Speeches 2006
Remarks by Ambassador Michael L. Retzer at the Ceremony to Mark the Completion of the Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation: Preserving and Disseminating the Slave Trade Collection at the Zanzibar National Archives
Venue: Dhow Palace Museum, Zanzibar.
April 27, 2006
Honorable Minister of Culture and Vocational Training;
Director of the Department of Archives, Museums and Antiquities;
Distinguished guests;
Mabibi na mabwana;
Asalaam Alaykum! Hamjambo? Thank you for being here for today’s ceremony. I hope you will enjoy yourselves and learn a few things, as I have, about the legacy of the Indian Ocean slave trade. We wanted to get together with you today to mark the completion of a very important cultural preservation project. With funding support from the American government, your ministry has successfully restored, preserved, catalogued, and published some of the world’s most important historical documents related to the Indian Ocean slave trade. That is a remarkable achievement and I think all of those who were involved should be congratulated.
These documents show the horrors of the slave trade through the voices of those who lived at that time. In doing so, they help all of us reflect on how man came to engage in such atrocities – which in turn makes us understand how to prevent them in the future.
Another thing these documents do is give us insight into the fascinating history of Zanzibar. I was reading the Zanzibar Slave Memory booklet that was published as part of this project and was completely captivated by the stories it tells. For example, the struggle between the British champions of the anti-slavery movement and the Omani sultan, who was clearly unwilling to let the slavery system go, are captured in amazing detail in this book. If you have not yet read it, I recommend it to you all.
But the most important thing that has been accomplished by this project is the preservation of an important aspect of Zanzibari culture. The slave trade is not just some interesting historical footnote for the people of this island. It was the reason that many of your ancestors came here. It shaped the settlement patterns, the economic and political systems, the music, dance, and songs of village life, the religious traditions. In short, it had a profound impact on nearly every facet of life on these islands. And so it is important for you to keep alive the documents and other artifacts that tell the story.
This is the reason why my government supported the project. We know how important history, tradition, and culture are to Zanzibaris, and we want to be a part of helping you stay in touch with your past. As Americans, we take cultural preservation very seriously. As Mr. Omar, the Director of the Archives, can tell you, because he did a study tour of our museums in the U.S. last year, we view cultural preservation as a very serious issue.
For this reason my government started the Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation in 2001 to help less developed countries preserve cultural heritage and to demonstrate our respect for other cultures. We’re only allowed to fund one project in each eligible country per year. This is a competitive process whereby proposals from our embassy are competing with those submitted by embassies around the world, and I am happy to say that Tanzania has received funding for projects 3 out of the past 4 years.
With this funding, we have been able to help preserve traditional music together with the Dhow Countries Music Academy; we have funded the creation of a museum in Pemba; and now we have helped preserve and disseminate information about the slave trade. We are working on future projects that I am sure will continue to build on this impressive record of accomplishments.
Some of you might be asking, why is the US government spending money on cultural preservation when we have such poverty in Zanzibar. I would say to you that your culture is one of your greatest strengths, and it can be an engine for driving economic growth. The thousands of tourists who come here from all over the world do not come only because of your beautiful beaches. They come because they know that there is something special on these islands. That the people are special, that there is a tremendous history here. And if you preserve that history, you make it available to you, your children, your grandchildren, and yes, the tourists as well.
So I appreciate you being here to help us make others aware of Zanzibari history and culture and congratulate you for this successful and important project.
Mheshimiwa waziri, mabibi na mabwana, asanteni na tutaonana tena.
