Dutty Boukman was a houngan, or vodoun (vooodoo) priest whose death was considered a catalyst to the slave uprising that started the Haïtian Revolution. Boukman is thought to have been of Jamaican birth.
On 22 August 1791, Boukman functioned as a houngan (priest) together with an African-born priestess and conducted a ceremony at the Bois Caïman and prophesied that the slaves Jean François, Biassou, and Jeannot would be leaders of a slave revolt that would free the slaves of Saint-Domingue.
A pig, which symbolized the wild, free, and untamable spiritual power of the forest and the ancestors, was sacrificed, an oath was taken, and Boukman and the priestess exhorted the listeners to fight bravely against their oppressors.
Days later the Haitian Revolution began. Boukman was not the first to attempt a slave uprising in Saint-Domingue, as he was preceded by others. However, his large size, warrior-like appearance, and fearsome temper made him an effective leader and helped spark the Haitian Revolution.
Soon after the revolt began Boukman was caught by the French authorities and beheaded. The French publically displayed Boukman's head to dispell his aura of invincibility that Boukman had cultivated.
While the rebellion was temporarily quelled in northern Haiti it continued in other parts of Haiti and soon became unmanageable.
Bois Caïman (Haitian Creole: Bwa Kayiman) is the purported site of the Vodou ceremony presided over by Dutty Boukman on August 14, 1791. It is widely accepted as the starting point for the Haitian Revolution.
Some scholars, however, have deemphasized the role of the Bois Caïman ceremony in sparking the Haitian revolution or have even gone so far as to question whether the event even took place.
Whatever the ultimate disposition of these claims, no one can deny that the historical memory Bois Caïman has political and spiritual resonance for many Haitians to the present day.
source: Wikipedia
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