In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

chapter six The Yoruba in Cuba: Origins, Identities, and Transformations Michele Reid From Havana to Santiago de Cuba and cities in between, the four-hundredyear - old presence of the Yoruba diaspora pulses throughout twenty-firstcentury Cuba. Yoruba influences in contemporary Cuba can be found in music , dance, and religion, and prime examples include the sounds and sights of son (salsa), rumba, and Santería, on and off the island. More than isolated cultural survivals or retentions, these phenomena and numerous others form a part of the diverse, complex, and continuous trajectories involved in Cuban cultural formation.1 By synthesizing the historical factors that fostered the development of Yoruba and Yoruba-influenced components so integral to contemporary Cuban culture and national identity, this essay highlights the major contributions and transformations of the Yoruba and their descendants as the means for understanding the transformative impact of the African diaspora in Cuba. Overall, this chapter explores the West African origins of the Lucumí (as the Yoruba were known in Cuba) in the Spanish colonial period and their struggles during the nineteenth-century Cuban slave regime, and concludes with an overview of the multifaceted contributions their cultural traditions have made in shaping Cuban national identity. The first section presents the Yoruba and Spanish involvement in the Atlantic slave trade, the rise of Cuban slavery, and the active quests of Lucumí captives and freedmen to maintain their identity and struggle for liberty. The next discussion centers on the transformation of Yoruba practices, particularly religious redefinition, under the sphere of sociocultural mutual aid associations. In closing, this essay highlights the acceptance and appropriation of Afro-Cuban themes on a national level. 111 Falola_Childs,Yoruba Diaspo 2/2/05 1:34 PM Page 111 Origins of the Yoruba in Cuba: Lucumí, Yoruba, Spain, and the Slave Trade Using the criteria of common language, religion, geographical continuity, and sociopolitical organization, scholars have reconstructed the historic origins of the Yoruba in West Africa, primarily in Nigeria and Benin. In Nigeria the territory comprises the southwest area, including the states of Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, and Ono, and the Kwara State’s Kabba and Ilorin regions. In Benin (formerly Dahomey), Yorubaland falls between the southern Nigerian border and the Weme River, and also extends west into the Atakpame region. This strategic location facilitated local, regional, and ultimately international exchange. Via land routes and tributaries, the Yoruba communicated with other peoples and cultures in West Africa. Access to the sea in the south and linkages to points north of the Sahara Desert increased outside contact with Europeans and other Africans.2 Interaction with Europeans and the growth of plantation colonies in the New World gave rise to the Atlantic slave trade. In effect, from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries the slave trade funneled thousands of Yoruba captives to Cuba and the Americas. The massive influx of slaves with Lucumí or similar cultural origins, particularly in the nineteenth century, would become key in shaping Lucumí identity in Cuba. The Yoruba and the Slave Trade The level of involvement of the Yoruba in the Atlantic slave trade varied both regionally and over time. Early-sixteenth-century accounts by Portuguese officials detail the purchase of slaves and ivory from Ijebu, the Yoruba kingdom in the south. The Yorubaland trade in slaves continued from the southern region intermittently into the seventeenth century, shifting its focus to the west in the Allada kingdom of Dahomey, in present-day Benin. Yoruba ethnic groups, however, continued to be an important slave source for sale through Allada. Dahomey’s royal monopoly on the sale of captives contributed significantly to state revenues. Dutch descriptions of Allada from the mid-seventeenth century indicate that slaves sold there were from an interior, northeast kingdom known as Ulkuma or Ulkami. A distinguishing characteristic of this region was its large slave trade, mainly as prisoners of war and criminals, to the Portuguese and the Dutch for transport to the New World.3 By the beginning of the eighteenth century the main European trade center had shifted to the east in Ouidah, but, as with Allada, slaves continued to be supplied from Yorubaland. French sailors from the first decades of the eighteenth century listed the nationalities of slaves sold via Ouidah, including the Ayois and the Nagô. The Ayois represented Oyo, Yorubaland’s most powerful northern state. The Nagô derived from a small population in southwestern michele reid 112 Falola_Childs,Yoruba Diaspo 2/2/05 1:34 PM Page...

Share