The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano: or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by himself

He was born, he tells us in his Interesting Narrative of his life, in Essaka, a small village in what is today eastern Nigeria that was ruled by the powerful eighteenth century King of Benin. His parents prophetically named him Olaudah Equiano, to signify his expected role as a leader—as one favored and who spoke with a loud voice. They dressed him after the tradition of their greatest warriors. Through age ten or eleven he was rooted in the cultural, spiritual, economic, religious and political customs of this charming fruitful vail, which he describes as ‘a nation of dancers, musicians, and poets.'