authenticated pirate ship ever found in U.S. waters -- off the coast
of Cape Cod, where it sunk in a storm in 1717. After decades of
salvage work, more than 200 artifacts from the ship have gone on tour
in an exhibit called "Real Pirates," which opens Saturday at the
Science Museum of Minnesota.
"This is the only pirate treasure that's ever been discovered and
documented," Clifford said. "It's like having the only Tyrannosaurus
rex."
He talked last week about the historical significance of the Whydah
(pronounced "whih-dah"), which was a slave-trading vessel before it
was captured by genuine pirates of the Caribbean.
Q: What first got you interested in pirates?
A: As a boy growing up on Cape Cod I had heard all these stories about
the legendary pirate ship that was supposed to have wrecked in this
place called "The Graveyard," where there were hundreds of other ships
that wrecked over the years.
Q: For visitors who may not be interested in pirates, what other
significance do the boat's artifacts have?
A: A third of the crew were of African origin, most of whom were
former slaves. This was never clear to me in any of the books I had
read about pirates. In fact, many Native Americans were pirates, as
well, many of whom had been slaves who escaped.
Q: Do you have a favorite artifact from the Whydah?
A: Well, we have the oldest reliably dated collection of arcane
jewelry from the Ashanti tribes. Not only coins, but there was a
tremendous amount of gold, much of which was African gold that hadn't
been melted down yet. We also have three Freemason symbols. The
symbols predate the official start of Freemasonry.
Q: For fans of "Pirates of the Caribbean," how would this exhibit
broaden their horizons in terms of pirate culture?
A: Well, Bellamy [the pirate captain] was quoted as saying, "I am a
free prince, and I have as much right to declare war as any king with
100,000 men in the field. This my conscience tells me." So here's this
pirate talking about conscience, and he's talking about egalitarian
theories he had on socialism and democracy where the whole crew would
be equal and would share equally. There were thousands and thousands
of pirates who infiltrated back into colonial culture with lots of
money in their pocket. How that influenced others in years to come is
interesting to me.
•Jesse Mandell-McClinton is a University of Minnesota student on
assignment for the Star Tribune
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