Mischief Makers: Cécile Fatiman

Episode Summary

The podcast episode discusses Cécile Fatiman, a Haitian mambo (Vodou priestess) who helped ignite the Haitian Revolution. Little is known about Fatiman's early life, but she was born to an enslaved African woman and a French man in Saint-Domingue (modern day Haiti). She was sold into slavery with her mother and lost two brothers to the slave trade. As a mambo, Fatiman held an esteemed position in Vodou. In August 1791, she and another Vodou priest named Boukman Dutty led a secret ceremony that is considered the starting point of the Haitian Revolution. During this ceremony, Fatiman sacrificed a pig and distributed its blood, while Boukman gave a speech calling for revolt. The ceremony preceded a massive slave uprising that destroyed plantations and challenged French colonial rule. The revolution lasted over a decade, finally leading to Haiti's independence in 1804 as the only nation born of a successful slave revolt. Though details of the ceremony are debated by historians, Fatiman's role as a spiritual leader contributed to a conception of freedom beyond Western ideals. She empowered her community and channeled its revolutionary spirit.

Episode Show Notes

Cécile Fatiman (1771-1883) facilitated a special ceremony that ignited the Haitian Revolution.

Episode Transcript

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SPEAKER_03: Before we begin, this episode discusses aspects of slavery and mentions violence. Hello, from Wonder Media Network, I'm Jenny Kaplan, and this is Womanica. This month we're talking about mischief makers, oddballs, chameleons, and nonconformists, queens of quick wit. Today we're talking about a woman whose facilitation of a special ceremony ignited the Haitian Revolution. Let's talk about Cecile Fatiman. Little is known about where Cecile Fatiman was born or how she grew up. We do know she was the daughter of an enslaved African woman and a French man from Corsica. Cecile was sold into slavery with her mother, in Saint-Domingue, a French colony on the island of Hispaniola, an area we now know as Haiti. Cecile also had two brothers whom she lost to the slave trade. Cecile became a mambo, the term for a priestess in Vodou, which is an African diasporic religion. It's a complex system made up of different spiritual beliefs that can be traced back to West Africa. As a mambo, Cecile held a high position in Vodou. Her specific skills allowed her to connect between the physical and spiritual realms. During ceremonies, a mambo could call upon the gods in many ways, including through songs, dances, and offerings. At that time, the mid to late 1700s, Saint-Domingue was one of the wealthiest colonies in the Caribbean. It also had one of the harshest and most violent slave systems in the Americas. The dominant idea of freedom during this time came from the Enlightenment in Europe. It was considered a self-evident human right, but this same logic was also used to justify slavery based on a hierarchy of race. The only sanctioned forms of freedom for enslaved Africans were through self-purchase or release from an enslaver. But something powerful was brewing on the island of Hispaniola during the summer of 1791. One night in August, some 200 enslaved people gathered in the Boa Cayman, or Alligator Wood, in the north. There, Cecile and a fellow Vodou priest, Bookman Duthie, led a ceremony. As the story goes, Cecile slipped the throat of a pig and shared its blood with those present, while Bookman gave a rousing speech, calling on everyone to fight their white enslavers together. A storm broke out, and as the rain fell, people dispersed. The very existence and specifics of this event are still debated among historians. The primary written record of this gathering comes from Antoine d'Almas, a plantation doctor working nearby. He wrote about the event with contempt. His judgmental stance reflects the colonial perspective at the time and minimizes the transformative power of the mambo. Some scholars argue that, as a mambo, Cecile was a conduit for a different kind of emancipation for her people. Despite the violations they were subject to, Cecile and other black women, through ritual spaces, could nourish connections to a larger sense of self that reached beyond Western concepts of freedom. It's in this context that the gathering in Bois Caille Man is widely seen as the ideological start to the revolution. The revolt exploded just days after the ceremony. Within a month, more than 1,000 coffee and sugar plantations had been destroyed, and tens of thousands of people were in open rebellion. This revolutionary struggle carried on for more than a decade. Finally, in 1804, the people won their independence from France and became the only nation born of a successful revolt by enslaved people. Cecile later married Jean-Louis Pierrot, who led a black battalion at the last and decisive site of the revolution, and served briefly as the new nation's president. It's said that Cecile lived out her life on the north coast of the island until the age of 112. All month, we're talking about mischief makers. For more information, check us out on Facebook and Instagram at Wamanaka Podcast. Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator. 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