Sidi Hamet: The Noble Sahrawi Who Catalyzed Slavery Abolition in 19th Century America
Words by Erragab Eljanhaoui
In August 1815, Captain James Riley took off on a journey with eleven shipmates on the deck of the American brig, Commerce. The journey was commercial with an intention to stop by Cadiz, Gibraltar, and finally, Cape Verde to finalize a usual trading scheme. However, on a foggy night, across the Western Coasts of Africa, the brig Commerce found itself wrecked on the coast of Bojador/Boujdour – South of Morocco. A few days after the shipwreck, Riley claims that he was held captive in the hands of a tribe of Sahrawi nomads.
Riley recounts his captivity story in his book, An Authentic Narrative of the Loss of the American Brig Commerce, with detailed descriptions of the great Sahara Desert, its weather, people, costumes, and rituals. His narrative gained a wide readership in the US during the first two decades of the 19th century. Some critics confirm that Abraham Lincoln, the 16th American President, had read the book as a child – something that would have an effect later on his attitude towards slavery.
As the genre of captivity narratives diminishes the inhabitants of specific regions, Riley continues the same pattern with an exaggerated description and portrayal. So, the narrative is full of instances where Riley shows the nomads as mere “savages” who wander the Sahara in search of blood shedding and raiding. Yet, with Sidi Hamet, this pattern relatively utters, especially when he portrays him as a noble “savage.”
James Riley (October 27, 1777 – March 13, 1840) was the captain of the United States merchant ship Commerce. He wrote a memoir detailing his experience being shipwrecked off the coast of the contemporary West Sahara entitled Authentic Narrative of the Loss of the American Brig 'Commerce'.
Sidi Hamet is an interesting character in Riley’s story. With a great portion of racist, stereotypical, and degrading language toward the nomads of the Sahara – whom he claimed to be held by – Riley saw Sidi Hamet differently. The latter was a Sahrawi nomad from Ouled Bou Sba’ tribe which was notorious for its raiders and wars against other tribes in the Sahara. Sidi Hamet and his brother Seid were wandering the great Sahara Desert with hopes of restoring the losses they owed to Hamet’s father-in-law. Hamet’s wife was the daughter of a wealthy man in Wed Noon called Sheik Ali, and due to an unfortunate incident in the Sahara, Hamet was pressured to give up Riley and his mates to his father-in-law. The incident happened years before the shipwreck with Riley on the coasts of Bojador/Boujdour. Hamet and his brother Seid were heading toward Timbuktu with Ishrel’s caravan. However, the caravan mislocated a well that was supposed to quench their thirst, which resulted in a severe massacre. The two brothers had to escape empty-handed back to Wed Noon, which caused severe punishment executed on them by the mad Sheik Ali. Sidi Hamet was the savior of Riley and some of his mates. After months of struggle and suffering – claimed by the author – Hamet took the responsibility of delivering Riley and other mates to Mogadore where the British Vice-Consul, William Willshire, resided. Sidi Hamet was praised by many for his kindness and tenderness towards the American merchants. Sidi Hamet was so influential that “a South Carolina man named his son Sidi Hamet” (King 2004, 311).
After his return, Riley committed himself to fighting slavery which was prominent in the early 19th century. In Ohio, Riley became an advocate against slavery and an abolitionist with considerable weight in politics. He was also elected to the General Assembly of Ohio in 1823, which confirms the massive influence of his experience in the great Sahara Desert, as well as his long conversations with Sidi Hamet on his political life in their journey toward Mogadore.
Sources:
Riley, James. An Authentic Narrative of the Loss of the American Brig Commerce, T. & W. Mercein, 1817.
King, Dean. Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival. Little, Brown and Company, 2004.