Fernandino
Encyclopedia
Named in reverence of the Portuguese
explorer Fernão do Pó
who is given credit for discovering their indigenous and adopted homelands, Fernandinos are creole
, multi-ethnic or multi-race populations of Equatorial Guinea
and former Spanish Guinea
. Each population hails from a distinct ethnic, social, cultural and linguistic history. Members of these communities were responsible for building and expanding the cocoa farming industry on Fernando Po
during the 1880s and 1890s. The Fernandinos of Fernando Po were closely related to each other as well as to members of communities in Freetown, Cape Coast
, and Lagos
. Eventually, these distinct groups integrated, and in present-day Bioko
their differences barely exist.
originating from the island of Fernando Pó (modern day Bioko Island), an island discovered by Fernão do Pó
. This group consisted of mulattos of female Bubi and white male Spaniard parentage, and were part of the Emancipados
social class. Incidentally, many offspring born to this type of union were not claimed by the father; however some couples did marry under Roman Catholic law. It was not uncommon for offspring of such unions to be accepted into the indigenous tribe, and identify as such.
Similarly, the Portuguese
-Indigenous descended mulatto
population of São Tomé and Príncipe
, an island also discovered by explorer Fernão do Pó
, were also referred to as Fernandinos at one point.
, French, Bube and a form of pidgin English called pichinglis
. Pichinglis was brought to Fernando Po by Efik settlers of Akwa Akpa State
(known during colonial times as Calabar State) in Nigeria
. The dialect was used in trade activities, and may have varied slightly per region. The dialect was stigmatized during the Franco regime
.
descended from English speaking freed slaves of Sierra Leone and Liberia
. Essentially, Krios are descendants of liberated Africans, as well as repatriated West Indians and African-Americans who immigrated back to Africa, Liberia, in the 1800s. Supported by the American Colonization Society
, groups of free African-Americans emigrated primarily from Nova Scotia
and England
to Sierra Leone
, Nigeria
, and Bioko Island where they became a dominant force in the evolution of local society and economy, assisting America as well European empires in the colonial progression of these regions. They were initially discouraged from mingling with the local, less education and/or liberated indigenous people and more inclined to inter-marry with families of similar backgrounds. Krios eventually blended with the local populations, with Krio women and offspring taking on the surnames of indigenous families. They have contributed to the present-day existence of a very ethnically/racially mixed population that exists up and down the West Coast of Africa where the reality of such great heritage diversity, heavily influenced by the West, tends to be subdued.
The Krios arrived on the island of Fernando Po in 1827, a year after Great Britain leased the island of Fernando Po for fifty years. Thus the Krios joined an influx of several hundred freed Creole African descended immigrants from Cape Coast
and other groups from British colonized Africa. The Krios began populating an area known as Clarence Cove
- a harbor. The first inhabitants purchased dwellings for $3,000 to $5,000, with a handful of large plantation owners who'd engaged in cocoa and yam
farming industry which was controlled by English and Spanish factory owners. Krios have been noted for their scholastic achievement and business acumen.
. Krio Fernandinos are exclusively concentrated around Malabo
. Although they comprise a distinct ethnic group in Equatorial Guinea, their pidgin dialect is spoken in only six communities (Musola, Las Palmas, Sampaca, Basupu, Fiston and Balveri de Cristo Rey). In 1998 it was estimated that the number of fluent Equatoguinean speakers of this language was at 5,000. For 1,000 of those 5,000 speakers this was their only language. Up to 70,000 EquatoGuineans may currently use it as a trade language.
Today, Fernando Poo Creole English
and Pichinglis
have long been fused into one dialect.
; however, many Krios are also Roman Catholic.
Portuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
explorer Fernão do Pó
Fernão do Pó
Fernão do Pó , also Fernão Pó, Fernando Pó, Fernando Poo was a Portuguese navigator and explorer of the West African coast. He discovered the islands in the Gulf of Guinea around 1472, one of which until the mid 1900s bore a version of his name, Fernando Pó or Fernando Poo. The island is...
who is given credit for discovering their indigenous and adopted homelands, Fernandinos are creole
Creole peoples
The term Creole and its cognates in other languages — such as crioulo, criollo, créole, kriolu, criol, kreyol, kreol, kriulo, kriol, krio, etc. — have been applied to people in different countries and epochs, with rather different meanings...
, multi-ethnic or multi-race populations of Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea where the capital Malabo is situated.Annobón is the southernmost island of Equatorial Guinea and is situated just south of the equator. Bioko island is the northernmost point of Equatorial Guinea. Between the two islands and to the...
and former Spanish Guinea
Spanish Guinea
Spanish Guinea was an African colony of Spain that became the independent nation of Equatorial Guinea.-History:The Portuguese explorer, Fernão do Pó, seeking a route to India, is credited with having discovered the island of Bioko in 1472. He called it Formosa , but it quickly took on the name of...
. Each population hails from a distinct ethnic, social, cultural and linguistic history. Members of these communities were responsible for building and expanding the cocoa farming industry on Fernando Po
Bioko
Bioko is an island 32 km off the west coast of Africa, specifically Cameroon, in the Gulf of Guinea. It is the northernmost part of Equatorial Guinea with a population of 124,000 and an area of . It is volcanic with its highest peak the Pico Basile at .-Geography:Bioko has a total area of...
during the 1880s and 1890s. The Fernandinos of Fernando Po were closely related to each other as well as to members of communities in Freetown, Cape Coast
Cape Coast
Cape Coast, or Cabo Corso, is the capital of the Central Region of Ghana and is also the capital city of the Fante people, or Mfantsefo. It is situated 165 km west of Accra on the Gulf of Guinea. It has a population of 82,291 . From the 16th century the city has changed hands between the...
, and Lagos
Saros (Nigeria)
Saros or Creoles in Nigeria during the nineteenth century and early twentieth century were freed slaves who migrated to Nigeria in the beginning of the 1830s. They were known locally as Saros or Amaros: migrants from Brazil and Cuba. Saros and Amaros also settled in other West African countries...
. Eventually, these distinct groups integrated, and in present-day Bioko
Bioko
Bioko is an island 32 km off the west coast of Africa, specifically Cameroon, in the Gulf of Guinea. It is the northernmost part of Equatorial Guinea with a population of 124,000 and an area of . It is volcanic with its highest peak the Pico Basile at .-Geography:Bioko has a total area of...
their differences barely exist.
I. Native Fernandinos
The indigenous group of Fernandinos or Los Fernandinos, were mixed race descendants of the pre-existing indigenous population of Spanish GuineaSpanish Guinea
Spanish Guinea was an African colony of Spain that became the independent nation of Equatorial Guinea.-History:The Portuguese explorer, Fernão do Pó, seeking a route to India, is credited with having discovered the island of Bioko in 1472. He called it Formosa , but it quickly took on the name of...
originating from the island of Fernando Pó (modern day Bioko Island), an island discovered by Fernão do Pó
Fernão do Pó
Fernão do Pó , also Fernão Pó, Fernando Pó, Fernando Poo was a Portuguese navigator and explorer of the West African coast. He discovered the islands in the Gulf of Guinea around 1472, one of which until the mid 1900s bore a version of his name, Fernando Pó or Fernando Poo. The island is...
. This group consisted of mulattos of female Bubi and white male Spaniard parentage, and were part of the Emancipados
Emancipados
Emancipado was a term used for an African descended social-political demographic within the population of Spanish Guinea that existed in the early to mid 1900s...
social class. Incidentally, many offspring born to this type of union were not claimed by the father; however some couples did marry under Roman Catholic law. It was not uncommon for offspring of such unions to be accepted into the indigenous tribe, and identify as such.
Similarly, the Portuguese
Portuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
-Indigenous descended mulatto
Mulatto
Mulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent, or more broadly, a person of mixed black and white ancestry. Contemporary usage of the term varies greatly, and the broader sense of the term makes its application rather subjective, as not all people of mixed white and black...
population of São Tomé and Príncipe
São Tomé and Príncipe
São Tomé and Príncipe, officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, is a Portuguese-speaking island nation in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa. It consists of two islands: São Tomé and Príncipe, located about apart and about , respectively, off...
, an island also discovered by explorer Fernão do Pó
Fernão do Pó
Fernão do Pó , also Fernão Pó, Fernando Pó, Fernando Poo was a Portuguese navigator and explorer of the West African coast. He discovered the islands in the Gulf of Guinea around 1472, one of which until the mid 1900s bore a version of his name, Fernando Pó or Fernando Poo. The island is...
, were also referred to as Fernandinos at one point.
Language
Native Fernandinos spoke Equatoguinean SpanishEquatoguinean Spanish
Equatoguinean Spanish is the variety of Spanish spoken in Equatorial Guinea. This is the only Spanish variety that is official in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is spoken by about 90% of the population, estimated at 1,170,308 for the year 2010 , all of them second-language speakers...
, French, Bube and a form of pidgin English called pichinglis
Pichinglis
Pichinglis, commonly referred to by its speakers as Pichi and Fernando Poo Creole, is an Atlantic English-lexicon Creole language spoken on the island of Bioko, Equatorial Guinea Pichinglis, commonly referred to by its speakers as Pichi and Fernando Poo Creole, is an Atlantic English-lexicon Creole...
. Pichinglis was brought to Fernando Po by Efik settlers of Akwa Akpa State
Akwa Akpa
Akwa Akpa, known to colonialists as Old Calabar or Duke Town was an Efik city-state that flourished in the 19th century in what is now southeastern Nigeria.Although absorbed into Nigeria, traditional rulers of the state are still recognized....
(known during colonial times as Calabar State) in Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
. The dialect was used in trade activities, and may have varied slightly per region. The dialect was stigmatized during the Franco regime
Language politics in Spain under Franco
Language politics in Francoist Spain centered on attempts in Spain under Franco to increase the dominance of the Spanish language over the other languages of Spain.The regime of Francisco Franco had Spanish nationalism as one of its bases....
.
Religion
Through the strong religious influence under Spanish colonial rule, mulatto Fernandinos were mainly Roman Catholic, as were most Bubi living on Bioko during this era.II. Krio Fernandinos
The other Fernandinos of Equatorial GuineaEquatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea where the capital Malabo is situated.Annobón is the southernmost island of Equatorial Guinea and is situated just south of the equator. Bioko island is the northernmost point of Equatorial Guinea. Between the two islands and to the...
descended from English speaking freed slaves of Sierra Leone and Liberia
Liberia
Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
. Essentially, Krios are descendants of liberated Africans, as well as repatriated West Indians and African-Americans who immigrated back to Africa, Liberia, in the 1800s. Supported by the American Colonization Society
American Colonization Society
The American Colonization Society , founded in 1816, was the primary vehicle to support the "return" of free African Americans to what was considered greater freedom in Africa. It helped to found the colony of Liberia in 1821–22 as a place for freedmen...
, groups of free African-Americans emigrated primarily from Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
and England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
, Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
, and Bioko Island where they became a dominant force in the evolution of local society and economy, assisting America as well European empires in the colonial progression of these regions. They were initially discouraged from mingling with the local, less education and/or liberated indigenous people and more inclined to inter-marry with families of similar backgrounds. Krios eventually blended with the local populations, with Krio women and offspring taking on the surnames of indigenous families. They have contributed to the present-day existence of a very ethnically/racially mixed population that exists up and down the West Coast of Africa where the reality of such great heritage diversity, heavily influenced by the West, tends to be subdued.
The Krios arrived on the island of Fernando Po in 1827, a year after Great Britain leased the island of Fernando Po for fifty years. Thus the Krios joined an influx of several hundred freed Creole African descended immigrants from Cape Coast
Cape Coast
Cape Coast, or Cabo Corso, is the capital of the Central Region of Ghana and is also the capital city of the Fante people, or Mfantsefo. It is situated 165 km west of Accra on the Gulf of Guinea. It has a population of 82,291 . From the 16th century the city has changed hands between the...
and other groups from British colonized Africa. The Krios began populating an area known as Clarence Cove
Port Clarence
Port Clarence is a small village now within the borough of Stockton-on-Tees and ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It is situated on the north bank of the River Tees, and hosts the northern end of the Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge.-History:...
- a harbor. The first inhabitants purchased dwellings for $3,000 to $5,000, with a handful of large plantation owners who'd engaged in cocoa and yam
Yam (vegetable)
Yam is the common name for some species in the genus Dioscorea . These are perennial herbaceous vines cultivated for the consumption of their starchy tubers in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Oceania...
farming industry which was controlled by English and Spanish factory owners. Krios have been noted for their scholastic achievement and business acumen.
Language
Throughout the generations they have managed to maintain their own language, Fernando Poo Creole EnglishFernando Poo Creole English
Fernando Po Creole is one of the names under which the English-lexicon Creole of Bioko Island is known...
. Krio Fernandinos are exclusively concentrated around Malabo
Malabo
Malabo is the capital of Equatorial Guinea, located on the northern coast of Bioko Island on the rim of a sunken volcano....
. Although they comprise a distinct ethnic group in Equatorial Guinea, their pidgin dialect is spoken in only six communities (Musola, Las Palmas, Sampaca, Basupu, Fiston and Balveri de Cristo Rey). In 1998 it was estimated that the number of fluent Equatoguinean speakers of this language was at 5,000. For 1,000 of those 5,000 speakers this was their only language. Up to 70,000 EquatoGuineans may currently use it as a trade language.
Today, Fernando Poo Creole English
Fernando Poo Creole English
Fernando Po Creole is one of the names under which the English-lexicon Creole of Bioko Island is known...
and Pichinglis
Pichinglis
Pichinglis, commonly referred to by its speakers as Pichi and Fernando Poo Creole, is an Atlantic English-lexicon Creole language spoken on the island of Bioko, Equatorial Guinea Pichinglis, commonly referred to by its speakers as Pichi and Fernando Poo Creole, is an Atlantic English-lexicon Creole...
have long been fused into one dialect.
Religion
The majority of Krio Fernandinos are Christian. Krios have contributed to the presence of the Protestant church in BiokoBioko
Bioko is an island 32 km off the west coast of Africa, specifically Cameroon, in the Gulf of Guinea. It is the northernmost part of Equatorial Guinea with a population of 124,000 and an area of . It is volcanic with its highest peak the Pico Basile at .-Geography:Bioko has a total area of...
; however, many Krios are also Roman Catholic.
Notable Krio Fernandino families
- Allen
- Henry Enrique Allen
- Balboa
- Juan Balboa BonekeJuan Balboa BonekeJuan Balboa Boneke is an Equatorial Guinean politician and writer.He studied at the Escuela Superior de Santa Isabel and at La Escuela social de Granada...
- Manuel Balboa
- Juan Balboa Boneke
- Barber
- Barleycorn
- Edward BarleycornEdward BarleycornEdward Emilio Barleycorn a member of one of the prominent Fernandino families of Spanish Guinea . In 1928, at the age of 39, he negotiated a labor contract between African farmers of Santa Isabel and the Spanish leaders of Fernando Po .He farmed his father's lands in places like Achepepe and...
- Edward Emilio Barleycorn - farmer
- Edward Thaddeus Barleycorn BarberEdward Thaddeus Barleycorn BarberEdward Thaddeus Barleycorn Barber was born on 1 July 1865 in the Spanish colonized capital city of Santa Isabel on the island of Fernando Po in West Africa....
- doctor, minister and barber - Gertrude Johnson Barleycorn
- Jeremiah (Jeremias) Barleycorn - an appointed mayor of former Santa IsabelSpanish GuineaSpanish Guinea was an African colony of Spain that became the independent nation of Equatorial Guinea.-History:The Portuguese explorer, Fernão do Pó, seeking a route to India, is credited with having discovered the island of Bioko in 1472. He called it Formosa , but it quickly took on the name of...
- Napoleon BarleycornNapoleon BarleycornNapolean Barleycorn, a Primitive Methodist missionary in Spanish Guinea, a Fernandino of Igbo descent, who sent his sons to be educated at Bourne College in Quinton, Scotland...
- William BarleycornWilliam BarleycornWilliam Napolean Barleycorn , born in Santa Isabel, Fernando Po, Spanish Guinea and a Fernandino of Igbo descent, was Primitive Methodist missionary who went to Fernando Po in Africa, about 1880. From there, he traveled to Edinburgh University...
- Edward Barleycorn
- Coker
- Collins
- DavisDavis family (Sierra Leone)The Davis family was one of the last of the Nova Scotian settler families and though the family has descendants in the United States and Europe. The Davis family was one of the original African American families of Sierra Leone, thus part of the Sierra-Leone Krio population; and they are mentioned...
- Dougan
- Joseph Walter Dougan
- Seriche Bioco Dougan
- Fergusson
- William Fergusson Nicol
- Johnson
- Jones
- Maximiliano JonesMaximiliano JonesMaximiliano Cipriano Jones was a Krio Fernandino who became the richest black planter of the island Fernando Po, Spanish Guinea in 1929.. His son, Wilwardo Jones, was also a planter on the island.-References:...
- farmer and millionaire - Miguel JonesMiguel JonesMiguel Jones Castillo is a former Spanish footballer who played as a midfielder for SD Indautxu and Atlético Madrid during the 1950s and 1960s. Although born in Spanish Guinea, now known as Equatorial Guinea, Jones grew up in Bilbao...
- Spanish footballer - Wilwardo Jones
- Maximiliano Jones
- Kinson
- Samuel Kinson
- Knox
- J. W. Knox
- Niger
- Daniel Niger
- Thompson
- Theophilus (Theopilo) Thompson
- Vivour
- Amelia Barleycorn Vivour
- William VivourWilliam VivourWilliam Allen Vivour was a native of Fernando Po, Spanish Guinea, who was the most successful 19th-century planter owning a substantial amount of farmland on the island. He is part of a prominent Fernandino Krio family....
- Willis
- Catherine (Catalina) Willis
See also
- Cape CoastCape CoastCape Coast, or Cabo Corso, is the capital of the Central Region of Ghana and is also the capital city of the Fante people, or Mfantsefo. It is situated 165 km west of Accra on the Gulf of Guinea. It has a population of 82,291 . From the 16th century the city has changed hands between the...
- FreetownFreetownFreetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean located in the Western Area of the country, and had a city proper population of 772,873 at the 2004 census. The city is the economic, financial, and cultural center of...
- Fernão do PóFernão do PóFernão do Pó , also Fernão Pó, Fernando Pó, Fernando Poo was a Portuguese navigator and explorer of the West African coast. He discovered the islands in the Gulf of Guinea around 1472, one of which until the mid 1900s bore a version of his name, Fernando Pó or Fernando Poo. The island is...
-
- formerly part of the island front named Fernando Pó or Fernando Poo which included Bioko Island.
- São Tomé and PríncipeSão Tomé and PríncipeSão Tomé and Príncipe, officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, is a Portuguese-speaking island nation in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa. It consists of two islands: São Tomé and Príncipe, located about apart and about , respectively, off...
- Saros (Nigeria)Saros (Nigeria)Saros or Creoles in Nigeria during the nineteenth century and early twentieth century were freed slaves who migrated to Nigeria in the beginning of the 1830s. They were known locally as Saros or Amaros: migrants from Brazil and Cuba. Saros and Amaros also settled in other West African countries...
- Spanish GuineaSpanish GuineaSpanish Guinea was an African colony of Spain that became the independent nation of Equatorial Guinea.-History:The Portuguese explorer, Fernão do Pó, seeking a route to India, is credited with having discovered the island of Bioko in 1472. He called it Formosa , but it quickly took on the name of...
- Spanish EquatoguineansSpanish EquatoguineansSpanish Equatoguinean is a person of Spanish descent who are residents born or living in the Central African country of Equatorial Guinea, as well as indigenous Equatoguinean descendants living in or born in Spain. The population living in Equatorial Guinea numbers an estimated 16,000...
- São Tomé and Príncipe
- formerly part of the island front named Fernando Pó or Fernando Poo which included Bioko Island.
External links
- Fernandinos
- Yakpo, Kofi (2009) "A Grammar of Pichi", 692 pp. This link opens a pdf of the most comprehensive linguistic description of Pichinglis (Pichi/Fernando Po Creole English) so far by the linguist Kofi Yakpo (University of Nijmegen)