15/06/2026
A forgotten chapter of our history deserves to be told.
Long before European colonization and long before the transatlantic slave trade where Africans were exploited, kidnapped, and forcibly displaced across the Atlantic, various forms of slavery existed among some Indigenous societies throughout the Americas.
Captivity could result from warfare, debt, social hierarchy, or other cultural practices.
By the late 18th and early 19th centuries, however, Indigenous and Afro-Indigenous descendants from Mosquitia were themselves being held in bo***ge in the Bay of Honduras, in what is now BELIZE.
In 1822, efforts were made to secure the freedom of individuals then classified in official records as "Indians" who had been brought from Mosquitia and illegally enslaved. It is important to understand that the term "Indian" was a colonial label broadly applied to the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, stemming from Christopher Columbus's mistaken belief that he had reached India. As a result, countless distinct Indigenous nations and peoples were grouped under a single inaccurate designation through academia and “official” records. John Lloyd Stephens, attorney, enemy of Mosquitia due to political interests, and President of the Panama Railway, also did this…
On February 24, 1824, Parliamentary papers documented the abolition of Amerindian slavery on the Mosquito Shore, a cause spearheaded by Mosquitia.
This report preceded the Slave Trade Act of March 1824, which strengthened existing anti-slavery laws and imposed severe penalties on those involved in the slave trade.
This history reminds us that the people of Mosquitia were not passive observers of history. They challenged the enslavement of Indigenous and Afro-Indigenous people, helping to advance their cause of freedom in the region.
Our ancestors were not only survivors of history—they were active participants in shaping OUR story.
Know OUR story. Preserve the record. Honor the legacy.