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artist aaron waugh see his work online
Origins of Cuba's African groups[edit] Clearly, the origin of African groups in Cuba
is due to the island's long history of slavery. Compared to the USA, slavery started in Cuba
much earlier and continued for decades afterwards. Cuba was the last country in the Americas
to abolish the importation of slaves, and the second last to free the slaves. In 1807
the British Parliament outlawed slavery, and from then on the British Navy acted to intercept
Portuguese and Spanish slave ships. By 1860 the trade with Cuba was almost extinguished;
the last slave ship to Cuba was in 1873. The abolition of slavery was announced by the
Spanish Crown in 1880, and put into effect in 1886. Two years later, Brazil abolished
slavery.[91] Although the exact number of slaves from each
African culture will never be known, most came from one of these groups, which are listed
in rough order of their cultural impact in Cuba:
The Congolese from the Congo basin and SW Africa. Many tribes were involved, all called
Congos in Cuba. Their religion is called Palo. Probably the most numerous group, with a huge
influence on Cuban music. The Oyó or Yoruba from modern Nigeria, known
in Cuba as Lucumí. Their religion is known
as Regla de Ocha (roughly, 'the way of the spirits') and its syncretic version known
as Santería. Culturally of great significance. The Kalabars from part of Nigeria and Cameroon.
These semi-Bantú groups are known in Cuba as Carabali,[92] and their religious organization
as Abakuá. The street name for them in Cuba was Ñáñigos.
The Dahomey, from Benin. They were the Fon, known as arará in Cuba. The Dahomeys were
a powerful and terrible people who practised human sacrifice and slavery long before Europeans
got involved, and even more so during the Atlantic slave trade.[12]p100 [93][94]
Haitian immigrants to Cuba arrived at various times up to the present day. Leaving aside
the French, who also came, the Africans from Haiti were a mixture of groups who usually
spoke creolized French: and religion was known as vodú.
From part of modern Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire came the Gangá.
Senegambian people (Senegal, the Gambia), but including many brought from Sudan by the
Arab slavers, were known by a catch-all word: Mandinga. The famous musical phrase Kikiribu
Mandinga! refers to