Black Americans in Samaná

When Christopher Columbus first landed on Hispaniola he only met friendly natives- until he arrived in Samaná. There the Ciguayos were hostile and would not trade with him and his sailors, recording this in his ship’s log. This particular area of Hispaniola was now tarnished in Columbus’ mind. He avoided conveying this negative impression back to Spain and the monarchy, saying that the people of Hispaniola were peaceful in an attempt to portray the island as easily conquerable. However, Columbus (and other figures during the colonization) didn’t try to invade this area later.

Consequently, this peninsula was largely left alone during the many power struggles to control the island. Columbus’ initial encounter helped shaped peoples views of the peninsula. In addition, this area is separated differently geographically. Samaná was at one point an island, but later it became connected to Hispaniola by shifts in the earth.  This region “still has relatively poor transportation connections to the outside world...despite being well populated today” writes Dennis Hidalgo in his book Searching for an American Dream. Years later, due to the lack of attention to this area and its geographic remoteness, it was less affected by new peoples and governmental changes than the rest of the country.

I had the chance to see many areas of the country while spending the past five days traveling across the Dominican Republic. One of the more unusual places we visited was Samaná. Leticia Wilmore is a congenial woman in her 80’s who allowed us to visit her home while she shared about her family history and the unique community of Black Americans in Samaná. Leticia’s great grandmother and about 6,000 other free Blacks traveled from the United States (specifically North Carolina and Pennsylvania) to the island of Hispaniola to resettle. In his article “The Samaná Americans”, John Weeks writes about Haitian President Jean-Pierre Boyer’s 1824 attempt to bring more people to the island (which was at that time controlled entirely by Haiti). After the Haitian slave revolt many people left the island because they erradicated slaver. Haiti gained total control and Boyer wanted to replenish the workforce.

Meeting Letecia in her home

Why would so many free Blacks move from the United States to the Caribbean (besides the weather and beautiful beaches)? They left to escape racism. While many of the people who immigrated eventually left Haiti, there remained a strong Black American community in Samaná. In other parts of the country the free Blacks either left, dispersed, or intermarried with other people. This was not the case in Samaná. Consequently, the low population density on the peninsula allowed the U.S. Black emigrants to become significant cultural group in the region.

This  group still practices Anglo-Dominican Methodism at a church that dates back to the 1830’s. Many still speak English, including Leticia. On my visit to this church I met a man named Abraham Kelly who also spoke to us in English. He is about 83 years old. The church service was in Spanish (but they were preformed in English up until Trujio forced them to switch to Spanish in the 1940’s). The fact that this church and its community has stayed cohesive while surrounded by predominantly Catholic and Spanish speaking people is incredible, keeping their religion and language alive.

Observing a service at the church

Abraham Kelly at the church

Did these people succeed in evading racism?  Comparatively speaking, yes. Blacks in the other parts of the Dominican Republic are looked at as having a lower social status than lighter skinned and more Spanish looking people. This is even more prominent closer to Haiti because of Dominicans dislike of Haitians (who are very dark skinned people). But all the way across the island, in Samaná, almost all of the people who live there are very dark skinned and skin color isn’t an issue. Poverty has reached all areas of the Dominican Republic, but in Samaná racism is not a problem like in the rest of the country. In this way, the free Black Americans achieved the success and longevity they were searching for.

Meeting Letecia