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Hello and welcome to African Elements. In this episode, Healing as Resistance: West
African Healing in the Americas. The middle passage subjected enslaved Africans to an
ordeal the depths of which are literally abysmal. That is, the further and deeper one looks
at the Atlantic slave trade, the more and more suffering one finds. New evidence continues
to emerge that suggests to historians that we have not yet begun to approach the depths
of the African experience on the Atlantic slave trade. Like the bodies of countless
Africans whose bones lie somewhere at the bottom of the Atlantic, the full breadth of
the experience of enslaved Africans may never be fully uncovered. Between Africa, the trans-Atlantic
voyage, sale in the Americas and the 2 year "seasoning" period of adjustment in the Western
Hemisphere, an estimated 35 to 80 percent of Africans who left the continent perished.
To be sure, however, many survived. How did they survive? They left Africa with a set
of survival strategies based on life in West Africa, but how were African modes of survival
useful in a completely new setting some 2000 miles away? In this episode, we look at some
of the elements of African culture in the western hemisphere and healing traditions
that helped Africans to survive the ordeal of enslavement. All that coming up next.
As we saw in episode 3, Africa in Historical Context, “culture” has been defined for
the purpose of this program as, beliefs, practices and modes of being of a particular people
in a particular setting adopted as a means of survival. We saw how and why Africans in
the various regions in Africa structured their lives (their religion, artistic traditions,
and social organization) in a particular and distinct way based on their particular setting.
When Africans left the continent of Africa, they brought their culture - their mode of
survival - with them. To be sure, Africans arrived in an American setting that was quite
different from the one they left in Africa. So, how might West African culture lay the
groundwork for African survival in the Western Hemisphere? For that, we must examine the
process of acculturation. For the purpose of this program, I will define "acculturation"
as, "cultural modification of one group by borrowing and adopting the cultural traits
of another group ... " Why would anyone do that? The answer, as you've probably guessed
is, to survive.
We can see this process even today in the practice of Santeria in the Caribbean nation
of Cuba. Born of resistance, Santeria was enslaved Africans response to unimaginable
suffering and cultural imperialism. Ironically it is thriving today under conditions not
unlike to those that created it in the first place. Since 1960, the United States has imposed
an embargo and blockade against Cuba has forcing the island country to rely on alternative
healing modalities in the face of economic imperialism. As a result, Cuba has made a
focus of such of alternative healing modalities as acupressure, acupuncture, chiropractic's,
and Bach flower remedies in addition to the practice of Santeria.
Although the African cultural practices I describe in this program were adopted specifically
for survival in West Africa, enslaved Africans did not abandon their mode of survival once
they reached the Americas, and in fact, maintained a strong attachment to them. In a lecture
given at Santa Rosa Junior College in 1998, Haitian scholar, Leslie Desmangles describes
the Yoruba and the Dahomey belief systems represented throughout the Americas from Brazil,
Central America, the Caribbean and the southern United States, as expressions of the nativism.
Nativism is a tendency to revert to one's native cultural traditions in the face of
cultural imperialism and oppression. As part of the process of subjugation, the French,
Spanish, British, and later US Americans forbade the enslaved Africans from practicing their
indigenous culture, religion, and often their language as well. Stronger and harsher oppression
results in stronger resistance and tendency toward nativism. Thus, ironically the power
of Santeria and its New World siblings as a healing tradition is directly attributable
to the vigor with which the European powers oppressed its practitioners. In other words,
European attempts to stamp out elements of African culture in the Americans simply made
those elements stronger and more deeply entrenched. The African origins of Santeria stem largely
from the Yoruba of southwestern Nigeria. In Cuba, the Yoruba Orisha worship practices
fused with Spanish folk Catholic traditions and formed the Santeria. As a healing form,
enslaved Africans were forced to attend to their own medical problems due to neglect
by slave owners and the exorbitant cost of physician's services and pharmaceuticals.
Thus, by necessity African-based medicine, magic and their associated plant pharmacopias
have persisted in many cases and flourished in the Americas. As an example of how this
resistance was manifested, Robert Voeks writes, "In the context of the master-slave relationship,
magic and sorcery represented one of the few powers that Africans held over their owners
and their fellow bondsmen." Roman Catholicism had some structural similarities
with African religions. Ancestor worship, elaborate ritual and offerings, and most importantly,
polytheism. Santeria evolved as the Yoruba deities which numbered more than 400 in Africa
were reduced to several dozen relevant entities in the New World and juxtaposed onto Roman
Catholic symbols and rituals. In this way, Africans could continue a mode of traditional
worship now disguised as Roman Catholic liturgy to honor their own gods now concealed by the
names of Roman Catholic saints. To this day, the African deity Babalu-Ayé, horribly disfigured
god of smallpox and disease, who governs disorders of the skin and is popularly referred to as
"the doctor of the poor" is associated with with St.Lazarus. Obatalá, god of peace and
tranquillity who controls white parts of the body-head, thoughts, dreams-and his leaves
are called on to heal blindness and paralysis with Jesus Christ. And Yemayá, goddess of
the oceans who rules over intestinal illness and tuberculosis is synchronized with the
*** mother. Because many if not most of the plants used in Santeria are native to
the New World, Santeria has adopted an evolved specifically to meet the needs of the oppressed
and enslaved Africans in the Western Hemisphere.
Similar to Roman Catholicism is the Yoruba belief in a high God. Olorun or Olodumare
is the creator and supreme ruler of the universe. Olorun is believed to exist on a plane far
beyond the reach of humans. Contact with the supernatural world can therefore be made only
with the aid of divine intermediaries known as "Orishas." The number of Orishas identified
in studies of traditional Yoruba religion ranges from 400 to 1700. The parallel role
of the various bishops and saints as Divine intermediaries in the Roman Catholic faith
makes clear the basis for its infusion into the Yoruba spiritual system and the resulting
birth of Santeria.
Because the setting is different, however, many of the articles and symbols used in African
healing traditions in the Americas are substituted or improvised. Yemaya, who is a river goddess
in West Africa, for example, becomes the goddess of the ocean in the Santeria healing tradition.
Likewise, the plants and herbs governed by Yemaya that are used in healing are indigenous
to West Africa. So they must be substituted for those found in the Western Hemisphere.
Some of the substitutions occur through trial and error, and some through contact with indigenous
peoples and further infusion with Native American practices. That is especially true among the
vodoun in Haiti where isolated maroon communities - communities of runaway slaves - developed
in relative isolation in Haiti's rugged interrior. The result is a wide variance in the practice
of vodou from one community to the next. Since the slave population in the Americas consisted
of a variety of African ethnic groups, the practice of vodou in any one particular maroon
community may be more Dahomean influenced, for example, or it could be more Yoruban depending
upon the make-up of the community. It may also vary in the degree of Taino influence,
which is the Native American group indigenous to the region. In the following ceremony,
which I recorded in Havana, Cuba, we see much of the substitution and improvisation:
TOUR GUIDE: This is a Palamonte altar. We see that there is a pot -- an iron pot -- with
the chains because the chains are a homage paid to the slaves. These pots with the pots
used by the slaves to air their food, and the chains resembled slavery and the sufferings
of these people.... and they blow. So as you see, Tato is already old, so he
must be practically guided. But while he is alive, he preserves the authority. So he spits
brown on it in order to give it to the spirit. This is "malafo." In African dialect this
is malafo, so they spit on the alcohol in order to share the drink with Sarabanda.
See how they introduce the cigar inside? They blow out to the smoke goes out of the mouth.
Cleansing is a central notion of change manifested in Santeria which may be a specific instance
of a much more widely occurring phenomenon found in African, Latin American, and Afro-Caribbean
folk medicine. This phenomenon reveals a belief that the body has a normal tendency to become
impure causing various illnesses. Retaining much of its West African traits, healing traditions
in Santeria and its siblings throughout the Americas has remained community based. That
is true because as in West Africa, individual survival depended largely on the strength
of the community. In sharp contrast to European healing traditions, African-based healing
does not separate music, dance, and prayer. That is, in order for healing to be effective,
taking a particular herb is not enough. One must take the herb, pray to the orisha that
governs the spiritual properties of the herb (be it Yemaya or Oshun or any number of other
Orishas), and perform music and dance rituals in celebration of that Orisha. Thus, contrary
to European traditions which focus largely on competition and individualism, African-based
healing in the Americas involves the community coming together and engaging in music, dance,
and ritual. Notice in the following ceremony the use of simple wooden drums and instruments.
This is clearly a modification from the far more complex instruments we see in traditional
West African music. Again, a different setting requires some adaptation in order to survive.
We will see the same type of adaptation in the Southern United States, which is the reason
why *** spirituals sung on the plantation during the antebellum period are always sung
acapella. While the music carries embedded codes and elements necessary for survival,
the slaves obviously did not carry instruments with them out into the cotton fields. To survive,
we must take what we already know and adapt it to a new setting.
TOUR GUIDE: Every ceremony has a music and a dance. You will see that the pressure of
the music is so high, that when they start playing you a feel the vibration.
SPEAKING IN AFRICAN DIALECT Africa!
Although African-based medicine in the Americas evolved specifically to blend in to European
traditions, differences also exist that distinguish European and African healing traditions. For
example, Georgetown University Professor, Isabel Castallanos notes the frequent use
of terms such as "exotic" and "bizarre" to describe the ritual sacrifice of animals in
Santeria as symptoms of cultural distortion. She writes, "Animal sacrifice in Santeria
is part of a coherent, and might I add extremely complex religious worldview and it is from
this cultural perspective that it should be examined. While sport hunting can certainly
be considered within the context of animal sacrifice, it is not considered bizarre or
exotic simply because it is part of US culture even while it's detractors denote it's cruelty
and wastefulness." While Santeria is intrinsically intertwined
with Roman Catholicism, California State University Professor, Robert Voeks note the sharp departure
from the Christian worldview. He writes, "Whereas Christianity emphasizes the topic, African
religions expend little energy connecting this world action with the afterworld response.
Heaven, hell, sin and redemption are alien concepts in the Yoruba-Dahomey worldview.
The overriding preoccupation is with realizing happiness during life.
The concept of "aché" is central to traditional Yoruba religion and its New World offspring.
Aché is understood as the blood or energy of cosmic life. Spellman college Professor,
Harry G. Lafever writes, "Aché is like a divine current that finds many conductors
of both greater or lesser receptivity. Essential to everyday existence, aché is channeled
to humans through the Orishas, divinations, and the rituals of sacrifice and dance possession.
"Egwe," are plants, herbs and weeds thought to have the power to help human beings live
helpful and abundant lives. In addition to ritual dance and sacrifice, egwe manifest
and make use of their various kinds of aché to heal disease and promote happiness and
well-being. Significantly, it is not cultivated but wild egwes that possess real powers for
healing. Homegrown plants and domesticated plants grown on farms or in gardens lack aché
in the eyes of Santeras. Ritual cleansing, or "despojos" are central
to the practice of Santeria, and are the most common use of plants and healing. Despojos
utilize plants through fumigation with cigar smoke, baths and house cleaning's. Despojos
allow priests and believers to deal with the influences of malignant spirits they see as
the cause of a great deal of human suffering. In fumigation, the Santera blows cigar smoke
all over the body or person and the smoke list the bad spiritual influence believe to
be clinging to them. Santeras often prescribe herbal baths for the same purpose. Another
form of cleansing is known as "recogacíon de cabéza," a rite directed at the client's
head. Recogacíon de cabéza is used both as a curing rite, and the preparation for
other rituals when healing is accompanied by other rites. Recogacíon de cabéza paves
the way for healing by strengthening the mental and spiritual faculties of the person seeking
cure. It is done for the purpose of cooling and refreshing head -- an ideal state of health
in the eyes of the Santeras. George Brandon writes that depression, mental confusion,
witchcraft, high blood pressure and violent temper are some of the problems treated in
this way.
Santeras are accessible to those who may wish to seek them out in the United States largely
because of the growing Cuban community as a result of the 1959 Cuban revolution and
the establishment of botanicas where ritual products can be sold. These stores specialize
in the sale of religious goods such as candles, statues and assorted herbs and plants. By
1964 there were several thousand practitioners in New York City alone where Cuban patients
are treated Puerto Rican curanderos, espiritistas as well as Santeras. In Miami, folk remedies
can be purchased from Cuban grocers. Santeria can also be placed within the context of black
nationalism. A common denominator of all nationalism is the high value placed on self-definition
and self-determination. Nationalists believe that the ethnic, religious or linguistic group
to which they are most intimately attached is undervalued and oppressed by a dominant
society. For constant elements of black nationalism are defined as: racial consciousness, religious
separatism, a focus on cultural history (including promises of the reemergence of African greatness
and restoration of racial pride) and self-determination which centers on a quest for political autonomy.
Those who affirm police in black nationalism may also be interested in seeking out a Santera.
Great care must be taken in the collection of an application of healing plants and herbs.
If the wrong things are used, the intended cleansing may do more harm than good. Hence
the caution against commercial preparation, as one is never entirely sure what they contain.
In another departure from the European world view, Santeras believe that wild egwe -- even
plants found growing between cracks in cement -- are preferred to those cultivated for commercial
use. So, as we've seen, African cultural elements
helped enslaved Africans survive in the Americas, but some modification was necessary as a result
of a change in their setting. The result is a mode of survival which is neither African,
nor European, but African American. My hope is that once you understand the process, African
elements become easier to spot whether you are walking into an African American church,
or listening to a track from James Brown. That’s it for this episode. You can see
everything you’ve seen here as well as the entire archive of episodes at my website www.africanelements.org.
You can also join the discussion on our Facebook Group African Elements. Thank you for watching.