Igbo Landing Historic Site, Historic site at Dunbar Creek, Saint Simons Island, United States.
Igbo Landing Historic Site is a memorial location on Dunbar Creek at Saint Simons Island in the United States, commemorating a tragic event from 1803. A marker near the shore identifies the spot where enslaved people from West Africa arrived and resisted their oppression.
In 1803, a group of around 75 enslaved Igbo from West Africa reached the coast of Saint Simons Island after resisting their captors aboard the vessel. Rather than face enslavement, many chose to walk into the water and drown.
The site takes its name from the Igbo, a West African ethnic group, and today draws descendants of enslaved people who come to honor their ancestors. Visitors often leave flowers or other tokens of remembrance along the banks of Dunbar Creek.
A memorial marker installed in 2022 provides background information about the 1803 event and stands openly accessible at Dunbar Creek. The surrounding area is natural and there are no developed paths or facilities on site.
African-American oral traditions tell of people walking into the water while singing a melody in their mother tongue. Some versions of the story speak of the drowned transforming into birds and flying back across the ocean.
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