and located on both sides of the mouth of the River Gambia, were built with the specific intent of thwarting the slave trade once it had become illegal in the British Empire after the passing of the Slave Trade Act in 1807. They are the only known defensive structures in the region built to stop slaving interests, as opposed to enforcing them. These sites along with the island itself were abandoned in 1870. On 6 February 2011, at the request of New York artist Chaz Guest to Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, it was renamed to Kunta Kinteh Island to give the island a Gambian name. At the renaming ceremony, Guest revealed the miniature replica of his 9-m (30-foot) statue of Kunta Kinte that would be displayed on Kunta Kinte Island. Legacy Kunta Kinteh Island is suffering heavy erosion, and is now approximately 1/6 of its size during the time when the fort was active. Ruins of several of the British administrative buildings (including a single cell, apparently used to house the most troublesome captives), a small jetty and a number of skeletal baobab trees remain. The ruins have been stabilised and protected by a capping. Because the island is low-lying, during high tide and storms sometimes waves will beat against some of the surviving structures. Kunta Kinte, a character described in Alex Haley's book and TV series Roots, has become associated with James Island. The book states that Kunta Kinte was among 98 slaves that the slave ship Lord Ligonier brought to Annapolis, Maryland in 1767. References Citations Sources Gray, J. M. (1940). A History of the Gambia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (republished 2015). External links UNESCO page for James Island WorldStatesmen- Gambia More details with a map UNESCO report Former English colonies World Heritage Sites in the Gambia 1651 establishments in Africa Gambia River James Island (colonial) Former colonies of Courland River islands of the Gambia Coastal fortifications Former Dutch colonies 1661 establishments in the British Empire