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Courtesy of William Holland
African-American genealogist William Holland, dressed in traditional garb, shows off the ceremonial masks he bought on eBay. He plans to return the masks to the tribes from whence they came during a trip to Cameroon.
When family researcher William Holland flies back to his ancestral homeland in Cameroon next week, he'll be bearing gifts: ceremonial masks that were taken out of Africa decades ago, purchased by Holland in online auctions, and now destined to be returned to the tribes from whence they came.
It's an unusual exercise in citizen diplomacy, but one that's fitting for Martin Luther King Jr. Day — an occasion that celebrates the late civil-rights leader's legacy and encourages volunteer service.
"You're always supposed to give back," Holland said. "Even if you have nothing, at least try to give something to somebody so they can move ahead, even if it's something as simple as a book. Now I'm able to do what's right and return these items that were stolen. And I hope that it leads the way for other people to give back as well, whether it's to a school, or an organization, or to society."
'Roots' for the 21st century
Holland has spent more than a decade fleshing out his ancestral connections. He's used documents, DNA tests and extensive interviews to trace his family back through the slave era in the South, back to Cameroon in West Africa, and maybe even back to Syria in ancient times. He's learned how people from Cameroon's Oku clan were kidnapped by slave traders in the 1700s, rounded up and sent to America. Those were the people who passed down their genetic heritage to Holland.
Now he's giving back, thanks in part to eBay.
The Atlanta businessman's project began when he learned about a statue of Ngonsso, the founder of Cameroon's Nso dynasty, which was taken from the country in the early 1900s during the colonial era and ended up in a German museum. Cameroonian officials have been working for years to get the statue repatriated, and Holland was looking for ways to support the campaign. During his research, he and his contacts in Cameroon came across items of cultural interest that were coming up for sale on eBay auction sites.
"Throwing knives, caps, many things from the palaces are on sale here in the U.S.," Holland said.
Holland decided to spend his own money to buy some of those items, including the masks. "One has been identified as an Oku mask, the other is Nso," he said. The Nso mask, depicting a colorful elephant, was said to be used by a secret society in their ceremonies, while the humanlike Oku mask was worn during funerals.
The masks were apparently taken from Cameroon in the 1970s or 1980s under murky circumstances, Holland said. Now he's gotten both of them back, along with some Cameroonian throwing knives, at a cost of more than $1,000 (including shipping).
"I'm doing this on my own, because it's the right thing to do," Holland said. "This is hopefully a preface to the return of the Ngonnso statue. It's not fair that you sell something that's sacred to the community."
Holland also plans to bring a set of slave-era shackles he bought on eBay, to use them as a visual aid when he tells his distant Cameroonian relatives the American side of the story surrounding his ancestors' abduction. "I don't think many of them know what happened during that time," he said.
What's in it for him?
In addition to forging better relations with his presumed relatives, Holland hopes his eBay diplomacy will lead to a role in future development projects, such as U.S.-supported programs to upgrade Cameroon's water and sanitation facilities and preserve the remains of a historic slave-trade port in Bimbia. He's also looking into starting a tour business that would be focused on his ancestral home in Oku country, with a twist of genetic genealogy added to the mix.
For Holland, this isn't just a business proposition. To paraphrase Martin Luther King, he has a dream: that the sons and daughters of former slaves will be able to work together with their African kin to make Africa — and America — a better place.
"I'm glad that my eyes have been opened," Holland said. "I've learned a lot, and now I can do something to help change cultural awareness here in the U.S. and also in Cameroon. Now is a good time to do it."
Previous chapters in the African saga:
- 2010: DNA points to royal roots in Africa
- 2011: Family roots get tangled up in Africa
- 2011: Black history saga comes full circle
- 2011: Africans visit their American cousins
- 2011: Genes tell a tale as big as Africa
- 2012: African-American's roots revised
- African American news from theGrio
Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.
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Holland hopes to change cultural awareness in America ?...... If so, why do we not stop calling ourselves African, Asian, Latino Americans, ect. and be a nation united ? Why do we not just call ourselves Americans and focus on our similarities rather than our differences ?
Because we all have different heritages and the melding of them in the USA is what makes our culture a great one.
Maybe your ancestors in the Third Reich would not agree?
Congratulations to Mr. Holland for discovering his heritage and seeking to restore valuable artifacts to it. Museums have a great role in reminding us where our ancestors have been.
@peterson
United we stand divided we fall..... ring a bell?
true today as it was then.
by calling ourselves "blank"american this and "blank"american that we are dividing ourselves.
also your comment on the the Third Reich was out of line and really inappropriate.
I think Brian's comment to Ellis was a little harsh but I can understand his principle. Would you care to tell me exactly WHAT is an American? If you could possibly tell me in one simple word what an American is, I would be over-joyed.
And know that America is actually two continents and many people do take a bit of offense at those from the U.S. coining the term "American" as their own.
I am an American, natural born, and I'm rather interested and proud also of my heritage made of different ethnic groups. But from your viewpoint and Ellis' we need to do away with Boston's and New York's St. Patrick Day Parades as well? How dare they talk about their Irish-American identity. From now on we should all describe ourselves as "American-Americans"? Even the Census Bureau has breakdowns as to previous nationality, ethnicity and race. If the government approves of it, why can't Brian or Mr. Holland have the same right?
Oh by the way I am Scottish/Irish American and damn proud of every ounce of all three of them.
Brian's comment is more than a little harsh ron. In fact, the 3rd reich reference is as awful, and as ill informed as the "N" word. History is history, but Brian wants to use it to beat up someone he doesn't even know, over their comment which was almost, but not quite so ill informed. What is that, fighting fire with fire? I just don't get it. Someone who I would guess fancies himself progressive & tolerant using intolerance as a weapon. It won't get anyone, anywhere, least of all American society.
Congratulations William Holland on great work, great spirit, and great focus. Congratulations also on being a successful American businessman. Best wishes.
Interesting story. Good luck with your project.
I hope he doesn't end up in jail for possessing something that doesn't belong to him? Being able to prove he bought it on eBay might not be easy to do. Being caught at the Airport with these items will surely happen when he goes through customs. Good Luck.
Don't know much about Cameroon but hoping they have museums to house some of these artifacts. The golden triangle did untold damage to Africa from which they are still recovering. Guns from England to Africa, Slaves from Africa to America, and cotton from America to England, profit on every leg of the journey, a vast transfer of wealth from resource rich Africa to America and England.
More power to this guy if this makes him happy.
Maybe he will be able to find the tribal headman who sold his ancestor/ancestress to europeans (or muslims) for a bolt of cloth and a steel pot.
Wouldn't it be funny if he found hundreds of them with stamps inside Made In China when he gets there?
I think this man is doing a very nice and honorable thing. I can't believe some of the comments here that really have nothing to do with him OR his efforts. Most people do not have a slave ancestry, I as a white man, do have indentured servitude in my family's history, but that is not slavery. I have tried several times to find out 'why' one of my ancestors was sold into servitude, I think it would be interesting. Having this on one's family tree is something that might be of interest to everyone. Just as this man wants to go to Cameroon because that's where his tree has roots, I have always wanted to go to Scotland to visit the roots of my tree.
But so many here see Mr. Holland as doing something that puts a burr under their saddle. Get over it and get on with life. You want people to drop the prefix to "American" give them reason. And then someone tell me, please how they don't have a prefix before "American" in their heritage, unless they are Native American. Anglo-American, Franco-American, Italo-American. Sure most people have left that in the past but there are so many people who still cling to this as a grasp on their own family history.
People with a prefix in front of American don't have to use those terms, too many other people place this on them as it is.
Nice thing to do, but Cameroon is still politically unstable, with a high crime rate. Ten to one these returned artifacts will be looted again, or sold by someone entrusted to protect them - and will end up back on eBay.
It is only the descendants of slaves in your country that need answers. Who took their history from them? White American slave traders in the 17th and 18th century. Their descendants are not content until they understand where they came from. At great expense they discover through DNA investigation, what part of African their ancestors where taken from. This man is so connected to his past that he wants to bid for gifts for them on Ebay. He should not be put to this expense when he did not create his problem. Your ancestors did it to him. White Americans at the very least should pass a law giving every black person a full tax deduction for this type of investigation. White America owes it to Black America.
really, i mean good god man read a little history before you comment.
Just how much is owed to rice pickers and cotton balers? I mean multi-generational welfare spanning almost 80 years, access to higher education dispite lack of ability, jobs dispite lack of ability.. I mean just what is left?
i am sure that CAMMARRON gets foreign aid so instead of buying weapons, use it to fix the inforstructure instead of begging for more US tax payers money!
While I can appreciate the sincerity of this man's intentions and goals, someone should point out to him that (1) most of the "African Art" sold on eBay is "fake" in the sense of being made in China, or made in Africa but deliberately for export/sale to gullible Westerners, and (2) many cases of "authentic" African Art available on eBay or at fine art auctions or in museums or private collections around the world were legitimately purchased from their original owners. They were not necessarily "stolen" during the colonial period or more recently. I have a house full of lovely authentic Bambara/Dogon/Bozo masks and statues and puppets collected in the early 1980s from Mali -- I paid for them. In the case of many masks, when the mask gets old and weathered, a new mask is carved and the spirit is transferred from the old mask to the new mask. Then the old mask can be sold to some clueless Westerner who likes the way it looks. The villagers don't particularly want the old mask back, unless it is to resell it.
The only reason these masks have survived is because they were removed from Cameroon. Like most African artifacts, if they had ben left in Africa the Africans would have destroyed them through abuse or neglect. Returning anything like this to Africa is a wasted effort... they will only end up being destroyed. Most of Africa is a wasteland of poverty and overpopulation. The last thing these savages care about are some old masks. Give it six months, and they will end up being "stolen" and sold on ebay again... Talk about a wasted efffort. Maybe this imbecile should move back to Cameroon and stay there.... obviously he is one delusional dummy.
You aren't a nice person at all. You are a poor excuse for a human being and hopefully if you ever need help and a Black person comes along, remember that you called them savages and don't ask for help.
Are you capable of any type of intelligent speaking?
I wish him well in his endeavors.
There's the proof that you can make a little money selling your unwanted nick nacks on ebay .
Good for him. If we start caring more for others and less about self this world would be a better place.
I find it strange that the place that enslaved them, Africa, is loved, but the country that freed them, America, is hated!!
Odd comment, as this article states absolutely nothing about love or hatred of any nation, just a man's discovery of his roots and kin in another country. Moreover, maybe some unscrupulous people in Africa sold people they kidnapped, but the kidnapped people were held in slavery right here in America before 1865. The passage of the Fugitive Slave Act was not exactly an act of breathtaking homage to the ideals of liberty and respect for one's fellow human beings.
Why the sour grapes from some of you? Holland has succeeded in doing something that makes himself and his family happy, and we all should wish him and his mother the best and a wonderful trip. Slavery obviously was a harrowing and depressing experience for those who were its victims. I would guess it would be a very happy and uplifting occasion for anyone whose entire family history has been bound up in it to find out that there is much more to the family's history and identity than this dark period. Many people hold their family history in a special light and base some of their personal identity on it. That's why there are Civil War reenacters, people who keep family bibles, people who always refer to some ancestor's military accomplishments, organizations like the Sons of the Confederacy, etc. All these people will certainly understand what Holland is doing and why he's doing it. As a person who gets out the green sweater and the shamrock earrings every March 17th, I'll just say
Good work, Mr. Holland, and bon voyage!
Kudos to Mr. Holland for the effort and energy to find his ancestry and cherish it; no matter where it led. These trans-atlantic reconnections are sorely needed. I also respect the fact that he did enough research to know about the OKU and NSO people. The culture of these people are so respected that nobody will mess with original masks used in tribal rites. Those are still in Nso and Oku. However, there are tribal artisanal people who make SIMILAR masks for sale. I have bought masks that look like the ones he is holding at various stores in the US. Unless these masks are authenticated to have been stolen from tribal palaces, I will advice Mr. Holland not to be too surprised when he finds them for sale at the airport when he arrives there. God bless you for the thought and the effort though.