Jenini

Jenini Slave Camp
Jenini Slave Camp
Location	Jaman North District, Ghana

Jenini was a slave camp in Ghana during Samory Toure’s reign c. 1870 - 1895 AD. Jenini is a reminder of Africa's slave history. Though there is few research on Jenini, research on this particular history is expanding.

About the Occupants of Jenini

Enslaved peoples were brought to Jenini from different areas. People entered slavery by being captured, purchased, or born into slavery. Enslaved people would live in their master’s compound (in a special section), while some may have lived in a separate village/hamlet. In some cases, enslaved people could receive religious education (a few prayers if they were Muslim) and enough education to participate in the community’s religious life. Enslaved people could purchase their own freedom; they could also farm their own land if permitted. Enslaved peoples found roles in militaries, agriculture, craft production, smith, trade, and leather work. Samory Toure, a Mandinka warrior, established slave camps, like Jenini, in Ghana between 1870 and 1895. He is known for resisting French colonization during the nineteenth century. He built an empire covering parts of Bamako, Mali, Burkina Faso, La Coté d’Ivoire, and Ghana, and Sudan. His military operations affected large areas that encompassed different ecological, ethnic and linguistic zones. Toure’s activities took place along side during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.

Archaeology

Sourcing of ceramics found during archaeological investigations at Jenini was done using instrumental neutron activation analysis and Compton suppression spectrometry. The team, B.J.B Nyarko et al., used 26 pottery sherds for samples from tombs, excavated in July 2004. The pottery sherds, that were used to analyze, were taken from three spots from the site, Trench 1, Trench 2, and Pit 1. Their geochemical signatures are similar, demonstrating they are made of the same raw material or of raw material with similar raw Evidence suggests that the enslaved people, held at the camp, used clay from the same source for their pottery.

The neutron activation analysis supports though the enslaved people came from many different regions, they made pottery from a similar geographical source. This study is important to understand the lives of the occupiers at Jenini. It is one of the first steps to understand the ceramic production of the occupants. Also, this study helped inspire other archaeological research, for example looking at ancient pottery from the Accra region of Ghana. The researcher used 40 pottery sherds to identify pottery types or groups that can be differentiated from other groups to reveal meaningful archaeological interpretation. Because of this method, the researchers were able to deduce that their designated sites, Ayawaso and Shai, produced their own pots while Wullf, another site, purchased their pots from the two sites.

Preservation and Issues surrounding the camps

Slave camps and markets of the Bolgatanga region, deep in West Africa interior serves as a reminder of the slave trade. Mentioned in Ghana News, Dr. Akosua Perdi said there are mass graves that still need to be excavated. Dr. Perdi stated that people could find human bones lying outside house that had been built on the burial site. Dr. Perbi gave details about the condition:

"As people sweep their compounds everyday [sic] they could see frames of skulls on the ground, and whenever it rains, a lot of bones are washed away."

Ghanaian Historian Akosua Perbi and archaeologist Yaw Bredwan-Mensah are seeing through the preservation of the burial mounds Though, the burial mounds have been disturbed by local sensibilities and politics.

The topic of domestic slavery in Africa is not often talked about. There is stigma having that associations; even descendants change their names to bury the past. Domestic slavery served the role of prisons before the era of Atlantic Slave Trade. Another reason for the silence is connection to some Africans’ involvement in the sales of Atlantic slave trade; though it is a controversial topic. This involves politics and cultural history, involving figures such as Samory Toure. But there were African societies that resisted internal and external forces and protected their communities from the trade. Another reason is that the colonial period in Africa is most recent; the effects and memories are still fresh.

Another place named Jenini

Sir Philip Brocklehurst mentioned a town named Jenini when crossing Wadai, which is in East Africa region.

Further reading

• Nyarko, B.J.B; Breda-Mensah, Y.; Serfor-Armah, Y.; Dampare, S.B.; Akaho, E.H.K.; Osae, S.; Perdi, A.; Chatt, A. (2007). "Investigation of Trace Elements in Ancient Pottery from Jenini, Brong Ahafo Region, Ghana by INAA and Compton Suppression Spectrometry". Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Reseach. B (263): 196–203..
• Martin Klein; Paul Lovejoy (1979). "Chapter 7: Slavery in West Africa". In Gemery, Henry A.; Hogendorn, Jan S. (eds.). The Uncommon Market: Essays in the Economic History of the Atlantic Slave Trade. New York: Academic Press. pp. 185–187..
• Tandoh, J.B.; Bredwa-Mensah, Y.; Dampare, S.B.; Akaho, E.H.K.; Nyarko, B.J.B (2007). "Chemical Characterization of Ancient Pottery from the Greater Accra Region of Ghana using Neutron Activation Analysis". Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. B 267: 1924–1930..
• "Touré, Samori (1830-1900)". BlackPast.org. Retrieved 19 October 2014..
• Soyinka, Wole (2010). "Between Truths and Indulgences". Transition (103): 115. Retrieved 13 October 2014..
• "Conference look for evidence of slave trade". GhanaWeb. 31 August 2004. Retrieved 19 October 2014..
• Brocklehurst, Philip (April 1922). "Across Wadai". The Geographical Journal. 59 (4): 233–243. Retrieved 13 October 2014..