Introducing my project that I started in my Masters degree. My intentions with the research section of this blog is to present my findings from my dissertation in a less academic setting. By breaking it up into smaller articles I believe information can be shared and interacted with more easily. Therefore reaching more people who can contribute and add to this history. My dissertation focuses on Obeah practices in the British Caribbean during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. I believe that Obeah is an example of a faith/healing practice where different cultures, and philosophies have come together to make something new which is unique to the enslaved experience of the Caribbean.
What is Obeah?
Obeah is a medical, social, and spiritual practice that originates from the enslaved experience and West African traditions. The general Obeah man or woman would be someone with natural medicine knowledge and deals with requests from the community to either provide poison, dark-arts, potions and spirituality. I argue that Obeah practices play a role in Caribbean knowledge, healing, and society. The Caribbean was a meeting place between African, Indigenous, and European knowledge. Where practices of different traditions were merged into something new and used by all levels of society.
I argue that the definition of ‘Obeah’ includes the condemnation of the practice which is evident in European laws and literature. ‘Obeah’ was used to condemn many acts that were undesirable to authorities. Several laws were introduced and revised to tackle the ‘Obeah problem’. This project shows that the outlaw of Obeah demonstrates that the practice was complex and meaningful than what is presented in European sources.
The importance of Obeah has been covered up by European narratives. According to the colonial narrative, Africa’s ‘evil and pagan’ beliefs was a factor in why Africans should be enslaved. Obeah was a example used by Europeans to justify the exploitive system. Obeah was made to be a danger to the white community and that Obeah does not mean anything. This project uses micro examples of different British Caribbean islands to show that Obeah practices provided several services to the community including faith, healing, and community.
Contributions to ongoing history discussion of the Obeah practice
This project demonstrates the ways European literature, ideas, and laws have narrowed the history and understanding of Obeah practice. By examining the Obeah practice, it will give more context in understanding the enslaved experience in their healing and spiritual practices in the Caribbean. Clarifying the importance Obeah had to the enslaved communities and Caribbean society. The part of the scholarly discussion focuses on the importance of Obeah as a threat to power and control in European society, and viewing Obeah as a European concept which is evident in the work of Randy M. Browne, J. Alexandra McGhee, and Jeffrey Cottrell. My research will be contributing to the scholarly discussion of focusing on enslaved peoples’ relationship with Obeah, following scholars such as Jerome S. Handler, Sasha Turner Bryson, Diana Paton, and Vincent Brown.
1750 to 1830 will be the dates I am researching within. These were chosen due to the key events that occur in this period in the Atlantic community. Monumental moments such as the Haitian Revolution, the slave trade debate, the ‘ending of the slave trade’, the 1760 Jamaican revolt, and the introduction of anti-Obeah legislation. This era was a dynamic time for the Caribbean and the Atlantic community. These are also key moments for the history of the Obeah practice.
Upcoming articles
The upcoming articles will introduce the discussion around source limitations and influences on documents from the colonial and slavery era. This is information to understand the approach taken by this project to be able analyse enslaved peoples’ experiences.
Another upcoming article will introduce the historical context of the British Caribbean in the slave trade era and contextualising the Caribbean in the Atlantic community. The Caribbean’s daily life and large events must be included to understand Caribbean society and the everyday enslaved peoples’ experiences. The plantation systems, the debate around the slave trade in Britain, and the enslaved peoples’ revolts and revolutions was influential across the Atlantic community.
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