Bois Caiman is site of the voodoo ceremony presided over by Dutty Boukman on August 14 1791 (1). It is widely accepted as the starting point for the Haitian Revolution. Some scholars, however, have deemphasized the role of the Bois Caiman ceremony in sparking the Haitian revolution or have even gone so far as to question whether the event even took place (2). Whatever the ultimate disposition of these claims, no one can deny that the historical memory Bois Caiman has political and spiritual resonance for many Haitians to the present day.
Dutty Boukman was the papaloa, or vodoun priest, who conducted the ceremony at the Bois Caiman in late August, 1791, usually understood to have been the opening of Haitian Revolution. Boukman prophecied that Jean François, Biassou, and Jeannot would be leaders of the slave revolt that would free the slaves of Haiti. Boukman is thought to have been of Jamaican birth.
Soon after the revolt began Boukman was apprehended by the French authorities and beheaded. The French publically displayed Boukman's head in a move caluculated to dispell his aura of invincibility that Boukman had cultivated (in keeping with the tradition of earlier Haitian rebels). While the rebellion was temporarily quelled in northern Haiti it continued in other parts of Haiti and soon became unmanageable.
