Louisiana Voodoo

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Louisiana Voodoo, also known as New Orleans Voodoo, was an African diasporic religion that existed in Louisiana and the broader Mississippi River valley between the 18th and early 20th centuries. It arose through a process of syncretism between the traditional religions of West and Central Africa, Haitian Vodou and Catholicism. No central authority controlled Louisiana Voodoo, which was organized through autonomous groups. From the early 18th century, enslaved West and Central Africans—the majority of them Bambara and Bakongo—were brought to the French colony of Louisiana. There, their traditional religions syncretized with each other and with the Catholic beliefs of the French. This continued as Louisiana came under Spanish control and was then purchased by the United States in 1803. In the early 19th century, many migrants fleeing the Haitian Revolution arrived in Louisiana, bringing with them Haitian Vodou, which contributed to the formation of Louisiana Voodoo. Practiced primarily by...

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