History
Anchaing
A legendary figure of marronage (slaves escaping to freedom), associated with the Piton d'Anchaing in Salazie.
marronage / memory
Biography
Anchaing is a legendary figure of Réunion marronage, the flight of enslaved people to freedom. According to tradition, this maroon leader took refuge with his companion Héva on the peak that now bears his name, in the Cirque de Salazie.
No known archive document mentions him: his story has been passed down through oral tradition and by 19th-century writers such as Auguste Lacaussade and Auguste Vinson, author of “Salazie ou le Piton d'Anchaine” (1888). It has become a founding myth of freedom in Réunion.
Contribution
A major memorial figure of the great marronage in the Hauts (uplands) of Réunion.
Sources (2)
- https://www.portail-esclavage-reunion.fr/documentaires/l-esclavage/resistances-a-l-esclavage/la-femme-dans-le-marronnage-a-la-reunion/
- Marie-Ange Payet, « Women fugitives in Reunion », Portail Esclavage Réunion — https://www.portail-esclavage-reunion.fr/en/documentaires/slavery/resistance-to-slavery/women-fugitives-in-reunion/
