2007/04/16 by Ina J. Fandrich · 3 citations
Social Sciences · Arts and Humanities · #Colonialism, slavery, and trade #Caribbean and African Literature and Culture #Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis
paper · doi:10.1177/0021934705280410
openalex publication_date 2007/04/16 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/30
The enormous impact of the Yorùbá religion on the New World African diaspora has been well established by scholars, especially when referring to the heavily Yorùbánized popular Creole belief systems of Cuba ( Santería/ Lucumí, Palo) and Brazil ( Umbanda, Candomblé). Far less known are the connections between the Yorùbá faith and the African-based religions of Haiti ( Vodou ) and New Orleans ( Voodoo/Voudou). This article seeks to fill these lacunae and explores the Yorùbá influences on these two neo-African religious traditions both from a contemporary and historical perspective, sorting through many misconceptions attached to the confusing and, for the most part, derogatory English term Voodoo. Interestingly, it is the powerful warrior spirits Eshu/Elegba and Ogun who proved to be the most resilient survivors of Yorùbá cosmology in the Haitian and New Orleanian diaspora.