“1848”. For Béatrice Farouil this date means a lot. About fifteen years ago, when this Frenchwoman, born in Guadeloupe, began research to find her ancestors, it was precisely in 1848 that she blocked it. The date marks the abolition of slavery in France. “It is not surprising, the slave had no civil status in French law, the only ones which we could find traces in the registers of the State before 1848 are freedmen”, explains Emmanuel Gordien. , president of the March Committee of May 23, 1998 (CM98). This West Indian memorial association has been organizing genealogical workshops for more than twenty years to support people wishing to know the history of their ancestors who were victims of the slave trade.
“The idea of these workshops is to find our parents so that we can finally honor them,” says Emmanuel Gordien, himself a descendant of a slave who lived in Benin.
“It is fundamental, because we give them back an existence through our research.
The slaves when they were sent to the islands were uprooted.
It is this lost link that we are rebuilding. ”
Blocked in her research, Béatrice Farouil quickly approached the CM98.
She wants to know more about Rose, a slave in the Abymes in Guadeloupe, from whom she comes from her mother's side.
Thanks to the database created by the association, which bought patiently digitized notarial deeds for 25,000 euros, Béatrice managed to dig beyond 1848.
"It calmed me down"
These kilometers of archives provide concrete information on the place of residence of the slaves, their pecuniary value, their state of health. "I found the prices of my ancestors: 1350 francs for Rose and her child Reine", says Beatrice. She also learns that the latter and her children were bequeathed to a freed slave, who was the mistress of an owner. "I did not feel either hatred or anger, it was all normal at that time. The fact of finding their traces, trying to understand calmed me", she confides, even if she prefers not to become aware of certain details, such as whether they have been treated well.
“In families, there is a culture of silence, it is a period that we do not talk about, because with the abolition of slavery, we asked the freed people to forget this past.
At home, on the paternal side, my father did not know that his distant parents were slaves, it was I who taught him ”, continues Béatrice Farouil.
“The discovery of certain information requires support”
Thanks to the data collected, the CM98 has created an unparalleled digital database, based on civil status registers dating from the time of the abolition of slavery.
These documents contain a list of 140,000 names of slaves from the French Antilles.
"We make our data and studies available to all those who wish" recalls Emmanuel Gordien. This list is freely available on the Anchoukaj site, which means "the root of the tree" in Creole. A simple search by name of family allows access to a lot of information, including the slave number of ancestors with the same surname.
“The discovery of certain information requires support,” warns Emmanuel Gordien. He remembers a traveling exhibition in the commune of Moule, in Guadeloupe, in 2004: “We had collected the names of all the slaves who had resided in this city and we had printed signs paying homage to them. Men and women began to cry at the sight of their parents' numbers. That's when we said to ourselves that we had to start these genealogy workshops. ” More than 500 people have benefited from support since their creation.
At the head of these sessions, which continue weekly on Zoom despite the Covid-19 pandemic, Béatrice Farouil underlines the importance of exchanging with other people who have experienced this type of research.
“Without obligation, the participants open up about their family history and together we defuse”.
Little research succeeds in Africa
“Some discoveries are more painful than others”, points out Emmanuel Gordien.
“There are cases of consecutive births of rape, incest or even stories of slaves who helped stop fellow creatures who tried to swim away.
No one wants to know that one of those parents was involved in this kind of stalking. ”
The association must also deal with disappointments.
“Even before knowing where they come from in the West Indies, some people write to us to find out 'which African village' they come from,” says Béatrice.
“Others have even resorted to DNA testing”.
But few are those who, like Emmanuel Gordien, manage to trace the trail of their ancestors to Africa.
After the abolition, French civil status officers were sent to the West Indies to choose surnames for the freedmen.
“Directives had been received, it was necessary to give names from the Gregorian calendar, from ancient history or names invented by anagrams.
Some freed people wanted to keep their African names and luckily, some conciliatory officers accepted.
This is the case with my relative, who bears the name of an ethnic group in Benin. ”
For a memorial bearing the names of the French victims
For Emmanuel Gordien, this is a way of “reconciling our history with Africa.” For this, the association approached the State of Benin to propose erecting a monument bearing the 200,000 names of the victims. from the slave trade to Guadeloupe, Guyana, Martinique and Reunion in the port of Ouidah, one of the main starting point for the export of slaves to the Antilles.
“The Republic should also honor the victims of these crimes,” adds Emmanuel Gordien, whose association calls for the erection of a memorial in memory of former slaves who became French citizens in the Tuileries garden in Paris.
French President Emmanuel Macron made the promise, but the project remained blocked after a controversy over the choice of shortlisted artists.
In question, a certain number of works retained do not include the 200,000 names of French freedmen.
“The registration of these hundreds of thousands of names of slaves who became citizens in 1848 is nevertheless central”, deplores Emmanuel Gordien.
“They are our ancestors”.
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