Sacred Slaves: Tchamba Vodu in Southern Togo
Abstract
This article ethnographically documents beliefs and practices surrounding Tchamba vodu among Anlo-Ewe vodu adepts in southern Togo. Mama Tchamba, or Grandmother Slave, is a religious order devoted to the veneration of the spirits of slaves purchased by the ancestors of Tchamba adepts and sold or kept in the community as wives and mothers. This article documents Tchamba vodu through the authors' interviews and observations in the community and situates these beliefs and practices in the larger cultural context of slavery and ritual among the Anlo Ewe. Drawing on mimetic theory, we argue that Tchamba ceremonial practices represent performed memorializations of the cultural experiences of slavery along the coast of the Bight of Benin and open culturally productive spaces and identities through mimetic bodily performance.
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In Western and Gothic circles, what is assumed to be supernatural or paranormal has long been part of everyday reality for many peoples of African descent and devotees of Vodun in West Africa and Vodou in Haiti.
“What is assumed to be “supernatural” or “paranormal” in Western and Gothic circles has long been a part of everyday reality for many peoples of African descent and devotees of Vodun in Western Africa and Vodou in Haiti.”
From Gothic "Voodoo" in Africa and Haiti (2019) · cites this paper as Vannier & Montgomery, 2016, p. 107
The odus and patakines of Yoruba Ifa divination, the mythologies of Vodun and Vodou gods, the acts of spirit possession and revelation, and the articulations of plant medicine for healing operate in the realm of 'mystery' but are also scientific, albeit not understood by Western empiricism or the so-called scientific method.
“The odus and patakines of Yoruba Ifa divination, the mythologies of Vodun and Vodou gods, the acts of spirit possession and revelation, the articulations of plant medicine for healing - all operate in the realm of “mystery”, but they are also scientific;; albeit, not understood by Western empiricism or the so-called scientific method (Vannier & Montgomery, 2016, pp. 31-38).”
From Gothic "Voodoo" in Africa and Haiti (2019) · cites this paper as Vannier & Montgomery, 2016, pp. 31-38
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Gothic "Voodoo" in Africa and Haiti
Montgomery, E. J. (2019) · eTropic: electronic journal of studies in the tropics · doi:10.25120/etropic.18.1.2019.3666 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Self-citation
- Authors
- Vannier, C., & Montgomery, E. J.
- Affiliations
- University of Michigan–Flint (US)
- Wayne State University (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Africana Religions
- Published
- 2016-01
- Volume
- 4
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 104-127
- ISSN
- 2165-5405 (ISSN-L)
- 2165-5413
- OpenAlex
- W2234555337
- Cited by
- 6
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2019: 2 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 1
- FWCI
- 20.40
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Africana Religions (publishedVersion)
- Project Muse (Johns Hopkins University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Religious studies › Caribbean and African Literature and Culture
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Visual Arts and Performing Arts › Arts and Performance Studies
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › African history and culture studies
- Keywords
- Anlo-Ewe, slavery, commemoration, mimetic theory, ritual performance, body performance, ancestral spirits, Bight of Benin, southern Togo, cultural identity
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