| Home | Life At A Glance | Research | Info | Site Map |
OKANA - Afro-Cuban Dance & Culture |
This website is the continuation of the research I’ve carried out since 1994 into the influence
of Africa in Cuba.
In this process I’ve come across a rich and varied culture, contradictory and prolific at
the same time. A culture that, in the case of Cuba, was kept at all costs, at the cost of the whip and the hard
labour. And it’s for this culture that this webpage has been created, to honour those who died at the hands of
the foreman, to celebrate those who left us such a rich legacy of stories and "patakíes" and to keep the Afro-Cuban
flame alive for future generations.
Mario López-Goicoechea
Cuba, the largest island in the Caribbean, was home to close to 1-3 million African slaves between the 16th and 19th centuries. There were four major ethnic groups that accounted for most of the Africans brought to Cuba: Bantu, Yoruba, Igbo/Efik and Ewe/Fon or Arará...
Bantu:
The Bantu peoples, from south of the equator, were the most influential in Cuba. The two major subgroups were the Bakongo (northern Angola, southern Zaire, and southern Congo), and the ngola from Angola and part of Zaire. They, especially the Bakongo, formed the religion Palo Monte which survives in Cuba. They were introduced throughout the period of slave trade.
Yoruba:
The Yoruba people were the second major Congo Altarethnic group brought to Cuba from Africa. They were mainly from what is now south-western Nigeria, and arrived mostly during 1820-1860s. The Yoruba brought religious practices which developed into the religion called Santeria or Regla de Ocha in Cuba.
Igbo, Efik:
These two related groups Congo Art Installation were from southeastern Nigeria. They arrived in Cuba in the early 1760s. The Efik along with the Efok and Brícamos carried over to Cuba the only African secret society to survive the passage - the Abakua secret society (which is not a religion per se).
Ewe/Fon or Arará:
The Ewe/Fon people were from the Dahomey Kingdom, present day Benin. The Yoruba kingdom attacked Dahomey and many Ewe/Fon were brought to Cuba 1750-1800. The Yoruba were weakened by these wars, though, and then the Dahomey Mural In Callejon De Hammeltook many Yorubas captive and sold them into slavery in the 1800s. The Ewe/Fon created the religion known in Cuba as Regla Arara, mostly in Matanzas, but this religious practice has been largely assimilated by Santeria.
| ^ top |