Dutty Boukman

Dutty Boukman (Boukman Dutty) (died ca. 1791) was a Jamaican born houngan, or Haitian priest who conducted a religious ceremony in Haiti in which a freedom covenant was affirmed;^[1] this ceremony is considered a catalyst to the slave uprising that marked the beginning of the Haïtian Revolution.^[2]

Background

Boukman Dutty was a self educated slave born on the island of Jamaica, his first name on the island means "book man", his last name means "dirty". He was later sold by his British master to a French plantation owner after he attempted to teach other Jamaican slaves to read, who put him to work as a commandeur (slave driver) and, later, a coach driver. His French name came from his English nickname, "Book Man," which some scholars have interpreted as meaning that he was Muslim since even in Africa a Muslim was referred to as a "man of the book": "It is likely that Boukman was a Jamaican Muslim who had a Koran, and that he got his nickname from this."^[3]

Ceremony at the Bois Caïman

In August 1791, Boukman presided over a ceremony at the Bois Caïman in the role of houngan (priest) together with an African-born priestess. Boukman prophesied that the slaves Jean François, Biassou, and Jeannot would be leaders of a resistance movement and revolt that would free the slaves of Saint-Domingue. An animal was sacrificed, an oath was taken, and Boukman and the priestess exhorted the listeners to take revenge against their French oppressors and "[c]ast aside the image of the God of the oppressors." ^[4] According to the Encyclopedia of African Religion, "Blood from the animal, and some say from humans as well, was given in a drink to the attendees to seal their fates in loyalty to the cause of liberation of Sainte-Domingue."^[5] A week later, 1800 plantations had been destroyed and 1000 slaveholders killed.^[6][7] Boukman was not the first to attempt a slave uprising in Saint-Domingue, as he was preceded by others, such as Padrejean in 1676, and François Mackandal in 1757. However, his large size, warrior-like appearance, and fearsome temper made him an effective leader and helped spark the Haitian Revolution.^[8]

According to Gothenburg University researcher Markel Thylefors, "The event of the Bwa Kayiman ceremony forms an important part of Haitian national identity as it relates to the very genesis of Haiti."^[9] This ceremony came to be characterized by various Christian sources as a "pact with the devil" that began the Haitian revolution.^[10]

Death and legacy

• Boukman was killed by the French in November, just a few months after the beginning of the uprising.^[11] The French then publicly displayed Boukman's head in an attempt to dispel the aura of invincibility that Boukman had cultivated.
• The name of the band Boukman Eksperyans refers to him.
• A fictionalized version of Boukman appears as the title character in American Communist writer Guy Endore's novel Babouk, a leftist and anti-capitalist parable about the Haitian revolution.
• Haitians honored Boukman by admitting him into the pantheon of loa (guiding spirits).^[12]
• In the Lance Horner book The Black Sun, the Boukman ("Bouckmann") uprising is retold.

Pat Robertson's "Pact with the Devil" allegation

In the wake of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, veteran Christian radio and television personality Pat Robertson claimed that Haiti had been "cursed by one thing after another" since the late 18th century and, in an apparent reference to the Bois Caïman ceremony, revived the allegation that Haitians had sworn a "pact to the devil."^[13][14] This view was criticized by urban legend expert Rich Buehler, who claimed that Robertson's statement was incorrect on a variety of historical points, and propagated a common claim that vodou is Satanic in nature.^[15]

Several Mainline and evangelical^[16] Christian voices criticized Robertson's remarks as misleading, untimely and insensitive.^{[17][18][19][20]}

References

1. ^ From an article in the Jamaica Daily Gleaner January 17th 2010, by Carolyn Cooper Professor of Literal and Cultural Studies UWI
2. ^ Haitianite.com. Dutty Boukman – Samba Boukman, 2 December 2006
3. ^ Sylviane Anna Diouf and Sylviane Kamara. Servants of Allah: African Muslims Enslaved in the AmericasNew York University Press, 1998, p. 153
4. ^ Charles Arthur and Michael Dash (eds.) Libète: A Haiti Anthology (Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener Publishers, 1999), 36.
5. ^ Molefi Kete Asante and Ama Mazama. Encyclopedia of African religion, Volume 1 Sage Publications, p. 131.
6. ^ Sylviane Anna Diouf, Servants of Allah p. 152
7. ^ John Mason. African Religious in The Caribbean: Continuity and Change
8. ^ John K. Thornton. I Am the Subject of the King of Congo: African Political Ideology and the Haitian Revolution. Millersville University of Pennsylvania
9. ^ Thylefors, Markel (March 2009) "'Our Government is in Bwa Kayiman:' a Vodou Ceremony in 1791 and its Contemporary Signifcations" Stockholm Review Of Latin American Studies, Issue No. 4
10. ^ Lowell Ponte Haiti: Victim of Clinton's Old Black Magic FrontPage Magazine February 20, 2004
11. ^ Sylviane Anna Diouf, Servants of Allah p.152
12. ^ Haitian Bicentennial Committee (2004)
13. ^ "Pat Robertson calls quake 'blessing in disguise'". The Washington Post. 13 January 2010. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2010/01/13/ST2010011304487.html?sid=ST2010011304487. 
14. ^ Robertson statement
15. ^ Ireland, Michael (2010-01-17). "Urban Legend Expert Debunks Haitian ‘Pact with the Devil‘". ASSIST News Service. http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2010/s10010104.htm. Retrieved 2010-04-05. 
16. ^ "Pat Robertson on Disasters: Consistently Wrong" Thursday, January 14, 2010, 1:01 PM by John Mark Reynolds
17. ^ [1] Denny Burk - Associate Professor of New Testament and Dean of Boyce College (undergraduate arm of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) in Louisville, Kentucky
18. ^ http://twitter.com/albertmohler/status/7724222162
19. ^ http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/faith/2010/01/guest_post_a_message_for_pat_r.html
20. ^ http://pastorchrisowens.wordpress.com/2010/01/14/my-two-words-for-pat-robertson-shut-up/

External links

• The Louverture Project: Boukman
• Haitian Bicentennial Committee

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