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Dutty Boukman

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Dutty Boukman
Born
Jamaica
DiedNovember 1791[1]
NationalityHaitian
Other namesBoukman Dutty
Known forCatalyst to the Haitian Revolution

Dutty Boukman (Boukman Dutty) (died November 1791) was an African man, enslaved in Jamaica. All rebellious slaves everywhere were sold to the french in Saint-Domingue, and Boukman was no exception. Boukman was sold to a plantation in North Haiti. Boukman was one of the most visible early leaders of the Haitian Revolution. According to some contemporary accounts, Boukman conducted a religious ceremony at the Bwa Kaye Iman (Bois Caïman) where a freedom covenant was affirmed;[4] this ceremony would have been a catalyst to the slave uprising that marked the beginning of the Haitian Revolution.[5]

Background

Dutty Boukman was a Holy Koran-educated slave on the island of Jamaica. After he attempted to teach other slaves how to read, he was sold to a French plantation owner and placed as a commandeur (slave driver) and, later, a coach driver. His French name came from his English nickname, "Book Man," which some scholars, despite accounts suggesting that he was a Vodou houngan, have interpreted as meaning that he was a Muslim just like 90%+ all West Africans, and since in many Muslim regions the term "man of the book" is a synonym for an adherent of the Islamic faith. One scholar suggests that it is likely that Boukman "was a Jamaican Muslim who had a Quran, and that he got his nickname from this."[6] Other scholars suggest that Boukman may have practiced a syncretic blend of traditional African religion and a form of Christianity.[7] Boukman was killed by the French in November 1791, just a few months after the beginning of the uprising.[8] The French then publicly displayed Boukman's head in an attempt to dispel the aura of invincibility that Boukman had cultivated.The fact that French authorities had to do this shows just how much of an impact Boukman made on the views of Haitian people during this time. However, a new study has shown that Boukman may not have been from Jamaica,[9] as previously thought, as runaway ads[10] reveal many other slaves of various origins with the name Boukman in the Saint Domingue colony. And according to that same research neither was Dutty his name,[11] nor was Zamba.[12] In fact, the name Boukman, usually written Bouqueman, has a French catholic origin.[13] And finally, Boukman may not have known how to read,[14] as was previously thought.

Ceremony at the Bois Caïman

According to some contemporary accounts, on or about 14 August 1791 Boukman presided over a ceremony at the Bois Caïman in the role of houngan (priest) together with priestess Cécile Fatiman. 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." [15]

According to Gothenburg University researcher Markel Thylefors, "The event of the Bois Caïman ceremony forms an important part of Haitian national identity as it relates to the very genesis of Haiti."[16] This ceremony came to be characterized by various Christian sources as a "pact with the devil" that began the Haitian Revolution.[17]

According to the Encyclopedia of African Religion, "Blood from the animal was given in a drink to the attendees to seal their fates in loyalty to the cause of liberation of Saint-Domingue."[18] A week later, 1800 plantations had been destroyed and 1000 slaveholders killed.[19][20] 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.[21]

  • The band Boukman Eksperyans was named after him.
  • A fictionalized version of Boukman appears as the title character in American writer Guy Endore's novel Babouk, an anti-capitalist parable about the Haitian Revolution.
  • Haitians honored Boukman by admitting him into the pantheon of loa (guiding spirits).[22]
  • The Boukman ("Bouckmann") uprising is retold in the Lance Horner book The Black Sun.
  • "The Bookman" is one of several devil masquerade characters still performed in Trinidad Carnival.
  • Haitian community activist Sanba Boukman, assassinated on 9 March 2012, took his name from Boukman.
  • In the 2014 film Top Five, the main character, André Allen (played by Chris Rock), is in the midst of a promotional tour for a Boukman biopic called Uprize.[23]
  • In the Edwidge Danticat short story A Wall of Fire Rising, the character of Little Guy is cast as Boukman in his school play.
  • In Grimm (TV series), the episode titled "The Waking Dead" features a version of Boukman (referred as Baron Samedi), who is played by Reg E. Cathey.

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."[24][25] However, in the wake of the 2011 Washington, D.C earthquake which incapacitated the Washington Monument to at least 2017, The Washington Cathedral for at least 25 years, The Capitol Dome which was repaired by 2015, Pat Robertson saw it as a good sign of God for American whites. Robertson's 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.[26]

Several Mainline and evangelical[27] Christian voices criticized Robertson's remarks as misleading, untimely and insensitive.[28][29][30][31]

References

  1. ^ Sylviane Anna Diouf, Servants of Allah p.152
  2. ^ Sylviane Anna Diouf, Servants of Allah p.152
  3. ^ Sylviane Anna Diouf and Sylviane Kamara. Servants of Allah: African Muslims Enslaved in the AmericasNew York University Press, 1998, p. 153
  4. ^ From an article in the Jamaica Daily Gleaner 17 January 2010, by Carolyn Cooper Professor of Literal and Cultural Studies UWI
  5. ^ Haitianite.com. Dutty Boukman – Samba Boukman, 2 December 2006
  6. ^ Sylviane Anna Diouf and Sylviane Kamara. Servants of Allah: African Muslims Enslaved in the AmericasNew York University Press, 1998, p. 153
  7. ^ Dubois, Laurent. Avengers of the New World (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, 2004), 101.
  8. ^ Sylviane Anna Diouf, Servants of Allah p.152
  9. ^ Salnave, Rodney. "Boukman wasn't Jamaican". Bwa kay Il-Ment. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  10. ^ Sherbrooke, University. "Marronnage in Saint Domingue (Haiti)". Marronnage.info.
  11. ^ Salnave, Rodney. "Boukman wasn't Jamaican". Bwa Kay Il-Ment. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  12. ^ Salnave, Rodney. "Boukman wasn't named Zamba". Bwa Kay Il-Ment. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  13. ^ Salnave, Rodney. "Origin of the boukman name". Bwa Kay Il-Ment. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  14. ^ Salnave, Rodney. "Boukman didn't know how to read". Bwa Kay Il-Ment. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  15. ^ Charles Arthur and Michael Dash (eds.) Libète: A Haiti Anthology (Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener Publishers, 1999), 36.
  16. ^ 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
  17. ^ Lowell Ponte Haiti: Victim of Clinton's Old Black Magic FrontPage Magazine 20 February 2004
  18. ^ Molefi Kete Asante and Ama Mazama. Encyclopedia of African religion, Volume 1 Sage Publications, p. 131.
  19. ^ Sylviane Anna Diouf, Servants of Allah p. 152
  20. ^ John Mason. African Religions in The Caribbean: Continuity and Change
  21. ^ John K. Thornton. I Am the Subject of the King of Congo: African Political Ideology and the Haitian Revolution. Millersville University of Pennsylvania
  22. ^ Haitian Bicentennial Committee (2004)
  23. ^ Orr, Niela. Critic's Notebook: Hollywood, Obama and the Boxing-In of Black Achievers ‘‘The Hollywood Reporter’’. December 18, 2014.
  24. ^ "Pat Robertson calls quake 'blessing in disguise'". The Washington Post. 13 January 2010.
  25. ^ Robertson statement
  26. ^ Ireland, Michael (17 January 2010). "Urban Legend Expert Debunks Haitian 'Pact with the Devil'". ASSIST News Service. Retrieved 5 April 2010.
  27. ^ "Pat Robertson on Disasters: Consistently Wrong" Thursday, 14 January 2010, 1:01 PM by John Mark Reynolds
  28. ^ [1] Denny Burk - Associate Professor of New Testament and Dean of Boyce College (undergraduate arm of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) in Louisville, Kentucky
  29. ^ https://twitter.com/albertmohler/status/7724222162
  30. ^ http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/faith/2010/01/guest_post_a_message_for_pat_r.html
  31. ^ http://pastorchrisowens.wordpress.com/2010/01/14/my-two-words-for-pat-robertson-shut-up/
  • For an insightful article on the function of religion in the Haitian Revolution, see “The Rhetoric of Prayer: Dutty Boukman, The Discourse of “Freedom from Below,” and the Politics of God” by Celucien L. Joseph, Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Religion 2:9 (June 2011):1-33.
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