“Because of its many important links to North America, Bunce
Island is arguably the most important site in Africa for the United States”.
Such is the claim of the exhibit currently able to be seen
in the Concordia library. It is entitled
“Bunce Island: A British Slave Castle in Sierra Leone”.
Having checked out the exhibit, I highly recommend that you
visit it if you get the opportunity.
Bunce Island is located in Sierra Leone (“Lion Mountain”) in
Africa, named for the mountainous peninsula that is visible for many miles
along the W. African Coast. On the island
was one of forty "slave castles" that operated in Africa during the heyday of
chattel slavery. Between the years of
1670-1807 some 30,000 Africans were held captive there.
Those who were captured were from the “Rice Coast”, which is
the rice-growing region of West Africa. Slave
auction posters from Charleston, S.C. and Savannah, Georgia (where many of
these slaves ended up – their descendants are called the “Gullah” people), tout
this fact, since slaves who had the technical knowledge of rice-farming were in
demand.
The exhibit also brings several other interesting things to
our attention, including some disturbing details of how and why slaves were captured
and treated, the requirement that the slave traders leasing the island (from an
African King) be married to local women (so they could be spied on), the
connections between some influential American revolutionaries and the Bunce
Island "enterprise", “homecomings” of some of the slave’s descendants who have
recently traveled back to the island, and current efforts to preserve the castle on the island.
Take the time to learn more about Bunce Island, made possible by the
Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and other supporters.
Image from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bunce_Island_map.JPG
