Black Rice Black Rice The African Origins of Rice Cultivation in the Americas Judith A. Carney HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge,Massachusetts London,England Copyright©2001byJudithA.Carney Allrightsreserved PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Carney,JudithAnn. Blackrice : theAfricanoriginsofricecultivationintheAmericas / JudithA. Carney. p. cm. Includesbibliographicalreferences(p. ). ISBN0-674-00452-3(cloth) ISBN0-674-00834-0(paper) 1.Rice—SouthernStates—History 2.Rice—Africa,West—History. 3.Slaves—SouthernStates. I.Title. SB191.R5C35 2001 633.1(cid:2)8(cid:2)0975—dc21 00-053941 TothememoryofDandofmyparents Contents Preface xi Introduction 1 1 Encounters 9 2 RiceOriginsandIndigenousKnowledge 31 3 OutofAfrica:RiceCultureandAfricanContinuities 69 4 ThisWas“Woman’sWuck” 107 5 AfricanRiceandtheAtlanticWorld 142 6 Legacies 160 Notes 179 References 217 Index 233 Figures 1.1 TheWestAfricanGrainorRiceCoast. 14 1.2 TheslavecaptainSamuelGamble’sdepictionofBagaricecultivation, c.1793.CourtesyNationalMaritimeMuseum,London. 20 2.1 CentersoforiginanddiffusionofAfricanrice. 39 2.2 SourceareasofempireformationinthewesternSahel,eighthtosixteenth centuries. 41 2.3 RainfallpatternsintheWestAfricanriceregion. 45 2.4 MandinkawomendisplayingbundlesofAfricanandAsianrice.Photoby author. 51 2.5 Diolawomanhoeingricefield,Casamance,Senegal.CourtesyPaul Pélissier. 52 2.6 TemnewomanparboilingriceinSierraLeone.CourtesyDavidP. Gamble. 53 2.7 Mandinkawomenusingthelong-handledhoe,thebaaro.CourtesyDavidP. Gamble. 54 2.8 Mandinkawomenininlandswampwiththeshort-handledhoe,thedaba. Photobyauthor. 55 2.9 Manjakmanusingthelong-handledkayendoinfieldpreparation,Guinea- Bissau.Photobyauthor. 56 2.10 Ricecultivationalongalandscapegradient:centralGambia. 57 2.11 Inlandswampsystem.Photobyauthor. 59 2.12 Useofpalmsforsluicesinwatercontrol,inlandswamp.Photoby author. 60 2.13 DiolawomentransplantingriceinTheGambia.Photobyauthor. 61 2.14 Tidalricecultivation,seasonallysalineriver,TheGambia.Courtesy SurveysDepartment,GovernmentofTheGambia,1972. 62 2.15 Mangrovericecultivation,permanentlysalineestuary:Casamance,Senegal. Photobyauthor. 67