Long before the rise of New World slavery, West Africans were adept
swimmers, divers, canoe makers, and canoeists. They lived along
riverbanks, near lakes, or close to the ocean. In those waterways,
they became proficient in diverse maritime skills, while
incorporating water and aquatics into spiritual understandings of
the world. Transported to the Americas, slaves carried with them
these West African skills and cultural values. Indeed, according to
Kevin Dawson's examination of water culture in the African
diaspora, the aquatic abilities of people of African descent often
surpassed those of Europeans and their descendants from the age of
discovery until well into the nineteenth century. As Dawson argues,
histories of slavery have largely chronicled the fields of the New
World, whether tobacco, sugar, indigo, rice, or cotton. However,
most plantations were located near waterways to facilitate the
transportation of goods to market, and large numbers of
agricultural slaves had ready access to water in which to sustain
their abilities and interests. Swimming and canoeing provided
respite from the monotony of agricultural bondage and brief moments
of bodily privacy. In some instances, enslaved laborers exchanged
their aquatic expertise for unique privileges, including wages,
opportunities to work free of direct white supervision, and even in
rare circumstances, freedom. Dawson builds his analysis around a
discussion of African traditions and the ways in which similar
traditions-swimming, diving, boat making, even surfing-emerged
within African diasporic communities. Undercurrents of Power not
only chronicles the experiences of enslaved maritime workers, but
also traverses the waters of the Atlantic repeatedly to trace and
untangle cultural and social traditions.
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