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Serers

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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a Negroid people, living in Senegambia. They are of the same stock as the Wolof, and in some parts form communities with them. Elsewhere they have mixed with the Mandingo, to which race belong most of their ruling families. The country of the pure Serers lies between the Gambia and Salum rivers to the south of Cape Verde. In this domain of nearly 5000 sq. m. the tribe has two main divisions, the None Serers and the Sine Serers. The Serers are an extraordinarily tall race, even excelling in height their kinsfolk, the Wolof. Men of 6 ft. 6 in., with muscular development in proportion, are by no means rare. They are less black than the Wolof and have features more purely negroid with coarser lips and heavier jaws. Many Serers are nominally Mahommedans, but natureworship is still prevalent. Their two chief gods are Takhar, god of justice, and Tiurakh, god of wealth, who are worshipped at the foot of trees. Snakes, too, have their cult, and formerly living animals were sacrificed to them. A belief in transmigration, as shown by their funeral customs, is general among the Serers. They are an honest and industrious people, but are very heavy drinkers.