HOW RELIGION PRESERVED THE MAN: EXPLORING THE HISTORY AND LEGACY OF AFRICAN ISLAM THROUGH THE YARROW MAMOUT (CA.1736-1823) ARCHAEOLOGY PROJECT By MIA LASHAYE CAREY A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2017 © 2017 Mia LaShaye Carey To little brown girls and boys who dare to dream In Loving Memory John Wilson Hawkins (1928-2009) and Ursuline Grace Hawkins (1923-1995) ACKNOWLEDGMENTS It would take a whole new dissertation to truly express my gratitude for everything that you two have given me, sacrificed, and supported me through these last 27 years. For once all jokes aside, Linda, Dad, I love you with every fiber of my being. Thank you for being my motivation, my strength, my everything. I may be with one with the letters behind my name, but this accomplishment, this degree, more than any of the others, truly belongs to you two. It is and will always be a testament to the values of dedication, strength, and perseverance you have instilled in me. Though we are not related by blood, love makes us family. You have been two of my biggest champions for as long as I can remember. I may have asked you to be my godparents, but being your goddaughter is one of the greatest honors I have ever had. Boo and Tricia, your love, generosity, and unwavering support is rare. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for loving me when others did not. You are the Stitch to my Lilo; the Peanut Butter to my Jelly; the Hulk to my Betty. Anthony over the last three years your friendship has sustained me emotionally, physically, and mentally more than you’ll ever know. Though I have a way with words, describing our bond, our relationship in a way that makes sense to others is even beyond my abilities on my best day. Thank you for weathering this storm with me. To my doctoral chair, Dr. Susan deFrance, and to my committee Drs. Charles Cobb, John Krigbaum, Gwendolyn Simmons, and Elizabeth Washington, thank you believing in my dream and reaching uncharted territories with me. Nine years ago, I would never have pictured myself as archaeologist, but you two saw my potential, pushed me out of my comfort zone, and gave me the opportunity to make all of this possible. Drs. Eleanor King and Flordeliz Bugarin, your support over 4 these last five years speaks to the environment in which you provided at Howard. We are more than just student and professor, we were and are, forever, a family. My dearest Ruth, from the moment you met me, you took me under your wing, you nurtured me, and you promptly clipped my wings. You have inspired me, supported me, and fought for me more than anyone I have ever known. I will forever be indebted to your generosity, dedication, and love. To the other members of the Yarrow Mamout Archaeology Project, Charde and Charlie, getting to know you to and having the opportunity to work alongside you was an eye opening experience. Thank you for guiding me and supporting me throughout this whole process. To Muhammad, your support and guidance throughout the writing stage helped renew my confidence and my belief that I was making a difference. To Margaret Cheney, thank you for allowing us access to her property. To James H. Johnston, thank you for walking into the Peabody Room of the Georgetown Public Library that day so many years ago. Without your unwavering curiosity and quest for the truth, Yarrow’s story may have largely disappeared. To my fellow DLPers, especially Chrissy, and staff of the D.C. Historic Preservation Office, thank you. Never have I felt more welcomed, more at home than I do when I walk into Suite E650. Friends are rare, especially those who stick by you in the worst of times. Janine, from that fateful meeting at the McKnight welcome ceremony in 2012 to Aruba to all of our future adventures together, thank you for understanding my quirks and pushing me to work harder. Also, thanks for your editing skills. Kristen, gaining your friendship over the last year of my graduate career has been amazing. I cannot wait to celebrate in 5 Iceland with you and all of our other international adventures. Will, my friend, my brother. Five years and countless hours at the dog park later, thank you for being you and taking care of Pharaoh like he was your own. Throughout this whole process there have been many players who have contributed to not only the success of this project, but to my graduate career. First and foremost, I want to thank Charles Jackson and the McKnight Doctoral Fellowship family as well as the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program. Many thanks, to the UF Anthropology Department Staff, Karen, Pam, Patricia, and Juanita, you were all a big help throughout my graduate career. To Drs. Mary Furlong- Minkoff and Matthew Reeves from James Madison’s Montpelier and other staff, thanks for giving me a crash course in ceramics. To Rebecca Morehouse, Patricia Samford, and others at the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory, thank you for your assistance in both my thesis and doctoral research. Also to the King family and the Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum for not only awarding me a 2016 Gloria S. King Fellowship in Archaeology, but for providing a forum through which to share my research. To my undergraduate laboratory volunteers, thank for you for the late hours and hard work. To the surrounding neighbors of 3324 Dent Place, your hospitality throughout the project made those long, hot days’ worth it. To my fellow archaeologists and volunteers, the project would not have been the same without all of your hard work. To those who donated supplies, money, and time to getting the project off the ground, we all sincerely thank you. To Susan Duser, thank you for the graphic design work. Special thank you my friends and family who were not mentioned, thank you for supporting me throughout this journey. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. 4 LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................... 10 LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................ 11 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... 13 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 15 On Monuments, Memory, Silence, White Privilege, and Racism ............................ 18 Purpose and Goals ................................................................................................. 26 Mamout’s Story ....................................................................................................... 27 Previous Research on Enslaved African Muslims ................................................... 30 Theoretical Framework ........................................................................................... 34 Is this African Diasporic Archaeology, Islamic Archaeology, Public Archaeology, or Something Else? ............................................................................................. 40 Where Have We Been? .................................................................................... 40 Where Are We Going? ..................................................................................... 42 Chapter Summaries and Organization .................................................................... 44 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 45 2 RESISTING INVISIBILITY: (RE)INTRODUCING THE HISTORYHISTORY OF AFRICAN ISLAM .................................................................................................... 47 The Birth of Islam .................................................................................................... 49 Sunni-Shia Split ................................................................................................ 52 Sufism .............................................................................................................. 53 African Muslims, West Africa, and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade ......................... 55 Evidence for the Pre-Columbian Presence of Muslims in the New World ............... 59 The First True Wave of Muslims ............................................................................. 62 Literacy ............................................................................................................. 63 Resistance ........................................................................................................ 66 Treatment ......................................................................................................... 68 Islam and the Founding Fathers ............................................................................. 68 The Fight for American Geopolitical Interests ......................................................... 71 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 73 3 FROM AN IDEOLOGY TO A MOVEMENT: THE HISTORICAL LINKS BETWEEN PAN-AFRICANISM, BLACK NATIONALISM, AND THE RISE OF ISLAM IN AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITIES BY THE 1920S ........................ 75 7 The Golden Age of Pan-Africanism and Nationalism