This presentation explores historical memory through ethnographic research within the context of two separate interdisciplinary projects spanning three continents.

The first project examines the history of colonization and missionization among Makushi people in Guyana during the 1830s and 1840s and how related historical memory and broader ontological frameworks influence contemporary relations with outsiders. It is based on multiple phases of ethnographic fieldwork in Makushi villages (2012-2021). The second project is centered around ethnographic fieldwork conducted in 2022 and 2023 with Americo-Liberian descendants of formerly enslaved African-Americans involved in a reverse African diaspora from Mississippi to Liberia during the 1830s and 1840s. This diaspora was organized by the Mississippi State Colonization Society and resulted in a settlement known as Mississippi in Africa (now Sinoe County, Liberia).

Prospect Hill Plantation in Jefferson County, Mississippi, was a primary origin site for these settlers to Liberia. During the summer of 2024, interviews focused on historical memory will be conducted in Mississippi with contemporary relatives of these past settlers. This fieldwork will be continued in future years. Both projects emphasize how historical memory connects the past and present in relation to meaning, identity and social interaction. The interdisciplinary potential for ethnographic research involving historical memory is emphasized in relation to both projects.