Found at a construction site in Alexandria, Virginia, a small iron statue from the late 18th century indicates the possible presence of a Bambara (Bamanan) artisan. The statue went unnoticed by many, yet it remains an enduring symbol of contributions by the peoples of Mali to the New World.

Malians and other West Africans brought to the United States as slaves shaped the cultural landscape. The sacred knowledge they associated with blacksmithing and sculpting influenced the development of wrought-iron grillwork and skilled carpentry in Southern coastal cities, much of it done by Africans brought specifically for that purpose from what is now Mali. In the 17th and 18th centuries West Africans from what is now Mali, Senegal, the Gambia, Guinea, and Guinea-Bissau came to the Carolinas, Georgia, and Louisiana with centuries of experience cultivating rice, cotton, and indigo.

Cooks from Mali and the Senegambia region combined their own foods--particularly okra, sesame, and sorghum--and cooking techniques with those of Europeans and Native Americans