The 41st observance of the Akwamu slave uprising on St. John took place under sunny skies, with participants looking forward to a day of shared understanding. The patriarch of the Fortsberg History Tour did not appear on the Friday after Thanksgiving as he has almost every year since the mid-1980s.
But former University of the Virgin Islands Linguistics Professor Gilbert Sprauve was well represented among the scholars and historians who have joined him along the cross-island tour from Cruz Bay to Coral Bay and this year north to Annaberg Plantation. Many of those who joined the morning libation ritual on the beach near the ferry dock arrived from St. Thomas aboard the newly-commissioned vessel, Spirit of 1733.
The mood was festive as the seaside ritual and drumming encouraged others to join in. Some danced, one picked up a drum and sat beside the rhythm section. A small boy was invited to hold the chalice while the libationest invoked the spirit of the ancestors.
Presenters Sele Adeyemi and Leba Ola-Niy kept each presentation brief in order to complete the tour and return the group to town to catch a late afternoon boat. Each stop gave them a chance to advance the narrative about enslaved people who arrived in the Caribbean only to face adversaries they had encountered back home. These were not people who just picked up weapons and attacked at random, Adeyemi said. They were experienced with planning and strategy and in preparing for a protracted fight.
“These were people who were well versed with military warfare,” Adyemi said. Then, at the Carolina Overlook, he shared an illustration.
“In 1693, in Ghana, about 80 Akwamu — the same ethnic group — hid ammunition and gunpowder under their clothes and went into Christianborg in Ghana under the guise that they were interested in buying some weapons. Once they were in there they attacked the Danes, took over the fort and held the fort for over a year,” the presenter said.
Forty years later, on Nov. 23, 1733, the six-month siege of St. John began with enslaved Akwamu smuggled machetes inside firewood they carried uphill to Fortsberg. Once there, they attacked the garrison and killed five of the six Danish soldiers on duty there.
The uphill climb to the still-standing fort has been made easier by patches of concrete roadway installed along the way by the Samuel family — owners of the property at Fortsberg. Still, the remaining half-mile walk remains rugged and brings relief when hikers on the tour reach their destination.
There, the group is welcomed by four of the family members.
“I think we’re all familiar with this site; this is Fortsberg — Fort Fredericksburg — the site of the revolution of the enslaved people of 1733,” said Kurt Marsh Jr. “We welcome you to this space. It is an honor to be the stewards of this place as this is a collective legacy and shared memory.”
With that Ola-Niy called the group into a circle for a brief reflection before leading them down the hill by foot and by four-wheel drive.
St. Croix Source
Local news
