SERER

people of western Senegal and The Gambia who speak a language also called Serer, a West Atlantic branch of the Niger-Congo language family. The Serer are a settled, agricultural people who grow millet, rice, and a wide variety of other crops, including tree crops. Cattle, sheep, and goats are tended, and trade, conducted in regular markets, is well-developed. Contemporary Serer villages typically contain a cluster of small square or round huts of thatched reed or millet stalk. In polygynous families, each wife has a separate hut. A bride-price, usually in livestock, is required. Inheritance and succession are matrilineal. The Serer have remained largely animists, with few converts to Islam or Christianity.