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76-526: The slaves who rebelled on the Amistad in 1839 had been kidnapped in Mendiland. After winning their court case, they were eventually returned to their homeland. This Sierra Leone location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . La Amistad La Amistad ( pronounced [la a.misˈtað] ; Spanish for Friendship ) was a 19th-century two-masted schooner owned by

152-484: A vengeful spirit may take possession of her. Women often cover their bodies with masses of raffia or black cloth. When a girl becomes initiated into the Sande society, the village's master woodcarver creates a special mask just for her. Helmet masks are made from a section of tree trunk, often of the kpole (cotton) tree, and then carved and hollowed to fit over the wearer's head and face. The woodcarver must wait until he has

228-541: A 2013 exhibition in the British Museum , exploring the Sowei traditions. Learning dance is a harsh discipline that every Mende girl must tackle. Girls practice for hours at a time until they drop from exhaustion . Ndoli jowei , the expert in dancing, is in charge of teaching young Mende girls to dance. When girls make a mistake in the steps, they are whipped with a switch until they get it right. Often girls are awoken in

304-452: A Mende man can commit is to give away the secrets of their tribe. The Poro society is the male equivalent to the female Sande society . When inducted into this society, Mende boys are initiated into manhood. Many of their rituals parallel those of the Sande society. During their training, the initiates learn everything that is essential for the survival of the community. The process is described as being reborn, transformed, and—during

380-425: A Mende woman's life; it is present before birth and still present after. Sande is the guardian of women: their protector and guide through life. It is Sande that grants a woman with an identity and a personality. The Sande society is concerned with defining what it is to be human and with discovering the ways of promoting love, justice, and harmony. It is a moral philosophy that focuses on the perpetual refinement of

456-644: A Spaniard living in Cuba . It became renowned in July 1839 for a slave revolt by Mende captives who had been captured and sold to European slave traders and illegally transported by a Portuguese ship from West Africa to Cuba, in violation of European treaties against the Atlantic slave trade . Spanish plantation owners Don José Ruiz and Don Pedro Montes bought 53 captives in Havana, Cuba , including four children, and were transporting them on

532-691: A beautiful, full head of hair. Ideas about hair root women to nature, the way hair grows is compared to the way forests grow. The vegetation on earth is the "hair" on the head of Mother Nature in the same way the hair on the head of a woman is her "foliage." (Boone) A woman with long, thick hair illustrates a life force, she may be blessed with a green thumb giving her the ability to have a promising farm and many healthy children. Hairstyles are very important in Mende society. A Mende woman's hair must be well groomed, clean, and oiled. Hair must be tied down under strict control and shaped into intricate, elegant styles for

608-399: A dream that guides him to make the mask a certain way for the recipient. A mask must be kept hidden in a secret place when no one is wearing it. These masks appear not only in initiation rituals but also at important events such as funerals, arbitrations and the installation of chiefs. Examples of these masks appear in museums. Various Mende masks, specifically Sowei Masks, were the focus of

684-536: A harsh enforcer, she acts as the comic relief. Gonde becomes a friend to the initiates, amusing them to help them forget the hard ordeals they are going through. She coaches the slower dancers, encouraging them to work hard. "Gonde is a funny, lovable character who lightens the gloom and reminds everyone that Sande is not always so deadly serious." Ndoli jowei is the principal spirit for celebration, although she also appears on other occasions besides celebrations. In Sande initiation, there are three major events in which

760-556: A local basis and moving from farm to farm (NIIP, 1973). Work is divided by gender: men attend to the heavy work of clearing the land for planting rice, while women clean and pound rice, fish, and weed the planted crops. This routine is followed during ten months of every year, with a couple of months left around the New Year , when they can spend more time in the village engaging in domestic pursuits like house building. The Mende are patrilineal, patrilocal, and polygamous. The household unit

836-490: A masquerade—as being "regurgitated" into fully socialized adult men. The Poro prepares men for leadership in the community, so they might attain wisdom, accept responsibility, and gain power. It begins with the child's grade of discovery, followed by extensive training and service. During the seven-year initiation period, the young men converse with each other using a secret language and passwords , known only to other Poro members. The member always knows and understands what

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912-570: A remarkable enthusiasm for secret societies. According to Kenneth Little, writing in the 1960s, even the prevalence of Poro societies was far more widespread among Mende than Temne. All Mende women when they reach puberty begin the initiation process into the Sande society . The goals of this secret society are to teach young Mende women the responsibilities of adulthood . The girls are taught to be hardworking and modest in their behavior, especially towards their elders. Sande influences every aspect of

988-500: A reminder that human beings have a dual existence; they live in the concrete world of flesh and material things and the spirit world of dreams, faith, aspirations and imagination. The features of a Mende mask convey Mende ideals of female morality and physical beauty. They are unusual because the masks are worn by women. The bird on top of the head represents a woman's natural intuition that lets her see and know things that others can't. The high or broad forehead represents good luck or

1064-530: A symbol in the United States in the movement to abolish slavery . La Amistad was a 19th-century two- masted schooner of about 120 feet (37 m). In 1839 it was owned by Ramón Ferrer, a Spanish national. Strictly speaking, La Amistad was not a typical slave ship , as it was not designed like others to traffic massive numbers of enslaved Africans, nor did it engage in the Middle Passage of Africans to

1140-753: A time. During the 1940s, the British set up the Protectorate Literacy Bureau in the city of Bo to teach the Mende to read and write with an alphabet based on the Latin script , and Kikakui's use declined. The Mende script has been described as a "failed script". American historian Konrad Tuchscherer , while researching his Ph.D. thesis for the School of Oriental and African Studies in London during Sierra Leone's civil war, found that instead of impeding his research

1216-566: Is New Haven, where the Amistad trial took place. It has also traveled to port cities for educational opportunities. It was also the State Flagship and Tall ship Ambassador of Connecticut. The ship made several commemorative voyages: one in 2007 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade in Britain (1807) and the United States (1808), and one in 2010 to celebrate

1292-429: Is being said. This is part of the mystery of this secret society. At the beginning, young men aged 20 are called into the society and are trained by the group above them, along with a few elders. There is much work to be done during the initiation process. Dancing the masks is part of this work, but not the most important part. Only through work does the dance of the mask become meaningful. The Mende have always had

1368-446: Is considered necessary to change Mende children, who are considered to be of neutral sex before the procedure, to heterosexual , gendered adults. Traditional female circumcision is thought to remove the female's residue of maleness. The neck rings at the base of the mask are an exaggeration of actual neck creases. Mende people consider a beautiful neck to be one with rings as it shows adolescent girls becoming ready for childbearing by

1444-465: Is made to inform people of the date for the gani celebration; which is the last event of the Sande initiation that ndoli jowei appears at. At this time, the new initiates are brought into town for the first time since the initiation process began; accompanied by ndoli jowei. This is a happy occasion where dances are performed by both the maskers and the initiates. Hojo is a white clay that Mende women use to mark their territory. The clay comes from

1520-400: Is referred to as nyaha . The word indicates that the Sande initiation makes a woman of a child, and every woman into a wife. An initiate in training is called mbogdoni . A non-member is kpowa . As a noun kpowa means "an ignoramus, stupid, retarded, a fool" as a verb it means "to become insane or deranged." Much Mende art is in the form of jewelry and carvings. The masks associated with

1596-434: Is represented by at least one man and perhaps several of his brothers, with all of their wives and children. One or more brothers and married sisters usually leave sooner or later and are incorporated into other residential units. The senior male has moral authority —the right to respect and obedience—over the family as a whole, especially with regard to the negotiation of debts, damages, and bride-wealth. The greatest sins

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1672-527: Is slightly longer and has higher freeboard . There were no old blueprints of the original. The new schooner was built using a general knowledge of the Baltimore Clippers and art drawings from the era. Some of the tools used in the project were the same as those that might have been used by a 19th-century shipwright, while others were powered. Tri-Coastal Marine, designers of "Freedom Schooner Amistad ", used modern computer technology to develop plans for

1748-419: Is supposed to foreshadow the pain a Mende woman experiences during childbirth . The shock of this experience also tests a Mende woman's physical endurance. The shared pain of the clitoridectomy creates permanent bonds among the initiates. Vows that express a social bond are taken after the operation; these vows are a metaphor for the support the women will have during the pains of childbirth. This procedure

1824-406: Is the spirit of Sande." Sande groups conduct masked performances that embody the Sande guardian spirit, who is associated with water and rivers. Descriptions of the society and its masquerade events have been made by visitors since the seventeenth century. The Sande society is organized by a hierarchy a number of positions all around. The sowie are the highest-ranking leaders of the group. It

1900-409: Is their job to model to the Mende women the most important Mende social values. It is also their duty to enforce proper social relationships and to remove anything that might be harmful to the women in their community. The sowie have control over certain sacred knowledge that is essential to the development of success and happiness in an individual, and also to the well-being of the community. They are

1976-874: The Koh-Mende , who are a dominant tribe in Kailahun district. The Mende traditionally live in villages of 70 to 250 residents, which are situated from 1.5 to 5 kilometers apart. There is little or no mechanization over the greater part of rural Mende country. Mende farmers use hoes and machetes, but few other tools. The Mende are generally known as growers of rice and several other crops, practicing crop rotation to protect soil productivity. Coffee, cocoa, and ginger are grown as cash crops, whereas rice, pepper, groundnuts, beniseed (also known as sesame seeds), and palm oil are grown for local consumption. Rice cooperatives have been formed in some rural areas . Traditionally, Mende farming has been carried out by labour groups organised on

2052-419: The Middle Passage to Havana, Cuba , where they were sold to Cuban sugar plantation owners, José Ruiz and Pedro Montes. After working the plantation, they were placed on the schooner Amistad and shipped to another Cuban plantation. On the way, they escaped their bondage and were led in a rebellion by Sengbe Pieh . They told the crew to return them to Africa . Their efforts to return home were frustrated by

2128-689: The Temne people , constitute the largest ethnic group at 35.5% of the total population, which is slightly larger than the Mende at 31.2%. The Mende are predominantly found in the Southern Province and the Eastern Province . The Mende are mostly farmers and hunters. Some of the major cities with significant Mende populations include Bo , Kenema , Kailahun , and Moyamba . Like a majority of African nations, Sierra Leone's political parties are often tied to specific ethnic groups and have been dominated by

2204-577: The United Missionary Society , a black group founded by James W.C. Pennington . He was a Congregational minister and fugitive slave in Brooklyn , New York who was active in the abolitionist movement. The Spanish government claimed that the slaves were Spanish citizens not of African origin. This created tension among the U.S. government, the Spanish crown, and the British government, which had outlawed

2280-468: The 10th anniversary of its 2000 launching at Mystic Seaport. It undertook a two-year refit at Mystic Seaport from 2010 and was subsequently mainly used for sea training in Maine and for film work. In 2013, Amistad America lost its non-profit organization status after failing to file tax returns for three years and amid concern of the accountability for public funding from the state of Connecticut. The company

2356-501: The 1930s African-American linguist Lorenzo Dow Turner found a Gullah family in coastal Georgia that had preserved an ancient song in the Mende language ("A waka"), passing it down for 200 years. In the 1990s three modern researchers – Joseph Opala , Cynthia Schmidt, and Tazieff Koroma — located a Mende village in Sierra Leone where the same song is still sung today. The story of this Mende song, and its survival in both Africa and

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2432-567: The Africans in the district and circuit courts, and the United States v. The Amistad case reached the US Supreme Court on appeal. In 1841, it ruled that the Mende people had been illegally transported and held as slaves, and they had rebelled in self-defense. It ordered them freed. The US government did not provide any aid, but 35 survivors returned to Africa in 1842, aided by funds raised by

2508-617: The Americas, especially the United States , researchers have discovered that elements of African culture had long persistence. In some areas where there were large groups of enslaved Africans, they kept much of their heritage. The Mende people speak the Mende language (also called Boumpe, Hulo, Kossa, or Kosso), which belongs to the Mande language branch of the proposed Niger-Congo language family . In

2584-561: The Americas. The ship engaged in the shorter, domestic coastwise trade around Cuba and islands and coastal nations in the Caribbean. The primary cargo carried by La Amistad was sugar-industry products. It carried a limited number of passengers and enslaved Africans being trafficked for delivery or sale around the island. Captained by Ferrer, La Amistad left Havana on June 28, 1839, for the small port of Guanaja, near Puerto Príncipe, Cuba , with some general cargo and 53 African slaves bound for

2660-622: The Amistad Committee to raise funds for the defense of La Amistad' s captives. Roger Sherman Baldwin, grandson of Roger Sherman and a prominent abolitionist, represented the captives in the New Haven court to decide the fate of the slaves. Baldwin and former President John Quincy Adams argued the case before the Supreme Court which ruled in favor of the Africans. A widely publicized court case ensued in New Haven to settle legal issues about

2736-495: The Atlantic slave trade, Spain had not abolished slavery in its colonies. The crew of La Amistad , lacking purpose-built slave quarters, placed half the captives in the main hold and the other half on deck. The captives were relatively free to move about, which aided their revolt and commandeering of the vessel. In the main hold below decks, the captives found a rusty file and sawed through their manacles. On about July 1, once free,

2812-698: The Mende, on the one hand, and the Temne and their long-time political allies, the Limba , on the other. The Mende are known to typically support the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), while the Temnes and Limbas are associated with the All People's Congress party (APC). In their oral tradition, the Mende describe themselves as being a mixture of two peoples: their original members were hunters and fishers who sparsely populated

2888-583: The Spanish crown's argument, but Secretary of State John Forsyth explained that the President could not order the release of La Amistad and its cargo because the executive could not interfere with the judiciary under American law. He also could not release the Spanish traders from imprisonment in Connecticut because that would constitute federal intervention in a matter of state jurisdiction. Abolitionists Joshua Leavitt , Lewis Tappan , and Simeon Jocelyn formed

2964-539: The Spanish domestic slave trade. The court had to determine if the Mende were to be considered salvage and thus the property of naval officers who had taken custody of the ship (as was legal in such cases), the property of the Cuban buyers, or the property of Spain, as Queen Isabella II claimed. A question was whether the circumstances of the capture and transport of the Mende meant that they were legally free and had acted as free men rather than slaves. Judges ruled in favor of

3040-875: The US, is chronicled in the documentary film The Language You Cry In . The Mende are divided into five clans: the Kpa-Mend e, who are predominantly in the Moyamba district to the south; the Golah-Mende , who inhabit the Gola forest between Kenema and Pujehun districts into Liberia; Sewa-Mende , who settled along the Sewa River; the Vai-Mende , who are also in Liberia and the Pujehun district of Sierra Leone; and

3116-449: The ancestors and the living. Mende hunters often wear a single bell that can be easily silenced when stealth is necessary. Women, on the other hand, often wear multiple bells, referring to concepts of community, since the bells ring harmoniously together. Masks are the collective Mind of Mende community; viewed as one body, they are the Spirit of the Mende people. The Mende masked figures are

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3192-471: The area in small peaceful settlements, and their leaders came later, in a recent historical period, bringing with them the arts of war, and also building larger, more permanent villages. This is supported by analyses of their language and culture, which show signs of a layering of two different forms; they have both matrilineal and patrilineal inheritance, for instance. These leaders described in oral histories were almost certainly Mane people who descended into

3268-467: The captives had died. The Washington officers brought the first case to federal district court over salvage claims, while the second case began in a Connecticut court after the state arrested the Spanish traders on charges of enslaving free Africans. The Spanish foreign minister, however, demanded that La Amistad and its cargo be released from custody and the slaves sent to Cuba for punishment by Spanish authorities. The Van Buren administration accepted

3344-485: The cleanliness and absence of imperfections. "It shows a 'harmlessness'; it is void of all things evil and is thus 'a positive and helpful color. White is symbolic of the spirit world and also of the secret parts of society where people aim for the highest standards. Objects and people who are marked with Hojo are under Sande protection and control. They are subject to the authority of Sande law and punishment. Initiates are colored with this white clay to show that they are

3420-504: The coastal lowlands from the area near Moussadou , Guinea in the 16th century. They conquered and mixed with the native Bullom people to form the Mende. Regional warfare throughout the 19th century led to the capture and sale of many Mende-speakers into slavery . Most notable were those found aboard the Amistad in 1839. They eventually won their freedom and were repatriated. This event involved fifty-two free Mende people, stolen by Portuguese slavers in 1839, who were shipped via

3496-434: The events occurred related to the affair in the United States. The Amistad Research Center at Tulane University , New Orleans, Louisiana is devoted to research about slavery, abolition, civil rights, and African Americans; it commemorates the revolt of slaves on the ship by the same name. A collection of portraits of La Amistad survivors is held in the collection of Yale University , drawn by William H. Townsend during

3572-419: The experts of the Sande women and have access to spirit ancestors and forces of nature. The rank below sowie is ligba . There are two grades within ligba; Ligba Wa (senior) and Ligba Wulo (junior). In any group there is only one Ligba Wa; she is an executive officer in Sande. Before a woman can take a leadership role in artistic activities she must be eligible at least as a Ligba Wulo. An ordinary member

3648-457: The fraternal and sorority associations of the Marka and the Mende are probably the best-known and finely crafted in the region. The Mende also produce beautifully woven fabrics which are popular throughout western Africa, and gold and silver necklaces, bracelets, armlets, and earrings. The bells on the necklaces are of the type believed capable of being heard by spirits, ringing in both worlds, that of

3724-453: The health of an ideal woman. They have also been called symbols of the pattern of concentric, circular ripples the Mende spirit makes when emerging from the water. In the Mende culture, full-figured women are beautiful. The intricate hairstyles reveal the close ties within a community of women. The holes at the base of the mask are where the rest of the costume is attached. A woman who wears these masks must not expose any part of her body or

3800-474: The human eye sees on the necks of women "is human in form, but divine in essence", as portrayed in the mask. The Mende Kikakui script was invented in 1917 by Muhamad Turay and popularized by his son-in-law Kisimi Kamara (c. 1890–1962), a Kuranko man in Sierra Leone. During the 1920s and 1930s, he ran a school in southern Sierra Leone to teach 'Ki-ka-ku'. The syllabary became a popular method of keeping records and writing letters and achieved widespread use for

3876-460: The increase in body fat. The rings indicate prosperity and wholesome living, and are given by God to show his affection for a fortunate few. The rings also indicate a relationship with the divine: the Sowo itself is a deity from the waters, and the neck rings represent the concentric waves that are formed on still water by Sowo's head breaking through the surface. The spirit comes from the water, and what

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3952-418: The individual. Sande leaders serve as models to women in the community. They exemplify the highest of Mende ideals, and they have the duty of enforcing positive social relationships and of removing any harm that might come to women in their community. "This is Sande; women together in their womanhood, in a free exchange of words and actions among sisters. Wherever two or three women are gathered together, there

4028-601: The melee. Pieh ordered Ruiz and Montes to sail to Africa. Instead, they sailed north up the east coast of the United States, sure that the ship would be intercepted and the Africans returned to Cuba as slaves. The revenue cutter Washington seized La Amistad off Montauk Point on Long Island, New York. Pieh and his group escaped the ship but were caught offshore by citizens. They were incarcerated in New Haven, Connecticut on charges of murder and piracy. The man who captured Pieh and his group claimed them as property. La Amistad

4104-482: The men below quickly went up on deck. Armed with machete-like cane knives , they attacked the crew, successfully gaining control of the ship, under the leadership of Sengbe Pieh (later known in the United States as Joseph Cinqué ). They killed the captain Ferrer as well as the ship's cook Celestino; two slaves also died, two sailors Manuel Pagilla and Jacinto escaped in a small boat. Ferrer's slave/mulatto cabin boy Antonio

4180-450: The middle of the night to practice the dance; sometimes they are forced to stay awake for nearly 48 hours dancing almost the entire time. By the end of their brutal training, the girls have transformed into young woman who are tough and confident even in the harshest of conditions. They are in great physical shape and have endurance and stamina. The traditional character of Gonde is also a Ndoli jowei or dance instructor, but rather than

4256-407: The ndoli jowei appear publicly. The first occurs 1–3 days after the initiates have been taken into the bush to be circumcised. This event is known as yaya gbegbi . At this time the ndoli jowei comes into town with a group of Sande women while the initiates stay in the bush recovering from their operations. The women come into town to tell men they have initiated people into Sande. They go through

4332-453: The property of Sande. This signifies that they are under the protection of Sande and should not be fooled with. Sowei , the judge of women, wears white to represent clear thinking and justice. A woman's hair is a sign of femininity . Both thickness and length are elements that are admired by the Mende. Thickness means the woman has more individual strands of hair and the length is proof of strength. It takes time, care and patience to grow

4408-456: The sake of beauty and sex appeal. Dirty, disheveled hair is a sign of insanity. A woman who does not groom and maintain her hair has neglected the community's standards of behavior. Only a woman in mourning can let her hair loose. The Mende find unarranged "wild" hair immoral and associate individuals who possess this trait with wild behavior. A key element of Sande initiation is the clitoridectomy , or female genital mutilation . This surgery

4484-602: The second case charged the Spanish with enslaving Africans. Spain requested President Martin Van Buren to return the African captives to Cuba under international treaty. Because of issues of ownership and jurisdiction, the case gained international attention as United States v. The Amistad (1841). The case was finally decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in favor of the Mende people, restoring their freedom. It became

4560-457: The sharp, contemplative mind of the ideal Mende woman. Downcast eyes symbolize a spiritual nature and it is through these small slits that a woman wearing the mask would look out of. The small mouth signifies the ideal woman's quiet and humble character. The markings on the cheeks are representative of the decorative scars girls receive as they step into womanhood. The scars are a symbol of her new, harder life. The neck rolls are an indication of

4636-506: The ship and the status of the Mende captives. They were at risk of execution if convicted of mutiny, and they became a popular cause among abolitionists in the United States . Since 1808, the United States and Britain had prohibited the international slave trade. In order to avoid the international prohibition on the African slave trade, the ship's owners fraudulently described the Mende as having been born in Cuba and said that they were being sold in

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4712-415: The ship to their plantations near Puerto Príncipe (modern Camagüey, Cuba ). The revolt began after the schooner's cook jokingly told the slaves that they were to be "killed, salted, and cooked." Sengbe Pieh (also known as Joseph Cinqué ) unshackled himself and the others on the third day and started the revolt. They took control of the ship, killing the captain and the cook. Two Africans were also killed in

4788-488: The ship's remaining crew, who navigated up to the United States. The ship was intercepted off Long Island , New York , by a U.S. Coastal brig. The Cubans merchants Ruiz and Montes denounced the Mende and asserted that they were their property. The ensuing case , heard in Hartford and New Haven, Connecticut , affirmed that the captives were free, and resulted in the return of the thirty-six surviving Mende to their homes. In

4864-814: The slave trade in the British Empire with the Slave Trade Act of 1807 and had recently abolished slavery in the British Empire with the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 . La Amistad had been moored at the wharf behind the US Custom House in New London, Connecticut for a year and a half, and it was auctioned off by the U.S. Marshal in October 1840. Captain George Hawford of Newport, Rhode Island purchased

4940-530: The sugar plantation where they were to be delivered. These 53 Mende captives (49 adults and four children) had been captured by African slave catchers or otherwise enslaved in Mendiland (in modern-day Sierra Leone ), sold to European slave traders and illegally transported from Africa to Havana, mostly aboard the Portuguese slave ship Teçora , to be sold in Cuba. Although the United States and Britain had banned

5016-473: The survivors' trial. Between 1998 and 2000, artisans at Mystic Seaport in Mystic, Connecticut built a replica of La Amistad using traditional tools and construction techniques common to wooden schooners built in the 19th century, but using modern materials and engines, officially named Amistad . It was promoted as "Freedom Schooner Amistad ". The modern-day ship is not an exact replica of La Amistad , as it

5092-471: The town waving leaves and gathering food and other supplies that they need. Ndoli jowei does not dance on this occasion because it is not yet time for celebration. She is there only as a reminder of the powerful medicine which has been summoned by the Sande session. This validates the unruly behavior of the Sande women. The next time ndoli jowei appears is at a minor feast called Kpete gbula yombo le or Sowo mba yili gbi . At this occasion, an announcement

5168-546: The vessel and then needed an act of Congress passed to register it. He renamed it Ion . In late 1841, he sailed Ion to Bermuda and Saint Thomas with a typical New England cargo of onions, apples, live poultry, and cheese. Hawford sold Ion in Guadeloupe in 1844. There is no record of what became of it under the new French owners in the Caribbean. The Amistad Memorial stands in front of New Haven City Hall and County Courthouse in New Haven, Connecticut, where many of

5244-471: The vessel. Bronze bolts are used as fastenings throughout the ship. Freedom Schooner Amistad has an external ballast keel made of lead and two Caterpillar diesel engines. None of this technology was available to 19th-century builders. "Freedom Schooner Amistad " was operated by Amistad America, Inc. based in New Haven, Connecticut. The ship's mission was to educate the public on the history of slavery, abolition, discrimination, and civil rights. The homeport

5320-441: The war actually advanced it. Thousands of Mendes were taking shelter in huge refugee camps surrounding the cities of Bo and Kenema , and the people living in those camps were organized according to their home chiefdoms, making it possible for Tuchscherer to survey the entire Mende region (about half of Sierra Leone's territory) in a small space and a short period of time. He found that the Mende syllabary, far from being forgotten,

5396-428: The water like many other aspects of Sande. Its smooth, shiny surface reflects light, making it eye-catching. Hojo is found in a scale of colors from beige to pure white. The pure white Hojo is rarer, found only deep beneath the surface of the water. Hojo and Sande are parallel in that they are both well hidden and secretive in its purest form. White is the color of Sande. To the Mende, the pureness of white signifies

5472-580: Was discovered thirty miles southeast of Sandy Hook by the pilot-boat Blossom who supplied the men with water and bread. When they attempted to board the pilot-boat to escape, the pilot-boat cut the rope that was attached to La Amistad. The pilots then communicated what they felt was a Slave ship to the Collector of the Port of New York . Two days later, the Gratitude pilot boat came across La Amistad when she

5548-494: Was later put into liquidation, and the non-profit Discovering Amistad Inc. purchased the ship from the receiver in November 2015. Amistad then returned to educational and promotional activity in New Haven, Connecticut. 41°21′40″N 71°57′58″W  /  41.361°N 71.966°W  / 41.361; -71.966 Mende people The Mende are one of the two largest ethnic groups in Sierra Leone ; their neighbours,

5624-493: Was spared as were José Ruiz and Pedro Montes, the two owners of the slaves, so that they could guide the ship back to Africa. While the Mende demanded to be returned home, the navigator Montes deceived them about the course, maneuvering the ship north along the North American coast until they reached the eastern tip of Long Island , New York. Several New York pilot boats came across La Amistad as on 21 August 1839, when she

5700-478: Was towed to New London, Connecticut, and those remaining onboard were arrested. None of the 43 survivors on the ship spoke English, so they could not explain what had taken place. Eventually, language professor Josiah Gibbs found James Covey to act as interpreter, and they learned of the abduction. Two lawsuits were filed. The first case was brought by the Washington ship officers over salvage property claims, and

5776-528: Was twenty-five miles east of Fire Island . When Captain Seaman of the Gratitude wanted to put a pilot aboard, one of the ringleaders of La Amistad ordered the men to fire on the Gratitude . Gun shots hit the pilot boat but she was able to escape. Discovered by the naval brig USS  Washington while on surveying duties, La Amistad was taken into United States custody. By the time of their trial, six of

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