Christiana's Life Narrative
The remarkable story of Christiana Long, born in England in 1832 to a Kanuri woman from Africa and an impoverished English sawyer, whose descendants concealed their African heritage for over a century until DNA testing in 2002 revealed their connection to the Kanuri people of Lake Chad.
In early 1853, one year after their marriage, Luke and Christiana set sail from England; however, rather than sailing west across the Atlantic with the other Saints going to Utah, Luke and Christiana sailed south around Africa bound for Australia. It appears, that Luke and Christiana had decided they would conceal Christiana's African heritage, and they apparently decided to sail the long way around the world to Utah rather than travel in the company of any English members of the Church who might know Christiana's true heritage.
