Culture
ReligionThe early settlers, freed American slaves, brought with them the culture and religion of the US deep South of the slavery era. Their descendants are adherents of the principal Protestant denominations, of which the largest is the Methodist Church. In 2002, it was estimated that about 40% of the population practice Christianity or elements of both Christianity and traditional indigenous religions. Christian denominations include Lutheran, Baptist, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, United Methodist, African Methodist Episcopal (AME), AME Zionists, and several Pentecostal churches. About 20% of the population practice Islam. Mandingo traders, who live mainly in the northern and eastern counties, have made many Muslim converts and Egyptian and Pakistani Muslim missionaries have been active since 1956. About 40% of the population practice traditional indigenous religions exclusively. Veneration of ancestors forms the core of most Liberian traditional religion. There is also a small Baha'i community.
Though the law prohibits religious discrimination, there have been reports of violence and discrimination against Muslims and Islamic leaders complain of both social and political discrimination |
FoodMany Liberians grow their own rice, sugar cane, and cassava (a starchy root). Rice is eaten at least twice a day (much more than any other starch). Foreign rice, or pasava , is considered much better than locally grown
rice because of the rocks that get mixed up with the local rice during harvesting. Palm oil or palm butter usually comes with the meal, and wine is also made from the palm nut. Cassava leaves and potato leaves are both boiled and eaten like spinach. Sugar cane is either refined, or after cutting through the tough bark, the sweet juice is sucked straight out of the cane bought at the marketplace.Fufu (a doughy food that accompanies most meals) can be made from rice, plantain, cassava, corn, or yam. The starchy food is dried, pounded until ground, boiled, and rolled into two-inch ovals. Most Liberians use cassava to make fufu; a variation, called dumboy, is boiled before mashing. Fufu is swallowed instead of chewed. It is popularly eaten with a spicy soup. Beef internal soup is made with beef, dried codfish, tripe, and other smoked fish caught from the nearby ocean. Hot peppers are added to many foods for an extra kick, and ground cayenne peppers are used as flavorings and preservatives. Favorite dishes include palava sauce, made traditionally with plato(okra) leaves, dried fish or meat, and palm oil; and jollof rice, a chicken, beef, and bacon dish with vegetables and rice. Palava sauce comes primarily from the counties of Maryland and Grand Kru. |
FashionTraditionally men wear short or long pants with a loose round-neck shirt. Women traditionally will wear a long wrap skirt called “lappa” and loose top called “bubba”. They may also wear a head wrap. West African clothes are famous for their brightly colored and patterned fabrics.
|