Igbo Landing is a historic site at Dunbar Creek on St. Simons Island, Glynn County, Georgia. In 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. In May 1803, the Igbo and other West African captives arrived in Savannah, Georgia, on the slave ship the Wanderer. They were purchased for an average of $100 each by slave merchants John Couper and Thomas Spalding to be resold to plantations on nearby St. Simons Island. The chained slaves were packed under deck of a coastal vessel, the York, which would take them to St. Simons. During the voyage, approximately 75 Igbo slaves rose in rebellion, took control of the ship, drowned their captors, and in the process caused the grounding of the ship in Dunbar Creek.
The sequence of events that occurred next remains unclear. It is known only that the Igbo marched ashore, singing, led by their high chief. Then at his direction, they walked into the marshy waters of Dunbar Creek, committing mass suicide. Roswell King, a white overseer on the nearby Pierce Butler plantation, wrote the first account of the incident. He and another man identified only as Captain Patterson recovered many of the drowned bodies. Apparently only a subset of the 75 Igbo rebels drowned. Thirteen bodies were recovered, but others remained missing, and some may have survived the suicide episode, making the actual numbers of deaths uncertain.

Regardless of the numbers, the deaths signaled a powerful story of resistance as these captives overwhelmed their captors in a strange land, and many took their own lives rather than remain enslaved in the New World. The Igbo Landing gradually took on enormous symbolic importance in local African American folklore. The mutiny and subsequent suicide by the Igbo people was called by many locals the first freedom march in the history of the United States. Local people claimed that the Landing and surrounding marshes in Dunbar Creek where the Igbo people committed suicide in 1803 were haunted by the souls of the dead Igbo slaves. The story of Igbo, who chose death over slavery which had long been part of Gullah folklore, was finally recorded from various oral sources in the 1930s by members of the Federal Writers Project.

While many historians for centuries have cast doubt on the Igbo Landing mass suicide, suggesting that the entire incident was more legend than fact, the accounts Roswell King and others provided at the time were verified by post-1980 research which used modern scientific techniques to reconstruct the episode and confirm the factual basis of the longstanding oral accounts.

In September 2002, the St. Simons African American community organized a two-day commemoration with events related to Igbo history and a procession to the site of the mass suicide. Seventy-five attendees came from different states across the United States, as well Nigeria, Brazil, and Haiti. The attendees designated the site as a holy ground and called for the souls to be permanently at rest. The Igbo Landing is now part of the curriculum for coastal Georgia schools.

Sources:
“Igbo Landing,” New Georgia Encyclopedia, http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/ebos-landing; “Igbo Landing,” Glynn County, Georgia History and Lore,

- See more at: http://www.blackpast.org/aah/igbo-landing-mass-suicide-1803#sthash.KfKjOOv0.dpuf

History can make us better..

No be today o! Am proud to be NWAFOR IGBO. If there is any chance to be an African again in afterlife, i ll still be an IGBO MAN. I love my tribe

AnyibestDede:
No be today o! Am proud to be NWAFOR IGBO. If there is any chance to be an African again in afterlife, i ll still be an IGBO MAN. I love my tribe

Another record of Igbo bravery..
It's in the spirit..

Lol and today, Igbo will risk drowning to go to italy

[quote author=BenBruce4Presdt post=54984247]
Another record of Igbo bravery.. It's in the spirit..
U can say that again! We are BLESSED

BenBruce4Presdt:


Another record of Igbo bravery..
It's in the spirit..

The igbo landing is one of the most celebrated African American history in Georgia but I don't think it's bravery. I think it's strong headed. The igbo need not to bow to any man whether white or not

What I consider bravery is what igbo slaves were known for aka out right out revolt and killing their slave masters. Infact one of USA president, James Madison, grandfather was actually killed by his igbo slaves. Some even said that Nat Turner is of igbo descendant but that has yet to be proven. The igbo, Akan/Ashanti, ibibio, wolof, tribes in Angola were actually hated by whites during slavery era because those were the slaves that revolted alot.

No pix of the Dunbar creeks?

Well done ibos of 1803

Chaaaaii my ancestors very brave people that's why we are proud of our linkage not the other people Benin Benin people wr chasing from the south then the Togo women conquered them from the north, they have always been slave since 15AD current date still serving the fulani marauders

THOSE ARE THE ORIGINAL IGBOS, IGBOS OF NOWADAYS NO GET MIND, INSTEAD OF YOU ALL TO COMMIT SUICIDE , U GUYS ARE BUSY MAKIN EMPTY THREATS

AnyibestDede:
No be today o! Am proud to be NWAFOR IGBO. If there is any chance to be an African again in afterlife, i ll still be an IGBO MAN. I love my tribe

BenBruce4Presdt:


Another record of Igbo bravery..
It's in the spirit..

modestofynest:
Chaaaaii my ancestors very brave people that's why we are proud of our linkage not the other people Benin Benin people wr chasing from the south then the Togo women conquered them from the north, they have always been slave since 15AD current date still serving the fulani marauders

Ikeg:


The igbo landing is one of the most celebrated African American history in Georgia but I don't think it's bravery. I think it's strong headed. The igbo need not to bow to any man whether white or not

Infact one of USA president, James Madison, grandfather was actually killed by his igbo slaves.

Some ipob Half baked jews...doing what they know best!

Igbo Spirit I Belong

Funlordmaniac:

Some ipob Half baked jews...doing what they know best!

This is just history, not an avenue for you to lay on and plan your suicide..

Hold your peace and embrace bravery when you are availed with the opportunity..

Nigerian govt denied you of history to make you feel good in your own cowardice because, African history is awash with Igbo bravado...

Yorubas were / are very good docile slaves.

BenBruce4Presdt:



When you have started sounding like a broken record.. Beating here and there without focus.. It can only be a sign of mental retard..
However, it was easy for you to direct Ojukwu to me as if I was his kins man, but your birth ascribed cowardice gave link to always deny you hero..


Awolowo would be rumbling in his miserable grave by now..

Please stop crying and answer the questions kid! All these your stale insults are a sign of your lack of a strong mental fortitude! Save your tears for the day of the king of kujes sentencing!

Funlordmaniac:


Please stop crying and answer the questions kid! All these your stale insults are a sign of your lack of a strong mental fortitude! Save your tears for the day of the king of kujes sentencing!

You saw a post and delve in with an anguish heart..

It was you who first displayed your frustration on this thread..

Go check if Awolowo left some of his effective dose for your pleasure..

Pls do i knw u from anywhere? Why cnt u face ur life and see how u can make something meaningful out of it instead of drinking panadol for another person's headache












Some ipob Half baked jews...doing what they know best!

Lalasticlala plz do d needful

thugcheetahh:
Lalasticlala plz do d needful

.

kingzizzy:


Well considering that you Yorubas surrendrered your lands and sovereignty to the Northerners without a fight, I would say Ojukwu is much better.

At least Ojukwu fought for 3 years before running away, you guys could not fight even when your Regional Governor, Fajuyi was killed like a Chiken and Ogundipe chased away like a thief. Not even when the Northerners kidnapped and butchared MKO Abiola in detention could you people fight.


People who have never had the guts to take up arms are the ones calling Ojukwu a coward? Jokers!


Go and take up arms against the Northern controlled Army of Nigeria, fight for your freedom for 3 years.

Only then can you be in a position to rub shoulders with Ojukwu

you forgot lipstick wielding women from Dahomey who conquered their ancestors

Funlordmaniac:












Some ipob Half baked jews...doing what they know best!

Another dry joke for us this monday morning?

kingzizzy:


Well considering that you Yorubas surrendrered your lands and sovereignty to the Northerners without a fight, I would say Ojukwu is much better.

At least Ojukwu fought for 3 years before running away, you guys could not fight even when your Regional Governor, Fajuyi was killed like a Chiken and Ogundipe chased away like a thief. Not even when the Northerners kidnapped and butchared MKO Abiola in detention could you people fight.


People who have never had the guts to take up arms are the ones calling Ojukwu a coward? Jokers!


Go and take up arms against the Northern controlled Army of Nigeria, fight for your freedom for 3 years.

Only then can you be in a position to rub shoulders with Ojukwu

The guy is probably from kwara caliphate , the yoruba capital of slavery to the gambaris.

We challenge you all to be bolder than your ancestors and commit mass suicide from the recent slavery. This time, no need to walk into mashy waters. Kindly jump into Lagoon straight.

Kiss the truth!