✨18th Century Nkisi bundle found in Newport, Rhode Island
🌿Hi everyone! I wanted to share with you all this article of a historical example of African religion and spirituality in colonial New England. This is a 1700s religious Nkisi bundle more than likely owned by an enslaved African man named CARDADO WANTON who was trafficked to New England in the 18th century.
“A Nkisi Bundle Was Found in a Historic Newport Home - But What Is It, Exactly?”
💙 “In 2005, representatives of the Newport Historical Society working on the Wanton-Lyman-Hazard House found a bundle of items concealed beneath an attic floorboard.”
“The items, known collectively as an nkisi bundle, were likely owned by Cardardo Wanton and held spiritual significance for their owner, a man enslaved by the Wanton family in the late eighteenth century.”
“Nkisi (and its plural, minkisi) comes from a Bantu word loosely meaning ‘to take care’ and often includes buttons, nails, cowrie shells and other household items. They take the form of figures or bundles and played a role in connecting enslaved people of African descent with their ancestors. ‘It reminded them of their humanity in a world that told them constantly and consistently that they were not human,’ de Barros Gomes says.”
In 2005, representatives of the Newport Historical Society working on the Wanton-Lyman-Hazard House found a bundle of items concealed beneat
This along with other items are on display until 2026 as part of the “Entwined: Freedom, Sovereignty and the Sea,” at the Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, Connecticut.
“Entwined: Freedom, Sovereignty and the Sea” is a major maritime exhibition centering maritime histories of Indigenous, African, and African-descended worldviews and experiences in New England.
