Overview

Thirteen Haitian scholars met in April 1997, at the University of California, Santa Barbara, for a colloquium on Haitian Vodou: “The Spirit and The Reality: Vodou and Haiti.” At the end of the conference, these scholars decided to institutionalize their efforts through a new association under the name, the Congress of Santa Barbara. Imbued by a sense of collective wisdom and aware of the long, difficult, and constant struggles and crises undergone by their homeland, the Founders—and others who later joined them—pledged to create a space where scholarship onVodou can be augmented. Cognizant of the meaning and theimplications of this historic reunion where Haitian scholars seized the initiative, the Congress proposes to have an impact on Haitian cultural politics as well as on other measures and policies that affect the Republic of Haiti. The presence, role, and importance of Vodou in Haitian history, society, and culture are inarguable, and recognizably a part of the national ethos. The impact of the religion qua spiritual and intellectual discipline on popular national institutions, human and gender relations, the family, the plastic arts, philosophy and ethics, oral and written literature, language, sacred and popular music, science and technology, and the healing arts, is indisputable. It is the belief of the Congress that Vodou plays and shall continue to play a major role in the grand scheme of Haitian development and in the socioeconomic, political, and cultural arenas. Development, when real and successful, always comes from the modernization of ancestral traditions, anchored in the richcultural expressions of a nation. The Founders of the Congress of Santa Barbara invite all scholars and interested parties who subscribe to its goals and objectives to join it in the defense and illustration of this potomitan of the Haitian cultural heritage that is such an integral part of the country’s future.