Boukman, Dutty Boukman, Zamba Boukman was the leader of the “Bwa Kayiman” ceremony on August 14, 1791.
This ceremony was one of the triggering events of the remarkable saga of Saint-Domingue led by Black people, culminating in the birth, in 1804, of the first Black Republic: Haiti.
Born a slave in Jamaica and a multiple-time maroon, Boukman served first as a commander and then as a coachman on the Clément plantation. He is described as a man of great height, Herculean strength, and possessing a strong influence over the other slaves.
Boukman’s saga begins with the Bois Caïman ceremony on August 14, 1791. Unlike other leaders who proposed easing the fate of slaves by negotiating three days for the master and three days for the slaves, Boukman chose the path of armed insurrection. More than through speeches, he sought to capture the imagination of Black people through Vodou ritual.
The oath at Bois Caïman took place in a clearing in the middle of the forest, during a stormy night where thunder, lightning, and torrential rain added to the solemnity of the setting. The tree branches cracked in the wind; the scene was set.
The participants were struck when the ceremony began: a black pig was slaughtered, its blood gushing and flowing, and the conspirators, starting with Boukman, drank the blood one after another. Boukman offered a prayer in Creole:
“Our God, good to us, commands us to avenge the offenses we have suffered; He will guide our weapons and help us… Hear the voice of liberty speaking in all our hearts.”
The ceremony ended with an oath in which all attendees, before the priestess and Boukman, vowed to join the struggle, set to begin on August 22, 1791.
Boukman then ordered the general uprising. This ceremony marked a decisive and unprecedented stage in the fight for freedom. Indeed, the uprising that Boukman had long desired and preached materialized in the acts that occurred during the night of August 21–22, 1791.
Slaves from five plantations revolted, burning and massacring the Whites in their path, along with their families. The rebellion was well-organized, and the general insurrection that engulfed the Northern Plain—the wealthiest region of the colony—was no accident.
For about ten days, the Northern Plain was ablaze and awash in blood. Nearly a thousand Whites were killed, 161 sugar plantations and 1,200 coffee plantations were burned.
Boukman, the undisputed leader of the insurgents, pushed his troops near Cap-Français. The siege was difficult because the armed slaves were more accustomed to guerrilla-style warfare—burning sugarcane fields, bagasse huts, and attacking Whites on the plantations. Venerated by his troops, Boukman attempted to enter the city. Chroniclers of the War of Independence recount:
“Boukman, the most intrepid of the revolt leaders, and the most bloodthirsty after Jeannot, encouraged by the prodigious number of his soldiers, and especially by the weakness of the detachment accompanying Mr. de Cambefort, dared to try his luck and face the battles. The Whites, initially shaken by the enemy’s strength, rallied. Completely reassured by the arrival of a small cannon, they rushed the rebels, most of whom ran to hide in the sugarcane fields. Fires were set, and those who could be reached as they emerged were cut to pieces. Boukman, hotly pursued by a cavalry picket whom he mistook for Mr. de Cambefort’s personal escort, stopped, resolved to perish but to make his death useful to his people by sacrificing the White officer to his vengeance. He fired at this officer and missed; he tried to reload his rifle, but a dragoon, not giving him the time, killed him with a pistol shot.”
Boukman’s head was displayed on a pike in the city of Cap. His death made him the first hero of independence. “The leaders mourned and ordered a solemn service for their chief who died for the most just of causes.”
With Boukman dead, the insurrection did not stop. His lieutenants took over: Jeannot, Jean-François, Biassou, and Toussaint Louverture.
Future generations must honor and respect the memory of this giant.
