New Haven (WTNH) -- For more than a year, the Amistad has been on a North Atlantic Freedom tour.  A major celebration marking the Amistad's return to its home port of New Haven is set for tomorrow morning.

Amistad and its story of human triumph, has made an impact on tens of thousands of lives.  Tomorrow, the Freedom Schooner returns to its home port, following another triumphant voyage.

Final touches being made on Amistad in port in Mystic.  Tomorrow, the Freedom Schooner returns to its home port in New Haven following a historic 14-month Trans-Atlantic journey.

• Watch Channel 8's VIDEO : Preparing for Amistad's return to New Haven

'For me, as a sailor and as a black man, this is the epitome," said former Capt. William Pinkney.

For Pinkney, the voyage to ports of call in North America, Europe, Africa and the Caribbean was his final trip aboard Amistad after nearly a decade as skipper.

"We were able to make that trip.  This is what we were built to do and being able to do that is a fulfillment of our mission," Pinkney said.

Amistad is a scale replica of the 19th century cargo vessel La Amistad.  Fifty-three Africans who were illegally captured from West Africa, revolted and took control of the ship.  They were led by Senge Pieh.  The schooner eventually anchored off of eastern Long Island.   The captives were later arrested and jailed in Connecticut on charges of Mutiny and Murder.
  
They were freed in a precedent setting legal decision.  Now, almost 170 years later Amistad concludes its Atlantic Freedom Tour.
      
Wherever the Amistad went, the captain and crew invited the locals -- be it Sierra Leone, Barbados or Charleston, South Carolina -- to come on board the Freedom Schooner.  It was a way of bringing history to life and the lessons couldn't be more important'

"In every port of call, whether it was Canada, Africa Caribbean, communities we talked about racial and social injustice," said Clifton Graves of Amistad America.  "We talked about history and the spirit of resistance and reliance that embodies the legacy of the Amistad captives."

Perhaps nowhere was the reception for Amistad more fervent than in Sierre Leone, which was the homeland of many of the captives.

"I have to be honest I cried," said Sierra Leone native, Donald George.  He now works for Amistad America.  "This was a dream come true.  Something for years Amistad had been laying the plan to come to the homeland of the captives, as a sign of peace and good will," George said.

George and Capt. Pinkney tell us the Amistad encountered 'rough seas' during its latest voyage, but met every challenge.

The schooner returns to New Haven as a symbol of strength, perseverance and hope.  "To be able to look into someone's face and have them get it -- really understand -- not just historically, but contemporarily what it means for each of us to have our rights as human beings upheld," Pinkney said.

The celebration of Amistad's return gets going at Long Wharf tomorrow morning at 9:30 a.m. 

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