Pilgrimages
Senegal: The return
It was called the Door of No Return, the coffin-sized portal in the slave house that looked out onto the Atlantic Ocean. From here, the curator told us, black captives were crowded into the bowels of ships that would take them to a life of bondage. Some didn't survive the journey; many who did were brutally broken, or "seasoned," in such places as Jamaica before landing in plantations across the Americas. None were to ever return -- except, perhaps, as ghosts. I am here, on Gorée Island in Senegal, the first member of my family to set foot back on the African continent. Our lore says that we are descended from the Ashantis of Ghana. But we could be from any other group, including the Fulani, the Mandinka and the Wolof of Senegal, that collectively gave up an estimated 10 million people during 400 years of this peculiar trade. Not knowing has been a source of frustration, but also a blessing. We claim the whole restless continent in its wars and wonders, its problems and promise. Standing in this slave house, hearing the waves crash, I feel the tug of latent memories. I am one of hundreds of thousands who have made this ancestral pilgrimage, visiting hallowed space to ground myself in the spirit of my ancestors -- to steel myself in the knowledge that any little thing I face is nothing compared with what they endured.
The Ghanaians use the word "sankofa" to describe what I'm doing. It means going back in order to go forward -- through the past into the future.
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About this series
Travel looks at the nature of pilgrimage in this four-part series. The current collection of stories explores physical challenges imbued with meaning that transcends the journeys. On Jan. 7, we'll examine heritage travel and go to the slave castles of Senegal with a writer whose family members may have passed through on the way to the New World. Part I of the series, about spiritual journeys, took us to Jerusalem. Part II, on cultural pilgrimages, followed fans to Elvis Presley's Graceland.
Pilgrimage to Thailand: A bridge of memories
A family trip home to Thailand spans many kinds of obstacles -- time, culture and oceans among them.
More from this series:
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Pilgrimage to Ireland: Finding a true home
A journey back to the ancestral home in Ireland underlines the true meaning of pilgrim's pride. -
Exploring North Shore on foot
The 211-mile Superior Hiking Trail provides Minnesota's best and biggest through-hiking challenge. -
Appalachian Trail magic
From Georgia to Maine, a legion of hikers pit themselves against the path. -
Finding strength in meeting the challenges of Superior
In a small boat on a huge lake, he found his inward journey to be as powerful and challenging as the physical one. -
Graceland: Elvis Lives
Thousands of fans queue up at the gates of Graceland, still faithful to the King. -
Minnesota to Memphis
Even though there were thousands at the gates of Graceland for the 2006 candlelight vigil, it wasn't hard to find Minnesotans in the crowd. Here are some of their voices. -
Elvis Presley 1935-1977
A timeline for the life of Elvis Aron Presley. -
Jerusalem: Enduring Faith
In Jerusalem, every square inch of the stony ground is covered in blood and history, hopes and prayers, perdition and redemption. For each traveler and every resident, the history is different, the map is different, the truth is different. Those truths often collide, putting Jerusalem at the center of dozens of wars during the past 3,000 years. -
Sacred journeys
Other destinations for spiritual pilgrims