This critical edition of Princess Fatima Massaquoi's memoirs begins with her birth in southern Sierra Leone, continues through her childhood in Liberia, moves on to Hamburg, Germany, where she lived and experienced the rise of the Nazi movement, and ends with her life in the United States.
Frequently asked questions
Simply head over to the account section in settings and click on “Cancel Subscription” - it’s as simple as that. After you cancel, your membership will stay active for the remainder of the time you’ve paid for. Learn more here.
At the moment all of our mobile-responsive ePub books are available to download via the app. Most of our PDFs are also available to download and we're working on making the final remaining ones downloadable now. Learn more here.
Both plans give you full access to the library and all of Perlego’s features. The only differences are the price and subscription period: With the annual plan you’ll save around 30% compared to 12 months on the monthly plan.
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, we’ve got you covered! Learn more here.
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.
Yes, you can access The Autobiography of an African Princess by F. Massaquoi, A. Abraham,V. Seton,K. Tuchscherer, A. Abraham, V. Seton, K. Tuchscherer in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & African History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
It was in Gendema, then the capital city of the Gallinas, that I first saw the light of the world. The Gallinas is a territory inhabited by the Vai people, who occupy territories in southeastern Sierra Leone and western Liberia (see figure 1.1). The term Gallinas, which applies only to that portion of the Vai country that is situated in Sierra Leone today, is derived from the Portuguese word gallinha (hen), and the name was probably given to the territory because of the great number of guinea fowl found there by Portuguese sailors.1 The original inhabitants of the country themselves call this territory Massaquoi, and this name was chosen because a member of the Massaquoi family played the most important role in its founding, and a Massaquoi has sat on the throne of the country since its foundation. Another name by which it is known is Jayal
(Jayaloh), a contraction of Jayal
l
which means Jaya’s country, after one of the kings.
According to Vai traditions of origin,2 there lived a great king in the Mande land whose name was Kamala,3 nicknamed Jomanni, who was very adventurous and enterprising, always looking for new places to conquer. It happened that one day a group of the king’s special hunters, who had made their way deep into the forest after traveling several years, heard a great roaring noise, to investigate which they climbed up to the top of a mountain. They discovered that from this summit they could see a great distance over the surrounding area. In one direction they saw a large body of water so expansive that there was no visible land beyond it. They hastened to return to their homeland to tell King Kamala that they had seen the “end of the world.” Thereupon the king sent them back with more hunters to obtain more information concerning what they had seen. The spot on which the hunters stood when they beheld the ocean they called Koiji (salt water), where grew a town by the same name and even to this day is in existence.
The people with whom the hunters came in contact were the Gola people,4 who lived near that body of water and scraped salt from the rocks that had been left there by the ocean. With these Gola, the hunters exchanged some dried meat for salt and departed. When the hunters had reported all that had happened on their journey, the great Mande king Kamala assembled all of his people and asked the hunters to narrate their experiences. Then the leader of the hunters stood upright and recalled their fights with crocodiles, leopards, and other animals, in which many of them died, leaving only seven to return to the Mande country.
Figure 1.1 Map of Vai country
Perceiving fear in the eyes and faces of his people, King Kamala immediately asked: “Who is going to open the road leading to sundown (the west)?” But no one spoke. Then, Kamala the Younger looked in the direction of his father and seeing that his father wanted him to do one great deed that would show that it was he, indeed, who had begotten him (for with the Vai the children of great people are known by their deeds), stood up and said: “Father, I am going to lead the way to the shores of the great water to the west.”
Thereupon rose the sons and nephews of the other Mande kings, eleven in all, and they spoke one by one: “We are also prepared to follow Kamala the Younger in opening the way to the ocean.” Then Kamala the Great ordered: “Let the head of each country [territorial division] supply ten cavalries equipped to carry provisions for the trip. Each cavalry must consist of twenty-five warriors.” The outfit of Kamala the Younger consisted of 3 cavalries with 50 horses. There were in all 13 regiments, making a total of 316 warriors with 140 horses.
On the following day at dawn they assembled all the horses, provisions, and equipment for the trip. Then Kamala the Great took his banjalo (warrior sword) and a big spear and gave them to his son saying, “if in truth it is I who begot thee, then go straight to the shores of the great body of water in the west allowing nothing to stop you or cause you to turn back until you have reached your destination.” He turned to his nephew and said, “You are going to be the leader of these people. Stand at the head of all these warriors and lead them until you have reached the ocean.” And his nephew accepted the challenge, or, as the Vai say “laid his hands under them.”
The Mande people departed in two batches; the first comprising one regiment with ten horses and their riders left on the first day including Kamala and his cousin. Their journey led them into a great forest called Kambo. If one stood at its foot and looked up, one would gain the impression that the mountain extended all the way to the skies. On that mountain lived all kinds of fierce animals that fought the traveling Mande, and many of the people perished in the struggle. Besides, the paths in that forest were very narrow, and the hunters knew only one path. Consequently, the travelers became greatly disturbed and said to Kamala: “We cannot enter deeper into this forest. We are not willing to die in such a wicked manner. Therefore we are going to sit at what seems to be the entrance to this dense forest and find another way to the west. Whichever side of the mountain we find to traverse we shall pass by that way.”
There they stopped, at the foot of the mountain, where they built a big town. They spent four years there, during which time other Mande men and women, apart from the warriors, joined them. It was during that period that children were born to them by the women who had come there. The people living not far from the foot of the mountain had also given them wives, who also bore them children. When the feet of those children became strong and able to carry little things, the group left that town to continue their journey.
During all this time Kamala the Great had heard nothing of his son, so he sent people in search of his son saying, “Go in search of my son, and when you hear of him, please return and clear my head (i.e., let me know); go straight to him before returning to me.” Those messengers traveled long and far before they reached Kamala the Younger. They spoke to him saying, “Your father Jomanni is worrying very much about you because he has heard no news of you.” When the traveling comrades of Kamala saw the messengers, some of them wanted to return to the Mande country. But Kamala the Younger told them that he could never return to the Mande country before reaching the sea. Then he turned to the messengers and said, “Return and tell my father that on the fourth day of the new moon, I shall enter the forest. If God be willing I shall see the ocean before returning to the Mande country.” Then he assembled all of his people and told them that he would be departing when the new moon appeared. They all showed great fear, but Kamala paid no attention.
On the fourth day the new moon arose, Kamala’s herald announced to all that they would depart the following day. Then Kamala called all the heads of the various countries together and asked them: “Who is going with me into the forest tomorrow?” Whereupon, his brother Ngolo, who had followed him, and his cousin, who had been entrusted with leading the armed men, stood up and said that they would continue to follow him. But the other heads said that they were afraid and could not go if they were to enter the dense forest.
Kamala felt hurt, but he said nothing. Hastily he mounted his white horse, and before leaving, turned to his comrades and said: won kono mbe taala fai (wait here for me; I shall go forward). Turning his back on them he made his way into the forest. Those who remained became the Kono moenu (waiters), and those who advanced became the Fai moenu or Vai moenu (the forward goers). Thus originated the names for the Kono and the Vai peoples, who to this day remain separate ethnicities.5
There were several adventures with wild beasts in the forest, Kamala himself reportedly slaying thirteen leopards while his younger brother earned the sobriquet Fangaloma because he was stronger than a chimpanzee. The valor of Kamala’s spear-bearer also earned him the name Kiyatamba. When they came out of the forest, Kamala changed his bearing and did not continue in the direction of Koiji.
On their arrival at the coast, the inhabitants of the country appeared intimidated, for they had never before seen so many people coming out of the forest at one time. The rulers then asked of Kamala, “Have you come to declare war on us or have you come to trade?” Kamala replied, “I have not come to declare war, nor have I come to trade or to seek anything whatsoever. I have come to see the ocean.” The kings of the land thereupon accepted Kamala (i.e., they put their hands under him) saying, “Then this land has nothing evil for you.” The kings then gave them guest houses and had food prepared for them.
While talking to the kings of the land, Kamala heard the roaring noise and surmised that someone was bringing war upon him. He quickly instructed his spear-bearer to get all the warriors to follow him, leaving the rest behind. As he mounted his white horse, Fangaloma and Kiyatamba and their officers all followed him. They traveled a day and a half before reaching the ocean. At the moment just before the sun stood directly over their heads, Kamala’s horse ran straight into the ocean. Since Kamala was still sitting on that horse, it turned back to the shore. It repeated this action seven times. So did the other horses which had been following. Then Kamala threw up his spear and planted it in the ocean sand, shouting “kalalase . . . kalalase” (the spear has reached). Kamala had reached the object of his journey. The Mande people built their first town where Kamala thrust his spear. That town remains to this day and the Vai people still call it Kaase, a contraction of the Mande kalalase.
Kamala himself remained in Kaase and sent for his carriers and bearers of burden baskets. As soon as they arrived, they went to the lakes. It was at that same time that he crossed the Kee and Kpaale rivers and reached the spot where his father’s original messengers founded the town of Koiji, which still exists in the Gbema section of the Vai country.
After sometime in Gbema country, he crossed the Gbeya river, known today as the Mano river, where he met people who honored him by giving him all kin...
Table of contents
Cover
Title
1 My Birthplace, Ethnicity, and Parents
2 My Birth, and Customs about Childbirth in the Gallinas Country
3 Life and Customs in the Bali (Bari) Country of Sierra Leone
4 Life and Customs in the Vai Country of Liberia
5 On Beauty and Aspects of Vai Social Organization
6 Life in Monrovia
7 School Begins at Julie C. Emery Hall
8 More on Life at the Mission School
9 I Bid Farewell to Liberia
10 I Arrive in Germany
11 I Meet a Nazi . . . and More on the Work of the Consulate General
12 Hard Times, “Isms,” and School
13 Christmas and School Trips in Germany
14 The “Invincibles,” and My Departure for Switzerland
15 L’École Supérieure et Secondaire (Switzerland), and Rough Times on My Return to Germany
16 Departure for America
17 Welcome for a “Savage” at Lane College, and Death of Father
