In my blog post on June 11th, I wrote about how Zora Neal Hurston, author, folklorist, and anthropologist, influenced me when depicting characterization using the historical dialect of southern speech.
In my blog post on April 15, entitled “1000 Miles,” I mentioned I had purchased a copy of Hurston’s book, Barracoon: The Story of the Last Black Cargo, a nonfiction about her interviews with Kossola (Cudjo Lewis, a name given to him), a survivor of the last slave ship, Clotilda, in 1859. Our narrator at Boone Plantation, South Carolina, explained her heritage as a Gullah descendant and storyteller. She referenced Hurston’s work, specifically Barracoon, in relating to the heritage of the Gullah people brought to America as slaves.
Recently, I completed my reading of Barracoon. Hurston beautifully writes in Kossola’s voice as he tells Hurston his story and remembrance of his life, family, village traditions, and being stolen from his “Affica soil.” He vividly recollects another tribe attacking his village and selling him to white traders when he was 14 years old in 1859. This was done illegally, as the US Congress officially banned trading human cargo in 1808, even though the practice of slavery was still legal.
In her interview with Kossola, Hurston skillfully writes his African dialect as he describes his memories of his capture, his passage, and his life in America as a slave and a freeman. As you journey through Kossola’s life, Hurston’s writing conveys his sadness and longing for his homeland.
Kossola said, “De king of Dahomey come to hunt slave to sell. So dey tie me on de line wid de rest.” Hurston (p. 47) Many of his people were tragically murdered, and the ones left had to endure the horrific beheadings. “We got to set dere and see de heads of our people smokin’ on de stick.” (So, they don’t spoil anymore.) (p.48-49) Then he and 129 others were in a stockade to rest and eat something. Kussola referred to it as a “slave pen,” known as a barracoon. He explained that their clothes were taken from them, and they did not like to be naked. They had traveled on the water for 70 days, and when they arrived in America, they were known as “naked savages.”
As an anthropologist and historian, Hurston's narrative style and her understanding of Kussola’s dialect captured the authenticity of his story with an emotional impact. This story could have only been told in his voice. Once he and his tribal family learned they were free, after being slaves for five years, they knew true freedom meant returning to their African soil.
Kussola and the others were an isolated group that did not fit into the community of slaves born in America and were mistreated by them. They decided they would have to work together to save money to buy tickets back home. Kussola explains how the men worked in the sawmill, powder mill, and railroad. The women worked for the whites, gardened, and made baskets. They used the baskets to carry vegetables to market and sold them.
Like our Gullah narrator at Boone, who explained the importance of basket making, referenced the book Barracoon, which, when captured as human cargo, had brought their African heritage with them.
Once Kossola and the others realized they could never make enough money to return to their home in West Africa, they set out to establish their own African Town, which they governed themselves and built their church.
This blog post is a tribute to Hurston’s impact on Black History and her literary accomplishments as a powerful storyteller. It also pays homage to the many who brought her manuscript to life, which lay dormant for 87 years, recently published in 2018.
