone, the ancestors of the Krio generally intermarried with their allies the Sherbro.

Relationship with the Krios
Many Sherbro assimilate as Krio, as they share the Christian faith and Western names.

Notable Sherbro
Thomas Corker - (died 1700) British-born Irish man and progenitor of the Sherbro Caulker clan
Kpana Lewis (1830–1912), Sherbro chief and opponent of colonial rule
Barnabas Root (born Fahma Yahny) (died 1877), clergyman and missionary to his nation
John Karefa-Smart, politician and former leader of the United National People's Party (UNPP)
John Akar, entertainer; he composed the music of Sierra Leone's national anthem
Henry M. Joko-Smart, former Supreme Court Justice of Sierra Leone
Desmond Luke, former Foreign Minister and Chief Justice of Sierra Leone 
Patricia Kabbah, late First Lady of Sierra Leone and late wife of former President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah
John Kizell, African-American immigrant to Sierra Leone born on Sherbro Island
Paul Kpaka, footballer, Sierra Leone
Christian Caulker, footballer, Sierra Leone
Michael Tommy, footballer, Sierra Leone
B. J. Tucker, an American football cornerback with the San Francisco 49ers of the NFL.
Seniora Doll, Sherbro princess during the early years of Sierra Leone
Peter L. Tucker, Chief Executive for the Commission for Racial Equality (UK)
Joseph Christian Humper, a bishop in the United Methodist Church
Thomas Caulker, King of Bumpey

Clans
Sherbro Bullom
Sherbro Caulkers
Sherbro Clevelands
Sherbro Hubbards
Sherbro Macfoy
Sherbro Rogerses
Sherbro Rutile
Sherbro Tuckers

See also
Thomas Corker, Chief Royal African agent in Sherbro country
Seniora Doll, married Thomas Corker; their descendants are the Shenge and Bonthe Caulkers

Notes

References
Adam Jones (1983). History in Africa, Vol. 10, pp. 151–162.