Panu di Téra
Look closely at the cloth, its patterns, and the weaving knowledge carried through Santiago.
Santiago · Cabo Verde · Afro-Atlantic Heritage
What does it mean to be Badiu?
“Kuzé ki krê fla ser Badiu?”
The people of Santiago — descendants of Senegambia, keepers of Kriolu. A living record of our history, language, and African ancestry.
60%
of the African-origin words in Quint’s documented list are Manding
E-M2
West-African paternal lineage (E1b1a)
L1·L2·L3
African maternal haplogroups
1462
first permanent Portuguese settlement on Santiago
New paths through the archive
Explore the latest additions
Y-DNA across the islands
Read the revised analysis of 1,257 assignments, with figures, aggregate data, and a downloadable article.
Find a place in Santiago
Explore nine municipalities through local history, cultural connections, and family-history starting points.
Splora Prujétu
Explore the Project
01
HistoryFrom the settlement of Santiago and Atlantic slavery to independence.02
LanguageKriolu and its deep African substrate — Mande, Wolof, Temne.03
GeneticsAfrican ancestral lineages — the peoples, and the haplogroups.04
CulturePanu di Téra, batuku, funaná, tabanka, and the food of the interior.05
GenealogyFamily memory, records, migration, and DNA brought together.06
The concelhosSantiago municipality by municipality, interior and coast.07
EssaysLong-form reflection, scholarship, and community voices.Di undi ki ‘Badiu’ ben? · The origin of the word
Baadiŋo — parente
Kin, relatives — a Mandinka word, built underneath from baa, mother, and diŋ, child. It was carried to the archipelago from Gêba, on the river of that name in what is now Guinea-Bissau, by the first Africans brought across, who used it of one another where the crossing had cut them off from their own.
Santiago kept the name, kept its first meaning, and wears it with pride.
Read the full origin story →
Modi pa splora · How to explore
Four ways into the story
01Read the historyFrom the settlement of Santiago and Atlantic slavery to independence and after.02Explore KrioluEveryday expressions, vocabulary, and the African roots of Santiago Kriolu.03Trace the lineagesThe African peoples and haplogroups carried in the Badiu genetic record.04Research the recordFind parish books, archival collections, source notes, and methods for checking a claim.
Prinsípiu di arkivu · An archive principle
Colonial records preserve imposed names and official categories. Language, music, family memory, and oral tradition preserve what those records leave out. This project reads both together.