Editing Guinea-Bissau (section)

==== The Bijagos ====
In the [[Bijagos Islands]], people of different ethnic origins tended to settle in separate settlements. Great cultural diversity developed in the archipelago.<ref name="Rodney-1966" />{{rp|24}}<ref name=Dictionary/>{{rp|52}}

Bijago society was warlike. Men were dedicated to boatbuilding and raiding the mainland, attacking the coastal peoples as well as other islands. They believed that at sea they had no king. Women cultivated the land, constructed houses, and gathered and prepared foods. They could choose their husbands, and warriors with the best reputations ranked at the top of respected status. Successful warriors could have many wives and boats, and were entitled to one third of the spoils gained by warriors who used their boats in any expedition.<ref name="Rodney-1966"/>{{rp|204–205}}

Bijago night raids on coastal settlements had significant effects on the societies attacked. Portuguese traders on the mainland tried to stop the raids, as they hurt the local economy. But the islanders also sold considerable numbers of villagers captured in raids as slaves to the Europeans. With colonisation underway in other parts of Africa and the Americas, demand for workers was high and the Europeans sometimes pushed for more captives to be taken.<ref name="Rodney-1966" />{{rp|205}}

The Bijagos were mostly safe from enslavement, as they were out of reach of mainland slave raiders. Europeans avoided having them as slaves. Portuguese sources say the children made good slaves but not the adults, who were likely to commit [[suicide]], lead rebellions aboard slave ships, or escape once reaching the [[New World]].<ref name="Rodney-1966" />{{rp|218–219}}