Where was Gustavus Vassa, also Known as Olaudah Equiano, Born? Revisiting an Old Question

Abstract

ABSTRACT Considerable controversy has prevailed over where the person usually known as Olaudah Equiano, but virtually always referred to as Gustavus Vassa in his own time, was born: whether in Africa as he claimed, or in South Carolina, which two documents seem to suggest. Following his own stated preference and virtually all references, he is referred to here as Gustavus Vassa. It is argued that ‘Essaka’, which he said was his home, is to be identified with Usaka in Abia State, Nigeria. Confirmation comes from the fact that Usaka was the home of the Ariam clan, which was one of four clans in a confederation known as Ikwuano, the other three clans being Oboro, Ibere, and Oloko. Vassa’s first name Olaudah is a name found elsewhere in Igboland, meaning ‘loud voice’, while his second name relates to the confederation where his father appears to have been a senator which Vassa wrote as Equiano. The location of Usaka 40 km west of Arochukwu, 30 km south of Bende, and 25 km from Umuahia, now the capital of Abia State, appears to be in the charming vale to which Vassa alludes in The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African.