Vodoun (Commonly Known as Voodoo) History Although its essence may go back six thousand years in Africa, today’s Vodoun can be directly traced to the West African Yoruba people who lived in eighteenth and nineteenth century Dahomey That c ountry occupied parts of today’s Togo, Benin, and Nigeria Slaves brought their religion with them when they were forcibly shipped to Haiti and other islands in the West Indies The i nformation a vailable m ost r eadily i s that of the Haitians and the Yoruba Although there are some cultural differences due to language and location, the basics have a connecting thread that runs throughout To fully understand Vodoun, you must study the people, the language and examine Vodun at its roots in Africa, and how it began and evolved on the islands Vodoun history belongs to the millions of people, whose ancestors were brought in bondage from Africa to the “Caribbean islands of the Dominican Republic and Haiti This b lack population of millions encompassed members from the Bambara, Foula, Arada or Arda, Mandingue, Fon, Nago, Iwe, Ibo, Yoruba, and other Congo tribes.”1 Although its essence originated in distinct regions of Africa long before the Europeans started the slave trade, Vodoun as we know it today was born in different r egions o f t he w orld d uring the European colonization Ironically, it was the forced immigration of African slaves from different tribes that provided the circumstances for its development These stories of African roots, enslavement and hardfought freedom, comprise the history of Vodoun The religion of the slaves fascinated their masters at first, but soon the whites became fearful of the strange practices and forbade the slaves from their religious practices and from gathering in any type of congregations Penalties for violations were sadistic and severe, including mutilation, sexual disfigurement, flaying alive and burial alive ~ ~