Speeches

Remarks by Chargé d’Affaires Virginia Blaser
at Ile de La Passe Exhibition Launching

Blue Penny Museum, Caudan Waterfront, Port Louis
Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Honorable Dr. Vasant Bunwaree, Minister of Education, Culture & Human Resources
Distinguished guests,

It gives me great pleasure to join representatives of the Ministry of Education, Culture & Human Resources and The National Heritage Trust Fund, in the launching of the exhibit on Ile de la Passe at the Blue Penny Museum.  We hope that the inhabitants and young people of Mahebourg and of the South had the opportunity to understand the importance of preserving the heritage of Ile de la Passe when the exhibit was first launched at the Naval Museum in August 2008.

The Ile de la Passe Research Project initiated in 2001 and the exhibit which is about to be launched in Port Louis have been partially funded through the United States' Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation.
The fund was established by the U.S. Congress as a means for the American people to express their respect for other cultures. We seek to help countries in the process of preserving or restoring their cultural heritage. These grants are awarded through an extremely competitive process, and this is the second such project to be funded in Mauritius.

In 2002, The National Archives received a grant of 10,400 US Dollars through the Ambassador’s Fund for the establishment of an oral history unit. Since its establishment in 2001, this fund has given grants to over 200 projects around the world.

This exhibit on Ile de la Passe is a voyage across Mauritian history, as it reminds us of the Battle of Vieux Grand Port between squadrons of frigates from the French Navy and the British Royal Navy in 1810 during the Napoleonic wars.  As you know, a British squadron captured the fort at Ile de la Passe at the entrance to the port and then flew the French flag to entice French warships to enter.  At that point, a British force of four frigates followed the French ships into the port and attacked it in an incredibly bloody battle, the only French naval victory to be commemorated on the Arc de Triomphe. Nearly 150 sailors and soldiers died on the two sides, with nearly 300 wounded.  I understand that the bicentennial anniversary of this naval battle will be commemorated with great ceremony next year by the Government of Mauritius.

It is worth looking back at the situation of Mauritius and the world when the battle took place, especially in light of Black History Month, which the United States celebrates each February, and also in light of the recent ceremonies in honor of the inscription of Le Morne on the list of World Heritage sites by UNESCO, an inscription related to the terrible heritage of slavery and the slave trade.  When the British took over what was then known as Ile de France, shortly after the battle of Vieux Grand Port, the population of the island was made up of about 7,000 white settlers, 7,000 persons of color, 6,000 Indians and 60,000 slaves. 
At the beginning of the French Revolution, the French slave trade was abolished, but reinstated in 1802 by Napoleon.  That made the movement to abolish the slave trade more popular in Britain, as it seems that anything supported by Napoleon was hated by the British at that time.  As a result, William Wilberforce, the great British campaigner against the slave trade and slavery, was finally able to get a Bill through parliament in 1807, just three short years before the battle of Vieux Grand Port, abolishing the British slave trade.  I am happy to say that the United States followed by banning its slave trade on January first of the next year. 
As we all know, it was decades more before slavery itself was abolished, first in the British Empire, later in French possessions, and finally in the United States. 

The Embassy of the United States of America is proud to be here as a partner for this event today.  And the Ministry of Education, Culture & Human Resources and The National Heritage Trust Fund can be proud of what they have achieved in preserving the Ile de la Passe heritage site- so central to the history of Mauritius.

I hope that all Mauritians take the time to visit the Blue Penny Museum to view and enjoy this wonderful exhibit.

Thank you.  And thank you for letting America take part in preserving a special part of Mauritian history.