The Americans of Samaná

Overview

On Samaná peninsula, in the northeast of the Dominican Republic, live the descendants of freed African American slaves. The original group of about thirty-four families arrived in 1824 when the country had just been taken over by the newly independent black nation of Haiti. Although the linguistic and religious isolation of the Protestant Americanos has maintained customs and group identity, it has also undermined full inclusion in the developing economy. Many residents of Samaná identify themselves as Americans and hope that a greater public awareness of their story in the United States will reverse their economic decline, as well as the imminent loss of their traditions.