Email Article

Printable Page

Service at Howard Sends Slave Remains Back to Resting Place

By Danielle Scruggs
Black College Wire

The bones of four African slaves, unearthed in New York City more than a decade ago, and sent to Howard University for research, are finally being sent back to their resting place after a Rites of Ancestral Return liturgy held on the Howard campus.

Photo credit: The Hilltop The bones of four African slaves in four hand-carved wooden coffins from Ghana are being sent back to their final resting place.

The liturgy began Sept. 30 with a solemn processional from Founders Library to Rankin Chapel. The pallbearers carried the remains of an adult male, an adult female, a male child and a female child in four hand-carved wooden coffins from Ghana to the sounds of the African Heritage Drummers.

The Rev. Herbert Daughtry delivered the most rousing speech of the evening, criticizing event planners for not letting in key members of the research team due to overcrowding. "Brothers and sisters who struggled and put their lives on the line are outside; they should be let in!" Daughtry said, his booming voice choked with emotion.

Daughtry was also upset at the initial lack of respect given to the remains.

"I was the first to go to the grave and view the bones of our ancestors. We struggled for the bones to be brought here to Howard. The bones of our ancestors were being scattered over the metropolitan area!" he said.

Earlier in the evening, Nana Kwabena Brown, chief priest of the Temple of Nyame, performed a libation ceremony after the Performing Artists Under the Lord choir sang a heartfelt rendition of "Lift Every Voice And Sing."

Shirtless and adorned with several colorful beaded necklaces, Brown poured water and sprinkled dirt over each coffin with care while chanting a prayer.

"It is from water that we come from . . . We come in honor, in homage to our ancestors that were born here and in Africa," Brown said. "We give honor to them. We know indeed we are an African people."

Howard University President H. Patrick Swygert took to the pulpit and expressed his pleasure that Howard was chosen to be part of the African Burial Project.

"It is very appropriate that the 419 skeletal remains were brought here for study," Swygert said. "This is as much a homecoming tribute as well as a farewell." He also acknowledged the contributions of the members of the research team.

Another highlight was the liturgy, an engaging and dramatic reading performed by English Department Chair and griot Eleanor Traylor. Dressed in a flowing, opulent white gown, with her face covered by a green and gold tasseled headdress, Traylor celebrated the resilience of people of African descent who experienced the horrors of slavery.

"Between the surprise of death and surprise of life, we are here. We have come to honor our beloved and loving dead," Traylor said. "We give our thanks to this altar of commemoration. We offer our hearts to you. We fear no circumstance of time or living."

Several men and women shed tears throughout the ceremony, overcome by emotion. The ceremony ended with a prayer from Dean of the Chapel Bernard Richardson and another processional of the coffins.

Amin Rasheed, who worked at the burial site in New York, said he has a newfound respect for his ancestors.

"It had a certain sanctity," Rasheed said. "I take what I do more seriously. It gives me more focus."

The bones were discovered in 1991 during the construction of a federal building in downtown Manhattan. The plot of land was an 18th-century cemetery that is now surrounded by New York's City Hall and the U.S. courthouse and State Supreme Court. More than 20,000 remains of African men, women and children were found at the burial site.

Howard alumna Lesina Martin said she enjoyed the liturgy.

"The ceremony was moving and very educational," Martin said. "It's important to see and bear witness to this occasion. It's an important thing to be a part of as people of African descent."

"It was very inspiring," said freshman Rashad Dinkins. "It opened my eyes to the history at Howard. It made me appreciate being here and that I chose such a historic and prestigious university."

Freshman biology major Krystal Allen echoed Dinkins.

"It was very informative," she said. "It's nice to know Howard got the remains and to know they chose Howard of all places. That made me feel proud to be a student here."

Danielle Scruggs is a student at Howard University who writes for The Hilltop.

Posted Oct. 6, 2003