Vodú Chic: Cuba's Haitian Heritage, the Folkloric Imaginary, and the State The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Viddal, Grete Tove. 2014. Vodú Chic: Cuba's Haitian Heritage, the Folkloric Imaginary, and the State. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University. Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:12274510 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA Vodú Chic: Cuba’s Haitian Heritage, the Folkloric Imaginary, and the State A dissertation presented by Grete T. Viddal to The Department of African and African American Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the subject of African American Studies Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts December 2013 © 2013 Grete T. Viddal All rights reserved. Dissertation Advisor: Ingrid Monson Grete T. Viddal Vodú Chic: Cuba’s Haitian Heritage, the Folkloric Imaginary, and the State Abstract Hundreds of thousands of Haitian agricultural laborers arrived in Cuba to cut cane as the Cuban sugar industry was expanding between the 1910s and the 1930s, and many settled permanently on the island. Historically, Haitian laborers occupied the lowest strata in Cuban society. Until relatively recently, the maintenance of Haitian traditions in Cuba was associated with rural isolation and poverty. Today however, the continuation of Haitian customs is no longer associated with isolation, but exactly the opposite. Cuba’s Haitian communities are increasingly linked with cultural institutes, heritage festivals, music promoters, and the tourism industry. In Cuba’s socialist economy, “folklore” is a valuable resource that demonstrates the unity of a multi-racial and multi-ethnic nation and attracts tourists. Music, dance, and rituals associated with Vodú have been re-imagined for the public stage. The “folkloric imaginary” creates new careers and opportunities for people of Haitian descent in Cuba. Haitiano-cubanos themselves have found innovative ways to transform the once abject into the now exotic, and are currently gaining a public presence in Cuba through folkloric performance. iii Table of Contents 1. Chapter One: Introduction ……………………………………………………………………. 1 2. Chapter Two: The Sociocultural History of Haitians in Cuba ………………………………... 52 3. Chapter Three: Vodú Chic: Haitian Culture and the Folkloric Imaginary in Socialist Cuba … 100 4. Chapter Four:“Yo soy cubano, pero soy haitiano también” (“I’m Cuban, but I’m Haitian too”): Embracing Haitian Identity in Cuba ……………………………………………………… 152 5. Chapter Five: The Ferocious and the Gracious ………………………………………………. 195 6. Conclusion & Epilogue ………………………………………………………………………. 241 7. Bibliography ………………………………………………………………………………… 248 iv List of Figures Figure 1: Map of Cuba – courtesy of C. Scott Walker, Digital Cartography Specialist, Harvard Library Figure 2: Santiago cityscape – ©Viddal 2008 Figure 3: Map of Santiago and Guantánamo provinces – courtesy of C. Scott Walker, Digital Cartography Specialist, Harvard Library Figure 4: My home in Santiago’s historic center. The family car is parked in front – ©Viddal 2008 Figure 5: Tumba Francesa la Pompadour performing at a UNESCO-sponsored event. – ©Viddal 2009 Figure 6: Pablo Milanés Fuentes – ©Viddal 2008 Figure 7: Milanés family members preparing a “Manyé Mort,” a table decked with food and drink for the ancestors, featuring a photograph of deceased family patriarch Arsenault Silnet. Below the table is a “Manyé Masá,” or traditional small repast for the sacred trickster twins. Figure 8: Veronica’s passport on the left, with one of her Cuban-born sons on the right. – ©Viddal 2013 Figure 9: The Casa del Caribe cultural research institution in Santiago de Cuba Figure 10: James on the cover of Del Caribe (Issue 48/49 2007) Figure 11: Grupo Folklórico Thompson – ©Viddal 2008 Figure 12: Pablo Milanés dancing during a Vodú event sponsored by the Casa del Caribe – ©Viddal 2009 Figure 13: Emilio Milanés drumming during a Vodú event in Pilon del Cauto – ©Viddal 2010 Figure 14: Spiritist style Vodú altar at a museum event commemorating Haitian heritage in San Germán – ©Viddal 2008 Figure 15: The Eva Gaspar en Memorium festival – ©Viddal 2009 Figure 16: Norberto of Grupo Nagó parading as the Roi Diablé at the Eva Gaspar festival – ©Viddal 2009 Figure 17: Bonito Patuá dancers performing a Haitian Merengue on the evening stage – ©Viddal 2009 v Figure 18: Oungan Poll Jr. as Togo wrestling with the sacrificial boar. Eva Gaspar festival. – ©Viddal 2009 Figure 19: Bertha Julia Noris, organizer of the Bwa Kayiman festival – ©Viddal 2008 Figure 20: Renacer Haitiano includes dancers of varied heritage – ©Viddal 2008 Figure 21: Jhosvany Milanés and the Taller Ennegro installation at the Festival del Caribe – ©Viddal 2010 Figure 22: Julio García Lay with the author. Photo courtesy of Antonio Mejías Limonta. Figure 23: Antonio Mejías Limonta recording a Vodú event – ©Viddal 2009 Figure 24: Researchers Vásquez Lemes (far left), Viddal (middle front), and Mejías Limonta (tallest, back row) smile for the camera with the Creole Choir after a rehearsal in Camagüey – photo courtesy of Cepero Recorder 2013 Figure 25: The Creole Choir performing in Havana – ©Viddal 2009 Figure 26: Grupo Folclórico La Caridad performing feats with a machete – ©Viddal 2010 Figure 27: Vodú Petró event hosted by Pablo and Tato Milanés for the Festival del Caribe in the Chicharrones neighborhood – ©Viddal 2009 Figure 28: Members of the Milanés family and Grupo Folklorico de Pilón del Cauto encourage a young member of the troupe to dance at a public Vodú party in Chicharrones – ©Viddal 2009 Figure 29: Gran Buá in the body of Pablo Milanés completes the matanza, or ritual sacrifice, at a public Vodú Petró party in Chicharrones during the Festival del Caribe – ©Viddal 2009 Figure 30: Criminel, in the body of Tato Milanés, stalking around with raw pig testicles – ©Viddal 2009 Figure 31: Gran Buá in the body of Pablo Milanés blesses attendee Antonio Mejías Limonta at a Vodú Petró party while a press representative films in the background – ©Viddal 2009 Figure 32: Weighing and selling goats during a weekend Vodú event at the Milanés farm – ©Viddal 2010 Figure 33: Gran Buá in the body of Pablo Milanés blesses a child with blood at a Vodú event at the Milanés farm in Pilón del Cauto – ©Viddal 2010 Figure 34: Members of Grupo Caidije prepare to lift a laden table with their teeth – ©Viddal 2010 Figure 35: Elena Celestien Vidal preparing the “white table” for Ecili – ©Viddal 2008 Figure 36: Elena and her husband Isias seated at the table for Ercili – ©Viddal 2008 vi Figure 37: Father and daughter play violin for Saint Barbara and Saint Lazrus at a Manyé Blanche at the home of Elena Sansón – ©Viddal 2008 Figure 38: Mme Lescaille by Hazard Figure 39: Procession for Saint Barbara throught the streets of Santiago – ©Viddal 2009 Figure 40: Blanca Poll’s Saint Lazarus statue – ©Viddal 2010 vii Acknowledgements My deep gratitude goes out to the many people who contributed to this dissertation. My advisor, Ingrid Monson, always a grounding and supportive force, kept me on track throughout the process of writing. Dissertation committee member Katherine Hagedorn offered perceptive and thoughtful comments on my chapters-in-progress. Her passing, all too early, leaves the scholarly community bereft of her generous spirit and capacious intellect. I am grateful to committee members Michael Herzfeld, Suzanne Blier, and Raul Fernández for insightful feedback, and to Harvard faculty J. Lorand Matory, Vincent Brown, Deborah Foster, Jacob Olupona, and Jorge Domínguez for their support and guidance. My department, African and African American Studies, always felt like a “second home” and offered a warm and inviting environment. Many compatriots assisted and sustained my journey into the world of Caribbean culture, spirituality, performance, and history, including Sharon Kivenko, Linda Rodríguez, Mrinalini Tankha, Corinna Campbell, Carla Martin, Matthew Kustenbauder, Kristina Wirtz, Jalane Schmidt, Kathy Smith, Hanna Garth, Bob Fernández, Ivor Miller, Ned Sublette, Laurie Frederik, Marc McLeod, Marial Iglesias, Kahlil Chaar-Pérez, Ariana Hernandez-Reguant, Judith Bettleheim, Michel Degraff, Maude Marie Evans, Patrick Sylvain, Jean Appolon, the Sosyete Nago in Mattapan, and Reynaldo González. A special salute goes to three comrades who also write with passion about Cuba’s Haitian heritage: Emmanuel Pereira, Yanique Hume, and Matt Casey, who magnanimously shared his sources and detailed knowledge of Cuban history. My research would not have been possible without the support of the Casa del Caribe, a cultural research institute in Santiago de Cuba, and its valiant band of scholars, religious practitioners, and performers. Heartfelt thanks go to Alexis Alarcón, my official academic viii advisor while I resided in Santiago, and the other intrepid intellectuals of the Casa, including Julio Corbea, Orlando Vergés, Carlos Lloga, Kenia Dorta, Nancy Galeano, and Toni Pérez. To my field assistant, best friend, and colleague, Antonio Mejías Limonta: tout onè ak respè. Many scholars and professionals in Cuba generously guided my work, including Hilario Batista, Heidy Cepero Recorder, Aniesky Vásquez, Bertha Julia Noris, David González,