Sierra Leoneans are mourning the toppling of a beloved ancient tree that had become their national symbol and their historic connection to the liberated slaves who founded the West African country.
The giant 70-metre Cotton Tree was felled in a thunderstorm last week. It had towered for centuries over the heart of Sierra Leone’s capital city, Freetown, after its settlement by former slaves who returned to Africa from Britain and North America in the late 18th century.
The tree also symbolized what is believed to be the earliest site of contact between Canada and Africa. About 1,200 freed African American slaves, later known as the Nova Scotians, travelled to Sierra Leone by ship from Halifax in 1792. After holding a prayer meeting under the tree to give thanks for their safety, they christened their new home “Free Town.”
For days since the tree was toppled, people have been trekking to the location to pay their respects.
“This is like New York losing the Statue of Liberty, or if the Eiffel Tower in Paris fell,” said Ali Bangura, who was taking pictures on his phone, as workers with chainsaws removed the tree’s remains.
Sierra Leone’s President, Julius Maada Bio, visited the site and promised that the tree will be preserved in some way in a museum.
“For centuries it has been a proud emblem of our nation, a symbol of a nation that has grown to provide shelter for many,” he said in a statement.
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The tree has appeared on Sierra Leone’s bank notes, stamps and medals, and even in lullabies sung by mothers to their children. For years, it has survived fires and lightning strikes. People sometimes gathered at the tree to give prayers for the country.
“The Cotton Tree was the spine that held up Freetown and Sierra Leone,” said Raymond DeSouza George, a local historian, in a Globe and Mail interview.
“Our parents used to tell us stories passed down from their parents about the significance of that tree. Some believe in the magic of the tree and its premonitions or mystical powers.”
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The tree, whose base was about 20 metres wide, is believed to be around 400 years old. Technically a kapok tree (Ceiba pentandra), it was widely called the Cotton Tree, probably because of the cotton-like fluff that grew from its seed pods. Freed slaves would have been familiar with cotton from the fields in the Southern United States.
“We can trace our history through this tree, from the founding of Freetown and before, slavery, colonialism, through independence,” said an observer, Isata Marie Kamara, who watched as the debris was lifted into trucks.
The tree sat at a central intersection that links the main law courts building, the drive to State House, the National Museum and the commercial district of Freetown.
“It was at the hub of everything from prayer sessions to rallies … commerce and politics,” said another observer, Jane Moseray, who took time off work to visit the site.
The tree’s national symbolism began in early 1792 after 15 ships set sail from Halifax with freed slaves on board. They were among the 3,000 former slaves who were promised freedom by Britain after they fought on its side during the American Revolutionary War. Originally resettled in Nova Scotia, they faced discrimination and harsh weather in their new home and were eventually offered passage to the new British colony in West Africa.
After the ships anchored, their passengers walked inland through a kilometre of dense tropical forest to an open clearing with the Cotton Tree at its centre, where they gathered to pray. Freetown became part of the larger British colony of Sierra Leone, which had been founded five years earlier.
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In 2017, two Canadian Navy ships berthed near the heart of Freetown, and their sailors visited the historic tree.
“This is likely the oldest contact between Canadians and Sub-Saharan Africa,” Canadian high commissioner Heather Cameron said at a small ceremony under the shade of its branches.
By Sunday, a huge section of the toppled tree’s trunk was chained to a flatbed truck near the site, and observers were discussing what should replace it.
“This is a historic site and we should plant a new cotton tree so we can watch it grow and our children can watch it, and our grandchildren,” said Fatmata Sadia Koroma.
Mr. Bio promised to replace the Cotton Tree with a new symbol of its history.
“For us,” the President tweeted, “the Cotton Tree wasn’t just a tree, it was a connection between the past, present and the future and we must strive to immortalise it.”
