Preserving Ancestry: Revisiting the Past to Save Humanity's Future

Mtumé grows up in a small village in Eastern Senegambia in the early 1800s, learning to become the village shaman from his mother. Those dreams are dashed when Portuguese slavers invade the camp, killing over half of the villagers and securing the rest for the trek through the jungle to a slave ship waiting at Gorée Island. Along the trail, Mtumé uses his ingenuity and knowledge of herbal remedies to keep his fellow-villagers safe and garner privileges from his captors.

Once the slave ship c...