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.
