Dutchman Ghosts and the History Mystery: Ritual, Colonizer, and Colonized Interpretations of the 1763 Berbice Slave Rebellion

In colonial orders the most impoverished and least powerful subordinates had few opportunities to store their images of the past in forms traditionally used by historians. In this essay I explore historical interpretations of the 1763 Berbice slave rebellion presented in three rituals, the majority of whose participants are impoverished residents of rural Guyanese communities. I contrast the issues addressed in these images with those addressed in accounts of the rebellion presented in colonial and post-colonial accounts written by the colonizers and the colonized. The focus of my description and analysis is the relation between historical accounts and the social identities of those who produce them.