Nigerian Hinterland Project Newsletter 1

No. 1 May 2000

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No. 1 May 2000

Project Secretariat:113 Vanier CollegePhone: 416-736-2100

ext.30322Fax: 416-650-8173E-Mail: nigerian@yorku.cahttp://www.yorku.ca/research/nhp

Address:Department of HistoryYork University4700 Keele StreetToronto, Ontario M3J 1P3Canada

The Nigerian Hinterland Projectfocuses on the development of the Africandiaspora stemming from the "Nigerian"hinterland during the era of the slave tradefrom approximately 1650 to 1900. Theregion under investigation includes theinterior of the Bights of Benin and Biafra,from where approximately 40 per cent ofall slaves who went to the Americas tracetheir origins. In addition, slaves from thisregion were sent to various parts of theIslamic world. The project concentrates onthe effects of this population displacementon historical developments both in Africaitself and in the African diaspora. Theregion identified here as the "Nigerian"hinterland today comprises modernNigeria, the Republique du Bénin and, to alesser extent, neighbouring countries(Togo, Ghana, Niger and Cameroon).

The Project explores the historical impactof Africa on world history as reflected inthe development of the African diasporaand the extent to which enslaved Africansand their descendants in the Americas andelsewhere contributed to the making ofboth the “Atlantic world” and the "Islamicworld". The Nigerian Hinterland Projectcoordinates a programme of researchcollaborative in nature, involving a networkof scholars and institutions, and is affiliatedwith the UNESCO Slave Route Project.

The Nigerian Hinterland Project isfinanced by a five-year grant from theSocial Sciences and Humanities ResearchCouncil of Canada underits MajorCollaborative Research Initiative (MCRI)Programme.

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The York/UNESCO Nigerian HinterlandProject facilitates a broad range ofactivities designed to assist in promotinginternational collaboration in research andtraining on subjects relating to the Africandiaspora. To this end, the NigerianHinterland Project sponsors the researchagenda outlined below. In addition tosupporting specific research ventures, theProject collects and disseminates primary

source materials to select repositories, co-sponsors international conferences,seminars and workshops, assists graduatestudents, post-doctoral fellows, andestablished scholars, and otherwiseencourages interaction and cooperation inthe advancement of scholarly knowledgeabout the African diaspora and theimportance of the Nigerian hinterland tothat development.

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• Archival Inventory andPreservation of Primary Sources

Creation of an inventory of archivaland library holdings that are relevantto the study of the diaspora and its“Nigerian” origins. Major aim is thedissemination of primary sourcematerials, including oral data,archival documents and translationsof selected texts.

• Biographical Data Base ofEnslaved Africans

Creation of a computer-based dataretrieval system of biographicalinformation, to enable on-line accessto archival and published materialson enslaved Africans during the eraof the “Slave Route”.

• Historical Atlas of Slavery

Collection, organization and analysisof geographical, ethnic, linguisticand other factual material that relateto the history of the Slave Route, intoCD-ROM and Internet format.

• The Ports of the “Nigerian” Hinterland

An examination of the ports of the “Nigerian” hinterland in compa- rative perspective, including the linkages and movements of reasons among ports in Africa and elsewhere on the Atlantic rim.

• The Muslim Diaspora in the Era of the Slave Route

The collection and analysis ofEuropean accounts; Arabic texts, andHausa and other oral data on the trans-Saharan slave trade and the place ofenslaved Africans in the Islamic world.

• Ethnic Identity in the Diaspora andthe “Nigerian” Hinterland Establishing the extent to which the movement of enslaved Africans into diaspora was similar to other population migrations byconsidering how slaves, even thoughinvoluntary migrants, behaved like

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other immigrant groups, especiallywith respect to the "creation" of ethnicidentities.

• Linkages between the Diaspora andthe “Nigerian” HinterlandExamination of ongoing social andcultural linkages across the Atlanticarising from the heritage of Africansin the Americas under slavery andemancipation.

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The York/UNESCO Nigerian Hinterland Project has assisted in the organization of thefollowing conferences:

APRIL 1998Rethinking the African Diaspora: theMaking of a Black Atlantic World in theBight of Benin and BrazilInstitute of African StudiesEmory UniversityAtlantaApril 17-18, 1998

JUNE 1998Ports of the Slave Trade(Bights of Benin and Biafra)Centre of Commonwealth StudiesUniversity of StirlingJune 1998

SEPTEMBER 1998Transatlantic Slaving and the AfricanDiaspora: W.E.B Du Bois InstituteDataset of Slaving VoyagesThe College of William and MarySeptember 11-13, 1998

NOVEMBER 1998Dialogues in the Spirit: CaribbeanReligions in Comparative PerspectiveCentre for Research on Latin Americaand the CaribbeanYork UniversityNovember 12-15, 1998

FEBRUARY 19991824-1999: 175 Aniversario de laabolición de la esclavitud en CentroAméricaReunion: la ruta del esclavo enhispanoamerica Universidad de CostaRicaFebruary 24-26, 1999

APRIL 1999Colloque International “Borgou’98”Parakou/NikkiRépublique du BéninApril 6-9, 1999

APRIL/MAY 1999The Black Experience in theIslamic MediterraneanProgram of African StudiesNorthwestern UniversityApril 30-May 2, 1999

FEBRUARY 2000Forum on European Expansion andGlobal InteractionThird Biennial MeetingFlagler College, St. Augustine, FloridaFebruary 17-19, 2000

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MAY 2000Workshop on "Slave Systems in Asia and theIndian Ocean: Their Structure and Change inthe 19th and 20th Centuries"CERINS, University of Avignon,May 18-20, 2000

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OCTOBER 1999Workshop on "TransatlanticConnections: the Contribution of theNew Slave Trade Database"By David EltisYork/UNESCO Nigerian HinterlandProjectYork UniversityTorontoOctober 4, 1999

APRIL 2000Workshop on "Graduate StudentResearch and Methodology"By R.S. O'FaheyYork/UNESCO Nigerian HinterlandProjectYork UniversityTorontoApril 5, 2000

MAY 2000Workshop on "Islamic Thought inAfrica"Institute for the Study of IslamicThought in AfricaNorthwestern UniversityEvanstonMay 12-14, 2000

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The Tubman Seminar meets each weekduring the academic year in theDepartment of History, York University.Papers are distributed electronically andare available upon request.

In 2000-01, the Tubman Seminar willhighlight Network Professors EliséeSoumonni and Verene Shepherd.

The Harriet Tubman Seminar is named inhonour of Harriet Tubman (1821-1913)who escaped from Dorchester County,Maryland, in 1849, and subsequentlybecame a major figure in theUnderground Railroad to Canada West,assisting at least 200 people in their flightfrom slavery.

Harriet Tubman Seminar 1999-2000

September 13 - Paul Lovejoy (YorkUniversity) and David Richardson(University of Hull), “Letters of the OldCalabar Slave Trade, 1760-89”

September 28 - Ivana Elbl (TrentUniversity), “The King’s Business inAfrica: Decisions and Strategies of thePortuguese Crown, 1450-1521”

October 4 – David Eltis (Queen’sUniversity), “Gender and the SlaveTrade in the Early Modern AtlanticWorld”

October 18 - Gwendolyn Hall (RutgersUniversity), “African Ethnicities in theAmericas: The Uses of HistoricalDatabases”

November 1 - Femi Kolapo (YorkUniversity), “Missionaries and Traders’Reports and the Creation of a SlaveBiographical Database for the NigerianHinterland: Challenges and Prospects”

November 8 - Robin Law (University ofStirling), “On the African Background to

the Insurrection in Saint-Domingue(Haiti) in 1791: The Bois CaimanCeremony and the Dahomian ‘BloodPact’”

November 15 - Edward Alpers (UCLA),“Becoming ‘Mozambique’: Diasporaand Identity in Mauritius”

December 1 – Julie Winch (Universityof Massachusetts, Boston),“'Immoralities and CriminalitiesExcepted': the Antebullum Debate onClass and Respectability in the FreeBlack Communities of the NorthernUnited States”January 24 - Monica Schuler (WayneState University), “Liberated CentralAfricans in Nineteenth-Century Guyana”

January 31 – Ann O’Hear, “Elite Slavesand their Descendants: Ilorin in theNineteenth and Twentieth Centuries”

February 7 – Thabit Abdullah (YorkUniversity), “Overview of Basra’sCommercial Links and their Decline inthe Eighteenth-Century”

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February 28 - Philip Morgan (College ofWilliam and Mary), “The World ofBooks and the Real World: AnEighteenth-Century JamaicanPerspective”

March 6 - Renée Soulodre-La France(York University), “Socially Not SoDead! Slave Identities in BourbonNueva Granada”

March 20 - Jose Curto (YorkUniversity), “The Story of Nbena: FromIllegal Enslavement Back to Freedom inBenguela, Angola, 1816-1819”

March 27 – Verene Shepherd(University of the West Indies, Mona),“Slavery Without Sugar: TheExperiences of Enslaved Women”

April 4 – Sean O’Fahey (University ofBergen), “Islam, Language and Ethnicityin Eastern Africa”

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We are very pleased to announce theappointment of three Network Professorsto be affiliated with the NigerianHinterland Project. These include Dr.Elisée Soumonni, who is the director-designate of the new research institute inthe République du Bénin. He will also becoordinating the collection of oral andwritten materials on Afro-Brazilians inthe lagoon towns of the Bight of Bénin,among other activities. Dra. RinaCaceres Gomez, who is currentlygraduate director of el Centro de

Investigaciones Historicas de laUniversidad de Costa Rica. She willcontinue her research on the presence ofAfricans in early Central America. Dr.Verene Shepherd, of the University ofthe West Indies, Mona, presently inresidence at the College of Charleston.She will continue her research on"Contested terrain, Jamaica in slaveryand Freedom."

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Dr. Femi Kolapo (Ph.D. YorkUniversity, 1999) is working on theconstruction of a biographical databaseof enslaved Africans from the region ofthe Niger-Benue confluence and thelarger Nigerian hinterland.

Dr. Christine Ayorinde (Ph.D.University of Birmingham, 2000) iscurrently in Cuba conducting additionalresearch on Afro-Cuban Religions,including the audiovisual documentationof Santeria practitioners and theirceremonies.

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OOOTTTTTTAAAWWWAAA SSSHHHOOOWWWCCCAAASSSEEE RRREEEPPPOOORRRTTTBy Ibrahim HAMZA

INTRODUCTION

The occasion of the Ottawa SSHRCMCRI Showcase held in the Parliamentbuildings in November 1999 provided awonderful opportunity for research teammembers to disseminate their research toa wide and varied audience. The positiveeffects of the showcase were felt onmany levels. These ranged from theadvantages of presenting the researchproject’s mandate and the disseminationof research findings, to the benefitsderived on a personal level for theproject representative. The showcaseprocess proved to be very valuable andthis participant encourages the SSHRCMCRI program to continue in thisinitiative.

PROJECT LEVEL

The Nigerian Hinterland Project wasable to promote its research mandate toa wide and varied audience through thisforum. Since one of the major goals ofthe project is to foster betterunderstanding between different ethnicand racial groups, the dissemination ofour research is of prime importance. Oneof the challenges of the project is tobridge the distance between academicprocesses and the perception ofCanadian society at large, in order toencourage tolerance and social cohesion.The need to explain the relevance ofresearch on the Nigerian Hinterland hasenabled us to critically analyze ourmission and to explain its importance to

non-specialists in lay terms. The interestdisplayed by the visitors to the showcasestimulated discussions and enabled us topresent our research findings in greaterdetail.

PERSONAL LEVEL

This experience enhanced my personalcommunication skills. It led me to honemy ability to concisely and clearlyexplain the many and varied theoreticaland concrete ideas developing out of,and around this research project. Thechance to interact with other presentersand to learn about the various researchprojects supported by SSHRC was alsomost enriching. It helped me to place theNigerian Hinterland project within thecontext of the larger Canadian researchagenda in the Humanities and SocialSciences. I also drew tremendous benefitfrom the training session on dealing withthe Ottawa press and M.P.s, anexperience which could hardly berepeated in other circumstances.

BENEFITS OF PROCESS

The many benefits of this experiencewere recognized by the participants.Probably the most important of thesewas the level of communication betweenresearchers and the public that wasfacilitated by the process. The showcaseprovided an opportunity for a self-conscious assessment of the project andthe stage of the research at this moment.Beyond this, it helped developcommunication channels that are easily

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accessible to the public and opened adialogue between academia andCanadian society generally. The level ofcommunication between SSHRC and theparticipating projects was excellent andhelped in the design of posters,pamphlets, and the presentation. Thedescription of the atmosphere at theshowcase and the audience encounteredhelped to overcome potential problems.

CONCLUSION

Overall this was a most positiveexperience. We believe that it benefitedthe participants on many levels. Wewelcomed the opportunity to explain ourresearch to a diverse audience and lookforward to future participation in thistype of activity.

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In his letter of March 2000, UNESCOdirector of the Department ofIntercultural Dialogue and Pluralism fora Culture of Peace, Doudou Diène,addressed the issue of theimplementation of the “Slave Route”Project. The International ScientificCommittee agreed at their Lisbonmeeting that the Project will bepresented in the form of fourprogrammes: (1) the “ScientificResearch Programme”, (2) the“Programme on Education and

Teaching about the Slave Trade andSlavery”, (3) the “Programme on thePromotion of Living Cultures, andArtistic and Spiritual Forms ofExpression”, and (4) the “Programmeon the Memory of Slavery and onDiaspora: Tourism of Remembranceand Museums”. It was also announcedthat the Project will now cover theAtlantic and the Indian Oceans as wellas the Mediterranean, and will includethe trans-Saharan trade.

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JUNE 2000Liberty, Identity, Integration and Slavery inthe Muslim World.

Université al-Akhwayn, MoroccoJune 29-30, 2000

The aim of this conference is to examine theissue of slavery in the world of Islam and theimplications of this history in the formation ofmodern Muslim society. The themes ofliberty, identity and integration have beenselected as a means of focusing discussion onthe backgrounds of the enslaved population,especially those coming from the sub-SaharanAfrica, and the processes of incorporation andexclusion to which the enslaved were exposedin their captivity.

Sponsors: Fondation Alizes,UNESCO/SSHRCC Nigerian HinterlandProject, York University, CA

JULY 2000Workshop on "Control and Resistance in thePost-Emancipation Caribbean"

University of Warwick, EnglandJuly 6-7, 2000

The aim of the workshop is to bring a smallgroup of scholars who work in this area for aconcentrated discussion of some of theissues relating to various themes. Forexample some of the themes addressed willbe cultural conflict, social unrest ,,mechanisms of control, and patterns ofresistance.Sponsors: Centre for Caribbean Studies(Warwick University), UNESCO/SSHRCCNigerian Hinterland Project

JULY 2000Repercussions of the Atlantic Slave Trade: TheInterior of the Bight of Biafra and the AfricanDiaspora

Conference to be hosted by His Excellency,Governor Chimaroke Nnamimi, Enugu State,Nigeria at the Nike Lake Resort, Enugu,Nigeria,July 10-14, 2000

The aim of this conference is to explore therepercussions of the trans-Atlantic slave tradeon both the Biafran interior and ont hediaspora, especially the emergence of ethnicidentities, both in diaspora and in the Biafranhinterland. The conference will explorereligious, cultural, linguistic, and social factorsassociated with the slave trade, including therise of the Aro commercial and religiousnetwork, the role of slavery in the interior ofthe Bight of Biafra, the social and economicstructure of the coastal ports, adjustments afterthe abolition of the slave trade, and theresponses of enslaved individuals to conditionsof slavery, both in the Biafran interior and inthe Americas.

Sponsors: UNESCO/SSHRCC NigerianHinterland Project, York University, CADepartment of History and African StudiesCenter, Rutgers UniversityHistory Department, University of Nigeria,Nsukka, NigeriaAbia State University, Uturu, NigeriaThe Enugu Historical Documentation BureauCentre for Oriental Studies, Berlin

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OCTOBER 2000Enslaving Connections: Africa and BrazilDuring the Era of the Slave Trade

York University, TorontoOctober 12-15, 2000

The focus of this conference is thecultural, demographic, economic,linguistic, political, and religiousconnections between Brazil and Africaduring the era of the trans-Atlantic slavetrade. The conference will discuss themajor themes emerging from theseconnections: the supply of African slavesto Brazil, the making of African identitieswithin and outside of Africa, the

transmission of African cultures to Brazil,Africa and Africans in Brazil, Africanethnicity and slavery in Brazil, theBrazilian impact upon Angola,Mozambique, and West Africa, and acomparison of enslaved Africans inBrazil, Spanish America, and theCaribbean.

Sponsors: Department of History, YorkUniversity, CAUNESCO/SSHRCC Nigerian HinterlandProject, York University, CA