The New York African Burial Ground

For some reason, I always thought a trip to the New York Burial Ground would be one of the dullest things to do w/ my October weekend. But, After hearing so many interesting facts and history about the site from Professor Mack, my interest peaked. Thousands of people are believed to have been buried there, and scientists and archaeologists, specifically those on Howard University's staff, are working together toward finding out more about each burial and the culture that was buried with them.

Interestingly enough, professor Mack stated that at least 10,000 bodies are buried in the site although only several hundred have been found thus far. His personal experiences really tied me more to the facts he was mentioning, making me give them more value. For example, professor Mack was head of osteopathy in 1992 and determined many characteristics of the bodies while he was there. There were lots of babies, neonatal and perinatal alike, were buried along with many adult men and women. Of these women, 65% of them had muscle tears in their chest and hips, and some also fractured their vertebrae. Maybe it's just me, but something about these facts makes me want to look more into what these people might have looked and how they might have behaved in this new environment.

One way of figuring this out is to look at how they were buried. Apparently, 91% of the 419 bodies taken out were in coffins. It is assumed that Africans buried Africans since they were the labor force of the day. Also, since so much care was taken with burying these people, we can also assume that Africans had feelings for each other and tried to take care of each other even in death. One example of this care is a buried coffin that had a sankofa, a heart shaped design based on a bird, inscribed on the coffin. Findings like these change the way we see our ancestors now. It's a shame that the government did not stop the buildings from being constructed and designating the African Burial Ground as a sacred site.

But this site isn't the only one. Professor Mack asked an interesting question when he said, "ask yourselves, 'where are my ancestors buried?'" There are many other African burial sites where our other ancestors may also be hidden or covered under buildings. We may find more men with filed teeth, or wavy teeth, or buried with a coin in their eyes like in the New York site. Perhaps we will find out more about how our ancestors suffered from disease or overworking conditions that may have resulted in their deaths. Or perhaps we could find more underdeveloped or newborn babies buried with their mothers or fathers in white shrouds. These findings, and more, challenge me to find out how Howard University and scholars' role may be able to advance research and discovery in this matter.

After visiting the http://www.nps.gov/afbg/photosmultimedia/multimedia.htm address, my overall impression of the monument and movement is impressive. Considering the trouble people had to go through to get the ground available for excavation and research, it shows how well everyone who worked on the project persevered in order to protect a vital part of our past in order to preserve it and learn from it. It was heartwarming to see how much care was put into burying the bodies and it pains me to see how much of our culture has been lost. I also found it inspiring how much respect people had for the site and even now, I'm not sure how I want to approach the burial ground. I can barely walk in a cemetery comfortably let alone a site of this importance.