Santeria from Africa to the New World: The Dead Sell Memories (Blacks in the Diaspora)

The Yoruba religious tradition arose in West Africa, but its influence has spread beyond Africa to millions of adherents in the Americas as well. 'Santeria from Africa to the New World' retraces one path taken by this tradition―a path from Africa to Cuba and to New York City. George Brandon examines the religion’s transatlantic route through Cuban Santeria, Puerto Rican Espiritismo, and Black Nationalism. In following the historical and anthropological evolution of the Yoruba religion, Brandon discusses broader questions of power, multiculturalism, cultural change, and the production and reproduction of African retentions. Addresses broader issues such as power relations within Caribbean slavery, multiculturalism, and the forms of religious accommodation to cultural change. This book examines the religion's transatlantic route through Cuban Santeria, Puerto Rican Espiritismo, and Black Nationalism. Santeria from Africa to the New World 1 Contents 9 Acknowledgments 11 I. Introduction 15 The Processual Framework 17 Phases of Religious Development 17 Continuity and Change 21 II. Africa 23 The Old Religion 25 Three Brothers Quarrel, and their Homes are Invaded by Strangers 32 III. Cuba: Pre-Santeria and Early Santeria (1492-1870) 51 The Conquest Culture 52 The Catholic Religion 59 The Sugar Boom and Expansion of Slavery 66 Lucumi Ethnicity 69 Syncretism of African and European Religions 73 Transformation of the Old Religion 88 IV. Cuba: Santeria (1870-1959) 93 An Economic Transition 93 The Suppression of the Cabildos 96 Espiritismo 99 Afro-Cubanism 104 The Ambivalence of Repression and Resistance 109 Cuban Postscript 113 V. Santeria in the United States (1959-1982) 118 Spirits in Exile 119 New Forms in New York 121 VI. Continuity and Change 140 Problems of Collective Memory 141 Problems of Syncretism 171 Bibliography 201 Index 217 About the Author 221 Illustrations follow page 31 and page 120 10 Plate 1. Decorations on the front of a Vodun shrine 46 Plate 2. Shrine to Orisha Oro (Oro Society House) 46 Plate 3. Worshipers assembled outside a shrine to the Vodun 47 Plate 4. Inside a shrine to the Orisha Osanyin 47 Plate 5. Inside a shrine to the Orisha Shango in Oyo, Nigeria 48 Plate 6. Inside a shrine to the Orisha Oshumare, the rainbow serpent, Nigeria, 1940 48 Plate 7. “Witnessing objects”: sacred pots from a shrine for the Orisha Obatala. Nigeria 1940 49 Plate 8. Candidates for initiation into the priesthood 49 Plate 9. Procession of initiates 50 Plate 10. Don Fernando Ortiz presents Santeria bata drummers to Cuban intellectuals. Havana, 1930s 135 Plate 11. Large Afro-Cuban Santeria altar in the house of a santero. Matanzas, Cuba, 1930s 135 Plate 12. Throne for Yemaya at La Casa de Los Hijos de San Lazaro, Guanabacoa, Havana Province 136 Plate 13. Chromolithograph of the Seven African Powers 137 Plate 14. The author at a spiritist session in the Bronx, New York, 1981 137 Plate 15. Santeria drum-dance, or bembe, in the Bronx, New York, 1980 138 Plate 16. Oba Osejiman Adefunmi I, king of the Yorubas in America, around 1980 138 Plate 17. The Oshun shrine at Oyotunji Village, South Carolina, 1981 139 Plate 18. The Ogun shrine at Oyotunji Village, South Carolina, 1981 139 "On his own terms, Brandon more than fulfills his promise to take the reader on the transatlantic journey of the orisha and to explore the complexities of African memory in the diaspora." American Historical Review "He adeptly addresses broader issues, such as power relations within Caribbean slavery, multiculturalism, and the forms of religious accommodation to cultural change. In addition, he offers a fresh and cogent assessment of the production and reproduction of African beliefs and practices in new contexts. Brandon's exemplary archival research is supplemented by skillful participant observation." Choice The Yoruba religious tradition arose in West Africa, but its influence has spread beyond Africa to millions of adherents in the Americas as well. Santeria from Africa to the New World retraces one path taken by this traditiona path from Africa to Cuba and to New York City. George Brandon examines the religion's transatlantic route through Cuban Santeria, Puerto Rican Espiritismo, and Black Nationalism. In following the historical and anthropological evolution of the Yoruba religion, Brandon discusses broader questions of power, multiculturalism, cultural change, and the production and reproduction of African retentions. This book takes readers along one path of what this transatlantic tradition of Yoruba religion has come to be---the path from Africa to Cuba to New York City. Other paths could have been, and ultimately must be, chosen and researched by scholars in the future. So this book talks about one line, one path among the many, and its focus is mainly on the structures and rhythms of Santeria's history and on problems of collective memory and syncretism. Africa -- Cuba: Pre-santeria And Early Santeria (1492-1870) -- Cuba: Santeria (1870-1959) -- Santeria In The United States (1959-1982) -- Continuity And Change. George Brandon. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [187]-202) And Index.