The Kissi people are a West Africanethnolinguistic group.[5] They are the fourth largest ethnic group in Guinea, making up 6.2% of the population.[6] Kissi people are also found in Liberia and Sierra Leone. They speak the Kissi language, which belongs to the Mel branch of the Niger–Congo language family.[7] The Kissi are well known for making baskets and weaving on vertical looms. In past times, they were also famous for their ironworking skills, as the country and its neighbors possessed rich iron deposits. Kissi smiths produced the famous "Kissi penny,"
The Kissi people are also called Assi, Bakoa, Den, Gihi, Gisi, Gissi, Gizi, Kisi, Kisia, Kisie, Kisiye, Kizi, or Kalen[8][9]
History
According to The Peoples of Africa, Kissi tradition considers that before the seventeenth century, they inhabited the Upper Niger region. Supposedly, they lived south of the Futa Jallon until the Yalunka people expelled them. After 1600, they migrated westward, expelling the Limbas in their march, but were under constant threat from the Kurankos.[10]
Resistance to French conquest by Kissi Kaba Keita
In Guinea, the Kissi warrior Kissi Kaba Keita managed to unite many Kissi chiefdoms under his reign and resist French conquest for many years. Before French attacks, he had rallied the Kurankos of Morige and the Leles of Yombiro. When the French arrived in 1892, he had to let the relatively autonomous chiefs of the respective areas defend themselves. Due to the French's technological superiority, Kissi Kaba resorted mainly to guerilla tactics, thus delaying their conquest of his kingdom. Still, by 1893, he realized that his resistance would fail and subjected himself to the French, who recognized him as chief of the northern Kissi territory. However, his relationship with the French gradually worsened, leading to them appointing his rivals in several of his chiefdoms and eventually to his execution in Siguiri.
Kissi children in Kissidougou (2019)
Religion and spiritual beliefs
Although many Kissi have converted to Christianity, most continue practicing their traditional ethnic religion. Ancestor worship or praying to deceased relatives is common among the Kissi. The Kissi people produced many carved soapstone figures and heads before colonial contact with the Europeans. It is unclear why they were made; some scholars argue that they form part of ancestor worship, while others say they may represent gods to increase agricultural yields. A large number can be seen in the British Museum's collection.[11]
Foryoh
Balladouno
Beindouno
Bengoutieno
Boakai
Bolossiandouno
Bongono
Bongouno
Bouédouno
Boundouno
Bourouno
Bramadouno
Cécémadouno
Danfagadouno
Dembadouno
Doufangadouno
Dougbouno
Dougouno
Douno
Doussandouno
Fallah
Fancinadouno
Fangadouno
Fangamadouno
Fayiah
Feindouno
Fouédouno
Foulo
Frangadouno
Fremessadouno
Gbandélno
Iffono
Irandouno
Kabadouno
Kadouno
Kagbadouno
Kakpadouno
Kamano
Kamadouno
Kambadouno
Kambedouno
Kandawadouno
Kankadouno
Kankodouno
Kantabadouno
Kantambadouno
Kassadouno
Kassossodouno
Késsémadouno
Kikano
Kogbadouno
Kombadouno
Komano
Kondano
Kondiano
Kondouno
Koniono
Kotémbadouno
Kotémbèdouno
Koumassadouno
Koumbadouno
Koundiano
Koundouno
Kouteno
Lélano
Léno
Pawa
Malano
Mamadouno
Mamboliano
Mandouno
Mano
Mansadouno
Massadouno
Massandouno
Millimono
Millimouno
Mongono
Moudékéno
Moundékéno
Moussatèmbèdouno
Nyumah
Oliano
Ouamono
Ouamouno
Ouéndeno
Ouéndouno
Sagno
Sandouno
Saninkoundouno
Sayadouno
Sayandouno
Semadouno
Sembèno
Sevadouno
Sewadouno
Simbiano
Solano
Somadouno
Somodouno
Sondouno
Songbono
Sossoadouno
Sossouadouno
Souadouno
Soumadouno
Soumano
Soyadouno
Soyandouno
Tagbino
Tamba
Tambadouno
Tédouno
Teliano
Tèmbèdouno
Tèmèssadouno
Teinguiano
Teinkiano
Tiguiano
Togbadouno
Togbodouno
Toguiano
Tolno
Tonguino
Toumadouno
Toumandouno
Toundoufédouno
Toundouno
Tounguino
Woromadouno
Woromandouno
Yassadou
Yaradouno
Yarandouno
Yilandouno
Yokrodouno
Yombouno
Youmbouno
Zéno
Notable Kissi people
Joseph Boakai, Liberian politician & current President of Liberia [12]
^"Guinea - The World Factbook". www.cia.gov. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
^"Liberia - The World Factbook". www.cia.gov. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
^"Sierra Leone 2015 Population and Housing Census National Analytical Report" (PDF). Statistics Sierra Leone. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
^"Liberia Liberia Ethnicity". hub.arcgis.com. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
^Peter Austin (2008). One Thousand Languages: Living, Endangered, and Lost. University of California Press. p. 84. ISBN 978-0520-25-560-9.
^"The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency". Cia.gov. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
^Bankole Kamara Taylor (2014). Sierra Leone: The Land, Its People and History. New Africa Press. p. 149. ISBN 978-9987-16-038-9.
^George Tucker Childs (22 July 2011). A Grammar of Kisi. Walter de Gruyter. p. 1. ISBN 978-3110-81-088-2.
^RAMEAU, BnF [1]
^James Stuart Olsen (1996). The Peoples of Africa: An Ethnohistorical Dictionary. Greenwood Press. p. 290. ISBN 978-0313-27-918-8.
^British Museum Collection
^"Liberia's new president takes office with a promise to 'rescue' Africa's oldest republic". Associated Press News. 22 January 2024.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kissi people.
For spirits and kings: African art from the Paul and Ruth Tishman collection, an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on the Kissi people