Slave Route Monument - Le Morne
Slave Route Monument (The Le Morne Cultural Landscape) is located on the South Western tip of the island of Mauritius and is more commonly referred to as "The Wild South". For conservation purposes the landscape possesses both a Core and a Buffer zone. The Area is a rallying point for Mauritian from all walks of life who are deeply concerned about the country's heritage in terms of its history, culture as well as the natural environment.[1]
Slavery is deeply embedded in the history of Mauritius, as it was once a part of the far-reaching and complex network of the international slave trade. The dark tale of hundreds of slaves throwing themselves off the mountain cliff to escape the horrors of dehumanisation gives us gist about the prevailing monstrosity of slavery on the island. The International Slave Route Monument at the foot of Le Morne Brabant commemorates this former practice of slavery in Mauritius.
The International Slave Route Monument was inaugurated on 1st February 2009 to mark the 174th anniversary of the Abolition of Slavery in Mauritius. This monument is a reminder of the importance of freedom in people's lives and the objective behind its construction was to promote peace through cultural dialogue.[2]
History
Mauritius was once a part of the complex and far-reaching international slave trade, and people say that hundreds of slaves threw themselves off the cliff rather than face the horrors of dehumanization.
There’s another, even darker tale: Some say that after the British passed the Slavery Abolition Act in 1834, a group of soldiers and police went to the Le Morne area to let runaway slaves know that they were finally free. But the slaves, seeing the authorities approaching, feared that they were being recaptured and returned to their masters, and climbed to the top of the mountain summit and threw themselves off committing suicide by landing in the ocean.
In the century between the 1720s and 1820s, over 200,000 slaves—many of whom were illegally introduced after the British outlawed the slave trade in 1807—arrived in Mauritius and Reunion Island from East African and Malagasy ports, according to American slave historian Pier Larson. Many died aboard slave ships en route to their destinations, and ultimately, the slave trade in Mauritius is inextricably linked with the deaths of hundreds of thousands of slaves.
The history of the slave in Mauritius is commemorated annually on August 23rd, UNESCO’s International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade, in the hopes of generating greater awareness of this part of the country’s past. It is rather pertinent to highlight that this factual truth (related to slavery on the island) pertains generally to the greater island region of Mauritius and not necessarily to the concentrated focus that the myth and legend places on the mountain of Le Morne Brabant itself given the lack of circumstantial evidence.[3]
Resistance to Slavery in Mauritius: the Phenomena of Maroonage
Opposition to slavery took many forms, the most public manifestation of which being maroonage, that is the flight of slaves from their masters. Fugitive slaves or maroons were first found on the island during the Dutch period (1638-1710) and became an integral part of the island's social landscape shortly after French Colonization of Mauritius in 1721.
Choosing to live in Difficult Situations
Maroon slaves faced very difficult situations, such as hunger, a lack of adequate shelter, the need to be continually on the move, and the constant fear of capture which could entail dire consequences, such as branding, whipping, body mutilations and very often the death sentence. Despite having to face these harsh conditions while on the run and the severe punishments that awaited them if captured, a large number of slaves still became maroons.[4]
External Link
See more about Slave Route Monument here
Reference
- ↑ Lemorneheritage. Lemorneheritage. Retrieved January 31, 2021
- ↑ International Slave Route Monument. Holidify. Retrieved January 31, 2021
- ↑ This monument sits at the foot of a mountain from which legend says slaves jumped to their deaths. Atlasobscura. Retrieved January 31, 2021
- ↑ Le Morne Brabant. Lemorneheritage. Retrieved January 31, 2021