Bissau-Guinean Americans

Last updated
Bissau-Guinean American
Total population
1,903 (2015 US census) [1] [2]
Regions with significant populations
Savannah, Georgia, Charleston, South Carolina, Newark, New Jersey, California, Chicago, Illinois, New York, Louisiana
Languages
Guinea-Bissau Creole, American English, Portuguese, African-American English
Religion
Islam, Animism, Christianity
Related ethnic groups

Bissau-Guinean Americans are Americans of Bissau-Guinean descent. As was the case with almost all current West African coastal countries (and some of Central Africa), the first people in the United States from present-day Guinea-Bissau were imported as slaves. Thus, in the 21st century, there are many African Americans who have discovered, through DNA analysis, they descend mainly or at least partly, from Bissau-Guinean enslaved people. [3]

Contents

History

Between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries, Guinea-Bissau belonged to a wide region of West Africa now called Senegambia, a very important region in the slavery trade in Africa and that had, between other slave ports, Cacheu and Bissau, been occupied by the Portuguese from the late fifteenth century (as other African places). So, since the late 15th century and with the cooperation of some local tribes, the Portuguese not only entered into the slave trade, but also imported large numbers of Senegambians (primarily of Bissau and Cacheu) and other Africans to the Western Hemisphere via Cape Verde. The local African rulers in Guinea, who prospered greatly from the African slave trade, had no interest in allowing the Europeans any further inland than the fortified coastal settlements where the trading took place; Bissau, Cacheu and Bolama. The Portuguese, after buying slaves from African kings and aristocracies, sold them to the European merchants (Spanish, English, French, Dutch, Swedish).

It is estimated that of the approximately 388,000 African slaves who arrived in the modern United States, almost 92,000 (24 percent) were Senegambians, many of them from Bissau port. In the early decades of immigration to the Chesapeake Bay before 1700, most of slaves were from Senegambia (almost 6,000), being about 31,000 people by the end of the forced migration and representing almost a third of all Senegambian slaves arrived in modern United States. About 45,000 Senegambians were settled in the coastal Low Country of The Carolinas and Georgia (where they were 21 percent of African slaves) and other over 7,000 were imported in northern colonies (forming about 28 percent of the total of slaves arrived there). Meanwhile, almost 9,000 Senegambians — although mostly Bambara or Mandinka people — were imported to the Gulf region, especially to Louisiana, where they were about 40 percent of the African slaves. [4]

So, according to Justin Martin, slaves of day-present Guinea Bissau are some of the slaves who contributed to form the Gullah culture, [5] mixing their culture and language with other peoples of African descent present there (and coming from places such as the current Senegal, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Angola). [6] On 1841, the consul of Guinea Bissau, Ferdinand Gardner, reported a very important USA commerce de slaves in Cacheu-Bissau. [7]

So, in the 2000 census, fewer than 300 people affirmed to be of Bissau-Guinean origin or descent. [1] There has been a growing acknowledgment of descendants affirming their Bissau-Guinean ancestry and practices from the original traditions of African tribes such as; Balanta, Fulani, and Brame. [8] The Balanta in specific have acknowledged their descendants in America and rebuilt cultural heritage amongst their diaspora. [9]

Balanta American

Balanta Americans are people in the United States that maintain an identity of a varying level within the Balanta ethnic group. In which the United States is their chief place of residence (and also have US citizenship). The Balanta Americans have a very distinct Creole culture, as a branch of the African-American lineage, they have maintained original cultural customs through oral history or genealogy despite the institution of American cattle slavery. [10]

In addition, slaves from current day Guinea-Bissau hailed from the Balanta were enslaved mainly by the Portuguese and sold to the British or Americans via Cacheu. Many Balanta slaves imported to modern day United States from Guinea-Bissau we're sold as war captives from confrontation with the Portuguese and Bijago people. Guinean slaves in America we're distinctively sent to Georgia, Cheakspeare and Louisiana. [11]

The native tongue of the Balanta people is spoken principally in Guinea-Bissau, with communities in other parts of Africa, Europe and the Americas.

Fulani American

Fulani are people in the United States that maintain a cultural identity of various levels from the Fulani ethnic groups and now call the United States home. Most speak Fulfulde as well as English fluently and Arabic on various levels. The first wave of Fulani immigrants arrived as a result of the Atlantic Slave trade. Recent Fulani arrivals immigrated to the United States during the 1990s. They now make up a large percentage of the Muslim communities across America.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guinea-Bissau</span> Country in West Africa

Guinea-Bissau, officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, is a country in West Africa that covers 36,125 square kilometres (13,948 sq mi) with an estimated population of 2,026,778. It borders Senegal to its north and Guinea to its southeast.

People have inhabited the region now known as Guinea-Bissau for thousands of years. In the 13th century, it became a province of the Mali Empire that later became independent as the Empire of Kaabu. Portugal claimed the region beginning in the 1450s. Portuguese control of the area was limited to several forts along the coast during most of this period. Portugal gained complete control of the mainland after the pacification campaigns of 1912–1915. The offshore Bijagos Islands were not colonized until 1936. After gaining independence in 1974, the country was controlled by a single-party system until 1991. The introduction of multi-party politics in 1991 brought the first multi-party elections in 1994. A civil war broke out in 1998 and lasted until 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mandinka people</span> West African ethnic group

The Mandinka or Malinke are a West African ethnic group primarily found in southern Mali, The Gambia, southern Senegal and eastern Guinea. Numbering about 11 million, they are the largest subgroup of the Mandé peoples and one of the largest ethnic-linguistic groups in Africa. They speak the Manding languages in the Mande language family, which are a lingua franca in much of West Africa. Virtually all of Mandinka people are adherent to Islam, mostly based on the Maliki jurisprudence. They are predominantly subsistence farmers and live in rural villages. Their largest urban center is Bamako, the capital of Mali.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portuguese Guinea</span> 1588–1974 Portuguese colony in West Africa

Portuguese Guinea, called the Overseas Province of Guinea from 1951 until 1972 and then State of Guinea from 1972 until 1974, was a West African colony of Portugal from 1588 until 10 September 1974, when it gained independence as Guinea-Bissau.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cacheu</span> Place in Cacheu Region, Guinea-Bissau

Cacheu is a town in northwestern Guinea-Bissau lying on the Cacheu River, capital of the eponymous region. Its population was estimated to be 9,849 as of 2008.

The lançados were settlers and colonizers of Portuguese origin in Senegambia, Cabo Verde, Guinea, Sierra Leone, and other areas on the coast of West Africa. Many were Jews—often New Christians—escaping persecution from the Portuguese Inquisition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kaabu</span> State in the Senegambia region of West Africa (1537-1867)

Kaabu (1537–1867), also written Gabu, Ngabou, and N'Gabu, was a federation of Mandinka kingdoms in the Senegambia region centered within modern northeastern Guinea-Bissau, large parts of today's Gambia, and extending into Koussanar, Koumpentoum, and the Casamance in Senegal.

The Bainuk people are an ethnic group that today lives primarily in Senegal as well as in parts of Gambia and Guinea-Bissau.

The kingdom of Kasa, also known as Kasanga, was the dominant kingdom in lower Casamance during the 15th and 16th centuries. Many of the inhabitants of the realm were Bainuk or other native ethnicities, but it was ruled by a Mandinkized elite. The capital was at Brikama, on the south bank of the Casamance River.

The Balanta are an ethnic group found in Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Senegal, Cape Verde and The Gambia. They are the largest ethnic group of Guinea-Bissau, representing more than one-quarter of the population. Despite their numbers, they have remained outside the colonial and postcolonial state because of their social organisation. The Balanta can be divided into six clans: Nhacra, Ganja (Mane), Naga, Patch, Sofar and Kentohe. The largest of which are the Balanta Kentohe.

Angolan Americans are an ethnic group of Americans of Angolan descent or Angolan immigrants. According to estimates, by the year 2000 there were 1,642 people descended from Angolan immigrants in the United States. However, the number of Angolan Americans is difficult to determine. Many African-Americans are descendants of Angolan enslaved people. In 1644, most of the 6,900 slaves bought on the African coast to clear the forests, lay roads, build houses and public buildings, and grow food came from the established stations in Angola.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afro-Panamanians</span> Racial or ethnic group in Panama with African ancestry

Afro-Panamanians are Panamanians of African descent. The population can be mainly broken into two categories: "Afro-Colonials", those descended from slaves brought to Panama during the colonial period; and "Afro-Antilleans", West Indian immigrant descendants with origins in Trinidad, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, Belize, Barbados, and Jamaica, whose ancestors were brought in to build the Panama Canal.

Senegalese Americans are an ethnic group of Americans of Senegalese descent. In the surveys of 2019, 18,091 people claimed to be of Senegalese origin or descent in the United States. However, many West Africans trafficked by enslavers to the United States were also of Senegalese origin. Thus many African Americans may also have some ancestors of this country.

Sierra Leonean Americans are an ethnic group of Americans of full or partial Sierra Leonean ancestry. This includes Sierra Leone Creoles whose ancestors were African American Black Loyalists freed after fighting on the side of the British during the American Revolutionary War. Some African Americans trace their roots to indigenous enslaved Sierra Leoneans exported to the United States between the 18th and early 19th century. In particular, the Gullah people of partial Sierra Leonean ancestry, fled their owners and settled in parts of South Carolina, Georgia, and the Sea Islands, where they still retain their cultural heritage. The first wave of Sierra Leoneans to the United States, after the slavery period, was after the Sierra Leone Civil War in the 1990s and early 2000s. According to the American Community Survey, there are 34,161 Sierra Leonean immigrants living in the United States.

Guinean Americans are an ethnic group of Americans of Guinean descent. According to estimates by 2000 US Census, there were 3,016 people who identified Guinean as one of their two top ancestry identities. However, in November 2010 the New York Times estimated that as many 10,000 Guineans and Guinean Americans reside in New York City alone.

Papels, also known as Moium, Oium, Papei, Pepel or Pelels, are an ethnic group primarily located in Guinea-Bissau, though are also found in Casamance (Senegal) and Guinea. Their population in Guinea-Bissau is about 183,000, with 9,000 living outside of the country. They traditionally engaged in hunting and agriculture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afro–Saint Lucians</span> Saint Lucians of West African descent

Afro-Saint Lucians or West African-Saint Lucians, are Saint Lucians whose ancestry lies within the West and Central Africa. However, many Afro-Saint Lucians also have small amounts of non-African ancestry such as Arawak, Carib, European and Indian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fula Americans</span> Americans of Fula descent

Fula Americans, Fulani Americans or Fulbe Americans are Americans of Fula descent.

Bibiana Vaz de França was a prominent nhara slave-trader in Cacheu, Guinea-Bissau.

Gambian Americans are an ethnic group of Americans of Gambian descent. There are about 8000 Gambians living in the United States, involving themselves in activities ranging from business and entrepreneurship to college education. Additionally, during the Atlantic slave trade, many Africans from what is now The Gambia were traded and were subsequently sold by Europeans and Americans into forced labor in the United States. Gambian immigrants arriving in the United States include members of ethnic groups such as the Mandinka, Wolof, Fula, Jola, and Serahule.

References

  1. 1 2 "Table 1. First, Second, and Total Responses to the Ancestry Question by Detailed Ancestry Code: 2000". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2013-05-29.
  2. ↑ Bureau, U. S. Census. "American FactFinder - Results". factfinder.census.gov. Archived from the original on 2020-02-12. Retrieved 2018-10-31.{{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  3. ↑ "Growing Interest in DNA-Based Genetic Testing Among African American with Historic Election of President Elect Barack Obama". Prweb.com. Archived from the original on 2015-08-01. Retrieved 2013-02-21.
  4. ↑ The Abolition of slave trade: Senegambia, the Gold Coast, and the Bight of Benin. Posted in the online page of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.
  5. ↑ Genius of Place: The Life of Frederick Law Olmsted. Written by Justin Martin. Page 193. First edition, 2011.
  6. ↑ 100 Secrets of the Carolina Coast. Written by Randall Duckett
  7. ↑ Hugh Thomas (The Slave Trade: The Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade: 1440 - 1870. Simon and Schuster Paperback. Page 681.
  8. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA4ZsyqklzU [ bare URL ]
  9. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pv_2Fsro_3U [ bare URL ]
  10. ↑ https://www.balanta.org/case-study-the-baleka-family [ bare URL ]
  11. ↑ https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/31255/1/Rodney_History_Upper_Guinea_Coast.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
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