Barracoon by Zora Neale Hurston

great funeral for three days wid him. His wife she cry and cry ’cause she make him die, but dey go to bury him. But de ole dog say, “No, wait till his father come—he gone away on a journey.” So dey wait three mo’ days and when de father come he rub medicine on his eyes and he woke him, and he live a long time after dat, and his son git down on de lion he brung home.

    Cudjo Lewis (Oluale Kossola), in front of his home in Africatown (Plateau), Alabama, circa 1928. To have his photograph taken, Kossola dressed in his best suit and removed his shoes: “I want to look lak I in Affica, ’cause dat where I want to be.”

Acknowledgments
    FROM THE ZORA NEALE HURSTON TRUST
    The trustees of the Zora Neale Hurston Trust wish to thank those who contributed to the publication of Zora Neale Hurston’s never-published work, Barracoon . We have no claim as the authors of this work; however, we are the custodians of Zora Neale Hurston’s legacy, and, as such, we are committed to preserving her standing in the world as a literary icon and an anthropological giant. We gratefully acknowledge our agent, editors, and publishers, as well as the academics and devotees whose shared love of Zora’s Barracoon led them to embrace publication of this work.
    We are thankful for the efforts of the Joy Harris Literary Agency staff and for those of Joy Harris, our agent, who worked tirelessly to promote this work. Joy providedus with the guidance and the steady hand we needed to supply her with a publishable manuscript. Despite our sometimes moving in different directions, she was able to corral our activities so we could deliver the story. Joy loved Cudjo Lewis from the start and shared our faith that Cudjo’s story was meant to be published. We also acknowledge Adam Reed, Joy’s valued associate. He was a force in our effort to prepare a completed manuscript worthy of review by Joy and publishers. No job was too small for his attention.
    For their recognition of Barracoon as an invaluable contribution to the story of slavery in America, we want to express our gratitude to our publishers at HarperCollins: Tracy Sherrod, the editorial director of Amistad; Jonathan Burnham, the publisher of HarperCollins; and Amy Baker, the associate publisher of Harper Perennial and Harper Paperbacks. All of them determined that Cudjo Lewis’s story had to be told, and they helped make it possible for Barracoon to be born. Additionally, we extend our appreciation to Diane Burrowes, senior director of academic and library markets, and to Virginia Stanley, the director of academic and library markets, who contributed their expertise to this publication.
    To Deborah G. Plant, PhD, we extend our most heartfelt appreciation for her editorial work. Deborah brought her love of all things Zora to this project. We are grateful for her diligence in researching issues related to the manuscript and for providing answers to questions that could be posed. We are also grateful for Deborah’sappreciation and explanation of Zora’s use of ethnographic methodology in telling Cudjo’s story. She was in tune with Zora’s energy throughout.
    We extend our continuing gratitude to the many scholars who have been champions of Zora Neale Hurston. Without their love and advocacy, Zora’s works and her personal vitality may have been lost to generations. We are grateful to Alice Walker, who became a crusader for Zora and pronounced her “a Genius of the South.” We are grateful to Cheryl Wall, who knows so much about Zora and has generously shared her findings with others. We are grateful to Valerie Boyd, who helped us know, understand, and love Zora through her biography of Zora’s life. We are grateful to Kristy Andersen, who introduced so many to Zora through her documentary work on Zora’s life.
    We owe a debt of gratitude to Howard University’s Moorland-Spingarn Research Center and its curator,