Amanda Pretlow- Vodun

When I was researching for my final paper for this class, I was astounded by the level of commitment in the Vodun faith. Their rituals are tremendously vigorous and involve the entire community. Even more impressive is the preservation of their ritual art. When slaves were brought to the New World, they brought their customs along with them. However, when the European slave owners converted them to Christianity, they had to move their traditional practices underground to evade punishment. While many made the transition from Vodun to Christianity, a bold core of people remained loyal to their tradition and passed it on through the generations. One way that the adherent of Vodun were able to retain their culture was to make the images of the loa similar to the images of the Catholic saints. They were able to integrate some Catholic icons and practices into their own traditions. Their innovations allowed then to survive into the present. This begs the question: how much dedication is necessary to keep a suppressed tradition alive? Is the art the key to the survival of rituals?