The termMina was historically used inEnglish,French,Portuguese, andSpanish as an ethnonym for various different African peoples and their descendants. The term originated from theCosta da Mina and was used throughout Africa and the Americas during theAtlantic slave trade. In the modern day, the term has been preserved in different contexts in certain communities inBrazil,Benin, andTogo.
Mina first developed as anexonym for the indigenous people ofElmina, a settlement that grew around the PortugueseSão Jorge da Mina castle.[1] When used within theGold Coast, the term referred to those specifically from Elmina whereas it could refer to anyone from the general region when used outside of the Gold Coast.[2]
A group known as the Mina established themselves on the western bank of theheadwaters of theVolta River toward the end of the 16th century. The origin of their name is uncertain, and could either refer to their place of origin near São Jorge da Mina castle or to a reputation for gold mining. These Mina were skilled warriors who adopted the usage of firearms from theAkwamu and traders of salt, fish, gold, and slaves. They were frequently employed as mercenaries across the Gold Coast andSlave Coast, forming an important element of regional armies. The Mina also participated in slave raiding on both sides of the Volta, including amongst themselves over occasional succession disputes, and many were themselves captured and sold into theAtlantic slave trade. The rise of theAkwamu empire after 1677 displaced some Mina communities eastward, leading to their resettlement in the western Slave Coast, particularly atLittle Popo. During the eighteenth century, Mina settlements on both sides of the Volta came under the influence of the Akwamu Empire, before eventually being incorporated into theAsante Empire.[3]
African canoe men and traders from the Gold Coast, sometimes referred to as Mina, were first documented working along the Slave Coast in the mid-17th century. Some canoe men arrived on the Slave Coast as crews of boats purchased by Europeans on the Gold Coast, while others came independently as traders. Some of these canoe men settled in the area and established their own communities,[4][5] such as inAllada,[5]Ouidah,[6][7][8] andAného.[7][8] The canoe men who settled at Aného developed into their own distinct ethnic group, the modern-dayAné people of theGen-Mina,[9] and are still referred to asMina.[10]
In 1741, soldiers of thekingdom of Akyem, anAkan polity in what is nowGhana, were described as Minas.[2]
The meaning ofMina when used in the Americas varied by time and region. There is uncertainty regarding the origin of enslaved Africans who were referred to asMina in the Americas on whether they wereAkan orGa-Adangme speakers from theCosta da Mina and Gold Coast or Gbe-language speakers from the Slave Coast.[11][12][13]
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The termMina was used for several distinct groups of people in Brazil.[14] Enslaved Africans referred to asMinas were brought from gold-producing regions of Africa, such asSenegambia and the Gold Coast, to developBrazil's gold mining industry.[15][16] In theprovince ofMaranhão [pt], all Africans were generically referred to asMinas. In 18th-century Rio de Janeiro, enslaved Africans were grouped into one of three categories to designate their origin:Guiné,Mina, orAngola.[17] In the province ofBahia [pt], the Mina were split into two sub-groups due to the large West African population: theMinas-Santés (theAshanti) and theMinas-Popos (Speakers of Akan andGa who migrated to Little Popo).[18][19] Other ethnic terms including the termMina were also used in Brazil, such asMina-Nago andMina-Congo.[14]
Enslaved Africans referred to as Mina in Brazil were sometimes said to belong to theNação Mina (Mina nation). In this context, "nation" had a broader meaning than political entities and could denote groups of people with shared heritage, culture, or language. TheNação Mina was named after São Jorge da Mina castle.[20]
Hall argues thatMina in Brazil, when used to refer to an origin rather than a profession, referred to Gbe and Akan language speakers who settled around the Volta River and Little Popo.[21][14][22]
Enslaved Africans in Colombia referred to asMinas were brought from Africa to develop Colombia's gold-mining industry in the mid-sixteenth century.[15][16] The termMina in Colombia comes from the Spanish and Portuguese wordmina, which meansmine as ingold mining.[16][23] According to American historianGwendolyn Midlo Hall, they were likely taken from theBambuk orBurégoldfields in West Africa.[16] Most runaway Africans from the 16th to the mid-18th century were listed asMina.[24] These runaways formedpalenques which violently resisted Spanish rule; Mina-run palenques fought with firearms, committed suicide to avoid recapture, and strongly resistedconversion to Christianity.[25]
In a 1627 publication,Jesuit missionaryAlonso de Sandoval linked the Mina in Colombia to thePopos (people ofGrand-Popo),Fulãos (people of Ouidah), and theArdas/Araraes (people of Allada) with the Spanish phrase "que todo es uno" (they are all one).[26] Modern scholars interpret this passage differently. Hall uses this passage to claim that the Mina were related to other Gbe-speakers of the Slave Coast, like the Ewe, Aja, and Fon.[27] British AfricanistRobin Law suggests thatMina could refer to Ga-Adangme-speakers of the Gold Coast and that a significant number of bilingual Mina could cause this group to be grouped with enslaved Africans from a different language group.[12]
Mina appears alongside many other terms for enslaved Africans from the West African coast in an 1916 inventory compiled by Cuban anthropologistFernando Ortiz Fernández of classic African ethnicities in Cuba. WhileMina was generally used to refer to anyone from the Gold coast region, more specific terms such asArará,Dajomé,Magino,Sabalú,Cuevano,Agicon,Nezeve, andLucumí were also used to refer to people from specific regions within coastal West Africa.[18] The termMina-Popo was also used in Cuba.[28]
There werecabildos that used the termMina, such as the 1909Cabildo Minas Popó Costa de Oro or the 1794–1812Cabildo Mina Guagui.[18]
In 1678, runaways slaves from FrenchSaint-Domingue established the community ofSan Lorenzo de los Minas, now known as Los Minas, in SpanishSanto Domingo. The community attracted further runaways from Saint-Domingue and numbered 205 people by 1740. The residents of Los Minas were intensely resistant tochristianization and endured several attempts by the Spanish to destroy their settlement. They eventually became integrated in the local community through sellingcassava meal in thecapital of Santo Domingo and formed communities in other locations, such as theSanta Barbara district in Santo Domingo,Villa Duarte, and potentially Mendoza inSanto Domingo Este.[29]
In the latter half of the eighteenth century,Mina was distinct from other terms to refer to Gbe speakers such asArada andRada, Adja for theAja people, orFoeda for those from theKingdom of Whydah. Mina coexisted withCoromanti, an English term which likeMina referred to enslaved Africans from the Gold Coast region.[30]
The Mina were a prominent group of enslaved Africans in thestate ofLouisiana. The termMina in Louisiana is argued by American historianGwendolyn Hall to have been used to differentiate Western Gbe speakers such as the Ewe,Ouatchi, Adja, Gen, and Hula from other groups such as the Fon.[31]
Mina slaves were documented inUruguay during the late 18th century and early 19th century. These slaves likely arrived in Uruguay after first transiting through Brazil, whether by land or through a large Brazilian slave port such asSalvador.[32][33] An 1812 census documents 297 Mina slaves residing inMontevideo.[34]
The 18th centuryOcoyta palenque was led by the Mina Guillermo Ribas.[35]
WhileMina originated as a Portuguese word, it was also used in English, French, and Spanish.[27][23]Mina was sometimes adapted into these languages, such as Minemen in English,[8] or Mine andMinois in English and French.[36][27][37]
In Brazil and Cuba, the termMina was sometimes part of more specific ethnic terms.Minas-Santé,Mina-Congo, andMina-Nago were used in Brazil,[37][14] whereasMina-Popo was used in both countries.[28]
In the present-day,Mina is used as an ethnonym for theAné people of theGen-Mina people.[38] The term is also sometimes applied to theGen people [fr].[citation needed] TheGen language spoken by the Gen-Mina is sometimes known as Mina.[39]
The term is also present inTambor de Mina, anAfro-Brazilian religion inNorthern andNortheastern Brazil, and theCasa das Minas, a temple of the aforementioned religion.[22]
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