Counting aloud in Mende played a significant role in the history of Amistad Trial. The defense devoted considerable time to the task of trying to locate someone familiar with the language spoken by the Africans. Dr. Josiah Gibbs, a Yale philologist, and a clergymen who trained the deaf and dumb examined the Africans. They concluded that the Amistad's Africans were Mende, from a region south of Freetown in what is now Sierra Leone. Gibbs learned to count in Mende, then wandered up and down the waterfronts of New York counting in Mende, looking for signs of recognition among the Africans he encountered. Finally his efforts were successful, and a Mende speaker, James Covey, was brought to New Haven.

Johnny Kamara is a native of Sierra Leone and the deckhand in the Amistad's crew.

photo ©2003 Wojtek (Voytec) Wacowski 

Learn how to count in Mende with Johnny:

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