[4] The earliest written documentation of the Vai is by Dutch merchants sometime in the first half of the 17th century, denoting a political group near Cape Mount.

Led by the Camara clan, one of the earliest Mandinka inhabitants of Manding region, they had come southwest to raid and trade in salt and Kola nuts.

[6] Oral histories transmitted by Momolu Massaquoi describe a Mandinka king sending expeditions south from the Manding region to discover the sea and stimulate a trade in salt.

The members of these expeditions intermarried with local Gola people to create the Vai, but they retained strong trade links with the Mandinka of the interior.

Some writers believe that the region inhabited by the Vai is the original home of the Poro, a male secret society known throughout West Africa.

These monotheistic religions however coexist with traditional beliefs in the supernatural, and shamanistic practices are common as people consider themselves to be surrounded by spirits that can change into living creatures or objects.