Mozambique

Beginning in 2013, the Slave Wrecks Project collaboration in Mozambique has developed and expanded through ongoing research, training, and public outreach initiatives, with a primary focus on the Mozambique Island region. Many of the programs and initiatives that define SWP’s signature approach worldwide emerged from this long-standing and robust collaboration in Mozambique. This includes innovations in community engagement, heritage protection, public education, professional training, and transformative museum work.

two people in scuba gear floating at the surface of the water. their shoulders and heads are still above the water but their legs are submerged. the front of a boat is cut off in the forground, with a rope that is descended towards the divers.

Since 2013, the Slave Wrecks Project (SWP) has developed a strong collaboration with the faculty, researchers, and students of the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology at Universidade Eduardo Mondlane. In 2013, SWP supported the first training for Mozambican university students in maritime archaeology and their field research on a slave trade related site near Inhambane. Subsequently, SWP’s technical assistance enabled Mozambican archeologists and the local community to conduct an assessment that resulted in the termination of the destructive activities of a major international treasure hunting firm in the waters surrounding Mozambique Island.

Cezar Mahumane, Julio Cesar Marins, and Madick Gueye in Mozambique, 2023. (Photo by Steve Lubkemann)

Cezar Mahumane, Julio Cesar Marins, and Madick Gueye in Mozambique, 2023. (Photo by Steve Lubkemann)

Since then, this SWP collaboration has continued to develop and expand through ongoing research, training, and public outreach initiatives, with a primary focus on the Mozambique Island region. Many of the programs and initiatives that define SWP’s signature approach worldwide emerged from this long-standing and robust collaboration in Mozambique. This includes innovations in community engagement, heritage protection, public education, professional training, and transformative museum work.

SWP global partners, including the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (SI-NMAAHC), The George Washington University (GWU), the  National Park Service – Submerged Resources Center (NPS-SRC), Diving With a Purpose (DWP), Iziko Museums of South Africa (IZIKO), and the African Centre for Heritage Activities (ACHA) have all been thoroughly involved in developing this important and wide-ranging partnership with Mozambican institutions, including Universidade Eduardo Mondlane and its newly established Centro de Arquelogia Investigção e Recursos da Ilha de Moçambique (CAIRIM), and with members of the local community on Mozambique Island.

Resistance to the Slave Trade: The Search for L’Aurore

SWP Academy training in Mozambique is also advancing groundbreaking new research. In 2023, after years of survey and archival research, a SWP research team that included SWP Academy trainees began to document the site of the L’Aurore, a vessel carrying over 600 enslaved Africans that sank in 1790 within sight of Mozambique Island. This work is bringing to light the story of those who perished during this shipwrecking event, merely days after they had risen up in an attempt to take over the ship. During this subsequent storm, the crew, fearing another rebellion, refused to open the hatches, resulting in the death of hundreds of captive Africans. This site bears witness to the extreme cruelty of the slave trade, but also to the forgotten stories of resistance by so many of those who fought back against their captivity, estimated to have occurred in one in ten voyages.

Timber sample being taken of the suspected wreck of the L'Aurore, 2022. Photo by Marc-André Bernier.

Timber sample being taken of the suspected wreck of the L’Aurore, 2022. Photo by Marc-André Bernier.

Learn more about our work in Mozambique on our blog!

Group of divers learning with someone instructing in a pool.

SWP participants conducting dive training at a local hotel on Mozambique Island, 2023. Photo by Luis Felipe Santos.

A driver faces away from the camera writing on a clipboard under water. The driver is wearing an oxygen tank, goggles and a white shirt. The driver is looking down at the sea floor. There is a measuring tape spread out over seagrass and sand. In the background, the seagrass continues.

Underwater surveying off of Mozambique Island. Photo by Marc-Andre Bernier, 2023.

Group of people smiling and posing next to a raft on the beach.

Members of the SWP pause for a selfie before heading out to sea to investigate magnetic anomalies, some of which may represent ships that wrecked while engaged in the slave trade, 2018. Photo by Hilliard Dean.

Group of people sitting in a circle listening to a person speak in the center.

SWP members discuss the memory of the São José shipwreck for locals in Mossuril, whose ancestors were aboard the ship, Mozambique, 2018. Photo by Kate McMahon.

Group of people sitting and standing around a table listening to someone speak at the head of the table.

SWP team members discuss activities during a field season on Mozambique Island at the CAIRIM facility in the Fortaleza São Sebastiao, a Portuguese colonial stronghold and site of significant slave trading in the region beginning in the 16th century, 2023. Photo by Luis Felipe Santos..

a large group of people standing and smiling together. four of them are in front of a table, one standing and the others kneeling and posing. behind the table are a large group of people standing and posing.

DWP diving instructors Jay Haigler and Kamau Sadiki with SWP Academy students in Mozambique, 2023. Photo by Kamau Sadiki.

The image is over a stone wall as it meets the ocean. Along the left side of the image, the gray stone wall sits on a level of black rock and beneath that green water stretches' into the rest of the frame. The background is of a cloudy gray sky.

Fortaleza São Sebastião on Mozambique Island, which was constructed by the Portuguese in 1558 and is the oldest colonial structure in sub-Saharan Africa, 2023. Photo by Marc-André Bernier.

A diver underwater is looking at the camera, holding up a thumbs up. The diver is wearing gloves, a oxygen tank and diving fins. Behind him, the grassy ocean floor is visible with a yellow flag sticking out of the ground.

A SWP diver conducting surveying off of Mozambique Island. Photo by Marc-André Bernier, 2023.

The image shows an old stone fort. It is areial view showing that fort has both sea and land walls. in the center for the fort, white buildings are visible but look abandoned. the fore ground is the road leading to the fort and surround trees. The background is split between blue ocean and cloudy skies.

Fortaleza São Sebastião on Mozambique Island, which was constructed by the Portuguese in 1558 and is the oldest colonial structure in sub-Saharan Africa, 2018. Photo by Hiliard Dean.

Three people overlooking water looking at a computer.

left to right): Aboard small, a rigid-inflatable boat, Jeneva Wright (NPS-SRC), Jessica Keller (NPS-SRC), and unknown examine tracklines during a magnetometer survey of the waters surrounding Mozambique Island, 2017. Photo by Susana Pershern.

In the center of the frame a boat is pointed left. There are four people in the boat. Two men sitting in the back and a man and woman talking at the front. The boat is a simple wooden frame painted green, white and red with a single motor. Written on the side is the word "Mariamo." On top the boat had a bright green wooden cover with a red and white flag. Other than the boat the image is blue ocean and the top 1/8 of the frame is cloudy sky.

SWP partners and students aboard a dive boat off of Mozambique Island in 2023. Photo by Luis Felipe Santos.

Women sitting in sand singing and dancing in ceremonial dress.

Makua women performing on the beach on Mozambique Island, 2018. The women's performance recalled the history of slavery and colonization on Mozambique Island. Photo by Kate McMahon.

two people in scuba gear floating at the surface of the water. their shoulders and heads are still above the water but their legs are submerged. the front of a boat is cut off in the forground, with a rope that is descended towards the divers.

SWP partners and students surveying off of Mozambique Island, 2023. Photo by Luis Felipe Santos.

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