Searching for the African Ancestors: Words from West Africa

Words from West Africa

Fig. 83. Words from West Africa Here are some words that were used at Mars Bluff that seem to have a West African origin. They serve as potential links connecting Mars Bluff African Americans with specific ethnic groups in West Africa. (Map: George Peter Murdock, Africa: Its Peoples and Their Culture History [New York: McGraw Hill, 1959], Map in back pocket of book.) (Photo 1994)	Mars Bluff words are clues that point to places in West Africa
	Archie Waiters used lee little to mean very small. Lee is similar to a WOLOF word that means small. Turtles were called "cooters" at Mars Bluff. Kuta is the word for tortoise among the BAMBARA and MALINKE. The word nini meant breast at Mars Bluff. Nini has the same meaning among the MENDE. Minda Johnson lived at Mars Bluff. Her name may have been derived from an ethnic group - the MENDE.