Reflections on the Ethics of Research with the Registers of Liberated Africans in the Indian Ocean

This paper examines ethical issues related to the use of the registers of liberated Africans in the Indian Ocean for historical research. The registers provide rich details about the physical appearance (height, age, facial scarification, brands, tattoos) and origins (language, ethnicity or caste, mother's name, father's name) of liberated Africans. They also reveal aspects about their treatment at the hands of colonial officials, including the individuals to whom the Africans were indentured, the work they performed, and the new names that were assigned to them. Such details make these registers invaluable sources for historians, but they also present ethical challenges. In the Indian Ocean world, some descendants may take pride in their liberated African ancestors, and claims to liberated African ancestors can have important implications for claims to land and status, yet others may prefer that information be lost to what Pier Larson called the countervailing forces of historical amnesia . Containing intimate personal information that may permit investigation into both the origins and the descendants of enslaved Africans, registers may also be considered sources of biometric data. As such, should they be subject to the ethical standards applied to biometric data in the sciences? This paper explores a model for the ethical use of historical biometric (DNA) data from Australia as an example of what historians might consider emulating when making use of registers of liberated Africans in the digital humanities.