The Sierra Leone Cotton Tree is believed to be over 230 years old, older than the Freetown Settlement. It became the acknowledged symbol of Sierra Leone’s capital city, Freetown. It was hard to miss, situated at the heart of the city. After over two centuries, withstanding the worst conditions, it finally fell on May 24th 2023 during stormy weather.
"Wi Kɔtintri"
Sierra Leoneans and friends of Sierra Leone share their memories of the Freetown Cotton Tree…
“Between Earth and Sky”
When our ancestors arrived and others returned to this land in 1792 with great hope, an 1851 church historical record tells us they gathered around a Gree-Gree tree in old George’s street and gave thanks. That original tree as well as the icon of liberty we knew and loved as big Cotton Tree, which stood one city block away at the junction of Tower Hill and Pademba Road, belonged to a complex network of kapok or java cotton trees in the heart of Freetown. Today, if asked to describe the Cotton Tree in a single word,
…Constant, enormous, imposing, terrifying, mysterious, magnificent…
all come to mind.
Above ground we marveled at its expanse while we could not ignore those whom, pushed to the fringes of society, would gravitate around its base. No more than we could ignore the vital, sometimes dubious fauna that made nests in its trunk and branches as all the while it filtered our air. Below eye view and beneath our bustling feet, the ancient colossus shared water and nutrients with its younger offspring and neighbors through a vast and intricate root system, year after year after century…carrying on the business of life. Rich, complicated, brutal, beautiful – life.
On the 24th of May, the Cotton tree fell, but its roots remained, perhaps a tangible reminder that we can take courage and find new hope again.
In the aftermath, whether we feel connected to or repulsed by the ancient gris gris and symbolism some had found in it, see yet another sentinel climate event we must heed, or purely mourn our beloved city’s monumental loss, there is surely room enough around the big Cotton Tree for us all.
So between Earth and Sky we will write your stories, we will sing your songs, we will not forget. We will take courage and find new hope again.
Barbara, Canada
“Tinap Tranga Lek Da Big Cotton Tree”
The Cotton Tree, was the south-west demarcation of the city of Freetown when its earliest plans were drawn up. It stood at the junction of trails, one of which led to Pademba’s Village.
Pademba’s village was where the town’s children were taken to seek refuge from the French invasion in which they burnt the town in February 1794. I can imagine the children first congregating around its enormous roots before Mary Perth and other mothers took them all up the trail to Pademba.
The Cotton Tree has a place in many significant cultural events and so many traditional beliefs by the seventeen nations that called Freetown home. In particular, it is integral to the story of the early founding settlers (Black Poor, Nova scotian, Jamaican Maroons and Emigrated American Families). The founding settlers all gave significance to Cotton Tree as it stood majestically within their neighborhoods or withins sight for the first decade since 1792
The mysterious fire on a dry night of January 31, 2020 remained unexplained but the manner in which the Cotton Tree fell, suggests the damage 2 years ago on its Walpole street side had weakened its core trunk to resist bending under the weight of wet branches and leaves above.
Cotton Tree: The Stormy Night of May 24, 2023
After the fall of the Cotton Tree, Sierra Leonean are telling its stories infused with social history and traditional myths, it is how folktales are birthed. The Cotton Tree took its last stand on the storm night of May 24, 2023 burdened by the nation’s unsettled past, its current political and economic storms and weary of the prevailing winds of tumultuous attitudes.
Adrian, Maryland
To add your memory, share your thoughts below or send an email with your thoughts and pictures of the Freetown Cotton Tree to [email protected]