SUMMARY OF AFRICAN RELIGIONS IN THE CARIBBEAN
Matthew Middleton

The rich cultural tapestry of African religion spread to all parts of the New World, including the Caribbean basin. The most obvious example of this influence is found on the small, impoverished island of Haiti. The poorest nation in the world, Haiti maintains a strong cultural heritage centered on their religion of Vodun. Most Westerners mistake Vodun for Voodoo; while the latter is based on the former, Voodoo is largely a creation of American Hollywood and has no real following in Haiti. Vodun, by contrast, is the primary religion of the island and has roots in several other Caribbean nations such as Benin and the Dominican Republic. Vodun stretches all the way to the Haitian neighborhoods of New York City.

The word "vodun" is traced from an African word for "spirit." Vodun weaves together different strands of Roman Catholicism, Dahomey, Yoruba and Kongoese religious beliefs. The gods of Vodun parallel the saints of the Roman Catholic Church, for example. In Vodun, all the universes--light and dark, god and man--are interconnected in a natural balance. There are hundreds of minor spirits which control everything from rainbows to forests to healing. Vodun consists of many elaborate ceremonies and rituals, several of which involve blood sacrifice. Equally important, Vodun has sparked a tradition of art and architecture in many Caribbean countries.
Other religious practices in the Caribbean have made similar contributions to the arts. Influences from the Mande have introduced oral literature--central for both art and history--to much of the basin. Of greater artistic interest is nsibidi, a totally African writing style that does not rely on Arabic or Latin script. Based entirely on signs and symbols, nsibidi is often used in religious rituals and cultural celebrations. Finally there is the Haitian Ogou, a new cultural form that has arisen from the continuous changes of African religions. The Ogou is more spiritual than artistic. Ogou is designed to mediate conflicting forces, such as the distrust between family members and foreigners or the struggles between oppressors and oppressed. The power of the Ogou is rooted in raw emotions such as rage and fear. One should direct Ogou against an enemy, but it can also be turned against followers who disappoint the religious group. Ogou deals with the potential of the modern world... both the good and the bad. To this we now turn.

The humanism commonly found in African religious and cultural traditions is especially strong in the Caribbean, where slavery has dehumanized blacks for several centuries. The first slaves to arrive at the New World landed on Caribbean shores. Their contributions, however forced, were critical to the survival of most Western colonies in the New World. As centuries passed and discrimination continued, Blacks began turning their attention toward their spiritual homeland. Many Blacks, particularly during the era of slavery, were visibly ashamed of Africa; how could they appreciate the source of their supposed inferiority? As the 19th century merged with the 20th, a gradual change in thinking became visible. Many Blacks in the Caribbean considered a return to Africa. The Pan-African movement had begun.

      

The two most visible leaders of this movement--Edward Wilmot Blydenand Marcus Garvey--both called the Caribbean home. Neither individual believed that Blacks would ever receive a fair chance at equality in the United States, nor would Blacks ever survive economically in the suffering Caribbean basin. They argued that blacks could not stand any further domination from whites, be it political, social or economic. Blyden and Garvey called for a mass return to Africa, specifically Liberia. Garvey went so far as to run a fleet of transport ships called the Black Star Line through his Universal Negro Improvement Association. They fostered Black unity by contending that Blacks could create the greatest society in the history of the world, if only they could join collective forces. In his essay The Call of Providence to the Descendents of Africa in America, Blyden proclaims that "Africa will furnish a development of civilization which the world has never yet witnessed. Its great peculiarity will be its mortal element." Religious affiliation was a key selling point in the Pan-African movement, which died down some when Garvey was expelled from the United States in 1927. The Black Star Line proved a failure, and Blyden’s dreams of a massive African nation formed from Caribbean blacks was never realized. Still, the ideals of the Pan-African movement--rooted in spiritual unity and awareness--were comendable.

WEBSITE EVALUATIONS

http://www.religioustolerance.org/voodoo.htm
This site offers a general background of the Vodun faith. A brief history is provided. The main crux of the site deals with the different types of beliefs and rituals common in Vodun religion. This is a suitable site for anyone interested in the basics about Vodun.

http://members.aol.com/racine125/index.html
This site has an extensive collection of photographs displaying various religious practices among Africans in the Caribbean. For the serious student, lessons and questions about Vodun are provided. The site offers numerous links to other issues of consequence regarding the African Diaspora in the New World.

http://www.arcana.com/voodoo
The best site around regarding Vodun... A detailed account of the faith in both theory and practice is provided. The Website gives a large glossary of terms for anyone confused by Vodun vocabulary. There is also an extensive list of primary and secondary sources found in the Bibliography section.

http://www.columbia.edu/~hcb8/EWB_Museum/EWB1.html#contents
This site describes the legacy of Edward Wilmot Blyden, one of the great leaders for Blacks in the Caribbean. A timeline of the man’s life is provided, as is an excellent biography of additional reading material on Blyden. Furthermore, this website outlines and discusses the emergence of the Africanist perspective.

http://www.isop.ucla.edu/mgpp/
Extensively researched, this website provides an excellent analysis of Marcus Garvey and his impact on the Pan-African movement. The site offers a photo gallery, a sound library and numerous links related to Pan-Africanism. This site is a must for anyone studing Garvey.

http://www.panafrican.org/panafrican
This site provides links to a tremendous amount of primary source material. Besides offering several works from Blyden and Garvey, the site offers the words--written and spoken--of Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Malcolm X... among others. There are also scores of links to organizations promoting Pan-Africanism for the 21st century.

 LINKS

Basic information on the Caribbean basin at http://www.trinidad-tobago.com

Other Caribbean religions at http://www.lib.utulsa.edu/guides/santeria.htm

"The Afrocentric Internet Library" at http://www.newtown.demon.co.uk/index.htm

Resources on individual countries at http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/region/african

Vodun and spiritism at http://www.nando.net/prof/caribe/caribbean.religions.html

Even more on the Vodun culture at http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/5319

Nsibidi text at http://www.library.cornell.edu/africana/Writing_Systems/Nsibidi.html

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