The Kunta -Kinteh Island

Slave Island

Kunta-Kinteh Slave Island Learn More

Juffureh

The Kunta -Kinteh Island

Getting ready to embarked on the boat to the Island Learn More

The Kunta-Kinteh Island

Roots

The Kunta-Kinteh Island a UNESCO World Heritage site Learn More

The Slave Island

Kunta - Kinteh

Africa's  Major slave trading post during the Trans Atlantic slave trade Learn More

Africa's major slave trading post

The Island of Kunta-Kinteh

The symbol for the abolition of slave trade at Juffureh Learn More

Roots

The slave island

Kunta kinteh formerly James Island

Roots

Kunta kinteh island

The slave island of Kunta Kinteh Learn More

An important historical site from the Atlantic slave trade era, Kunta Kinteh Island and its related sites—including Fort Bullen, Juffureh, and Albreda—are UNESCO World Heritage-listed. The first European settlers were Dutch colonists from Courland, although the English crown granted the island to two separate companies in 1588 and 1618. In 1651, settlers built a fort named after Jacob Kettler, Duke of Courland, which served as a trade base until the British captured it in 1661.

The island, formerly known as James Island, is famously linked to the character Kunta Kinteh, featured in Alex Haley’s book and TV series Roots. Kunta Kinteh was one of 98 enslaved Africans taken aboard the slave ship Lord Ligonier in 1767, destined for Annapolis, Maryland, marking a poignant chapter in history.

Quick Facts

Kunta-Kinteh Slave Island

Its first settlers were the Duchy of Courtland & Semegailia a vassal state of the Polish Lithuanian Common wealth.

 

The Slave Island

The Island was  major slave trading post in Africa during the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade.