African Voices on Slavery and the Slave Trade

Cover
African Voices on Slavery and the Slave Trade
Title
Copyright
Contents
Figures
Contributors
Foreword: Beyond the Printed Word
Introduction Finding the African Voice
Part One Remembering Slavery and the Slave Trade
1 Introduction: Oral Traditions, Historical Tales, and Interviews
	Oral Traditions
	Historical Tales
	Interviews
2 Oral Traditions about Individuals Enslaved in Asante
	Gyamana Nana of Takyiman
	Kramo Tia of Gonja
	Questions to Consider
		On the traditions about Gyamana Nana and Kramo Tia
		On the traditions about Gyamana Nana
		On the traditions about Kramo Tia
	Terminology
	Suggested Additional Readings
		On Slavery in Asante
3 “The Little Things that Would Please Your Heart...”
	Some Biographical Information
	Where is the Slaves’ Voice?
	Questions to Consider
	Suggested Additional Readings
		On Jali as Oral Historians and Musicians
		On Oral Sources and the Memory of Slavery
4 Tales of Cowries, Money, and Slaves
	Questions to Consider
	Suggested Additional Readings
5 Oral Accounts of Slave-master Relations from Cameroon Noncentralized and Centralized Polities (1750–1950)
	The Account of Ashunken and His Slaves
	Questions to Consider
	The Oral Account Proper
	The Story of the Slave Who Was Buried Alive in a Boundary Peace Pact
	Questions to Consider
	Teihbezanchong’s Version of the Story of Mbonghagesoh
	Suggested Additional Readings
6 “He Who Is Without Family Will Be the Subject of Many Exactions”
	Questions to Consider
	Suggested Additional Readings
7 Common Themes, Individual Voices
	Slavery and Abolition in Mingoyo and Lindi
	The Interviews: Discursive Stratagems, Recording and Editing
	Questions to Consider
	Suggested Additional Readings
8 Slavery in Kano Emirate of Sokoto Caliphate as Recounted
	Questions to Consider
	Suggested Additional Readings
Part Two The Verbal Arts and Everyday Objects
9 Introduction: Songs, Prayers, Proverbs, and Material Culture
	Songs and Prayers
	Proverbs
	Material Culture
10 Singing Songs and Performing Dances with Embedded Historical Meanings in Somalia
	Questions to Consider
	Massewè and the Yao Chief Machinga
	The Mseve and the Flight from Slavery of the Zigula
	Conclusion
	Suggested Additional Readings
11 Song Lyrics as Pathways to Historical Interpretation in Northwestern Côte d’Ivoire
	Background
	Questions to Consider
	Suggested Additional Readings
		History of Northwestern Ivory Coast
12 Slave Voices from the Cameroon Grassfields
	Prayers and Songs of Enslaved Yamba People
	Questions to Consider
	Dirges and Nuptial Recitations
	Questions to Consider
	The Voice of Nkeng Tanya
	Questions to Consider
	Nkeng Tanya’s Nuptial Chant
	Questions on the Chant to Consider
	Suggested Additional Readings
13 Silent Testimonies, Public Memory
	The Yoruba People
	Slave Proverbs as Oral History
	The Collection Process
	Slavery in Yoruba History
	Questions to Consider
	Conclusion
	Suggested Additional Readings
14 In Remembrance of Slavery
	Brief Background
	Félix Couchoro’s L’esclave
	Questions to Consider
	Tchambagan: Reading the Visual
	Tracing Tchamba Roots
	Concluding Thoughts
	Suggested Additional Readings
Part Three Documenting Our Own Histories and Cultural Practices
15 Introduction: Written Accounts by African Authors
16 Some Facets of Slavery in the Lamidats of Adamawa in North Cameroon in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
	Questions to Consider
	Questions to Consider
	Questions to Consider
	Questions to Consider
	Conclusion
	Suggested Additional Readings
17 Etchu Richard Ayuk’s Manuscript on the Slave Trade and Social Segregation in the Ejaghamland
	Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Slaves’ Cult Associations
	Slavery’s Enduring Legacy
	Questions to Consider
	Slave Trade Among the Ejagham People of Cameroon, by Etchu Richard Ayuk
	Eugen Zintgraff
	Nsibiri Signs (from Percy Amaury Talbot “in the Shadow of the Bush” (1912: 448–449)
	Suggested Additional Readings
18 Writing about the Slave Trade
	Questions to Consider
	Suggested Additional Readings
Part Four Slavery Observed: European Travelers’ Accounts
19 Introduction: Accounts by European Travelers
20 The Story of Saaba
	Questions to Consider
	Conclusion
	Suggested Additional Readings
21 Zenneb and Saint-André’s Cruise Up the Nile to Dongola
	The Narrator
	The Voyage
	Local Interactions
	Into the Sudan
	Other Sightings
	New Developments?
	Conclusion
	Questions to Consider
	Suggested Additional Readings
22 the Ordeals of Slaves’ Flight in Tunisia
	The Background
	Questions to Consider
	Suggested Additional Readings
23 African Slavery and the Slave Trade in the Manuscript of Jean Godot
	The Manuscript of Jean Godot and the French at Assini
	Godot as a Source on Assini Compared with Other Contemporary Sources
	African Slavery and Dependency as Described by Godot
	Questions to Consider
	Suggested Additional Readings
Part Five Administrative Records
24 Introduction: Colonial Reports and Documents
25 How Kwadwo Regained His Freedom and Put the Slave-traders in Big Trouble
	The Background
	The Main Characters in the Story
	Kwadwo’s Story
	The Voice of the Master and the Voice of the Slave
	Questions to Consider
	Suggested Additional Readings
26 Witchcraft and Slavery
	Remote Vampirism
	An Imported Belief?
	How the Events Unfolded
	Some Historical Background
	Questions to Consider
	Terminology
	Suggested Additional Readings
		On the Evolution of Slavery in Mauritania During the Colonial Period
		On the Question of Witchcraft
27 Tracing Their “Middle” Passages
	The Slave Trade in the Nineteenth-Century Western Indian Ocean
	British Anti-Slave Trade Activities in the Western Indian Ocean
	Questions to Consider
	Suggested Additional Readings
28 Gender, Migration, and the End of Slavery in the Region of Kayes, French Soudan
	The Beydy Couloubaly Petition
	Questions to Consider
	Discussion Questions
	Suggested Additional Readings
Part Six Legal Records
29 Introduction: Voices of Slaves in the Courtroom
30 the Expulsion of Dalu Modu
	Questions to Consider
	Suggested Additional Readings
31 “Being a Slave, I Was Afraid...”
	Slavery and Slave-Dealing on the Eve of Colonization
	Mr. Edwin and Other Figures in the Story
	Life in Bondage
	Questions to Consider
	Suggested Additional Readings
		On the End of Slavery in British West Africa
		On Slave Women, Life in Slavery, and Emancipation
32 Interpreting Gold Coast Supreme Court Records, Sct 5/4/19
	The Archive and the Document
	Contextualizing and Historicizing the Document
	Participants
		Acting Judicial Assessor William Melton
		James Davis, Court Interpreter
		James Hutton Brew, Lawyer for the Defense
		Abina Mansah
	Hearing Abina Mansah
	Questions to Consider
	Suggested Further Readings
33 A Tale of Slavery and Beyond in a British Colonial Court Record
	Questions to Consider
	Suggested Additional Readings
34 Aballow’s Story
	The Acting Judicial Assessor’s Investigation of John Marman’s Affairs (accra, 1851)
	Aballow’s Story
	The Judicial Context and Editorial Mediation
	Questions to Consider
	Suggested Additional Readings
35 a Case of Kidnapping and Child Trafficking in Senegal, 1916
	Questions to Consider
	Suggested Additional Readings
Part Seven Recorded Encounters with the Enslaved: Christian Workers in Africa
36 Introduction: Missionary Records
37 Experiencing Fear and Despair
	Questions to Consider
		On Aaron Kuku’s Narrative
		On Amma Tonowa’s Narrative
	From the Life of the African Evangelist Aaron Kuku, Told by Himself
		The Time of the Asante War (1869–1870)
		The War Report to the King
		How I nearly Was Killed
	Suggested Additional Readings
		Debates about the Nature of Human Sacrifice in West Africa
		On Slavery as an Institution Among the Akan (including the Kwawu and Asante) of West Africa
		On the Acquisition of the Enslaved by the Akan (including the Kwawu and Asante) Through Trade and War
		On the Basel and Bremen Missions’ Approach to the Issue of Slavery in West Africa
38 The Testimony of Lamine Filalou
	Questions to Consider
	The Story of Lamine Filalou
	Suggested Additional Readings
39 The Blood Men of Old Calabar – a Slave Revolt of the Nineteenth Century?
	Historical Background
	Slaves, the Ekpe Cult Association, and Witchcraft
	Discussion Questions
	Suggested Additional Readings
40 Makua Life Histories
	The Slave Trade and Slavery Seen Through Makua Oral Traditions
	The Norwegian Mission in West Madagascar
	Life Histories of Josef (kalamba) and Mikal
		Context of writing the life histories
	The Narratives of Kalamba and Mikal: Itineraries of the Slave Trade and Slavery
	Questions to Consider
	The Life Histories of Josef and Mikal
		Josef
		The Evangelist Mikal
	Suggested Additional Readings
Part Eight Documents from Muslim Africa
41 Introduction: Islamic Sources
42 The Arabic Letters of Ghadames Slaves in the Niger Bend, 1860–1900
	Suggested Additional Readings
43 The “hidden Transcripts” and Legal Rights of Slaves in the Muslim World
	Questions to Consider
	Lower Paragraph
	Suggested Additional Readings
44 Slave Wills Along the Swahili Coast
	Questions to Consider
	Suggested Additional Readings
Part Nine Living with the Past
45 Introduction: Contemporary African Societies and the Legacy of Slavery
46 Two Soninke “Slave” Descendants and Their Family Biographies
	Questions to Consider
	Baba18
	Tamba
	Suggested Additional Readings
		On Soninke Slavery and Migration
		On Slavery and Emancipation in the Senegambia
47 Without History? Interrogating “Slave” Memories in Ader (Niger)
	Transformations of Slavery in Ader
	Without History? Some Methodological and Ethical Considerations on “Slave” Testimonies as Sources
	Conclusion
	Questions to Consider
	The Unbroken Tie: Change and Continuity in Dependent Relations (descendant of Slaves and Ineslemen Masters, April 11, 2005)
	The Permeable Boundary Between Slavery and Freedom (descendant of Slaves of Imajeghen, October 29, 2005)
	The Ambiguity of Memories of Dependence (descendants of Slaves of Imajeghen, October 4, 2005)
	The Pride and Frustrations of Freedom: Negotiating Slave Descent Across Generations (descendants of Slaves of Ineslemen, March 3, May 4, October 28, 2005)
	Suggested Additional Readings
		On Slavery in Hausa and Tuareg Societies
		On the History of Ader
		On the History of Niger
Index