Île de Gorée (i.e. "Gorée Island"; is one of the 19
communes d'arrondissement (i.e. "commune of
arrondissementAn arrondissement is an administrative division in France, most of the nations which were its former colonies in Africa and some other French-speaking nations, as well as in Belgium and the Netherlands.-France:...
") of the city of
DakarDakar is the capital city of Senegal, located on the Cape Verde Peninsula, on the country's Atlantic coast. It is Senegal's largest city. Its position, on the western edge of Africa , is an advantageous departure point for trans-Atlantic and European trade; this fact aided its growth into a major...
,
SenegalSenegal , officially the Republic of Senegal, is a country south of the Sénégal River in western Africa. Senegal is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Mauritania to the north, Mali to the east, and Guinea and Guinea-Bissau to the south, and it also encircles The Gambia on its three sides,...
. It is a island located a mere at sea from the main harbor of Dakar .
Its population as of 31 January 2005 official estimates is 1,056 inhabitants, giving a density of 5,802 inh. per km² (15,028 inh. per sq. mile), which is only half the average density of the city of Dakar. Gorée is both the smallest and the least populated of the 19
communes d'arrondissement of Dakar.
Gorée is famous as a destination for people interested in the
Atlantic slave tradeThe Atlantic slave trade, also known as the transatlantic slave trade, was the trading, primarily of African people, to the colonies of the New World that occurred in and around the Atlantic Ocean. It lasted from the 16th to the 19th centuries...
. In fact, however, relatively few slaves were processed or transported from there. The more important centers for the slave trade from Senegal were north, at
Saint-Louis, SenegalSaint-Louis, or Ndar as it is called in Wolof, is the capital of Senegal's Saint-Louis Region. Located in the northwest of Senegal, near the mouth of the Senegal River, and 320 km north of Senegal's Capital City Dakar, it has a population officially estimated at 176,000 in 2005. Saint-Louis was the...
or to the south in the Gambia, at the mouths of major rivers for trade.
History and slave trade
Gorée is a small island 900 m in length and 350 m in width sheltered by the Cape Vert Peninsula. Now part of the city of Dakar, it was a minor port and site of European settlement along the coast. Being almost devoid of drinking water, the island was not settled before the arrival of Europeans. The
PortugueseThe Portuguese people are the ethnic group or nation native to the country of Portugal, in the far west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe...
were the first to establish a presence on Gorée (c. 1450), where they built a small stone chapel and used land as a cemetery.
Gorée is known as the location of the House of Slaves , built by an Afro-French
MétisItalic textA Métis is a person born to parents who belong to different groups defined by visible physical differences, regarded as racial, or the descendant of such persons. The term is of French origin, and also is a cognate of mestizo in Spanish, mestiço in Portuguese, and mestee in English...
family about 1780–1784. The House of Slaves is one of the oldest houses on the island. It is now used as a tourist destination to show the horrors of the slave trade throughout the Atlantic world. Well known in the West because of this museum, Gorée was actually relatively unimportant in the slave trade. The claim that the "house of slaves" was a slave-shipping point was refuted in 1959 by Raymond Mauny, who shortly afterward was appointed the first professor of African history at the
SorbonneThe name Sorbonne is commonly used to refer to the historic University of Paris in Paris, France or one of its successor institutions , but this is a recent usage, and "Sorbonne" has actually been used with different meanings over the centuries...
.
Probably no more than a few hundred slaves a year departed from here for transportation to the Americas. They were more often incidental passengers on ships carrying other cargoes rather than transported on slave ships. After the decline of the slave trade from Senegal in the 1770s and 1780s, the town became an important port for the shipment of peanuts, peanut oil, gum arabic, ivory, and other products of the "legitimate" trade. It was probably in relation to this trade that the
Maison des Esclaves was built.
The island of Gorée was one of the first places in
AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
to be settled by
EuropeanThe European peoples are the various nations and ethnic groups of Europe. European ethnology is the field of anthropology focusing on Europe....
s, the
PortuguesePortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east...
setting foot on the island in 1444. It was captured by the United Netherlands in 1588, then the Portuguese again, again the Dutch — who named it after the Dutch island of
GoereeGoeree-Overflakkee is the southernmost delta island of the province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is separated from Voorne-Putten and Hoeksche Waard by the Haringvliet, from the mainland of North Brabant by the Volkerak, and from Schouwen-Duiveland by Lake Grevelingen.From west to east, it...
, and the British took it over under
Robert HolmesSir Robert Holmes was a British Admiral of the Restoration Navy. He took part in the second and third Anglo-Dutch wars, both of which he is, by some, credited with having started. He was made governor of the Isle of Wight, where he is buried in Yarmouth parish church...
in 1664.
After the
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
gained control in 1677, the island remained continuously French until 1960, when Senegal was granted independence. There were brief periods of British occupation during the various wars fought by France and Britain between 1677 and 1815. The island was notably taken and occupied by the British between 1758 and 1763 following the
Capture of SenegalThe Capture of Senegal took place in 1758 when a British military expedition landed and captured the French settlement there during the Seven Years War.-Background:...
during the Seven Years War before being returned to France at the
Treaty of ParisThe Treaty of Paris, often called the Peace of Paris, or the Treaty of 1763, was signed on February 10, 1763, by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement. It ended the Seven Years' War. The treaty marked the beginning of an extensive period of British dominance...
.
Gorée was principally a trading post, administratively attached to
Saint-LouisSaint-Louis, or Ndar as it is called in Wolof, is the capital of Senegal's Saint-Louis Region. Located in the northwest of Senegal, near the mouth of the Senegal River, and 320 km north of Senegal's Capital City Dakar, it has a population officially estimated at 176,000 in 2005. Saint-Louis was the...
, capital of the Colony of Senegal. Apart from slaves, beeswax, hides and grain were also traded. The population of the island fluctuated according to circumstances, from a few hundred free Africans and Creoles to about 1,500. There would have been few European residents at any one time.
In the 18th and 19th century, Gorée was home to a Franco-African Creole, or
MétisItalic textA Métis is a person born to parents who belong to different groups defined by visible physical differences, regarded as racial, or the descendant of such persons. The term is of French origin, and also is a cognate of mestizo in Spanish, mestiço in Portuguese, and mestee in English...
, community of merchants with links to similar communities in Saint-Louis and the Gambia, and across the Atlantic to France's colonies in the Americas. Métis women, called
signares from the Portuguese
senhora, were especially important to the city’s business life. The signares owned ships and property and commanded male clerks. They were also famous for cultivating fashion and entertainment. One such
signare, Anne Rossignol, lived in Saint-Domingue (the modern
HaitiHaiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Creole- and French-speaking Caribbean country. Along with the Dominican Republic, it occupies the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago...
) in the 1780s before the
Haitian RevolutionThe Haitian Revolution is, as historian C.L.R. James affirms, "the only successful slave revolt in history." It established Haiti as the first republic ruled by blacks. At the time of the revolution, Haiti was known as Saint-Domingue and was a colony of France...
.
In February 1794 during the
French RevolutionThe French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based...
, France was the first nation in the world to abolish slavery. The slave trade from Senegal stopped. However, in May 1802 Napoleon reestablished slavery after intense lobbying from sugar
plantationA plantation is a large farm or estate, usually in a tropical or subtropical country, where crops are grown for sale in distant markets, rather than for local consumption. The term plantation is informal and not precisely defined....
owners of the Caribbean
départements of France. The wife of Napoleon,
Joséphine de BeauharnaisJoséphine de Beauharnais was the first wife of Napoléon Bonaparte, and thus the first Empress of the French. Through her daughter, Hortense, she was the maternal grandmother of Napoléon III...
, daughter of a rich plantation owner from
MartiniqueMartinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . It is an overseas department of France. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados. As with the other overseas departments, Martinique is also one of the twenty-six regions of...
, supported their position.
In March 1815, during his political comeback known as the
Hundred DaysThe Hundred Days, sometimes known as the Hundred Days of Napoleon or Napoleon's Hundred Days for specificity, marked the period between Napoleon Bonaparte's return from exile on Elba to Paris on 20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII on 8 July 1815...
, Napoleon definitively abolished the slave trade to build relations with Great Britain. (Scotland had never recognized slavery and England finally abolished the slave trade in 1807.) This time abolition continued.
As the trade in slaves declined in the late eighteenth century, Gorée converted to legitimate commerce. The tiny city and port were ill situated for the shipment of industrial quantities of peanuts, which began arriving in bulk from the mainland. Consequently, its merchants established a presence directly on the mainland, first in
RufisqueRufisque is a city in the Dakar region of western Senegal, at the base of the Cap-Vert Peninsula. It has a population of 179,797...
(1840) and then in
DakarDakar is the capital city of Senegal, located on the Cape Verde Peninsula, on the country's Atlantic coast. It is Senegal's largest city. Its position, on the western edge of Africa , is an advantageous departure point for trans-Atlantic and European trade; this fact aided its growth into a major...
(1857). Many of the established families started to leave the island.
Civic franchise for the citizens of Gorée was institutionalized in 1872, when it became a French “commune” with an elected mayor and a municipal council.
Blaise DiagneBlaise Diagne was a Senegalese political leader, the first black African elected to the French National Assembly, and mayor of Dakar.- Early life :...
, the first African deputy elected to the French National Assembly (served 1914 to 1934), was born on Gorée. From a peak of about 4,500 in 1845, the population fell to 1,500 in 1904. In 1940 Gorée was annexed to the municipality of Dakar.
Gorée is connected to the mainland by regular 30-minute ferry service – pedestrians only; there are no cars on the island. It is Senegal’s premier tourist site and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978. It now serves mostly as a memorial to the slave trade. The built-up urban core of the island is geared to tourism. Many of the historic commercial and residential buildings have been turned into restaurants and hotels.
Administration
With the foundation of Dakar in 1857, Gorée gradually lost its importance. In 1872, the French colonial authorities created the two communes of
Saint-LouisSaint-Louis, or Ndar as it is called in Wolof, is the capital of Senegal's Saint-Louis Region. Located in the northwest of Senegal, near the mouth of the Senegal River, and 320 km north of Senegal's Capital City Dakar, it has a population officially estimated at 176,000 in 2005. Saint-Louis was the...
and Gorée, the first western-style municipalities in West Africa, with the same status as any commune in France. Dakar, on the mainland, was part of the commune of Gorée, whose administration was located on the island. However, as early as 1887, Dakar was detached from the commune of Gorée and was turned into a commune in its own right. Thus, the commune of Gorée became limited to its tiny island.
In 1891, Gorée still had 2,100 inhabitants, while Dakar only had 8,737 inhabitants. However, by 1926 the population of Gorée had declined to only 700 inhabitants, while the population of Dakar had increased to 33,679 inhabitants. Thus, in 1929 the commune of Gorée was merged with Dakar. The commune of Gorée disappeared, and Gorée was now only a small island of the commune of Dakar.
In 1996, a massive reform of the administrative and political divisions of Senegal was voted by the Parliament of Senegal. The commune of Dakar, deemed too large and too populated to be properly managed by a central municipality, was divided into 19
communes d'arrondissement to which extensive powers were given. The commune of Dakar was maintained above these 19
communes d'arrondissement. It coordinates the activities of the
communes d'arrondissement, much as
Greater LondonGreater London is the top-level administrative subdivision covering London, England. The administrative area was officially created in 1965 and covers the City of London, including Middle Temple and Inner Temple, and thirty two London boroughs...
coordinates the activities of the
London boroughThe administrative area of Greater London contains thirty-two London boroughs. Inner London comprises twelve of these boroughs plus the City of London. Outer London comprises the twenty remaining boroughs of Greater London.-Functions:...
s.
Thus, in 1996 the commune of Gorée was resurrected, although it is now only a
commune d'arrondissement (but in fact with powers quite similar to a commune). The new
commune d'arrondissement of Gorée, which is officially known in French as the
Commune d'Arrondissement de l'île de Gorée, took possession of the old
mairie (town hall) in the center of the island. This had been used as the
mairie of the former commune of Gorée between 1872 and 1929.
The
commune d'arrondissement of Gorée is ruled by a municipal council (
conseil municipal) democratically elected every 5 years, and by a mayor elected by members of the municipal council.
The current mayor of Gorée is
Augustin SenghorAugustin Senghor is a Senegalese politician. A member of the Rally of the Ecologists of Senegal, he became the mayor of Gorée in 2002, prominently featuring anti-erosion measures in his platform. He is also the president of the US Gorée football club....
, elected in 2002.
Island historical sites
Other attractions on the island include three
museumA museum is a building or institution which houses a collection of artifacts.Museums collect and care for objects of scientific, artistic, or historical importance and make them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary...
s, one dedicated to women, one to the
history of SenegalThe History of Senegal is commonly divided into a number of periods, encompassing the prehistoric era, the precolonial period, colonialism, and the contemporary era.- Precolonial Senegal :...
and one to the
seaA sea is any large amount of water filled with animals such as crabs, whales, sharks, and fish, but there is inconsistency as to its precise definition and application. Most commonly, a sea may refer to a large expanse of saline water connected with an ocean, but it is also used sometimes for a...
. The seventeenth century Gorée Police Station, Gorée Castle and a small
beachA beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of a body of water. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, or cobblestones...
are also of interest to tourists.
The island is a
UNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on 16 November 1945...
World Heritage SiteA UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site that is on the list that is maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 state parties which are elected by their General Assembly for a four-year term.A World Heritage Site is a...
.
Archaeological research on the historical occupation of Gorée has been recently undertaken by Dr. Ibrahima Thiaw (Associate Professor of Archaeology at the
Institut Fondamental d'Afrique NoireIFAN is a cultural and scientific institute in the nations of the former French West Africa...
(IFAN); and the University Cheikh Anta Diop of Dakar, Senegal); Dr. Susan Keech McIntosh (Professor of Archaeology,
Rice UniversityWilliam Marsh Rice University is a private coeducational research university located in Houston, Texas, United States...
, Houston, Texas); and Raina Croff (PhD candidate at
Yale UniversityYale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States. Yale has produced many notable alumni, including five...
, New Haven, Connecticut). Dr. Shawn Murray (
University of Wisconsin–MadisonThe University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
) also contributed to the archaeological research at Gorée through a study of local and introduced trees and shrubs, which aids in identifying the ancient plant remains found in the excavations.
Notable residents
- Father of French rapper Booba
Booba is the stage name of Elie Yaffa is rapper from Boulogne-Billancourt, a commune in the western suburbs of Paris. He is of Senegalese and French descent.- Background :...
(born Elie Yaffa). In his song "Garde la pêche" he mentions the island, saying "Gorée c'est ma terre" (Gorée is my land/hometown). Also, in his song "0.9," he says "A dix ans j'ai vu Gorée, depuis mes larmes sont eternelles" (When I was 10 I saw Gorée, since then my tears have been eternal."
- Djembe musician Latyr Sy
-Life and work:Latyr Sy moved to Japan in 1995 and organized his own percussion group AFRICA SUNU XELCOM in 1996.Latyr Sy collaborates with many artists, and genres like jazz, Latin, rock and traditional music, such as Leyona and Inushiki...
.
- Kora
Kora can refer to:* Kora , a stringed musical instrument of West African origin* Kora , a type of pilgrimage in the Buddhist tradition* Kora , another name for the Banjara, a tribe of central India...
musician and djeli or griotA griot or jeli is a West African poet, praise singer, and wandering musician, considered a repository of oral tradition. As such, they are sometimes also called bards...
Karamo Cissokho
External links