Background

Around 35 miles separate the republic of Haiti from the eastern end of Cuba.^[1] From the 16th century onward, West European colonists transported large numbers of enslaved West and Central Africans to the two Caribbean colonies, where the African traditional religions they brought with them developed into new African diasporic traditions. In Haiti, this took the form of Haitian Vodou.^[2] This religion was primarily influenced by the traditional religions of the Fon and Bakongo peoples,^[3] but also absorbed the iconography of European-derived traditions such as Roman Catholicism and Freemasonry.^[4] These elements combined into the form of Vodou around the mid-18th century.^[5]

The transportation of enslaved West and Central Africans to Cuba similarly resulted in the formation of various Afro-Cuban traditions. The best known of these was Santería, formed largely from Yoruba religion as it interacted with Roman Catholicism and Spiritism.^[6] Also present was Palo, informed predominantly by Kongo religion but which also absorbed Roman Catholic and Spiritist ideas.^[7] A third Afro-Cuban tradition is Abakuá, which has its origins among the secret male societies practiced among the Efik-Ibibio.^[8] Before the end of the 18th century, Ewé Fon/Adja people had also arrived in Cuba, where their traditions produced Arará, a religion found predominantly in western and central parts of the island.^[1] Although its origins are not Yoruba, Arará is sometimes considered a branch of Santería rather than a separate system.^[9]

Arrival in Cuba

Vodou was brought to Cuba by Haitian migrants.^[10] During the 18th century, small numbers of enslaved Africans escaped the French colony of Saint-Domingue—which later became Haiti—and fled to eastern Cuba, where they settled in forested areas around the Sierra Maestra.^[11] Later, amid the turmoil of the Haitian Revolution that overthrew French colonial rule, larger numbers of Haitians migrated to Cuba.^[12] The social similarities between the two plantation colonies would have facilitated the adjustment of these Haitian migrants.^[13] They would have found that the Cuban cabildos were similar to the Haitian societés, both forming social groups for people of African descent.^[14] Haitian migrants established their own such groups in eastern Cuba, referred to as Tumba Francesas or Tajones, and it was within these groups that they could retain their own distinctive songs, dances, and drumming styles.^[15]

Haitian migrants would have recognised various aspects of Cuban religion from their earlier experiences, including the Roman Catholicism officially dominant on both islands as well as surviving influences from Kongo religion.^[12] The use of spirits contained in bottles and other vessels, for example, could be found in both Haitian Vodou and Cuban Palo, reflecting a common origin in Kongo practices.^[16]

The Haitian population of eastern Cuba would be continually replenished over the course of the 19th century and beyond, as Haitian migrants seeking better economic opportunities migrated there.^[17] This grew dramatically in the early 20th century; between 1912 and 1916, annual migration of Haitians to Cuba rose from 8,784 to 79,274.^[17] Most of these migrants brought with them a familiarity, if not the actual practice, of Haitian Vodou.^[17]