CHAPTER TWO. THE MIGRATION OF FULA INTO SIERRA LEONE: A BRIEF HISTORY. In this chapter I provide some background information on the migration of Fula herders and traders into, what is now, Sierra Leone. Contrary to the popular Sierra Leone stereotype, the presence of significant numbers of Fula may be traced back centuries rather than decades.

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i. Pastoralists and the Futa state. By the end of the eighteenth century, a powerful Islamic state had developed in the highlands of Futa Jallon.(*1) Futa Jallon, formally an area of ethnic heterogeneity, came to be ruled over by Muslim Fula. The success of a jihad led to the displacement of a great many people from their former homelands with, for example, non-Islamic Susu and Yalunka being pushed southwards towards what is now Sierra Leone. (Kup 1975,p.45) But Futa Jallon was also occupied by non-Islamic Fula pastoralists and, as Suret-Canale notes, it was against their own co-linguists that the Islamic Fula were to launch their fiercest attacks.(1970,p.79) In general, however, the dispersal of these various populations is not well-documented. Whilst some Fula moved away from the growing sphere of Islamic influence, others became incorporated, to a greater or lesser extent, into the powerful Islamic state. (cf. Quinn 1971,p.430) The Fula state dominated much of the region, until it was dismantled by the French during the latter part of the nineteenth century. The intricate and complex political history of the Futa Jallon state need not detain us here, although it should be recognised that the power of the state fluctuated a great deal. Hopewell relates the instability of the state to its feudal structure. (Hopewell 1958,p.62) Suret-Canale, however, finds the system more difficult to define, and notes how the state "maintained a certain order through its institutional disorder". (idem p.81) Nonetheless, it is clear that the threats to the state did not merely come from outside the chieftancy, although external rivals were to overrun Timbo, the political capital, on more than one occasion. Civil wars and revolts, some of which had less to do with dynastic rivalry than with ethnic self-determination, also threatened internal security.(*2) Viellard, in his valuable "Notes sur les Peuls du Fouta-Djallon", mentions a number of these revolts. Among them, Viellard records "la revolte des Houbbou", pastoralists whom "las des pilleries infligée ... leur bétail se révoltêrent et fondêrent l'êtat peul dissident du Fitaba" (1940 p.103).(*3) The Hubu are one of the pastoral sub-groups presently found in northern Sierra Leone. The other named sub-groups are the Tellico, Kebu and "Sanda Fula". (*4) Viellard makes no mention of Tellico as a group, although the town of "Teliko" appears on his map. (map 2:1) (*5) On the other hand, "Kebu" does appear , although it remains unclear, either from the map itself or the accompanying text, as to whether "Kebu" refers to an area, a "people" or to both. The map would seem to suggest that the people of Kebu too led some kind of revolt against the state and, leaving the Timbi area, formed an association with the independent state of Gomba, described by Viellard as "un autre centre de dissidence peule:...cré‚ comme de coutume par un mystique appuy‚ sur des pasteurs m‚contents."(ibid, 104) But uncertainty remains. On the following page Viellard mentions that the "dependency" of Kébou became integrated into the Futa State. What is to be adduced from these scant references? Whilst it is certain that the Hubu have existed as an (historically) significant sub-group since at least the middle of the nineteenth century, it is not clear whether the Kebu or Tellico "existed" at this time. The rise and fall of states and empires is often paralleled in the creation and recreation of ethnic identities, but such changes are often tantalisingly ill-documented, and the degree to which present understandings can be utilised to enlighten this shady historical past is limited.

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MAP 2:1

MIGRATIONS FROM FUTA JALLON

MAP 2:2

ADMINISTRATIVE DISTRICTS IN FUTA JALLON

In a very different context Turton has examined territorial expansion and ethnic identity among the Mursi of southern Ethiopia. He concludes his analysis by observing that "The Mursi did not make a journey: a journey made them." (1979 p.142) I suggest that it is reasonable to conjecture that the identity of the Kebu and Tellico is also a product of their movement.(*6) ii.The movement of pastoralists to Sierra Leone.(*7) As Viellard's data makes clear, the state of Futa Jallon had great difficulty, as have many modern nation-states, in incorporating pastoral people into its political structure. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Fula pastoralists continued to move away from the central plains of Futa Jallon to outlying areas. I have already mentioned the revolt of the Hubu against the Futa State, the result of which brought them into close contact with the Yalunka of Solima, an area which now forms part of the northern borders of Sierra Leone. However, I would suggest that the reasons for these movements can only partly be understood as a reflection of political discontent. The migrations of Fula herders to the northern region of Sierra Leone, and into the Koinadugu district in particular, form part of a general drift of population, southwards from the Futa Jallon highlands.(*8) On one level, the presence of so many pastoral Fula in the northern region of Sierra Leone can be understood as a result of the search for new pastures. Evidence suggests that the presence of many slave settlements within Futa Jallon may have restricted the availability of pasture land. (See e.g. Suret-Canale 1970 p. 80) Expansion further southwards has been limited by a number of geographical and ecological factors, so that the settlement of pastoral Fula in Sierra Leone has been largely confined to the North and north-eastern regions of the country. Some pastoral families claim to trace their date of arrival in Sierra Leone back to the end of the nineteenth century. Such claims are often hard to substantiate. However, historical data on the Hubu would suggest that Fula pastoralists were moving into Protectorate territory, from around this time. The demarcation of the border between French Guinea and British Sierra Leone, which had taken place in 1895, did not halt pastoral expansion. On the contrary, it would seem that it accelerated during the early decades of this century. Indeed, the immigration of Fula pastoralists into Sierra Leone from Guinea was actively encouraged by the British colonial administration, despite French efforts to the contrary.(*9) With the establishment of the international boundary, French efforts to divert trade from Freetown toward Conakry had increased. Various techniques were used to control and limit Guinean exports to Sierra Leone. Cattle traders, in particular, had been the target for coercion since the 1890's, and cattle duties, which had been instituted in 1894, rose dramatically over the next few years. Similarly, in an effort to impede the development of stocks in Sierra Leone, the French allowed only bullocks to cross the border at this time. (Lipschutz 1973 p.162-4) Despite these restrictive French policies, a great deal of commerce continued to be transacted across the border. (See below.) But, more significantly, the French were unable to prevent the continuing immigration of the herders themselves into the

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Illustration 2:1