From palava huts to TikTok: How Liberians are preserving their past

Liberia's historical narratives have traditionally been preserved through oral transmission within families and communities, passed down by elders across generations. However, the country's two civil wars, which lasted from 1989 to 2003 and resulted in approximately 250,000 deaths, severed these chains of cultural and historical knowledge transfer. Young Liberians are now working to restore and document these narratives using contemporary digital tools.

Bilphena Decontee Yahwon, founder of Archive Liberia, exemplifies this movement. Her organization focuses on exploring Liberian history through research, archives, and public storytelling. Yahwon began her work through personal inquiry into her own family's experiences during the war and migration periods, which led her to investigate broader Liberian history and identity.

Historian Patrick Burrowes notes that while West African griots traditionally served as professional oral historians in the Sahel region, Liberian elders fulfilled a similar unpaid role in forest communities. Urbanization has further complicated knowledge transmission, as younger generations increasingly live outside traditional community settings where oral histories were shared.

The digital preservation movement represents both an adaptation and continuation of longstanding cultural practices. Through platforms like TikTok and YouTube, young Liberians are reaching diaspora communities and domestic audiences simultaneously, reshaping how the nation's past is remembered and understood.