Malinke Slave, Louisiana
Two-thirds of the slaves brought to Louisiana by the French slave trade in the 1700s were from Senegambia. This region between the Senegal and Gambia rivers had peoples who were closely related through history: three of the principal languages, Sereer, Wolof and Pulaar were related, and Malinke, spoken by the Mande people to the east, was “mutually intelligible” with them. This concentration of peoples from one region of Africa strongly shaped Louisiana Creole culture.
