[5] This migration occurred due to pressure on local populations resulting from the emigration of ethnic groups from western Sudan after the decline of medieval empires, as well as an increase in regional wars.

Some Kru subgroups were sold into slavery by their neighbours, but it was more common for the Krahn and other coastal peoples in Liberia to serve as local traders, brokering deals within the Western slave market.

[6][7] During the late 1970s, Liberia faced heated civil unrest in which opposition to the Americo-Liberian and Tolbert government led to a military coup, organized in part by indigenous tribal members.

[8] In December 1989, exiles and local recruits began organizing military groups, resulting in another civil war against Doe and his Krahn supporters.

As this war progressed, the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) began attacking Krahn civilians in Nimba and Grand Gedeh counties, destroying entire communities as they moved through the country.

[8] Although Doe was removed from power in 1990, the civil war did not officially end until 1996, at which time Charles Taylor ran for the presidency, winning the 1997 general election amid much controversy.

[5] The Wee in Ivory Coast were hunters, fishermen and farmers as well, though they tended to focus more heavily on crops such as "rice, yams, taro, manioc, maize, and bananas.

"[13] Like the Krahn in Liberia, the Wee traditions of hunting and farming have become unsustainable, and in more recent years many have taken work in diamond camps and on rubber plantations.

Often, tribes did not have a central governing power, instead turning to a village "headman" who rose to a position of social esteem through skill, hard work, and luck in hunting and farming.

[13] The Wee believe that the bush spirits can communicate with humans through dreams, often demanding ceremonial masks be created in their honor in either male or female form.

These masks then serve a variety of functions, ranging from ritual ceremonies, entertainment, and focal points in moral stories to judicial and political controls.