IGBO LANDING, 2022.

Somtochukwu IkewelugoVerified artist

,

On May 28, 1803, around 75 Igbo slaves who were being transported by sea revolted by capsizing their ship and drowned themselves while singing in Igbo, a song that translates to "the water spirit brought us. The water spirit will take us home". (Mmụọ mmiri du anyị bịa, mmụọ mmiri ga-edu anyị laa.) Igbo Landing is a historic site at Dunbar Creek on St. Simons Island, Glynn County, Georgia. In May 1803, one of the largest mass suicides of enslaved people took place when Igbo captives from what is now Nigeria were taken to the Georgia coast. This history has been passed down through oral tradition. A common version credited to Roswell King, a white overseer on the nearby Pierce Butler plantation is that the slaves, once ashore, walked into the creek is unison, singing and chanting in Igbo under the leadership of someone who seemed to be like a high priest among them. This mutiny has been referred to in some quarters as the first major freedom march in America's history. The event has recently been incorporated into the history of coastal Georgia schools in America. This art is a tribute to our brave Igbo brothers and sisters. We remember them, we celebrate them.

Type

Original, one of a kind

Medium

Pen on Paper

Dimensions

20 × 24 inches

Year

2022

Ships from

Lagos, Nigeria