First Draft Text on Burial Shrines

It is an indisputable historical fact that the black population of the Americas originated in Africa. This obvious and verifiable historical fact requires no demonstration. But what it means about black people in the Americas has not been a matter for calm and balanced appraisal. The attitudes of scholars in the United States concerning the relationship of the black American community to its African antecedents has been a matter of great debate. The debate centers around the question, "Did the black man bring any culture with him to the New World?" Clearly, the answer must be negative and positive.

Being forced into slavery in the New World resulted in the loss of social heritage, language, social status, home environment, and cultural identity, including most art forms.

Artistic continuity concerns itself with symbolizing experience in modes meaningful to the persons in the culture. This continuity has been called survival, retention, and syncretism by scholars. These words can give us some useful labels for dealing with the concepts of the complex New World phenomenon of African American culture.

Africans in diaspora expressed as much of their African heritage as they could, in vastly changed circumstances. Repression from the dominant culture tended (tends) to diminish their abilities to utilize their own culture, because forces of deculturation and acculturation were steadily at work.

Robert F. Thompson, African art historian, states that nowhere is the West and Central African influence more pronounced than in black traditional cemeteries throughout the South of the United States. Revealed by the objects and decorative motifs that decorate and adorn the graves is a strong continuity. A continuity that clearly provides evidence of an African tradition. The Kongo/Angola, and Yoruba/Ewe/Ga/Ashanti influences persist as identifiable restatements of cultural continuities.

Aside from the obvious headstone, there are decorative objects that, 'cryptically honor the spirit in the earth, guide it to the other world, and prevent it from wandering or returning to haunt survivors. In other words, the surface "decorations" frequently function as "medicines" of admonishment and love, and they mark a persistent cultural link between [Africa] and the black
New World.' (1)

In the examples from Florida shown, some of the most predominant styles indicate Kongo-influences. Tombs are often covered with the last objects touched or used by the deceased. The rationale among the Kongo for this practice is:

Plates and cups and drinking-glasses are frequently selected for placement on the surface of a tomb. It is believed that the last strength of a dead person is still present within that sort of object. (2)

This belief has been documented from plantation times (1845-65) - "Negro graves were always decorated with the last article used by the departed" (3) - to St. Helena Island, Georgia, 1919, and Brownsville, Georgia, c.1939: "They used to put the things a person used last on the grave. This was supposed to satisfy the spirit and keep it from following you back to the house." (4)

Among the objects found by the author have been eyeglasses and a radio. Objects such as these are believed to keep the spirit from harming the living. 'The arrest of the spirit in last-used objects (kanga mfunya, literally, "tying up the emanations of effluvia of a person," or in another translation, "tying up the anger of the dead") directs the spirit in the tomb to rest in peace and honors its powers on earth.'(5)

Another powerful force on tombs is the seashell. It is believed to enclose the soul's immortal presence. Witness a Kongo prayer to the mbamba seashell:

As strong as your house you shall keep my life for me. When you leave for the sea, take me along, that I may live forever with you. (6)

Kongo seashell imagery lingers lyrically in the words of Bessie Jones, a 20th century black artist of St. Simons Island, Georgia:

The shells stand for the sea. The sea brought us, the sea shall take us back. So the shells upon our grave stand for water, the means of glory and the land of demise. (7)

Even though entire mounds are covered over with large conch shells, as in Guadeloupe (in the Caribbean), New Orleans, La, or Jacksonville, Fl., the most beautiful example of this practice is in the Carolina low country. These are where the differences can be most readily observed between African American and Euro- American burials. In fact Robert F. Thompson has observed a further creolization, wherein the cover of gleaming white shells is replaced by walls of gleaming white bathroom tiles in Haiti. (8)

Of particular interest is one grave marker that is conical in shape and surface covered with shells. This image is of Yoruba/Ewe derivation. Having seen images similar to this on the shrines of many oloshas (traditional Yoruba priests), it reflects the image of Eshu/Elegba. The original lateritic shards found in Yoruba markets and guardians of the threshold and keeper of the gate are conical in shape.

Dr. R.F. Thompson has made some interesting observations in his travels. "In Dahomean Yorubaland, around Ouidah, I have seen large freestanding images for Elegba with mystic signs of the divination diety (Ifa) marked in inserted cowries on the chest of the image... Clay and concrete Eshu have symbolic resonance -- sacrificial shells, where embedded, bring to life the spirit who, though reduced to shards, has nonetheless retained the energies upon which the development of our individuality depends." (9) Accordingly, the Yoruba view all organic matter as possessing a vital force (ashe) that can be manipulated to regulate the quality of man's life. (10)

In addition, the conical shape has special significance. Despite great variation in form and medium and despite multiple shades of meanings, projections that reflect a similarity among the Yoruba range from statues, beaded headgear, priestly headgear, masqueraders costumes, religious instruments, and buildings. Researcher Margaret Drewal concludes: "...the [conical shaped] projection from the top is usually associated with divine presence. The heads or tops of these mediating figures literally operate in two realms -- realms accessible only through those persons and objects that have been specially endowed for transcendence. ...in their various forms and contexts they may characterize the particular nature of that force." (11)

The significance of "white" previously mentioned requires some further illumination. The color is correlated with ancestral purity and water. Among the Urhobo of southern Nigeria white chalk is used to cover the walls of shrines. "White riverain kaolin is used throughout the Niger Delta and indeed throughout most of southern Nigeria as an instrument of religious purity." 12 The Ga of Accra are similarly respondent to white. "White color or white clay connotes positive conceptions such as peace, success, blessing prosperity... White is both a symbol of purity and a symbol of divinity." (13)

Examples abound with tombs covered with white gravel, and others whitewashed and dusted with metalflakes in simulation of the shimmering of the ocean. The glitter serves to reinforce the whiteness, the brightness of the tombs.

The regenerative power of water is certainly an important notion. Fundamentally, however, the importance of water is as the mediating substance between God and man, and the dynamic principle of the source of life in all its forms on this planet. Water is thought to be both the barrier and passageway to the ancestral world. Hence the usage of the term "Olokunmiranlade" (Olokun, Yoruba sea god knows the wealth of the ancestral crown) by Yoruba-Americans. (14)

Among the Ga, this element is further illustrated. "In Yoomo's house, as in that of every kpele medium, is a god's room (wongtsu), in which she...stores various ritual objects. The most important ritual object in the room is a pot (kulo) of water through which the medium invokes spirits." (15)

Symbolically, a mirror functions in much the same fashion as water. There is an startling example from Coconut Grove. Many of the original settlers are of Bahamian origin, and their descendants still reside in the area. Mediumship is a continuing tradition among the Bahamian population.

Robert F. Thompson made another very interesting observation in the manner in which flowerpots were used:

A little-noted fact, taken for granted by casual observers, is that numerous Afro-American traditionally decorated graves are adorned with flowerpots, either turned deliberately upside down and embedded carefully in the soil or set right side up but adorned with green floral paper turned deliberately inside out, revealing the gleam of the inner tinfoil in intimation of the flash of the departed spirit. Both traditions are gestures to the dead. The inversion of pierced white basins and other vessels is common in many Kongo cemeteries. Indeed, the verb "to be upside down" in Ki-Kongo also means "to die." Moreover, inversion signifies perdurance, as a visual pun on the superior strength of the ancestors, for the root of bikinda, "to be upside down, to be in the realm of the ancestors, to die" is kinda, "to be strong," "because those who
are upside down, who die, are strongest." (16)

Much can be determined by the sight of tree branches placed strategically, though often not noticed, on or by tombs. One of the most readily discernable influences include the use of graves of the recently deceased as charms of ancestral vigilance and spiritual return, and the related metaphysical uses of trees, staffs, branches, and roots.

Fu-Kiau Bunseki comments, "When you see a twisted root within a charm, you know, like a tornado hidden in an egg, that this nkisi is very strong - you cannot touch it; only nganga can touch it." The association of twisted roots with enormous reserves of power persists in black America, where such charms are called "big" or "high", as in High John the Conqueror (a gnarled and twisted root). (17)

Again, among the Urhobo of Nigeria, in certain shrines "crooked pieces of wood, fragments of mangrove roots, or strangely shaped branches of any number of types of trees are piled in a domical heap... They collect the bent sticks...take them to the shrine as gifts to the spirit; in return, they ask for safe journeys and bountiful harvests. (18)

Trees and other evergreens planted on graves also signify the spirit with their roots literally journeying to the world of the dead. Hence: "Kongo elders plant trees on graves explaining: 'This tree is a sign of spirit, on its way to the other world'". (19) At Hazelhurst, Miss, we learn that "It is (after the funeral sermon) that the evergreen is planted on the grave. These trees are identified with the departed, and if the tree flourishes, all is well with the soul." (20)

Additionally, there are metallic objects found on tombs, including money. Urhobo devotees bring to the shrine any piece of metal that they find in the course of farming or fishing. The resulting sacred accumulations of metals are held to be messages from the spirit world, physical signs of life in the other world." (21)

Several years ago while the author was a resident of Miami, Fl., a human skull was discovered. Lying nearby were some coins. Dr. Charles Wetli, Deputy Chief Medical Examiner, Dade Co., Fl., indicated, "The coins found in association with the skull are also typical (to those found in association with Mayombe rituals) and apparently represent a symbolic payment to the nkitas (spirit directed charm of Kongo influence)." (22)

There exists some evidence of similar "payments" at gravesites. One visitation to the tomb of Zora Neale Hurston revealed such coins, as well as, perfume, conch shells, cigars, gin, and a handwritten note. (23)

In addition to objects left on the tombs, the plastic application of cement castings and the intentional use of painted signs and symbols, form a bi-cultural language. Evidence for this argument is strongly supported.

The simplest Kongo cruciform (+), the "Greek" cross, is considered a sacred "point" on which a person stands to make an oath, on the ground of the dead and under all-seeing God. Robert Thompson continues:

This Kongo "sign of the cross" has nothing to do with the crucifixion of the Son of God, yet its meaning overlaps the Christian vision. Traditional Bakongo believed in a Supreme Deity, Nzambi Mpungu, and they had their own notions of the indestructibility of the soul: "Bakongo believe and hold it true that man's life has no end, that it constitutes a cycle. The sun, in its rising and setting, is a sign of this cycle, and death is merely a transition in the process of change." (24) The Kongo yowa cross does not signify the crucifixion of Jesus for the salvation of mankind; it signifies the equally compelling vision of the circular motion of human souls about the circumference of its intersecting lines. The Kongo cross refers therefore to the everlasting continuity of all righteous men and women. A fork in the road (or even a forked branch) can allude to this crucially important symbol of passage and communication between worlds. The "turn in the path," i.e., the crossroads, remains an indelible concept in the Kongo-Atlantic world, as the point of intersection between the ancestors and the living. (25)

There also exists many tombs decorated with headstones and footstones. The headstone normally takes the familiar form with name and birth/death dates. The footstone, however, is cement cast, with shells or marbles embedded or marked in some way to provide them with personal power, symbolism and importance.

However, the most exquisite examples of decorative arts remain the headstones and tombs covered in multi-colored tiles. The specimens found also remain the most completely worked gravesites, from the artistic perspective. The rhythm and color balance bring to mind the tradition of loom weaving. The Mande of Mali, Akan and Ashanti of Ghana, Yoruba of Nigeria, and Ewe of Togo & Benin have weavings that come to mind when viewing these tiled tombs. African art historian Roy Seiber writes about the uniqueness of the textile design patterning:

Whereas careful measurement, precise calculations, and meticulous thread counts can create a scheme of fixed or repeated patterns, less planning may result in quite dramatic, random designs. Actually, the accidentals in such cloths are not unanticipated, but are allowed for if not calculated. (26) A quite different effect can be achieved from the matching of shapes that do not completely cross the width of the cloth. This fitting of forms can result in a dramatic, single, total pattern, distinct from the repetition of stripe motifs. (27)

Of specific colors he continues, "Although there are reports of other colors - black, yellow and red in particular - indigo seems to have been the most common and most popular." (28) The predominant tile colors of yellow, red and black, though abstract, recall visually these traditions.

One can, additionally, observe in the abstract tile patterning, a visual resonance to the off-beat phrasing of African and African American music. This off-beat, poly-rythmnmic phrasing is a unique character of the artistic tradition of the African diaspora.

Of particular fascination is the "creolization" of aesthetic stylizations. They serve as subtle counterpoints to the Neo-African aesthetic (New World African). The unusual surface workings and ornamentations are most powerful through the use of hands and manipulation of materials. The examples of metallic and multi-colored lettering show a delicate, unique application. In hand painting, shaping, otherwise creating a new surface, a most striking form of honoring the deceased is made manifest.

In the North American context, such syncretic stylizations expound on the creative aesthetic of the African diaspora because in the absense of economic resources the black experience shows yet another way of subtle inflection of given elements, codes and conventions. In this way one realizes that African aesthetics are dynamic, especially living in this multi-faceted society of the United States of America.

These images announce a coded message of the continuum and power of cultural traditions of the African diaspora. This document further illuminates the streams of visual and philosophic thought that continues to run throughout the African diaspora.

Footnotes:

1. Robert F. Thompson, Flash of the Spirit - African & Afro- American Art & Philosophy (Vintage Books, New York, 1984) p. 132.
2. Robert Farris Thompson & Joseph Cornet, The Four Moments of the Sun: Kongo Art in Two Worlds (Wash.,D.C.: Nat'l Gallery of Art., 1981), p. 200, excerpted from a long interview with Fu-Kiau Bunseki, 30 Sept., 1980. For a brief but brilliant analysis of symbolic usages of tombs in Kongo, see Kimpianga Mahaniah, La Mort dans la pensee kongo (Kinsantu: Center de Vulgarisation Agricole, 1980).
3. Sarah Hodfson Torian, "Notes and Documents: Antebellum and War Memories of Mrs. Telfair Hodgson"( Georgia Historical Quarterly, 27, 4 Dec., 1943), p. 352.
4. Georgia Writers' Project, Drums and Shadows (Athens: Univ. of Ga. Press, 1940); for further examples of tying the spirit of the dead person to the tomb by means of the last things she or he used, see John Vlach, The Afro-American Tradition in Decorative Arts (Cleveland: Cleveland Muse. of Art, 1978), p. 40. Cf. Peter A. Brannon, "Central Alabama Negro Superstitions," Birmingham News (18 Jan., 1925): "A Gullah negro on the Santee river explained to me that it was their custom to place the last plate, the last glass and spoon used before death on the grave."
5. Thompson, op. cit., p 143.
6. Laman, The Kongo, III, p. 37.
7. Telephone interview, fall 1975, also cited in Thompson and Cornet, op. cit., p. 198.
8. Thompson, op. cit., p. 138.
9. Thompson, op. cit., p. 26, 27.
10. Pierre Verger, Awon Ewe Osanyin: Yoruba Medicinal Leaves. (Ile-Ife: Institute of African Studies, Univ. of Ife, 1967) Warren, D.M., A.D. Buckley, and J.A. Ayandokun, 1973. Yoruba Medicines. (Legon: Institute of African Studies, Univ. of Ghana)
11. Margaret Thompson Drewal, Projections From the Top in Yoruba Art, (African Arts, October, 1977, Vol XI, No. 1) p. 49.
12. Perkins Foss, Urhobo Statuary for Spirits and Ancestors, (African Arts, July 1976, Vol IX, No. 4.), p. 89.
13. Marion Kilson, Kpele Lala - Ga Religious Songs and Symbols, (Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge, Ma., 1971), p. 77
14. Telephone communication, Imodoye Shabazz, 1988.
15. Marion D. De B. Kilson, Ritual Portrait of a Ga Medium, (Journal of African Studies, Fall 1975, Vol 2, No. 3) African Studies Center, UCLA., p. 77.
16. Thompson, op. cit., interview Fu-Kiau Bunseki, 9 Oct., 1977, p. 142.
17. Thompson, op. cit., p. 131.
18. Perkins Foss, op. cit., p. 14
19. Thompson, op. cit., interview Fu-Kiau Bunseki, 9 Oct., 1977, p. 139.
20. Ruth Bass, "The Little Man," in Alan Dundes (ed.), Mother Wit from the Laughing Barrel (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1973), p. 395.
21. Perkins Foss, op. cit., p. 14.
22. Charles V. Wetli, M.D. & Rafael Martinez, M.A., Brujeria: Manifestations of Palo Mayombe in South Florida, (publication unkown, copy of article given to author)
23. I did not read the note, but since it was weathered, it would have proved difficult had I made the choice to do so.
24. John M. Janzen and Wyatt MacGaffey, An Anthology of Kongo Religion: Primary Texts from Lower Zaire (Lawrence: Univ. of Kansas Press, 1974), p. 34.
25. Thompson, op. cit., p. 108-109.
26. Roy Seiber, African Textiles and Decorative Arts, (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1972), p. 181.
27. Roy Seiber, op. cit., p. 196.
28. Roy Seiber, op. cit., p. 201.

Input from: Henry John Drewel, Evjue-Bascom Professor, University of Wisconsin

SITES VISITED FOR THIS SURVEY:

A) Newmanville Cemetery S.R. 235, Alachua, Fl
B) Saint Matthews Cemetery S.R. 241, Alachua, Fl
C) Mount Nebo Cemtery S.R. 241, (SE 1 St/SW 30 Av), Alachua, Fl
D) Chestnut Cemetery NW 13 Ter/NW 5 St, Ocala, Fl
E) Tucker-Hill Union Cemetery, MLK Av/NW 5 St, Ocala, Fl
F) Pinegrove Cemetery, 10 St/Av "K", Fort Pierce, Fl
G) 17th St. Cemetery, Fort Pierce, Fl
H) Stuart Monterrey Rd/Kanner Hwy, Stuart, Fl
I) Washington Park Cemetery Bruton Blvd/Prince Hall Av, Orlando, Fl
J) Kissimmee Cemetery 2800 Orangeblossom Trail, Kissimmee, Fl
K) Gifford (across from Gifford Middle School)
L) Charlotte Jane Memorial Park Cemetery Douglas Rd/Kumquat, Coconut Grove, Fl
M) Calvary Baptist Cemetery Australian Blvd/5th St, Riviera Beach, Fl
N) Hilltop Cemetery Av "N"/W 30 St, Riviera Beach, Fl
O) Evergreen Cemetery West Palm Beach, Fl
P) Woodlawn Cemetery NW 9 ST/NW 19 Ter, Fort Lauderdale, Fl
Q) Gifford Cemetery 49th St/Lindsey Rd, Gifford, Fl
R) Washington Memorial Cemtery Jensen Beach, Fl

 

CATEGORIES OF ILLUSTRATIONS:

I. Last object used by the person/Broken crockery

II. Shells/Gravel/Whitewashed/Mirror

III. Flowerpot/Tinfoil

IV. Trees/Roots/Offerings

V. Metallic objects/Offerings

VI. Cruciform

VII. Bi-lingual markings

VIII. Tilework

IX. Miscellaneous Syncretic forms

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