Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka has given his support to a powerful campaign seeking to provide a befitting funeral for Igbo ancestors who died by mass suicide 223 years ago. The campaign aims to honour those who bravely resisted slavery at the historic Igbo Landing site on St. Simons Island, Georgia.
In May 1803, a group of enslaved Igbo people chose to walk into the sea and drown rather than endure slavery. This act of resistance has become a potent symbol of freedom for both the Gullah Geechee people – direct descendants of enslaved West and Central Africans – and the Igbo people.
Prof. Soyinka’s endorsement has been instrumental in “sensitising local, national, and international stakeholders about the significance of this event and its relevance to shared history,” according to campaign organizers.
The effort centers on providing traditional funeral rites that are crucial in Igbo culture for the deceased to transition peacefully to the afterlife. These rites typically include community involvement, burial ceremonies (Ikwa Ozu), and rituals for the spirit such as pouring libations and breaking kola nuts.
The campaign has several key objectives: to erect a historical marker (one was unveiled in May 2022 by the Georgia Historical Society), preserve cultural heritage, and promote education about Igbo Landing by incorporating its history into school curricula.
A memorial at the site would serve as “a reminder of the brutalities of slavery and the resistance of enslaved people, providing a space for reflection on the significance of this event and its relevance to contemporary social justice and human rights issues.”
Individuals are being encouraged to join the campaign by spreading awareness, educating leaders about the event’s relevance, and supporting the effort to provide what organizers describe as “a befitting burial for the heroic ancestors and memorialisation of the site.”
The Gullah Geechee people, an African American ethnic group living in the Lowcountry region of the United States, are direct descendants of enslaved West and Central Africans, including Igbo people, who were forcibly brought to the Americas during the transatlantic slave trade.
This effort represents one of the most significant attempts to address historical trauma and honor the memory of those who preferred death to bondage, with Prof. Soyinka’s backing bringing considerable weight to the campaign’s international visibility.
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