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Cécile Fatiman () was a Haitian Vodou priestess and
revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates for, a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective to describe something producing a major and sudden impact on society. Definition The term—bot ...
. Born to an enslaved African woman and a Corsican prince, she lived her early life in slavery, before being drawn to Enlightenment ideals of "
liberté, égalité, fraternité (; French for , ), is the national motto of France and the Republic of Haiti, and is an example of a tripartite motto. Although it finds its origins in the French Revolution, it was then only one motto among others and was not institutio ...
" and Haitian Vodou, which shaped her desire to end the institution of slavery in Haiti. Together with
Dutty Boukman Dutty Boukman (or Boukman Dutty; died 7 November 1791) was a leader of the Haitian Revolution. Born to a Muslim family in Senegambia (present-day Senegal and Gambia), he was initially enslaved in Jamaica. He eventually ended up in Haiti, where h ...
, she led a Vodou ceremony at Bois Caïman and incited enslaved people to rise up against slavery, in an event that marked the beginning of the
Haitian Revolution The Haitian Revolution ( or ; ) was a successful insurrection by slave revolt, self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue, now the sovereign state of Haiti. The revolution was the only known Slave rebellion, slave up ...
. She later married fellow revolutionary leader Jean-Louis Pierrot, with whom she had a daughter. She was reported to have lived a long life, dying at the age of 112.


Biography


Early life and family

Cécile Fatiman was the daughter of an enslaved African woman and a Corsican prince; Haitian historian Rodney Salnave believed her father to have been a son of King
Theodore of Corsica Theodore I of Corsica (25 August 169411 December 1756), born Freiherr Theodor Stephan von Neuhoff, was a low-ranking German title of nobility, usually translated "Baron". was a German adventurer who was briefly Kingdom of Corsica, King of Corsica. ...
and that Fatiman's birth name was Cécil Attiman. Other hypotheses on her origins have been provided by various historians: Aisha Khan believed her to have been a
Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
and that her surname "Fatiman" was cognate with the given name
Fatima Fatima bint Muhammad (; 605/15–632 CE), commonly known as Fatima al-Zahra' (), was the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his wife Khadija. Fatima's husband was Ali, the fourth of the Rashidun caliphs and the first Shia imam. ...
; and
Aimé Césaire Aimé Fernand David Césaire (; ; 26 June 1913 – 17 April 2008) was a French poet, author, and politician from Martinique. He was "one of the founders of the Négritude movement in Francophone literature" and coined the word in French. He ...
believed her to be Kongolese, although David Patrick Geggus questions how in this version she would have had the name "Fatiman". She is also believed to have been related to Marie-Louise Coidavid, the future Queen of Haiti. Described as a
Mulatto ( , ) is a Race (human categorization), racial classification that refers to people of mixed Sub-Saharan African, African and Ethnic groups in Europe, European ancestry only. When speaking or writing about a singular woman in English, the ...
with green eyes, from childhood, Fatiman and her mother were bought and sold as
slaves Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...
. Her two brothers disappeared after they were separated from them and sold. Fatiman eventually obtained her freedom, either before or during the 1791 slave rebellion.


Revolution

According to Aisha K. Finch, Fatiman refashioned the Enlightenment ideals of "
liberté, égalité, fraternité (; French for , ), is the national motto of France and the Republic of Haiti, and is an example of a tripartite motto. Although it finds its origins in the French Revolution, it was then only one motto among others and was not institutio ...
" for the Haitian context, upholding black women's
bodily integrity Bodily integrity is the inviolability of the physical body and emphasizes the importance of personal autonomy, self-ownership, and self-determination of human beings over their own bodies. In the field of human rights, violation of the bodily int ...
and
property rights The right to property, or the right to own property (cf. ownership), is often classified as a human right for natural persons regarding their Possession (law), possessions. A general recognition of a right to private property is found more rarely ...
. She also embraced
Haitian Vodou Haitian Vodou () is an African diasporic religions, African diasporic religion that developed in Haiti between the 16th and 19th centuries. It arose through a process of syncretism between several traditional religions of West Africa, West and ...
, with its invocation of the
Marassa Jumeaux Marassa Jumeaux are the divine twins in Vodou. They are children, but more ancient than any other loa. "Love, truth and justice. Directed by reason. Mysteries of liaison between earth and heaven and they personify astronomic-astrological learning ...
, which caused fear among French colonists such as Médéric Louis Élie Moreau de Saint-Méry. She saw the body itself as a form of ''
praxis Praxis may refer to: Philosophy and religion *Praxis (process), the process by which a theory, lesson, or skill is enacted, practised, embodied, or realised * Praxis model, a way of doing theology * Praxis (Byzantine Rite), the practice of fai ...
'', through which knowledge could be interpreted by entering an
altered state of consciousness An altered state of consciousness (ASC), also called an altered state of mind, altered mental status (AMS) or mind alteration, is any condition which is significantly different from a normal waking state. It describes induced changes in one's me ...
. To Fatiman,
spirit possession Spirit Possession is an altered state of consciousness and associated behaviors which are purportedly caused by the control of a human body and its functions by Supernatural#Spirit, spirits, ghosts, demons, angels, or Deity, gods. The concept ...
was a marked contrast with
slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...
, as it allowed those who experienced it to, for a moment, become
gods A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over some aspect of the universe and/or life. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines ''deity'' as a God (male deity), god or god ...
. On the night of 21–22 August 1791, Fatiman presided over a ceremony at the Bois Caïman () in the role of '' manbo'', together with
Dutty Boukman Dutty Boukman (or Boukman Dutty; died 7 November 1791) was a leader of the Haitian Revolution. Born to a Muslim family in Senegambia (present-day Senegal and Gambia), he was initially enslaved in Jamaica. He eventually ended up in Haiti, where h ...
as '' oungan''. Within the dense forests of Northern Haiti and in the middle of a
thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustics, acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorm ...
, they brought together 200 enslaved people from a number of nearby plantations and called on them to revolt against slavery. That night, Fatiman was said to have been possessed by one of the Èzili, believed to have been Dantò. Fatiman then sacrificed a black pig, in an invocation of the '' lwa''. Garvey F. Lundy understood this to be a Petwo rite of Vodou, which was later used by Haitians that resisted the United States occupation and the
Duvalier dynasty The Duvalier family (French language, French: ''Dynastie des Duvalier''; Haitian Creole: ''Dinasti Duvalier'') was an Autocracy, autocratic hereditary dictatorship in Haiti that lasted almost 29 years, from 1957 until 1986, spanning the rule of ...
. The attendees then drank the pig's blood and swore an oath: they would band together and kill the white slavers. Fatiman proclaimed Boukman to be the commander-in-chief of this slave rebellion, and at her direction, the attendees dropped to their knees and swore to obey his orders. Aimé Césaire's version also has her leading the chant of "eh eh bomba". This ceremony ignited the
Haitian Revolution The Haitian Revolution ( or ; ) was a successful insurrection by slave revolt, self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue, now the sovereign state of Haiti. The revolution was the only known Slave rebellion, slave up ...
, which culminated with the establishment of the independent State of Haiti. During the revolution, Fatiman and other ''manbos'' were credited with having provided "superhuman courage" to the revolutionaries.


Later life

Following the establishment of the
Kingdom of Haiti The Kingdom of Haiti, or Kingdom of Hayti (; ), was the state established by Henri Christophe on 28 March 1811 when he proclaimed himself King Henri I after having previously ruled as president of the State of Haiti, in the northern part of the ...
by
Henri Christophe Henri Christophe (; 6 October 1767 – 8 October 1820) was a key leader in the Haitian Revolution and the only monarch of the Kingdom of Haiti. Born in the British West Indies, British Caribbean, Christophe was possibly of Senegambian descent ...
, Fatiman married Jean-Louis Pierrot, a
general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...
in the
Armed Forces of Haiti The Armed Forces of Haiti (, ) are the military forces of the Haiti, Republic of Haiti, is composed of the Haitian Army, the Haitian Navy, the Haitian Aviation Corps and also the BSAP. The Force has about 2000 active personnel as of 2023, with t ...
, and a
prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...
under Christophe's monarchical regime. They had a child together, Marie Louise Amélia Célestine. After the couple divorced, Pierrot married Louisa Geneviève Coidavid, the sister of Queen Marie-Louise Coidavid. In 1845, Pierrot became
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
of the restored
Republic of Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...
, with Coidavid as his first lady. His regime lasted for only 10 months. Fatiman lived in Le Cap for the rest of her life, through which she kept in good health; she reportedly died at the age of 112.


Legacy


Historiography

Although Fatiman entered the historical record through the reports of Antoine Dalmas, a plantation doctor who observed the ceremony she performed at Bois Caïman, little archival evidence exists of Fatiman's life, which has left significant gaps in her biography. Unconventional historical methodologies have therefore been used in order to assemble her personal story. Using a
dialectic Dialectic (; ), also known as the dialectical method, refers originally to dialogue between people holding different points of view about a subject but wishing to arrive at the truth through reasoned argument. Dialectic resembles debate, but the ...
al method, gaps in the archival record have been filled with diaspora literacy. For example, Étienne Charlier confirmed her presence in
oral history Oral history is the collection and study of historical information from people, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people who pa ...
of the revolution through interviews with descendants of the revolutionaries. Her participation in the Bois Caïman ceremony was confirmed in 19th century family records, provided by her grandson Pierre Benoit Rameau, a general who led Haitian resistance to the
United States occupation of Haiti The United States occupation of Haiti began on July 28, 1915, when 330 United States Marine Corps, US Marines landed at Port-au-Prince, Republic of Haiti (1859–1957), Haiti, after the Citibank, National City Bank of New York convinced the ...
. Despite her central role in the incitement of the Haitian Revolution, Fatiman is often missing from historical narratives of the period. In celebrations of male figures such as Boukman, Henri Christophe,
Jean-Jacques Dessalines Jean-Jacques Dessalines (Haitian Creole: ''Jan-Jak Desalin''; ; 20 September 1758 – 17 October 1806) was the first Haitian Emperor, leader of the Haitian Revolution, and the first ruler of an independent First Empire of Haiti, Haiti under th ...
and
Toussaint L'Ouverture François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture (, ) also known as Toussaint L'Ouverture or Toussaint Bréda (20 May 1743 – 7 April 1803), was a Haitian general and the most prominent leader of the Haitian Revolution. During his life, Louvertu ...
, many women in the Haitian Revolution, including Fatiman herself, are often ignored entirely. Fatiman's own role in the revolution has been excluded from accounts by some historians, such as Jean Fouchard, who relied largely on colonial documents and tended to omit women from the historical record. Seeking to downplay the role of Vodou in the revolution, Léon-François Hoffman and Franck Sylvain even contested the existence of the Vodou ceremony at Bois Caïman. But historian Carolyn Fick was able to say with certainty that the Bois Caïman meeting was historically factual and confirmed that it had a Vodou character.


Popular culture

In C. L. R. James' 1934 play '' Toussaint Louverture: The Story of the Only Successful Slave Revolt in History'', Fatiman was rewritten as the character Celestine, a vodou priestess that presided over the Bois Caïman ceremony. She also inspired the character Tante Rose, in
Isabel Allende Isabel Angélica Allende Llona (; born 2 August 1942) is a Chilean-American writer. Allende, whose works sometimes contain aspects of the magical realism genre, is known for novels such as '' The House of the Spirits'' (''La casa de los espír ...
's 2009 novel '' Island Beneath the Sea''. Fatiman appears in the animated series Castlevania: Nocturne, which takes place during the Haitian Revolution. She is played by Sharon D. Clarke.


References


Bibliography

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Further reading

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fatiman, Cecile Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 18th-century births 19th-century deaths 19th-century Haitian women Female revolutionaries People of the Haitian Revolution Haitian independence activists Haitian people of French descent Haitian Vodou practitioners Haitian women activists Longevity claims Mulatto Haitians People from Saint-Domingue People of Corsican descent Women in the Haitian Revolution