Kunta kinte original grave site

　　Unless I'm horribly mistaken, there is no grave. Kunte Kinte was

　　a fictional character in Alex Haley's novel "Roots", later made

　　into a TV mini series.

　　YOU ARE MISTAKEN. KUNTA KINTE WAS NOT A FICTIONAL CHARACTER. HE

　　WAS THE GREAT, GREAT, GREAT GRANDFATHER OF ALEX HALEY. HIS STORY

　　WAS TOLD THROUGH GENERATIONS. AS AN ADULT ALEX HALEY SOUGHT OUT HIS

　　FAMILY IN Africa AND CONFIRMED THE STORIES HE HAD GROWN UP HEARING.

　　LATER. MUCH CONTROVERSY SURROUNDED THE FACTS OF THAT VISIT AS WELL

　　AS SOME KEY POINTS OF THE STORY. AS FOR THE LOCATION OF THE GRAVE

　　IT IS AN UNMARKED GRAVE ASSUMED TO BE IN THE SLAVE CEMETERY ON THE

　　GROUNDS OF THE FORMER MURRAY PLANTATION. THE SCENE IN THE MOVIE

　　WHERE KIZZY CROSSES OUT THE NAME TOBY WAS WRITTEN SOLELY FOR THE

　　MOVIE AND DID NOT ACTUALLY HAPPEN.

　　Yes Kunta Kinte was real & yes he is buried in Spotsylvania,

　　Virginia. I actually live about five minutes away from the

　　plantation he lived on & the field he is buried in on what is

　　now Wallers Rd in Partlow, VA.

　　Ask the Wallers whose ancestors owned a 5,000 acre plantation

　　where Kunta Kinte lived. I would like to know if he has an actual

　　grave site. The original plantation house still exists at the end

　　of Wallers Road.

　　Kunte Kinte's grave is located at what is now Loriella Park in

　　Spotsylvania Virginia. In the back of the park there is a frisbee

　　Golf course, and off in the woods by the second hole there is an

　　old slave cemetery. It is not specifically marked as the grave of

　　Kunta Kinte...but it is widely regarded by locals of the area to be

　　the location of his grave.

　　Research has shown that Kunta Kinte was not the slave Toby owned

　　by the Wallers. Toby was owned by William Waller before 1767 when

　　Kunta was supposed to have arrived. It is probable he was a slave

　　named Hopping George.

Related Q&A：

Character in Alex Haley's Roots

For the Keak da Sneak album, see Kunta Kinte (album).

Fictional character

Kunta Kinte (KOON-tah KIN-tay; c. 1750 – c. 1822) is a fictional character in the 1976 novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family by American author Alex Haley. Kunta Kinte was based on family oral tradition accounts of one of Haley's ancestors, a Gambian man who was born around 1767, enslaved, and taken to America where he died around 1822. Haley said that his account of Kunta's life in Roots is a mixture of fact and fiction.

Kunta Kinte's life story figured in two US television series based on the book: the original 1977 TV miniseries Roots, and a 2016 remake of the same name. In the original miniseries, the character was portrayed as a teenager by LeVar Burton and as an adult by John Amos. In the 2016 miniseries, he is portrayed by Malachi Kirby. Burton reprised his role in the 1988 TV movie Roots: The Gift.

Biography in Roots novel

According to the book Roots, Kunta Kinte was born circa 1750 in the Mandinka village of Jufureh, in the Gambia. He was raised in a Muslim family. In 1767, while Kunta was searching for wood to make a drum for himself, four men chased him, surrounded him, and took him captive. Kunta awoke to find himself blindfolded, gagged, bound, and a prisoner. He and others were put on the slave ship the Lord Ligonier for a four-month Middle Passage voyage to North America.

Kunta survived the trip to Maryland and was sold to a John Waller (1741–1775), son of William Waller (1714–1760) and grandson of John Waller (1673–1754) (Reynolds in the 1977 miniseries), a Virginia plantation owner in Spotsylvania County, who renamed him Toby (named by John's wife Elizabeth in the 2016 remake). He rejected the name imposed upon him by his owners and refused to speak to others. After being recaptured during the last of his four escap

The Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial is the only memorial in the country that commemorates the actual name and place of arrival of an enslaved African. The Memorial consists of three distinct areas: the Alex Haley sculpture group, Compass Rose, and Story Wall.

Alex Haley

The sculpture group features Alex Haley seated before a group of three children of different ethnic backgrounds. Holding a book open on his lap, he recounts his family's history and that of the Annapolis port as the symbolic beginning of the history and journey of African Americans. Next to the statues are three bronze plaques including one dedicated in 1981 and containing the original acknowledgement of Kunta Kinte's arrival on the slave ship Lord Ligonier in 1767.

The Sculpture Group

The sculptures depict Alex Haley reading to three children of different ethnic backgrounds. Join with them and recall your own family stories. A plaque next to them commemorates the arrival of Kunta Kinte.

Story Wall

Next to the sculptures is the Story Wall, a series of ten markers topped with bronze plaques lining the retaining sea wall on Compromise Street. On each plaque is a quote from Alex Haley's story of his family's journey as told in Roots. Each quote is accompanied by text and unique graphics that explain and illuminates its meaning. Together, the ten plaques tell how the specific story of the struggles of one African and the triumphs of his descendants have universal resonance and meaning for us all.

The Story Wall

This is a row of ten plaques just beyond the sculpture group. Each plaque displays a quote from Roots and and interpretive thought. Share these messages with others.

Compass Rose

The Compass Rose is situated next to the Market House across the street from the sculpture group. Fourteen feet in diameter, it includes a bronze inlaid compass and map of the world-oriented to true North with Annapolis at its center. Around the Compass Rose is speci