Ritual object or 'Kru money'?

“The society that loses its symbols loses its identity and in the process loses touch with itself.”

In: 'Rock of the Ancestors: namôa koni'
(William C. Siegmann, 1977)

The origin of these objects is not known with certainty, except for the fact that they were made and used among the Kru and the Grebo in southeastern Liberia.
According to one source, the Kru and Grebo believe these objects to be living creatures that can be found in creeks, rivers and lagoons. They call them ‘tien’,‘nitien’ or ‘Dwin’ meaning water spirits or ‘Gods of water’. A variety of powers are attributed to them including the ability to stop wars, found villages, heal the sick and guarantee fertility. They are also capable to catch people crossing these streams. The Kru and Grebo believe that the ‘tien’ live in the water but can be caught and brought to town where they may be enjoined to serve as protector or guardians (Siegmann, 1977, p. 82).

It is seriously doubted whether any of these objects have been made in recent times. In any case, nowadays they are extremely rare. A nineteenth century source described objects that resembled the above shown objects (in particular object B). In 1845, Horatio Bridge, a US Navy officer who served on a cruiser sailing in the Gulf of Guinea, reported: "I have procured some of the country-money. It is more curious, than convenient."

And he continued that the ‘Manilly’, worth a dollar and a half, would be a fearful currency to make large payments in, being composed of old brass-kettles, melted up, and cast in a sand-mould, the weigh being from two to four pounds (Nathaniel Hawthorne, ed., 1845, p. 106).

In 1853, Horatio Bridge reported that he had seen them being cast in sand-moulds on the beach near Sasstown in southeastern Liberia. He described how some were made by melting down old brass kettles, others were made using the so-called lost wax technique of casting. He must have seen more and bigger objects than in 1845 since he mentions that their size varied from less than two inches to more than ten inches in diameter whereas a big one could weigh as much as twenty-five pounds. Some objects were solid brass, while others had a sand core - like object A, above on the extreme left. Most objects consisted of an unbroken circle with four knobs, but a few were open on one side. Bridge reported that they were called ‘Kru money’. (Siegmann, 1977, p.82).

A ritual killing

Very interesting is the experience which an American Baptist missionary had in the interior of Liberia in the 1940's. Abe Guenter describes in his book ' Jungle Pilot in Liberia' where and how he found such a brass ring. He asked the villagers for an explanation and heard the following astonishing story of a human sacrifice and ritual killing.

Abe Guenter: "I kept visiting that church from time to time to encourage and strengthen the believers. On one visit I noticed a ten-pound brass ring, 7 inches across and 1.5 inches thick with four knobs attached to the side. It was half buried in mud, so I pulled it out, cleaned it off and carried it to the deacon next door. "Deacon Carr, please tell me what this is, " I requested. "Oh yes (....) I will tell you" he replied. "My grandfather was the big chief in this village. He was so afraid of spirits, sicknesses, war and other people's witchcraft that he went to the big, big witch doctor (....). With the help of the blacksmith, they poured this beautifully marked brass ring. (...) The witch doctor laid the ring down in the middle of the village (...). By then the sun was going down and the witch doctor had a meeting with just the elders of the village and my grandfather. He told them: "You asked for the most powerful witchcraft, and that always needs a human sacrifice. I want you to bring a young boy at midnight to the new god so we can make this sacrifice." An eight-year-old boy, with his mouth gagged, was brought that night. They cut his throat and spilled all his blood on the brass ring, and from that time on, all the activities of the village revolved around the 'brass god': sacrifices, worship and all. But when the gospel came, we threw the ring away and turned to the true and living God." (Guenter, 1992: p. 58/59).

An unanswered question

Hence, the question emerges: “Were these objects ritual objects or traditional money?”

We may never know the answer. Searches on the internet for ‘Kru money’, for ‘Dwin’, ‘tien’, and ‘nitien’ only resulted in a few sites. Scott Shepperd's contribution to the Tribal Art Forum is without any doubt the most important (2004). According to the author these Kru rings where made as sacred objects, not originally as currency.
Another site found, “The Artistry of African Currency”, has in its heading an illustration of the brass object - however, without any reference.

Liberian Studies Journal
1970-71 Vol. III, number 1
Another reference was found in the Liberian Studies Journal of 1970-71 that shows a Kru ring on its cover. The cover photograph is described as “Brass ring, use unknown. Called Dwin. Collected 1965 near Barclayville, Grand Cess Territory. Svend E. Holsoe Collection.” (see picture).
An endangered cultural heritage

Liberia’s numerous ethnic groups are characterized by an extremely rich cultural life. Today, many traditions still persist but an irrevocable process seems to be taking place. Gradually, tribal customs and beliefs as well as ritual ceremonies and symbols are losing their meaning. People have begun to forget the origin and purpose of traditional symbols.

The civil war - fourteen years of looting, destruction and fighting - has cost the lives of an estimated quarter of a million people and has seriously damaged Liberia’s cultural heritage. It has added to the negative effects of a humid climate, carelessness and economic modernization. Today, tons of Liberian art have been lost.

This article is published with the kind permission of Dr Fred van der Kraaij,
and is extracted from his website on the past and present of Africa's oldest republic. Dr Fred van der Kraaij taught economics at the University of Liberia during the second half of the 1970s.

His dissertation on the role of foreign investments in the development of Liberia 1900-1977 was published as “The Open Door Policy of Liberia – An Economic History of Modern Liberia” (Bremen, 1983).

He wrote extensively on West Africa where he lived for over 16 years. Visit his website at: Liberia Past and Present

Kissi Money or ‘Money with a Soul’

At the end of the 19th century, the so-called ‘Kissi money’ or ‘Kissi penny’ was introduced by the Kissi, Loma and Bandi peoples living in the border regions of nowadays Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

In practice its use was quite extensive. Various sources mention the use of the Kissi money among and between the Bandi, Gbandia, Gola, Kissi, Kpelle, Loma, Mandingo and Mende tribes of this region. Presumably, Kissi money was ‘minted’ as from the 1880s by native blacksmiths who used iron smelted from the rich ore in the region. For many decades Kissi money circulated along with American, British and French paper money.

The shape of the Kissi money is rather odd. Its characteristic form is a twisted rod of iron with flattened ends: a flat, hoe-like spatula at one end and a sharpened ‘T’ at the other. Its length varies from 9 to over 15 inches, the longer ones representing a higher value. Larger ‘denominations’ also were created by twisting several pieces together or bundling them and securing them with a cotton or leather strip. The odd shape may have its origin as a means of protection since it was virtually impossible to tamper with the metal content of the piece without noticing it immediately.

If an iron rod would accidentally break, it could no longer circulate and its value could only be restored in a special ceremony performed by the Zoe, the traditional witchdoctor – often the blacksmith – who, for a fee, would rejoin the broken pieces and reincarnate the escaped soul. Therefore, it was said that Kissi money was ‘money with a soul’.

The Kissi money was a general-purpose currency. Kissi pennies were tied in bundles of twenty and used for a variety of purposes. In the beginning of the 20th century a cow would cost 100 bundles, a virgin bride 200 bundles and a slave 300 bundles.

The French were the first to abolish the use of the Kissi money in their colony. The British followed in 1940. In Liberia things went much slower. In 1936 the District Commissioner at Voinjama, the most northern District of Liberia’s Western Province bordering the French colony of Guinea and the British colony of Sierra Leone, attempted to prohibit the use of Kissi money in payment of the much despised hut tax. Eight years earlier the U.S. Firestone Company had come to Liberia but the company’s operations were concentrated in regions located more to the coast. Since the North American rubber company hardly affected their way of life, the tribal people in the northwestern part of the country continued using the traditional money. It was only after the administrative reform of 1964 and the emergence of modern employers in the 1960s (plantations, iron ore mines), due to President Tubman’s Open Door Policy, that the Kissi money was definitely replaced by the official currency of Liberia - since 1944 the US dollar. In that year President Edwin Barclay had outlawed the British pound and made the US dollar the only legal tender in the country.

After being replaced by Western currencies, the use of Kissi money became virtually limited to ritual ceremonies such as on the occasion of the return of young men and women from the bush schools (Poro and Sande schools) or for sacrifices and divination ceremonies. It also serves for making protective fetishes and to decorate the graves of old warriors. Still many people believe the old money to possess magical powers. Hence, according to many tribal Liberians, the Kissi money still is ‘money with a soul’.

This article is published with the kind permission of Dr Fred van der Kraaij,
and is extracted from his website on the past and present of Africa's oldest republic. Dr Fred van der Kraaij taught economics at the University of Liberia during the second half of the 1970s.

His dissertation on the role of foreign investments in the development of Liberia 1900-1977 was published as “The Open Door Policy of Liberia – An Economic History of Modern Liberia” (Bremen, 1983).

He wrote extensively on West Africa where he lived for over 16 years. Visit his website at: Liberia Past and Present