With the influence of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in
the territory that today is known as the Caribbean of Nicaragua, the Mosquitia
Kingdom was born in 1633 as a protectorate that was led by Miskito Amerindians
in alliance with the British.
This region had its king and both he and his descendants, who were
originally from this area, were sent to Jamaica, Belize, or England to receive
their academic preparation, to later return to serve the Mosquitia.
The most popular towns in the kingdom at that time were Bluefields, Corn
Island, Pearl Lagoon, and Sandy Bay, which was the capital until it was moved to
Bluefields in 1787.
Enslaved people were brought to this land from Africa, especially from
the West, where they would perform domestic chores and work on the plantations’
gowns, since exportation was made from this region, especially cotton, to
Liverpool, England.
They also planted sugar cane, coconut, and other products that were used
to prepare food for their masters; they cleaned the yard of those who had
enslaved them, washed their clothes, and brought water from the wells to supply
their houses. These were arduous activities, without any rest. They were
subjected to inhuman treatment, so much that many of these men and women tried
to escape, without succeeding because they were chained.
The destiny of the enslaved changed in the year 1841, when Colonel
Alexander McDonald, superintendent of the English crown in British Honduras,
today Belize, arrived at Pearl Lagoon and Bluefields on August 10 to emancipate
27 and 43 people, respectively.
McDonald arrived at the Corn Islands on the 27th of the same month to
the shores of Southwest Bay, where he summoned the owners and their slaves to
read the act that proclaimed the freedom of 99 men and women of African origin
in the name of Queen Victoria of England and King Robert Charles Frederic of
the Mosquitia.
Interestingly, by 1834 all territories under British occupation had to
have emancipated their slaves by mandate of a law approved by the English
Congress a year before, however, the Caribbean was one of the last places to
hear this news.
After the emancipation of the enslaved men and women, some remained in
the territories of the Mosquitia, others formed their own families, and had
children with the descendant of Europeans, thus giving birth to the Creole
ethnic group. Other freedmen decided to migrate to other parts of the
Caribbean, seeking to connect with their ancestral roots.
The only place on the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua that celebrates this historical
event massively has been the Corn Islands, and this custom began between 1852
and 1859 with the arrival of Reverend Edward Kelly from British Honduras, who
was the son of former slaves and dedicated his life preaching the gospel. Kelly
evangelized the Corn Islands and literate the population after establishing the
Ebenezer Baptist Church and School on August 25, 1852.
Crab soup is the main dish and a symbol of freedom in the emancipation
from slavery festivities on the Corn Islands. It was the only thing the newly
freed men and women had prepared to celebrate their freedom, they had it for
supper while dancing to the rhythm of ancestral songs.
The emancipation from slavery is celebrated to remember the struggle of
the ancestors of the black community of the Caribbean and to celebrate the
freedom that was given to thousands of men and women of African origin.
