Vodou

Fèt Gede – the Haitian Day of the Dead

February 1, 2020 by admin

haitian man dressed in purple shirt with human bones celebrating fet gede — Fèt Gede in Port-au-Prince
Photo: Franck Fontain

Fèt Gede – the Haitian Day of the Dead

Fèt Gede – the Haitian Day of the Dead – is an annual tradition when practitioners of vodou parade through the streets, possessed by the spirits of the dead (gede)

Every year, on November 1 and 2, Haiti becomes the stage for a unique celebration: Fèt Gede, the “Festival of the Dead”. Much like the Day of the Dead practiced in Mexico and by Latin communities in the US, Fèt Gede is a way to pay respects to loved ones who have passed on.

In Haiti, each religion celebrates this differently: Catholics meet at church for a mass dedicated to the deceased, and Protestants come together too — but adherents of one of the country’s state religions — vodou — celebrate their deceased in a much more festive way. Although it overlaps with the concept and calendar space of Christian All Souls Day, Fête Gede traces its origins to African ancestral traditions, preserved across oceans and centuries in modern-day Haiti.

Gede shows are notoriously loud and extravagant, and can be seen nearly everywhere across Haiti, with Vodou practitioners dressed elaborately to represent the subset of lwa or loa — “spirits” — called gede — “the dead”. Gede may be invisible for the rest of the year, but during Fèt Gede, the dead definitely do not go unnoticed!

See more photos from a Fèt Gede celebration in Gonaîves here!

Fèt Gede celebrations
Photo: Franck Fontain

Vodou, lwa and gede

Vodou is a prominent feature of Haitian culture, and as a religion it has many practitioners — called vodouwizan — spread across the country. The religious syncretism between vodou and christianity has historically made it difficult to make an official estimate of numbers of practitioners, since most people who practice Haitian vodou to some extent also identify with a Christian denomination, but unofficial estimates suggest as much as 50% of Haitians practice vodou. For these vodouwizan, Fèt Gede is an important occasion to honor the gede.

But what are the gede exactly?

Every vodouwizan has their own gede. It’s either a close friend or a relative – the gede is the reincarnation of a loved one who has come from the afterlife to live in the body of the vodouwizan who called upon them. But not every ancestor is venerated as a gede. For the dead to become a gede, the vodouwizan must, through a Vodou ceremony, contact the deceased and transform them into a gede, which they can then invoke as they see fit.

According to vodou, by becoming a gede, the deceased are transformed from being simply a human soul that has passed on into a lwa, and this lwa generally has a name that begins with gede, for example, gede loray, with loray meaning “thunder.” Sometimes a relative who served a gede dies, and another vodouwizan decides to take up servitude of that same gede.

Party in the cemetary

During gede celebrations, the streets of every city are full of vodouwizan. On November 1 and 2, vodouwizan come together to around cemeteries to make devotions, perform precise rituals, and to generally honor the deceased.

Every cemetery on the island is overrun by vodouwizan – some possessed by gede, and others not. Those who are possessed are easily recognizable by their attire: dressed in white, black, and purple, their faces covered in white powder and black sunglasses, a walking stick in hand, and the indispensable bottle filled with alcohol and hot peppers (especially kleren and a type of habanero called goat pepper). The gede love hot peppers, and from time to time, in the middle of the street, they pour the pepper-infused alcohol all over their bodies, and particularly on their genitals, writhing and mimicking erotic postures and scenes, much to the delight of spectators.

Possessed by the gede lwa, these men and women cover several miles on foot while dancing, their waists leading their every movement. Following an unspoken instruction, they all share a single final destination: the cemetery. Once at the cemetery, the boisterous spectacle continues with loud singing, erotic dancing, and bodies drenched in spicy substances. Other vodouwizan who have come to visit their deceased relatives and friends take some time to pour coffee and grilled corn on their graves, and talk with the relative or close friend.

But first, paraders must obtain permission to enter the cemetery at the ceremonial grave of the “first man”, Bawon Samdi, and the first woman, Manman Brijit. The gede are a very large family; Bawon Samdi represents the father, Manman Brijit the mother, and they’re followed by Bawon Kriminèl, Gede Nibo, Gede Loray, Brave Gede, and Gede Zanrenyen, who together form an escort for all gede.

Bawon Samdi (/Samedi), also known as Papa Gede, presides over the festivities. Papa Gede’s colors are black, white and purple, and he is often characterized smoking cigars, wearing a top hat and sunglasses – frequently with only one lens. Some say this is because Bawon Samdi sees both worlds, which gives him an uncanny resemblance to the one-eyed god Odin of Nordic mythology, who also tread the path between the dead and the living.

haitian girls in purple/white dresses and painted faces celebrate fet gede — Fèt Gede celebration
Photo: Kolektif 2 Dimansyon

How to get involved

Each November heralds the sacred and spectacular celebration that is Fèt Gede – a raucous, bawdy, fiery festival that embodies many of the essential elements of Haitian culture, all splashed with bright paint, spicy food, strong drinks, and the rhythm of people’s feet on the pavement.

Fet Gede rituals are held throughout November but are concentrated on November 1 and 2. The biggest and brashest parade happens in Port-au-Prince at The Grand Cemetery, or ‘Grand Cimetière’. If you’re travelling by car, be prepared for the enormous crowds that make it impossible to get near the cemetery – you won’t find a place to park, but a chauffeur should be able to get close enough to at least stop and let you out. Entrance is through the main gates, which reads “Souviens-Toi Que Tu Es Poussiere” (“remember you are dust”).

Written by Jean Fils and translated by Kelly Paulemon.

Published October 2019

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Ten of the Best Books about Haiti

December 21, 2019 by admin

A woman wearing a bikini relaxes in a window holding a book — Relaxing in a window in Haiti
Photo: Amanacer / Emily Bauman

The 10 books you should read before you visit Haiti

Cosy up with these ten books that explore the fascinating stories of Haiti.

Did you know that in Haitian vodou, a healer and a sorcerer are two completely different things? There are so many things to learn about Haitian culture and history that sometimes, the details slip between the fingers. The best way to catch them? Get comfortable with a good book!

Planning a visit to Haiti, or just want a closer understanding of this “land with a soul”? Here are the top 10 books that explore the fascinating history and culture of Haiti.

Masters of the Dew by Jacques Roumain

For those of us who love literature, nothing replenishes our sense of self or our faith in humanity like a good novel. Speaking of humanity, Masters of the Dew by Jacques Roumain, published in 1944 just a few months before the death of its author, is a Haitian literary classic par excellence.

Masters of the Dew is a deeply powerful story of traditional life in rural Haiti, overshadowed by the natural world but illuminated by human struggles. The novel touches on the necessity for a man to confront adversities great and small, from the need for freedom and a future for an entire population, to the need for water, soil and silk. Masters of the Dew is a parable of sorts, and compelling argues that the most beautiful mathematical equation is an addition.

Roumain was deeply invested in politics, and is famous in Haiti for founding one of the nation’s most important institutions for cultural preservation, the National Bureau of Ethnology, as well as resisting American occupation and advocating for Marxism. In fact, it was only thanks to the help of Roumain’s friends in France, André Breton and Aragon (both antifascists and members of the French surrealist movement), that Masters of the Dew was able to see the light of day in France.

We can’t mention Jacques Roumain without introducing another Jacques (and another of Haiti’s great novelists) – Jacques Stephen Alexis.

General Sun, My Brother by Jacques Stephen Alexis

Son of Haitian diplomat and novelist Stephen Alexis (1889–1962), Jacques Stephen Alexis distinguished himself early in life as a brilliant writer and politician. Another outspoken Marxist and close friend of the French surrealists, Jacques Stephen Alexis was already a respected thinker when he published his debut novel, General Sun, My Brother.

The story follows the life of two Haitian laborers from the slums of Port-au-Prince to the cane fields of the Dominican Republic, where they find themselves swept up into one of the most nightmarish moments in the diplomatic history of Hispaniola: the 1937 massacre. Strongly inspired by Roumain’s Masters of the Dew, General Sun, My Brother is a call to action, a refusal of passivity.

In the Flicker of an Eyelid by Jacques Stephen Alexis

Building on the acclaim of his debut novel, In the Flicker of an Eyelid propelled Alexis to his reputation as a genius writer. Another pillar of the Haitian classical canon, In the Flicker of an Eyelid is considered the most beautiful romance novel in Haitian literature. The story begins in a bordello in Port-au-Prince, but don’t let that mislead you – more than just a love story, this novel interweaves lessons about love, doubt, politics, social consciousness, patriotism, and the passage of time.

Rires et Pleurs (Laughs and Cries) by Oswald Durand

If you’re open to poetry and get sentimental about sunsets, reach for Rires et Pleurs (Laughs and Cries). Rires et Pleurs carries in it all of the symbolic weight of a people freshly liberated and on a quest for beauty. Oswald Durand is to poetry what Alexis is to novels.

Les Cinq Lettres by Georges Castera

“It is not with ink that I write to you but with my voice of drums besieged by falling stones”

Has a man loved before like Georges Castera in Les Cinq Lettres? “Love me like a burning house” is the poet’s request in this collection, and if you love French poetry then you and Les Cinq Lettres will get on like a house on fire.

So Spoke the Uncle by Jean Price-Mars

Want to learn more about Haitian culture and identity through a sociological/scientific framework? You’ll want to start with the book that sits at the root of the largest sociocultural movement of the Caribbean and Africa: blackness. In So Spoke the Uncle, Jean Price-Mars preaches a return to Haitan cultural origins. After all, he says, how do we know where we’re going if we don’t know where we come from?

Today, So Spoke the Uncle remains a the go-to reference text for anthropologists consulting the concepts and events crucial to Haiti’s history.

The Equality of Human Races by Anténor Firmin

Long before Price-Mars, Anténor Firmin was writing The Equality of Human Races to show that there was no such thing as race and that black, white, brown, or in between, the human species is one being, united and indivisible. One of the biggest public high schools in Port-au-Prince is named after Firmin.

Peintres Haitiens by Gerard Alexis

Interested in Haitian art? Peintres Haitiens by Gerard Alexis should be right up your alley. With over 300 color reproductions and text including art theory and artists’ biographies, Alexis explores five tenements of Haitian art: portrait and historical paintings, nature and daily life, vodou mysticism and figuration-abstraction.

Voodoo: Search for the Spirit by Laennec Hurbon

And if you want to quench your curiosity for Haitian vodou, we strongly recommend Voodoo: Search for the Spirit by Laennec Hurbon. Neither in-depth study nor lighthearted foray, Voodoo: Search for the Spirit offers an excellent, accessible, practical overview of the topic, enriched by pages and pages of gorgeous full-color photos and excerpts from other literature on vodou.

Haiti: the Aftershocks of History by Laurent Dubois

“As acclaimed historian Laurent Dubois demonstrates, Haiti’s troubled present can only be understood by examining its complex past. The country’s difficulties are inextricably rooted in its founding revolution – the only successful slave revolt in the history of the world; the hostility that this rebellion generated among the surrounding colonial powers; and the intense struggle within Haiti itself to define its newfound freedom and realize its promise.” ― Macmillan

Here’s what the critics say about Haiti: the Aftershocks of History:

“Well-written, authoritative history… enriched by careful attention to what Haitian intellectuals have had to say about their country over the last two centuries.” ―The New York Times Book Review

“A sweeping, passionate history of Haiti… Smart, honest, and utterly compelling, this book is the national biography this country and its people deserve.” ―Boston Globe

“A book as welcome as it is timely: a lucid one-volume history of the nation, from Toussaint to the present, anchored in scholarship but rendered as a comprehensive-but-swift narrative for the general reader.” ―The Nation

“This excellent, engaging history seeks to strip away centuries of mocking and reductive bias. Dubois’s Haiti is a land of ceaseless activity, a ferment of suppression and insurrection exacerbated by the mercenary intrusions of foreign powers–in the past century, chiefly the United States. Dubois also traces a parallel history of bold social experiments on the part of everyday Haitians… Throughout, he makes clear how economic pressures and political crises have left even the county’s better leaders hamstrung, without downplaying their failures in fulfilling Haiti’s great promise.” ―The New Yorker

Bonus:

La Belle Amour Humaine by Lyonel Trouillot

Mon Pays Que Voici by Anthony Phelps

History of Haiti by Suzy Castor. French edition (Haiti Autrement) available online here

Written by Melissa Beralus and translated by Kelly Paulemon.

Published December 2019

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Visit a museum dedicated to Vodou

September 13, 2019 by admin

large museum building decorated with snake paintings — The Bureau of Ethnology, Port-au-Prince
Photo: Anton Lau

Visit a museum dedicated to Vodou

A visit to the Bureau of Ethnology, a museum dedicated to Vodou in Haiti, is one of the top things to do in Port-au-Prince.

Near Champ de Mars at the corner of Rue Magny and Rue Oswald Durand, this museum allows you to get acquainted with Vodou and its place in Haitian society.

This is the best place to begin an exploration of “lwa” and the many rhythms and shades of Vodou. Inside, you’ll find Vodou artifacts, artwork and anecdotes of anthropological research on Vodou (also spelled Vodoun and Vaudou) traditions. Most of the exhibits are described in French.

bronze statue of taino indian in museum courtyard — Taíno statue at The Bureau of Ethnology, Port-au-Prince
Photo: Anton Lau

About the collection

The exterior facades of the National Ethnology Office house a permanent photo exhibition on several aspects of the life and activities of Haitian society: scenes of the Haitian national carnival, Vodou rituals, Vodou-infused folk dance and more.

The interior offers an equally captivating photo exhibition of scenes of social and cultural customs specific to the Haitian nation, including national costumes and their histories. Haitian artists are also represented here, accompanied by interpretive material (mostly written in French). Key spiritual concepts, from the “lakou mansson” of Léogâne (Haitian Creole: Leyogàn) to the “lakou Badjo, Soukri, Souvenance” of Gonaïves, are depicted together with explanations of their importance in Haitian society.

Founded in 1941 by Haitian novelist Jacques Roumain and run today by Erol Josué, the museum has as its mission the preservation and classification of all anthropological artefacts found on the Haitian side of the island of Hispaniola, including protecting and organising excursions to important archaeological sites. It’s possible for visitors to join some of these – just ask when you get to the museum.

bronze statue of wild boar — Statue at The Bureau of Ethnology, Port-au-Prince
Photo: Anton Lau

Getting there

Signposted as the Bureau National d’Ethnologie, The Bureau of Ethnology is on the corner of Rue Magny and Rue Oswald Durand, close to Champ de Mars in the heart of downtown Port-au-Prince.

Written by Jean Fils.

Published September 2019

Find the Bureau of Ethnology

External Links

Learn more about Erol Josué

Interview with Erol Josué

Check out the Bureau’s Facebook page

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Experience Rara Easter

July 1, 2019 by admin

group of haitian walking while playing on trumpets during rara festivities — Rara band in Bois Moquette
Photo: Franck Fontain

Experience Rara Easter

In this island nation famous for its festivals, Easter stands out.

Welcome to Haiti, and its one of a kind rara Easter!

Since Haiti is predominantly Catholic, you will see a lot of activity in churches in the lead up to Easter, some even organizing and leading marches through their parishes: some in Pétion-Ville, some in Lalue, some in Thomassin. For the devout, it’s a period of the year which never goes by without celebration.

If you pay close attention, though, you will notice there is another form of celebration going on – and it’s not a Catholic one.

haitian women in carnival decorations with trumpets — Rara band playing on vaksins
Photo: Kolektif 2 Dimansyon

History

In colonial times, from the moment they were unloaded from trade ships onto the island, slaves had to fight for everything: their survival, their freedom, and their culture. Because the first two were a harder, more substantial battle for them to win, they had to fight it every day until independence was won.

The cultures and languages they brought with them across the seas were viciously oppressed, and holding onto these was hard for people already fighting for survival and freedom. Slave masters were intent on ridding slaves of any thought, idea, or behavior that might make them think they were human.

When the Spanish colonised the island, they brought the Catholic calendar with them, and it remained standard on the island. The slave class found a way to keep their spiritual beliefs and practices alive by realigning their own traditions to match the timing of Catholic ones.

All throughout lent, slaves convened, but not to decide what they would give up. They convened in order to take something back – the musical traditions from their homelands, which they couldn’t normally risk under the watchful eye of the slave masters. During lent, musicians gathered and made music together, adapting customary instruments, traditions and narratives to their new life. Late at night, meeting in secluded locations, they found ways to celebrate their culture in all of its bright, bold loudness. Vodou was often a part of this celebration. Joining music and vodou together, a renewed and newly unified culture and religion arose.

This was the birth of rara, and the tradition is still alive and well in modern-day Haiti, and takes to the streets more boldly than ever before.

How to experience rara Easter

If you are staying in Haiti around Easter, rara band performances usually begin around Ash Wednesday and end with a bang on Easter Sunday. The artist lineup is never publicly announced, but you can catch them playing, dancing, laughing, and running through the streets of Port-au-Prince, Cap-Haïtien, Jacmel, Jérémie and more.

The sound of a rara band is unmistakable. A driven rhythm of drums, layered underneath a melody played on a couple of vaksin, a trumpet conventionally made from hollowed bamboo, but more often made of metal. You will hear the fast-paced scratching of the graj, against the loud, steady voices of people singing, stomping and dancing down the street.

As Martin Mull once put it, writing about music is like dancing about architecture. The spirit of rara is impossible to capture in words, so you’ll just have to come and see for yourself.

Written by Kelly Paulemon.

Published July 2019

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Peer into the Studio of Haitian Artist Maxan Jean Louis

May 4, 2019 by Editor

Maxan Jean Louis in his studio, Port-au-Prince
Photo: Franck Fontain

Peer into the Studio of Haitian Artist Maxan Jean Louis

Visit the home studio of one of Haiti’s foremost Saint Soley Painters, Maxan Jean Louis, whose work is included in permanent collections of European Galleries. Take home a vibrant dreamscape of your own.

Take a look inside Maxan’s studio

Originally on the path to become a bricklayer, Maxan Jean-Louis picked up a paintbrush under the advice of his cousin and altered his life forever. Born in the west-Haitian province of Jérémie in 1966, Maxan travelled to Port-au-Prince as a youth to find his way as an artist. Since then, his work has found its way into European museums, international private collections and the homes of Maxan’s friends, who range from teachers to Ambassadors.

A true artist and a simple, bohemian spirit, Maxan treats his friends from all walks of life with the same respect and kind sense of humour. Every week, he welcomes visitors into his home studio, east of Route de Freres at a dirt road cutoff one mile past the Police Commissariat.

Visitors enter the gate into an empty two car garage and walk through to an open air art gallery. Exterior walls of a never-finished two-story house are covered in decades of his art. Political works from the 1990s are hung on unfinished cement walls around the home’s exterior. The political scenes are juxtaposed with the more figurative, Vodou-inspired style that has made him celebrated internationally as well as here in his native Haiti.

Climbing the stairs that wind around to the back of the house, you enter the creative domain of Maxan Jean Louis. A wide studio is covered in floor-to-ceiling canvases in various stages of work. To the left you’ll see another permanent fixture in an unfinished room without a roof.

Leaned against the cinderblock walls are chest-high mounds of empty Prestige beer bottles, with the odd Rhum BarbanCourt tossed in. It’s an impressive sight and has taken years to build up. Beaming with pride, Maxan takes the mountain of bottles in with a fatherly gesture, and they’re transformed into a deliberate installation.

Near the house is a waterfall, and if you’re in the mood for a short hike, Maxan will gladly show off this nearby natural wonder. He might even take you swimming in the basin below.

Buche Perico restaurant in Santo Domingo — Maxan Jean Louis studio, Port-au-Prince
Photo: Franck Fontain

Inspired by visions

While Maxan is considered an artist of the Saint Soleil school, he’ll tell you that he paints in two different styles. The first is characterised by fantastical, colourful and elongated forms that rise up off a vibrant background. It’s a body of work rooted in a dream world, and inspired by his own visions.

These Vodou-influenced canvases range from miniatures to murals, but all emit movement and dance. These are the works of a natural talent, born from experiments and visionary moments. A predominant theme is release from the heavy burn of everyday life. Visually, it represents the same escape so many people seek, and find, during religious ceremonies, dances or musical festivals.

Maxan’s second style is a distinct departure in mood, form and colour. The pallet is paler and the theme is overtly political. According to the book “Artistes Haitian” published by APAM, Maxan was heavily influenced by the political coup of 1991 which ousted Jean Bertrand Aristid and brought forth a wave of violence against civilians.

Maxan turned to surrealism and began to document atrocities and political assassinations in vivid colour. They were events that he lived through, and he turned to art to express his reactions. But Maxan is above all, a jovial spirit. Grand gestures of generosity flow freely from his rough hands. He offers new friends masterful paintings like they’re chocolate bars and exchanges with artists whose work he admires.

Maxan Jean Louis studio, Port-au-Prince
Photo: Franck Fontain

“There’s not enough room”

Maxan has built up an impressive art collection over the past 30 years. The four main rooms of his house are covered in floor-to-ceiling tableaus from local Haitians and international artists alike. Works of art are stacked three deep on couches and floors: there’s not enough room to hang them all. And this isn’t even his own work.

There’s an advantage to being a former mason, still close-knit with the building community. Maxan will regularly have a 10 to 20 foot high canvas stretched and work on three of them simultaneously. He adores wild, untraditional canvas sizes. The more “dezod” or uncouth the dimensions the better. The grey exterior walls of his multi story home are often covered in his orange, green, and vibrant red paintings.

With such a prodigious pace, Maxan has to design his murals to be mobile. To create more space for new giant murals, Maxan has sold them to expats, embassies and private dealers. Maxan recalls that in 2017 one collector visited his studio and took home 27 paintings.

Where to find Maxan’s art

In Haiti, you’ll find Maxan featured in the most prominent galleries and homes. Beyond the Caribbean, Maxan turns up in France, Romania, and the Netherlands. For fine art enthusiasts, it may be difficult to reconcile this reputation with the slapdash studio and charming, crooked smile of Maxan. He is most often seen zipping around Port-au-Prince on the back of a motorcycle with a baseball cap on his head, baggy T-shirt, and cargo jeans.

Many weeks he heads this way to the Lycee Francais to teach art classes to the children of diplomats and local Haitians who are enrolled in the French system. French support for Haitian cultural promotion and Maxan in particular, is longstanding.

His first major exhibit was at the French Embassy in 2005 and he visits France every summer with the Haitian group PROM-ART HAITI to engage in cultural exchanges and display recent art works at a group show. In summer 2018 he visited Romania and Morocco.

Interested in finding out more? Call +509 3637 7042 to arrange a visit to Maxan’s studio.

Written by Emily Bauman.

Published May 2019

Find Maxan’s studio

External Links

Find out more about Jean-Louis Maxan on Wikipedia

Wikipedia

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Fiercely independent – Haiti has attitude

December 8, 2018 by Editor

Black and white portrait photograph of an old Haitian woman

Fiercely independent: Haiti has attitude

Haiti dances to its own rhythm. What’s behind the nation’s unique personality and place in history?

18th century Haiti, or Hispaniola as it was named then. It’s a colony of France, and it’s the most prosperous and fruitful colony in the entire Caribbean, supplying France and Europe with coffee, sugar and many other goods – harvested and produced with slave labor.

For slaves, days have no end; they begin and end each day’s labor in the torture of knowing they are and forever will be slaves. Across the island, things are getting tense. Revolution is brewing.

From centuries of slavery has come a kind of fire – slow-burning, but extremely intense – and it lives in the stomach of every single slave on the island; man, woman and child. Risking life and limb, oppressed Haitians hold hushed meetings, organise illicit nighttime reunions, and some escape to the mountains.

People gather around for a Vodou ceremony inside a Haitian Vodou temple in Petavie — Vodou ceremony at Ti Papa’s vodou temple in Petavie
Photo: Franck Fontain

Vodou visions of freedom

On the night of August 14, 1791, at Bois Caïman, one event pulls on the last thread holding colonial rule together. A Vodou ceremony gives birth to a concrete plan that will irrevocably change life on the island. In a spirit of revolution, of community, and of kinship, the slaves who reunited that night catalyzed an insurrection that spanned several days. The Northern Plain was set ablaze, and freed slaves retaliated against their former slave owners.

This was the seed of the Haitian revolution that culminated in 1804, with slave rebels taking their freedom once and for all.

Haiti is the only place in the Caribbean where an enslaved class successfully fought off and ousted their oppressors. This victory would not have been possible without the determination, community, and the will to try and fail and try again. And the spirit that enabled Haitians to fight for their birthright of freedom is still alive today.

If everything you know about Haiti so far has come from news reports, you’re missing so much of the picture. While the 2010 earthquake was truly disastrous, and Haiti’s young democracy still has its troubles, the average Haitian’s reality is very different.

Four young fishermen in Baradères, Haiti — Fishermen in Baradères
Photo: Mikkel Ulriksen

“Here, the early bird gets the coffee”

Take a stroll anywhere in Port-au-Prince, or even in Jacmel, or Cap-Haïtien. Haitians rise with the sun – because they know that every day is a new chance to do better than they did the day before. Here, the early bird gets the worm, the coffee, and the morning laughs around the merchant serving up bananas and boiled eggs.

You’ll see Haitians eating breakfast on their front porch, in front of their office, or on the tap tap – there is no rest for the driven.

Under the harsh morning sun, bare-chested young men pull giant makeshift wooden wheelbarrows loaded with bags of charcoal. The muscles in their arms and chest strain as they push tirelessly – there’s only one way to stop, and that’s to get to where they’re going.

Midday. It’s time for lunch for most – or for the second shift, job, or side-hustle. The fire that lit up the revolution of 1804 is still alive, pushing people to survive and thrive. There are better days ahead, but we have to live to see them.

“A testament to the power of overcoming the unknown”

For Haitians, this isn’t just a daily mantra, it’s a year-round mindset that feeds into the ebbs and flows of island life. Perhaps the best illustration of this is the annual carnival season.

For many Haitians, the turn of the year is associated with financial difficulties and cloudy horizons. “We know what we have, but not what’s out there.” Carnival, which spans the months of February and March, is a testament to the power of overcoming the unknown.

Passion comes through everything Haitians do. It’s in the young men selling water in the streets. It’s in the late night laughter of people sitting at a bar by the side of the street. It’s in the mornings, noons, and nights of hustlers, of move-makers, of mothers leading households on their own, of families in the provinces, and of spirits young and old.

Haiti speaks purpose; do you?

Written by Kelly Paulemon.

Published December 2018

Ã—Select Language

Vodou

Fèt Gede – the Haitian Day of the Dead

Fèt Gede – the Haitian Day of the Dead – is an annual tradition when practitioners of vodou parade through the streets, possessed by the spirits of the dead (gede)

Bring Haiti’s Mystical Art Home!

Vodou, lwa and gede

Discover Sacred Vodou Symbols!

Party in the cemetary

How to get involved

Haitian Cultural Traditions You Didn’t Know About

Explore Haitian Vodou & Spiritualism

Paradise for your inbox

The 10 books you should read before you visit Haiti

Cosy up with these ten books that explore the fascinating stories of Haiti.

a touch of haitian wisdom

Masters of the Dew by Jacques Roumain

General Sun, My Brother by Jacques Stephen Alexis

In the Flicker of an Eyelid by Jacques Stephen Alexis

Discover Sacred Vodou Symbols!

Rires et Pleurs (Laughs and Cries) by Oswald Durand

Les Cinq Lettres by Georges Castera

So Spoke the Uncle by Jean Price-Mars

The Equality of Human Races by Anténor Firmin

Peintres Haitiens by Gerard Alexis

Voodoo: Search for the Spirit by Laennec Hurbon

Haiti: the Aftershocks of History by Laurent Dubois

Bonus:

Citadelle Henri

More Art & Culture

Paradise for your inbox

Visit a museum dedicated to Vodou

From Our Land to Your Home

About the collection

Getting there

Find the Bureau of Ethnology

External Links

A Visual Guide to Vodou Symbols

Explore more of Haiti’s history

Paradise for your inbox

Experience Rara Easter

In this island nation famous for its festivals, Easter stands out.

History

Discover Sacred Vodou Symbols!

How to experience rara Easter

Haitian Cultural Traditions You Didn’t Know About

Explore more festivals and events

Paradise for your inbox

Peer into the Studio of Haitian Artist Maxan Jean Louis

Visit the home studio of one of Haiti’s foremost Saint Soley Painters, Maxan Jean Louis, whose work is included in permanent collections of European Galleries. Take home a vibrant dreamscape of your own.

Take a look inside Maxan’s studio

From Our Land to Your Home

Inspired by visions

start your day the Haitian way

“There’s not enough room”

Where to find Maxan’s art

Find Maxan’s studio

External Links

Go on a self-guided tour of Haiti’s Gingerbread houses

Explore more art and culture

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Fiercely independent: Haiti has attitude

Haiti dances to its own rhythm. What’s behind the nation’s unique personality and place in history?

Vodou visions of freedom

“Here, the early bird gets the coffee”

From Our Land to Your Home

“A testament to the power of overcoming the unknown”

Haitian Cultural Traditions You Didn’t Know About

Explore Haiti’s Art & Culture

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Plan Your Trip

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a touch of
haitian wisdom

A Visual Guide to
Vodou Symbols

start your day
the Haitian way

Go on a self-guided
tour of Haiti’s Gingerbread houses