2006.11.06: November 6, 2006: Headlines: Figures: COS - Sierra Leone: Anthropology: African American Issues: Native American Issues: UConn Advance: Joseph Opala has spent much of his career studying the people who became known as Black Seminoles and their language, called Gullah

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Sierra Leone: Special Report: Historian and Anthropologist Sierra Leone RPCV Joseph Opala: February 9, 2005: Index: PCOL Exclusive: RPCV Joseph Opala (Sierra Leone) : 2006.11.06: November 6, 2006: Headlines: Figures: COS - Sierra Leone: Anthropology: African American Issues: Native American Issues: UConn Advance: Joseph Opala has spent much of his career studying the people who became known as Black Seminoles and their language, called Gullah

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Joseph Opala has spent much of his career studying the people who became known as Black Seminoles and their language, called Gullah

Joseph Opala has spent much of his career studying the people who became known as Black Seminoles and their language, called Gullah

Opala described a native people whose treatment at the hands of white Europeans was shameful. Brought to the United States from Sierra Leone as slaves, a million are estimated to have died crossing the Atlantic. The Sierra Leoneans were far more resistant than the whites, and in time, the slaves began to outnumber whites. They also began to escape, Opala said, and Florida - dominated at the time by the Spanish - welcomed them. The slaves aligned with the Seminole Indians of Florida and became known as the Black Seminoles. They distinguished themselves as fierce fighters who conducted an effective guerrilla war from 1835 to 1842 against the United States Army in the wilderness of Florida. Anthropologist Joseph Opala served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Sierra Leone.

Joseph Opala has spent much of his career studying the people who became known as Black Seminoles and their language, called Gullah

Native American land plagued by environmental damage, speaker says
by Scott Brinckerhoff - November 6, 2006

In honor of Native American Heritage Month, two guest speakers recounted Wednesday night the tribulations of the Lakota Sioux and the Black Seminoles at the hands of early United States governments.

[Excerpt]

Opala, who spent 17 years in Sierra Leone, starting as a Peace Corps volunteer in the 1970s, has spent much of his career studying the people who became known as Black Seminoles and their language, called Gullah.

Like White Face, Opala described a native people whose treatment at the hands of white Europeans was shameful.

Brought to the United States from Sierra Leone as slaves, a million are estimated to have died crossing the Atlantic.

Those who survived lived in Georgia and South Carolina and brought with them extensive knowledge of rice growing, which became a vital part of the early U.S. economy.

But the slave traders also brought new diseases with them from Africa, including malaria and yellow fever.

The Sierra Leoneans were far more resistant than the whites, and in time, the slaves began to outnumber whites.

They also began to escape, Opala said, and Florida - dominated at the time by the Spanish - welcomed them.

The slaves aligned with the Seminole Indians of Florida and became known as the Black Seminoles.

They distinguished themselves as fierce fighters who conducted an effective guerrilla war from 1835 to 1842 against the United States Army in the wilderness of Florida.

The Army had been charged with returning the Black Seminoles to bondage, since slavery was the law of the land, and the idea of having "free" slaves in Florida did not sit well with the government - even though many of these "slaves" had in fact been born free.

The Black Seminoles fought the Army to a standstill, and ultimately signed a treaty that allowed them to live in peace in Oklahoma and other locations.

In modern times, Opala has accompanied Black Seminoles from the United States to their ancestral home in Sierra Leone, where he said the U.S. contingent is always amazed to find familiar music, food, language, and culture.





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Story Source: UConn Advance

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Figures; COS - Sierra Leone; Anthropology; African American Issues; Native American Issues

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