Beninese Americans

Last updated
Beninese American
Total population
605
(mainly, naturalized Benineses and Americans who descendants of Beninese immigrants. 2000 American Community Survey) [1]
Regions with significant populations
Languages
Religion
Related ethnic groups

Beninese American are Americans of Beninese descent. According to the census of 2000, in the United States there are only 605 Americans of Beninese origin. [1] However, because since the first half of the eighteenth century to nineteenth many slaves were exported from Benin to the present United States, the number of African Americans with one or more Beninese ancestors could be much higher. The number of slaves from Bight of Benin exported to present United States exceeded 6,000 people, although this might consist not only in Benin, but also washes the shores of Ghana, Togo and Nigeria. It is also important to note that they were slaves from modern Benin (along with the Haitian immigrants arrived in the United States in the late nineteenth century), who exchanged voodoo practices with Francophone African descendants in Louisiana. Currently, there are Beninese communities in cities such as Chicago or Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and in other states as New York. As of 2021, there were over 500 Beninese immigrants in the town of Austin, Minnesota. [2]

Contents

History

The first people from present-day Benin to came to the modern United States were slaves and arrived to this country in the colonial period. Most of the slaves of Bight of Benin that hailed from Benin were imported to South Carolina (36%), Virginia (23%), Gulf Coast (28%) and Florida (9,8%). The top three picked up a few thousand slaves of this Straits (Florida only received 698 slaves from Bight of Benin). Many slaves were imported to Louisiana and Alabama (where was famous the Clotilda slave ship case, which took from 110 to 160 slaves from Dahomey to Mobile in 1859. Some of these people were Cudjo Lewis (ca. 1840–1935) and Redoshi (c. 1848–1937), considered to be the last persons born on African soil to have been enslaved in the United States when slavery was still lawful), [3] in the Gulf Coast. It was in Louisiana where the presence of slaves from modern-day Benin was more notable. Indeed, between 1719 and 1731, most of the slaves who came to Louisiana came directly from Benin, through of boats as Duc du Maine. The slaves belonged, mainly, to the Fon ethnic group, [4] but many slaves also were of ethnic groups such as Nago (Yoruba subgroup, although they were slavered mainly by Spanish settlers, [5] when the Louisiana was Spanish) – Ewe, and Gen. Many of the slaves imported to the modern United States since Benin were sold by the King of Dahomey, in the Whydah. [3] [note 1] However, not all the slaves sold in day-present Benin were of there: Many were from other places, but were captured by Dahomeyan warriors. [7] The native slaves from modern Benin came from places such as Porto-Novo, from where were brought to the port of Ouidah, place in the which was made the slave shopping. In this place were sold many of the slavers that were brought to the United States. [8]

The slaves brought with them their cultural practices, languages, and religious beliefs rooted in spirit and ancestor worship, which were key elements of Louisiana Voodoo. [4] Also Haitians, who migrated Louisiana since the late nineteenth century and also contributed to Voodoo of this state, have the Beninese origin as one of its main origins.

During the twentieth century, most of the Beninese people migrating to foreign countries were headed to Europe, mainly to France and Belgium, because Benin shares with them the same language (as Benin was a French colony since late of nineteenth to 1960), the costs to migrate to these countries were lower than the costs found in countries like the United States and the availability of visas.

However, in the 1980s, some Beninese began migrating to New York, attracted by educational and employment opportunities found in this state. The Benineses who arrived to New York for live there, worked usually in the manufacture or sale of African clothing and hairbraiding, as happened with other West African groups in the state. However, it was not until the 90s when the Beninese population grew significantly in the United States compared to previous Beninese immigration in this country. It was from this decade when the Beninese began to feel attracted to Chicago and other big cities. They promoted the emigration of relatives and friends to these cities.

As in New York, many Beninese women also worked in hairbraiding elsewhere in the United States. In the late 1990s many other Beninese people from Benin and Europe immigrated to United States in one second wave, pursuing also better working conditions and study, well as a graduate education. [9]

Demography

Currently, there Beninese communities in cities such as Chicago or Washington, D.C., and in other states as New York and Minnesota. So, great Beninese communities exist in Chicago, where, according to Bobby Dagnon, president of the Association of Beninese of Illinois, the beninese community is growing very rapidly. [10]

Most Beninese who migrate to the United States do so seeking better educational and employment opportunities. [9] Now, many U.S. Beninese immigrants work more than 80 hours a week with the aim, in addition to earn enough money to survive, help their relatives who want to emigrate to the USA. [10]

Organizations

Like other ethnic groups in United States, people of Beninese origin formed organizations and associations to help to other Benineses people in United States.

In 1984 was funded The Association of Beninese Nationals in the U.S.A. (ARBEUA) in Washington, D.C. It aims to help socially, culturally and economically (to poorest members) to the U.S. Beninese population. The organization has a National General Assembly and the Executive Board to meet each other and organize cultural activities in the capital of the United States. Over time, some U.S. Beninese communities created some new sections of the organization, as in the case of Beninese community of Chicago, whose basic functions are to establish social and cultural events, such as monthly parties and an annual celebration of the Day Independence on August 1. [9] Other Beninese organization is The Association of Beninese of Illinois, a non-profit organization established in 2008 and whose objective is to meet the needs of Benineses in Illinois, especially in Chicago and surrounding areas. The organization also tries to establish a good relationship between the Americans and the Benineses of that state. [11]

Others Beninese associations in United States are: the Union des Béninois des États-Unis pour le Développement ("Unión de benineses en USA for the development"), [12] the Association des Béninois de la Caroline du Nord, USA (Association of Benineses of North Carolina) and the Association Béninois Indiana (Whose goal are: educate children so that they know about Benin, creating institutions to promote mutual understanding and develop union with other communities of Benin in the United States for the implementation of joint projects). [13]

The Benineses in United States have also the University of Benin Alumni Association, North America, in Westchester, New York. [14]

The Beninese community regularly interact with other communities from West Africa, with which they have cultural ties, such as the Malian, Ivorian, Senegalese or Togolese. In some cities, many Benineses participate in tontine groups, small cooperatives whose purpose is to raise money, through verbal agreement among their members. In the tontine, its members must contribute a fixed amount of money regularly. Thus, these cooperatives allow U.S. Beninese simultaneously collect an amount of money. The Beninese Americans are also the founders of African Hairbraiding Association of Illinois in 2001, to achieve another form of licensing pressing to state for them. [9]

Cultural contributions

Benin's slaves brought to Louisiana the voodoo, followed then by Haitian migrants arrived to that state in the late nineteenth century. Their knowledge of herbs, poisons, and the ritual creation of charms and amulets, intended to protect oneself or harm others, became key elements of Louisiana Voodoo. [4]

Notable people

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Indeed, Dahomey was one of the main proslavery Kingdoms of West Africa during the colonial period of the Americas and the nineteenth century, arriving to his maximum economic splendor to late of the eighteenth century thanks to its slave trade with the European traders of many areas of the Americas (from the U.S. to Brazil). [6]

Related Research Articles

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

Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its population lives on the southern coastline of the Bight of Benin, part of the Gulf of Guinea in the northernmost tropical portion of the Atlantic Ocean. The capital is Porto-Novo, and the seat of government is in Cotonou, the most populous city and economic capital. Benin covers an area of 114,763 square kilometres (44,310 sq mi) and its population in 2021 was estimated to be approximately 13 million. It is a small, tropical country. It is one of the least developed, with an economy significantly dependent on agriculture, and is an exporter of palm oil and cotton. Some employment and income arise from subsistence farming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West African Vodun</span> Religion practiced by the Aja, Ewe, and Fon peoples

Vodun is a religion practiced by the Aja, Ewe, and Fon peoples of Benin, Togo, Ghana, and Nigeria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fon people</span> Gbe ethnic group

The Fon people, also called Fon nu, Agadja or Dahomey, are a Gbe ethnic group. They are the largest ethnic group in Benin found particularly in its south region; they are also found in southwest Nigeria and Togo. Their total population is estimated to be about 3,500,000 people, and they speak the Fon language, a member of the Gbe languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bight of Benin</span> Bight in the Gulf of Guinea

The Bight of Benin or Bay of Benin is a bight in the Gulf of Guinea area on the western African coast that derives its name from the historical Kingdom of Benin.

The Aja also spelled Adja are an ethnic group native to south-western Benin and south-eastern Togo. According to oral tradition, the Aja migrated to southern Benin in the 12th or 13th century from Tado on the Mono River, and c. 1600, three brothers, Kokpon, Do-Aklin, and Te-Agbanlin, split the ruling of the region then occupied by the Aja amongst themselves: Kokpon took the capital city of Great Ardra, reigning over the Allada kingdom; Do-Aklin founded Abomey, which would become capital of the Kingdom of Dahomey; and Te-Agbanlin founded Little Ardra, also known as Ajatche, later called Porto Novo by Portuguese traders and the current capital city of Benin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ouidah</span> Commune and city in Atlantique Department, Benin

Ouidah or Whydah, and known locally as Glexwe, formerly the chief port of the Kingdom of Whydah, is a city on the coast of the Republic of Benin. The commune covers an area of 364 km2 (141 sq mi) and as of 2002 had a population of 76,555 people.

<i>Manbo</i> (Vodou) Female priest in Haitian Vodou

A manbo is a priestess in the Haitian Vodou religion. Haitian Vodou's conceptions of priesthood stem from the religious traditions of enslaved people from Dahomey, in what is today Benin. For instance, the term manbo derives from the Fon word nanbo. Like their West African counterparts, Haitian manbos are female leaders in Vodou temples who perform healing work and guide others during complex rituals. This form of female leadership is prevalent in urban centers such as Port-au-Prince. Typically, there is no hierarchy among manbos and oungans. These priestesses and priests serve as the heads of autonomous religious groups and exert their authority over the devotees or spiritual servants in their hounfo (temples).

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cudjoe Lewis</span> One of the last known survivors of the Atlantic Slave Trade

Cudjoe Kazoola Lewis, born Oluale Kossola, and also known as Cudjo Lewis, was the third to last adult survivor of the Atlantic slave trade between Africa and the United States. Together with 115 other African captives, he was brought to the United States on board the ship Clotilda in 1860. The captives were landed in backwaters of the Mobile River near Mobile, Alabama, and hidden from authorities. The ship was scuttled to evade discovery, and remained undiscovered until May 2019.

<i>Clotilda</i> (slave ship) Last known U.S. slave ship, used in 1860

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Africatown</span> United States historic place

Africatown, also known as AfricaTown USA and Plateau, is a historic community located three miles (5 km) north of downtown Mobile, Alabama. It was formed by a group of 32 West Africans, who in 1860 were bought and transported against their will in the last known illegal shipment of slaves to the United States. The Atlantic slave trade had been banned since 1808, but 110 slaves held by the Kingdom of Dahomey were smuggled into Mobile on the Clotilda, which was burned and scuttled to try to conceal its illicit cargo. More than 30 of these people, believed to be ethnic Yoruba, Ewe, and Fon, founded and created their own community in what became Africatown. They retained their West African customs and language into the 1950s, while their children and some elders also learned English. Cudjo Kazoola Lewis, a founder of Africatown, lived until 1935 and was long thought to be the last survivor of the slaves from the Clotilda living in Africatown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of Benin</span> Country in West Africa

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Emma Langdon Roche was an American writer and artist, best known for her work Historic Sketches of The South (1914).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benin–Turkey relations</span> Bilateral relations

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beninese nationality law</span> Laws regulating citizenship in Benin

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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 2010-12-02.
  2. ↑ "Minnesota's most diverse communities? Census points to small cities like Austin and Worthington". Sahan Journal. 2021-09-09. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  3. 1 2 "Question of the Month: Cudjo Lewis: Last African Slave in the U.S.?", by David Pilgrim, Curator, Jim Crow Museum, July 2005, webpage:Ferris-Clotilde Archived 2017-05-25 at the Wayback Machine .
  4. 1 2 3 Hall, Gwendolyn Midlo (1995). Africans in Colonial Louisiana: The Development of Afro-Creole Culture in the Eighteenth Century. Louisiana State University Press. p. 58.
  5. ↑ Google books: Creole: The History and Legacy of Louisiana's Free People of Color. Wrote by Sybil Kein.
  6. ↑ EL ELEMENTO SUBSAHÁRICO EN EL LÉXICO VENEZOLANO (in Spanish: The Sub-Saharan element in the Venezuelan lexicon).
  7. ↑ Zora Neale Hurston, "Cudjo's Own Story of the Last African Slaver", Journal of Negro History, pp. 662-63. [ permanent dead link ]
  8. ↑ Law, Robin, Ouidah: The Social History of a West African Slaving "Port", 1727-1892, Ohio State University Press, 2004, ISBN   0-8214-1572-7
  9. 1 2 3 4 Encyclopedia of Chicago: Beninese. Wrote by Tracy Steffes.
  10. 1 2 In Chicago, A Slowly Building Beninese Community. Posted by Jon Grae.
  11. ↑ "The Association of Beninese of Illinois". Archived from the original on 2013-07-24. Retrieved 2013-06-28.
  12. ↑ Union des Béninois des États-Unis pour le Développement Archived 2013-12-10 at the Wayback Machine .
  13. ↑ Communiqué Association Béninois Indiana.
  14. ↑ Uniben Alumni Reunion 2011
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