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Rooted in slavery
Tuesday, 31 May 2011 22:53
She clamped her hand over my wrist and dragged me into her dim little shop. "You buy?" she said, thrusting a tie-dyed shirt toward me.
"850 Gambian dalasi (HK$236)." Shaking my head I tried to leave, dragging her with me like a weight. "OK, lady, 600," she said frantically. "Now you say 400."I shook my head and walked away. Swarms of children surrounded me with their outstretched hands.
Then, a local guide sharply scolded the crowd. They quickly melted away, leaving only the heat and the quiet and a strange disquiet, too.
This is what Juffure is trying to get away from - its reputation as a hustler haven. Since writer Alex Haley traced his roots to his Mandinka ancestor Kunta Kinte in this poor Gambian village in the late 1960s, Juffure's residents have come to depend on tourists, sometimes aggressively so. Despite the town's historical importance, many visitors avoid the place.
"Nowadays people do not show interest like they did before," says guide Mojou Jallow. "Most people are interested in the birds and the customs and traditions of the people."
Roots sold nearly six million copies. It won a 1977 Pulitzer Prize and a 1977 National Book Award. The 1977 miniseries was seen by an estimated 130 million people. In Gambia, the impact of Roots was huge as well. It made the tiny nation, where hundreds of thousands of slaves were taken, the allegorical home of the estimated 12 million sold into slavery.
An annual Roots festival was invented and still runs each February. Kunta Kinte's home town of Juffure turned into a commercial tourist attraction, as did the nearby James Island and the village of Albreda.
That is why officials there are trying hard to change the tourism experience from hassle to something more serious and moving.
For instance, local guides now run the tours. They are able to cut down on tourists being harassed by children - who come out to sing and beg when they see visitors arriving.
There is a good small museum about the slave trade in the Gambia, which has a replica of an 18th-century slave ship.
A children's center sells craftwork to tourists, helping the schools and keeping kids from begging in the streets.
Most important is the restoration work done last year on the historic James Island, which sits forlornly in the middle of the Gambia River about four kilometers offshore from Juffure and Albreda. This important and eerie Unesco World Heritage site is where slaves were held before being shipped to the Americas, so it is a critical piece of history.
In February, the Gambian government renamed it Kunta Kinteh (their spelling) Island.Still, more work needs to be done to prevent the river from one day swallowing up the whole site.
Under a covered portico, I met Mariama Fofana, known in Juffure as an eighth-generation descendent. She sits quietly on a plastic chair not speaking at all, but only smiles as people shake her hand.
On the wall behind her is a big newspaper photograph of Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh.
I bump into Omar Taal who is selling a book he wrote. It is called Discovery Guide to Juffureh, the Gambia for US$10 (HK$780). The guide explains that the book, which uses a different spelling of Juffure, tells the family story from the locals' point of view. I buy it. Taal, who says he is a Kinte relative, autographs it.
The highlight of a visit to this region is Kunta Kinteh Island, which is a quick 10-minute boat ride from shore.
Nobody lives there. Nobody sells anything. Visitors wander the sad, sinister ruins on the shrinking island covered with naked trees. The island is now only one-sixth the size it used to be, because the river rises and washes away the evidence of major slave trading in West Africa.
When the British outlawed slavery in the Gambia in 1807, so the story goes, there were 90 slaves left on James Island. Officials told them if they could swim to Albreda-Juffure, they would be free. Not one made it.
Today, as the tour boat - Joven Antonio - motors back upriver toward Gambia's capital city, Banjul, I watch the island and villages vanish in the river's mist. With a cup of tea, I settle down to read Taal's book about his ancestor. There's an interesting introduction, then a notice of copyright, then a strangely sophisticated account of how Haley found his roots.
It is only when I get home and do a quick Google search that I realize Taal has ripped me off. His book is a word- for-word copy of Chapter 5 of a 2005 American book, Alex Haley: Author by David Shirley.
DETROIT FREE PRESS (MCT)
If you go
Travel notes
some tips: Before your trip, read Alex Haley's book Roots. Do not hand out treats, money or water bottles to children - it leads to more begging. Shop for good woven fans (US$4 for two) or batik (US$10).
getting there: A number of airlines fly from Hong Kong to Banjul, the Gambia, but with at least two connections
Written by Ellen Creager
Source: thestandard.com
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