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Olaudah Equiano, also known as Gustavas Vassa, was born in Guinea, Africa in 1745. His birth-name was Essaka and he was the son of an Ibo chieftain. Equiano was the youngest son of seven kids, six boys and one girl. As a child he enjoyed spending time with his mother, whom he was very fond of. He would accompany his mother to the markets and sometimes to her mother’s tomb when she made oblations (religious offerings). The youngest son of a village leader, Equiano was born among the Ibo people in the kingdom of Benin, along the Niger River. He was the favorite of his mother." His family expected to follow in his father's footsteps and become a chief, an elder, a judge. Slavery was an integral part of the Ibo culture, as it was with many other African peoples. His family owned slaves, but there was also a continual threat of being abducted, of becoming someone else's slave. Unfortunately this is what happened, one day, while Equiano and his sister were at home alone. Two men and a woman climbed over the walls of the house and captured the children. Several days later Equiano and his sister were separated. Equiano continued to travel farther and farther from homeexchanging masters along the way. Equiano's early experiences