df?e Evil Spell 9^?^Vbodoo> over Hayii
-1
By Wilbur Forrest
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Hayti. Dee. 1.
RELIGION always plays Its
part in problems of admin?
istration, and in no land
where Americans have gone
to administer has such a unique
problem of belief presented itself
as in HaytL
Amons the great mass of illiter?
ate blacks, crowded to the number
r - t - . ? i-^?i
either destroyed or kept to add to a
museum.
Secret Calls to Worship
Finally, when voodoo priests dis?
covered that the great drums, made
of palm tree trunks and goatskins,
sometimes five feet high, drew other
than true worshipers, they aban?
doned the ancient call method and
summoned their assemblies by the
grapevine system. Marine orders
then went forward to destroy the
temples.
The natives call their high priests
of voodooism the Houngans. These
Houngans are sorcerers, or makers
of 2,000.000-odd on Hayti'a 10,000
square miles, it has not been so
much the religion but the task of
subduing a barbaric sorcery which
United ?States marines found here
five years ago.
Probably the greatest work of our
military folk in Ilayti has been the
complete pacification of the coun?
try. There- is no doubt that regret?
table though isolated instances of
immature judgment have occurred,
but there is completo peace in Hay
ti to-day for the first time in scores
of years. The second most impor?
tant work here has been the repres?
sion of tha voodoo.
A Souvenir of Africa
Lesss than five years ago the weird
roll of voodoo tomtoms resounding
at night in the hills and valleys of
the bush called from miles around
the superstitious blacks, whose in?
stincts, bora of Af 'can tribesmen,
led them to the assembly. The
scene was usually a roughly buill
temple where the chief priest, 01
medicine man or woman, offlciatec
with meaningless incantations, anc
eventually the lifeblood of a fiumar
??usually a child?was drawn aB i
sacrifice to the spirits supposed t<
guide the destinies of these trans
planted Africans. The most un
printable orgies are recorded.
The voodoo assembly with its car
nibalistic orgies and dances is a!
most a thing of the past in this li1
tie Caribbean republic.
In Cuba and Porto Rico we foun
a people more or less religious an
controlled by the Church to an e:
tent that white-man administratioi
in rural communities, at least, wj
materially aided by friendly c.
operation with the country pries
The Philippines offered a semi-sa
agery with which force was the fir
requisite, followed by a diplomat
process of winning over.
Savage Tribal Customs
But in Hayti Americana foui
the weirdest and most difficult pro
lem of all?a something which trac
from savage tribal customs of pt
hap? a dozen breeds of Afric;
blacks made more virile by gent
atlons of Ignorant groping in a Jar
where precedent became nothii
but instinct, an instinct always fu
damentally savage.
The Wanyiki tribe in Africa pr?
ticea rites which could be detected
the negro voodoo festivals of Hay
The Wakambas are here in th.
transplanted brothers. Other tril
have contributed customs which ha
been combined by fifty generatic
in Hayti into a wild melange of :
perstitioua practices under the le?
ership of the medicine man, the ch
Jgieit or priestess, the voodoo doct
irhe marine.? began work agaii
voodooism in Hayti by the seizure
the great ?rums?tomtoms?w
which the voodoo doctors called th
congregations. Young Americans
the bush were drawn to these dru
as were the blacks, but for an i
fcirely different purpose. Crawl!
cautiously through th? underbru
they would Anally locate the tern
and send those asMimbled scurry!
into the bu3h by firing a few sh
hi the air. The drum waa their o
ob>ct, and one? is their hands i
.1
of magic, whose ability to do the un?
usual stamps them as superior.
Once it is told that a native woman
became a Houngan because it was
reported she was in a remote part
of the country one clay and appeared
at a distant city the following day.
Her fame spread among the super?
stitious natives until she became one
of the best known priestesses in the
land. At the present moment she is
said to have far more power over
the average lower caste Haytian
than Hayti's political chief execu?
tive.
The chief assistant to the Houn?
gan is called d'Hornicon, and follow?
ing down the line are any numbers
of acolyte sub-priests called the
Honci Gauzeaux. The order extends
down to the Honci, the single care?
taker of the temple.
Marines, under orders, were com
pelled to destroy these temple;
wherever found. The silencing o:
the tomtoms made it a difficult tasl
to find them. Occasionally to thi
day they discover them cleverly hid
den in the denser foliage of th
most remoto districts.
Encloses Sacred Tree
The voodoo temple has a univei
sal name which is neither French no
English. To the native his temple :
the Hunfort. These are of simila
construction, usually sitting within
compound, which also incloses tl
sacred tree. This tree is of tl
herb-bearing variety, from who*
leaves or berries sacred potions a:
brewed. The temple itself is a se
, eral room affair, supporting outsi<
a broad veranda, where the vood?
dances are staged after the saci
i fice. A few American marines
perhaps less than five in five yea
| ?who have been fortunate enouj
'? to watch these dances from plac
of concealment tell of uncloth
! blacks in violent gyrations for hou
i until they fall of exhaustion. Th
tell also of orgies, fanned into fiai
i by tafia?native rum?which canr
be recorded.
Inside the temples were genera!
found three rooms, known singly
the congo room, the rada room a
the rnarissa. To those who ha
studied the Haytian voodoo as b?
they could the rnarissa appears
have been the room of sacrifi
Why so named is mystery. So ?
as known, no American has cv
been in the confidence of a vooc
priest or has been allowed to witn?
a genuine ceremony from beginni
to end. No American has ever w
ne:-:sed any part of a genuine voo(
exercise when the participants kn
about it, American marines, he
ever, have found the temple wj
marked with crude signs and sto:
slabbed tables of sacrifice in ea
Abolishing Human Sacrifie?
**It will take generations to pu:
the lower class Haytian of his v
doo beliefs," said Colonel Wal
Hill, a marine officer, who has 1
much experience in the Hayt
bush and studied as much as po
ble of voodooism. "It Is not ex
geration to say that at this mom
'J5 pw cent of Hayti's blacks
voodoolsta at heart, though aw
that the moct objectionable featt
of their religion are a thing of
past or prohibited so long as wi
men remata in Hayti, We bar?
most entirely wiped out the human
sacrifice, the open assemblies and
dances.
"It is rare that any evidence of
these affairs can be detected unless
you happen to run upon them sud?
denly in the country. There isn't a
native in Hayti to-day who will
talk to a white man about voodoo
ism. But signs of the voodoo are
everywhere. Perhaps when ? the
younger generation here are up?
lifted and taught to think better
they will forget their blood instincts,
but it will take generations to
do it."
Colonel Hill, who represents the
high class of America's understand?
ing of her Marine Corps, knows,
perhaps, the low caste Haytians as
well as any American knows them.
>? .? ' ?.
T ESS than five years ago j
*-* the weird roll of voodoo j
tomtoms called from miles '
around the superstitious \
flocks
He speaks their "Creole" and knows
their intricate psychology. He has
stumbled only once onto the human
sacrifice, but more often has sur
j prised and broken up voodoo orgies
when the mob fled and carried most
of its incriminating evidence along.
Convi?cted of Voodooism
A trial which would have been
the sensation of continents was held
not many months ago in Port-au
Prince. The defendant was a pow?
erful black man named Belgarde,
who admitted much and was with?
out doubt guilty of Beveral of the
seventeen human sacrifice charges
against him as a "voodoo Houngan."
High marine officers who conducted
the trial learned more revolting de?
tails of human sacrifice here than
they had ever known before. The
entire record of testimony is now
in the hands of the Navy Depart?
ment in Washington, where proper
sentence for the Houngan must be
approved. Belgarde is to-day mak?
ing furniture in the Port-au-Prince
penitentiary, awaiting his fate. The
Aztec priests in their blood-stained
sacrifice chambers in the days of
Cortez In Mexico were mild men as
compared with Belgarde, if the rec?
ords of his case are true.
The Voodoo Sign
Any marine who has been long
in Hayti, either in the towns or in
the bush, can point out the almost
universal signs of voodooism. Ebony
skinned women who come in droves
to trade in the market places are
seen wearing the voodoo necklaces
to which are attached tiny cloth bags
containing charms blessed by the
Houngans. Often the smallest,
blackest, naked pickaninny wears
only this necklace and the attached j
charms placed thero by his mother
to ward off the evil spirits of
measles, mumps or smallpox.
The sign of the serpent in flight
is a favorite. What it signifies none
knows. Bits of rag tied around
ankles or wrists are supposed by the
wearer to have particular functions.
The remnants of a chicken hung on
a pole by the roadside give the
hanger as much luck as our own
American negro derives from the
left hind leg of a rabbit killed in a
graveyard at midnight. A gourd
placed in the road before the g'ate
cf a native caille keeps evil spirits
from entering. Evil spirits work in
straight lines, and to pass the gate
the spirit must tarn around the
gourd and lose hia power. A lighted
candle, if first blessed by the Houn?
gan, is a sure destroyer of evil.
A nativa funeral often embraces
voodoo ti'm?. Haytiar* native?, both
sexes, are notorious for carrying
; everything on their heads, which
they balance with marvelous expert
ness. The casket of the departed
is hoisted aloft to poise on the cra
nium3 of two and sometimes three
pallbearers. The latter, with free
hands, twirl around and around un?
til the onlooker fears for the corpse.
American stage jugglers have never
done anything so expert.
Behind the corpse come the
mourners, sometimes few, sometimes
many, wailing and moaning. And
they juggle and wail and moan un?
til the burying ground is reached,
whether the distance is one mile or
ten. The entire performance, say
i those who know in Hayti, is not for
the benefit of the corpse at all, but
to so befuddle and wind him up thnt
he will never return to "liant" the
living.
Cross and Voodoo
One day a marine officer riding
along a country trail encounter>"d
an old negro astride a mule holding
a large cross aloft. The crosrs was
covered with voodeo signs?beiis,
guns, snakes and mysterious hiero?
glyphics. Asked where he was go?
ing the negro admitted that he wt?s
taking the cross to be blessed by a
missionary who lived near by.
The French priest, who the offi?
cer hunted out near a little chapel,
admitted, in turn, that he did gc
through the motions of blessing
these voodoo crosses lest he los?
what little hold his religion had or
the natives. The voodoo was strong
er than the faith he had attemptec
to plant in the district during twentj
years of labor.
The bandits against whom ma
rin.es have waged war for a number
of years held their bands together
against the whites by the propa?
ganda that Americans were sup?
pressing the Haytian religion. The
bodies of at least two marines cap?
tured by the cacos were found later
with vital organs removed, possibly
by the high priests of vcodooism ?n
voking for all those who partici?
pated truer aim against the whites.
Despite the suppression of their
relipion, it is 'difficult to find the
native who has any great rancor
against the white invaders. Now
more remote from the influence of
voodoo leaders, they are content to
go the way of the white man if he
will but lead.
Island Is at Peace
Barbaric practices have been re?
pressed, as much as possible, the
country is at peace, and there re?
mains but one thing to start th?
Haytian native ort his upward
course. It Is the Industry which
the white man can bring to this lit
tie republic. It means work for th?
masses and, more important, labor
not interfered with by political revo?
lutions which have marked Haytian
history since the freedom from slav?
ery nearly a century and a quarter
ago.
"But what will happen if the
i whites withdraw and leave the Hay
tian republic and the Haytian mass
to follow absolute sclf-determina
tion?" I asked a highly educated
Haytian here several days ago.
His answer was this:
Natives Would Relapse
"One week following the evacua
j tion of Hayti by American military
I forces there would be a revolution
I and a rapid return to the conditions
I which caused foreigners to land
I here. The work of the Americans
j here would be nullified completely.
! The Haytian mass would rapidly re?
vert. It is not capable of its own
uplift, and I very much doubt
whether we who know the way? of
the world have the power to uplift
our proletariat.
"We In the great minority have
pride however, and we want your
| American cooperation. There is a
. treaty between the two countries. If
J this is observed in the true spirit in
j which, I am sure, it was drawn, there
will be no difficulty here, and Hayti
will bloom under American gui,j.
aEoe."
Hayti a Winter Paradise
?CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS once
enthused over the marvelous for?
titude of Hayti.
The Spaniards and eventually the
French took advantage of the judg?
ment of Columbus and developed
Hayti's agriculture and commerce.
The blacks won their freedom from
French slavery and changed all this,
and to-day you find a land that has
gone to seed regularly twice a year
for more than a century.
The rural Hayti that Columbus
reported to the Spanish throne is
here to-day in a state that Colum?
bus might recognize it if, like Rip
Van Winkle, he could have slepl to
reappear upon familiar scenes. The
country districts of Hayti are per?
haps in little different condition, gen?
erally speaking, than in the ancient
days of the discoverer.
Of a Darker Hue
Columbus found red Indians in
Hayti. If he were to return he
would find the natives have changed
to a darker hue and are living in a
different state?but none less primi?
tive^?than his Indians of Hispani
ola.
The modern traveler may see here
in Hayti to-day the wonder of Provi?
dence taking the responsibility for
almost 2,000,000 humans who are si
most universally content to let Provi?
dence take care of them.
I have just returned from the cap?
ital of Hayti after a visit to the
southern peninsula district, where
approximately 700,000 black humans
are the coddled children of bounti
_ I
ful nature. Hayti'3 greatest asset
is said to be her cheap labor. It
might be appended that this little
republic's greatest fortune could be
a campaign of agricultural educa?
tion through which the rural Hay?
tian might be tutored in the art of
taking full advantage of possibly the
richest soil and most luxuriant foli?
age to bo found in the world.
Coffee Grows Wild
When you drink your steaming cup
of breakfast coffee you may be fairly
certain that it did not come from
Hayti. But if you were to make the
most casual visit to the 3,000 square
mile peninsula of southern Hayti
you might wonder why your Mochs
is Mocha or your Java is Java, 01
why you spend 50 cents or there?
abouts for the beverage bean of thi
less distant Andes. Coffee grow?
wild in gayest abandon along tin
roadsides and trailsidea of Hayti
It asks not for cultivation but hangs
there to tempt the ambitious one to
pluck it before it falls to repro?
duce its kind.
The markets of the worid are de?
manding first grade long staple cot*
ton, yet it nods at you gracefully
from its wild parent tree here until
you wonder what is the answer.
Clumps of stately coconut palm?,
climbing straight up from 50 to 60
feet before they burst out like
Fourth of July fireworks in fcathcr
L like green showers of leaves, are
often noticed sheltering the mango
trees beneath them. The mango tree,
though more luxuriant, resembles
the peach and its fruit is a delicious
? oblong handful too delicate for ship?
ment north in commercial quantity.
The story is told of the bi-annua!
mango season in Hayti when the
rural negro awakes to eat when the
fruit falls and strikes his body
Nature wakes him to feed him, and
then he eats, lolls back and sleeps
the untroubled slumber of the tropic?.
Economic conditions, labor unions,
housing shortago, the high cost of
living, the laws of supply and dc
mand do not worry him.
Buying an orange at a Park Row
fruitstand is usually high finance.
Shake an orange tree in rural Hayti
and the sensation is reminiscent of
the late disturbances in certain por?
tions of France. If you are a good
bargainer you may buy them in an;?
village market at ten for a cent.
Fences of Mahogany
The average New Yorker pay?
immense prices for furniture cov?
ered with the thinnest veneer of ma
hogany. In Hayti you are privileger.
to sit on rough fences hewn iron
mahogany logs and look into th
boughs of mahogany trees growinj
wild and unattached. Lignum vita;
one of the most precious of woods, i
a common find in many districts.
The rural Haytian does not worr;
about hi3 supply of table ware. II
?-?-~_?
or she, as the case may be?most
often she?walks out to a calabash
tree and cuts down the gourds, which
grow to enormous 6ize. Dried and
cut in two these calabashes are the
bowls and dishes of the average
Haytian household.
Of beds in Hayti there are few.
A straw mat on the dirt ficor of the
tiny caille does the trick. A blanket
is almost unheard of.
At Grand Goave and again at
Petit Goave, villages of the Haytian
peninsula, I found relics of the day?
when the French were masters hen?
and had converted the peninsula
into a wonder garden spot, provid?
ing staples, exported in volume to
Europe. A sannon at the latter
village, lying probably whera it ba4
fallen from its long disappeared
mounting, showed the markings of
the Creusot works.
The slaves of Hayti tilled the
fields in those days under the whita
man's guidance. Left to their own
device?, eventually, they have let
nature take it? own sweet coarse.
Even the most primitive agricalru?
ral implement? are unknown to ths
rural Haytian of the south.