Gade nan mizè-a m tonbe: Vodou, the 2010 Earthquake, and Haiti’s Environmental Catastrophe
Gade nan mizè-a m tonbe: Vodou, the 2010 Earthquake, and Haiti’s Environmental Catastrophe
In this chapter, Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert considers the connection between environmental catastrophe and religious discourse. In “Gade nan mizè-a m tonbe”, a Vodou song dedicated to the lwa Bwa Nan Bwa (Tree in the Woods), the singer asks the spirit to look at the misery into which he has fallen. Guided by this affecting song, the chapter explores how Haiti’s faith in Vodou – already threatened by the nation’s severe environmental crisis – was badly shaken by the January 2010 earthquake and its aftermath. The song poignantly reminds us what Haiti’s severe deforestation has meant for religious practices and beliefs in the country. The chapter looks at the links between Haiti’s environmental predicament (the fate of its trees), its ongoing cholera outbreak, the crisis of faith unleashed by the January 2010 earthquake, and the nature of forest spirits like Bwa Nan Bwa.
Keywords: ecology, catastrophe, Haiti, vodou, deforestation, cultural forms
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