Well of Memory Loss; Why many Black Slaves had no memory of their origin.
Have you ever wondered why many slaves taken to the Americas during the transatlantic slave trade, could not remember or pass down any information about their origin to the generation after them?
Have you also wondered why there is so much disconnection between African Americans and Black Africans?
The answer?
It is a result of the last ritual they were made to perform before going into the slave ship.
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The two seaports known to perform these rituals are;
The Badagry and Whydah seaports.
Now, let's start with Badagry.
Number one: Gberefu Island, Badagry located in present-day Lagos, Nigeria
Not too far from the point of no return, on the Atlantic border lies Gberefu Island.
The slaves were filed with chains around their wrists, necks and waists from the slave merchants' courtyard and then ferried in boats across the marina to Gberefu.
Just in the middle of the plain stands a Well known Well of Memory loss or Spirit Attenuation Well.
The purpose of digging this particular Well wasn't to quench the thirst of the slaves, it served a more sinister purpose.
Before then, slaves were known to rebel against their owners; in a bid to stop the rebellion, the Europeans colluded with the African merchants to enchant the Well.
Every slave was made to drink from the Spirit Attenuation Well, by drinking from it, they would lose their consciousness, and all the memory of their origin, this made them controllable.
Over 100 years after the ban on the slave trade, no local has ever drunk from the Well of Attenuation.
The second is the Tree of Oblivion or Tree of Forgetfulness located in Whydah, Dahomey in the present-day Benin Republic.
The experiences of slaves in Whydah were very different from those in Gberefu, Badagry.
Male and female slaves were made to walk around the Tree of Oblivion nine times and seven times respectively after which they would lose their memory.
But that wasn't enough for the buyers, to completely break the slaves, disorientate cause them and cause them to lose their perception of day and night, the
Slaves were further tortured and chained in large dark rooms called Zomai, which means "where light does not go"; they remained there in the same position for weeks or sometimes months with a bite placed between their teeth.
The bite was put there to weaken them to avoid possible rebellion or alliances with other prisoners.
Yet, their suffering did not end there. In the slave ship, the men were slammed face down on the ground and the women were slumped on their backs, so it would be easier to sexually abuse them.
They spent months on the ship before getting to the Americas.
After going through this ordeal, only a few of them would have the will to rebel.
With these barbarous experiences, they would arrive in the Americas, crushed and unable to rebel.
Sad story isn't it?
That's all for now.
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Credit
Exploring Africa
Noema Magazine.
Punch