My trip To Bunce Island

Part of my reason for wanting to come to Sierra Leone and work for the summer was its rich history; particularly the history that is found in Freetown. Freetown received its name because it is where the British brought the "Black Loyalists" who assisted them fighting in the US Revolutionary War. Choosing Freetown as the site to settle the former slaves was not a decision that was made "by chance." For many many years Sierra Leone had been the hub of the slave trade. This past weekend I went to Bunce Island, Sierra Leone's Slave Port, to see its rich history.

There are a few things that make Bunce Island unique from many of the other slave castles. First, and very significant to American History is that at the other Slave Castles (ie Cape Coast in Ghana), only about 4% of the slaves ended up in America. However, this was not the case for Bunce, where the majority of the slaves were taken to what is now the United States. These slaves were settled primarily in Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. In fact, if you go to the Gullah Islands of South Carolina, you will hear the peopl speaking Krio, the language spoken in Sierra Leone.

When we arrived at Bunce, we were extremely fortunate because the world's leading expert on the history of the island, Professor Joseph Opala, was shooting a documentary there with NBC. We got the best imaginable tour. The slave compound on the island was not preserved the way that the other slave forts are, but the island is also not inhabited, so many of the ruins are fairly well preserved. It was like walking into a time capsule. What an amazing site.

My trip there reminded me that there is so much to see and experience here and I should take advantage of as much of it as possible.