West Africans in Saint Domingue (Haiti)

 

One amazing feature of perusing the posted runaway notices in Saint-Domingue's press is the occasionally very detailed "nations" assigned to Africans in the colony, particularly "new" Africans. While some of the "nations" used for Africans in the colony were very broad or ambiguous, a few appear with very specific names linked to a region or ethnic group that is still identifiable. Take the above case, for example, of a newly arrived "Mandingue" or "Souraca" from the year 1776. While "Mandingue" could be very broad or ambiguous in Saint-Domingue, possibly being used to encompass Mandinka as well as other Mande groups, "Souraca" is rather specific. To a speaker of Bamana or Mandinka languages in Mali, suraka referred to "Arabs" or people from the north. Thus, it is possible that this anonymous "Mandingue" hailed from an area of Mali or Mauritania in the Sahel. Was he native to that region or was he formerly enslaved by Arabs or Tuaregs?

Another possible example of quite specific African "national" classification is the case of a runaway named Hector, from the year 1772. Of the Mende nation, it is quite certain that he was from the Mende peoples of Sierra Leone. 

Even very specific Mande-affiliated peoples like the Dioula, or Juula, were also in the colony of Saint-Domingue. In the above case from 1768, a female runaway named Marie was specified as Dioula. This is rather amazing to see the distinguishing of various "Mandingue" and Mande-associated peoples in the colony. Was she from the area of today's northern Ivory Coast or Ghana?

Also in Saint-Domingue were small numbers of people from the "Edo" group, associated with areas such as the Kingdom of Benin in today's Nigeria. The above example, of a woman who ran away in 1784, attests to the presence of Edo peoples in colonial Haiti. 

Even the Gurma peoples could be found in Saint-Domingue. In the above case, from 1786, a "Gourmand" African ran away. In this case, "Gourmand" is probably a reference to the Gurma people, who are mostly to be found in present-day Burkina Faso.

Also present were the Bobo peoples, likewise found in Burkina Faso. The case of Richard, from the 1770s, serves as proof of their presence among the captive West Africans in the colony. 

The Oyo Yoruba may be found under their specific name. The 1777 incident involving 2 runaway women of the "Ayo" nation may very likely refer to Oyo. We suspect, however, that more Oyo peoples than one realizes were in Saint-Domingue, but probably generically referred to as Yoruba. 

Last but certainly not least, the Susu peoples of Guinea and Sierra Leone were similarly caught in the hellscape that was Saint Domingue. Usually referred to as Soso or Sosso in the Caribbean, they were more numerous than several of the other "nations" mentioned here.