Tell My Horse: Voodoo and Life in Haiti and Jamaica

Hurston proposes that Haiti has always been a nation divided into two parts by dichotomies (e.g., enslavers and enslaved; the mixed-race elite and Black peasants, etc.). The nation was ravaged by colonialism and then by revolution and turmoil (See: Background), but now that it is free once more from occupying foreign powers, Hurston wonders what the future of Haiti holds. Voodoo has long been used as a scapegoat for many of the nation’s ills, but having seen a growing sense of cultural pride among younger generations, Hurston predicts that such a status quo will soon be shaken.

The best hope for Haiti’s future lies with a new generation of intelligent, educated young men centered around the new minister of the interior, Dividnaud. Such men have started a scientific society and are tackling issues of public health. The finest of these is the head of public health, Dr. Leon, and his staff, who are making sweeping changes despite the constraints of red tape and politics.

Politics has long been a curse for Haiti, as even good politicians have historically been foiled by corrupt colleagues and systems. Haiti doesn’t select a democratic head so much as they democratically elect a monarch to carry out the will of the nation, a will which is difficult to discern given low levels of education and the fact that only 10% of the population is literate.

Haiti has many orators who weave pretty falsehoods about the way they wish things were, delusional fantasies which are accepted without protest even by intelligent listeners. President Vincent lies blatantly about his part in ending the American occupation, and all manner of people contradict themselves to paint Haiti in a more favorable light. Hurston declares that they need a better style of patriotism now, one more akin to that of African Americans in the USA who are not sated by the words of “race leaders,” but instead crave meaningful action and results.

Hurston has befriended Colonel Calixe, the excellent head of Haiti’s defense force, and notes that the specter of Santo Domingo’s President Trujillo is an omnipresent threat in Haiti. The two halves of the island have a longstanding rivalry, exacerbated by Santo Domingo’s economic success, disputes at the border, and the recent death of Trujillo’s friend, Jolibois Fils, in a Haitian prison. Hurston hopes that the success of the island’s eastern half may spur similar improvements in Haiti.

Interestingly, she finds that it is socially acceptable, and indeed expected, to lie in Haiti. A peasant will cheat even a friendly acquaintance without the least guilt and think himself akin to a trickster figure of legend. Generally, however, Hurston finds the people of Haiti altogether good-hearted and kind, save for their huge capacity for unconscious cruelty. Among the peasant this is mostly directed towards abused and mistreated livestock.

Celestina Simon is a “mambo,” or priestess, in the Voodoo religion, and is frequently characterized as Haiti’s version of Joan of Arc. Her father, General Francois Antoine Simon (1843-1923), became President of Haiti in 1908, purportedly due in large part to Celestina’s intervention.

General Simon was born a peasant, but following his military successes against his predecessor Pierre Nord Alexis (1820-1910), he was put in power by canny politicians seeking a puppet to manipulate. However, his willfulness and susceptibility to flattery made him less malleable than they might have hoped, and his frequent social blunders and lack of refinement caused significant diplomatic embarrassment.

He relied upon the guidance and support of Celestina, who was his closest advisor. Upper-class guests at the presidential palace frequently feared that secret Voodoo ceremonies were being carried out under the cover of official celebrations, and rumors abound on the topic of Celestina’s powers. When General Simon led his forces into battle, Celestina was the one who inspired them to fight, and it is said that she made them impervious to bullets. The most dramatic rumor is that Celestina was married to her father’s beloved pet goat Simalo, but that she divorced the goat when her father’s position made it seem possible that she could secure an advantageous match. When the goat died shortly afterwards, General Simon was heartbroken, and in his grief arranged a lavish funeral for Simalo.

When General Simon was deposed in 1911, it is said that the “loa” gods abandoned him because of Celestina’s reneging on her vows to Simalo. General Simon fled Haiti, but Celestina remains in Haiti, living in poverty and obscurity, unmarried, and the subject of much sinister speculation. It is believed by some that she cursed her father’s successor Cincinnatus Leconte (1854-1912), causing his untimely death.

Although official history books unanimously report that President Leconte died in the explosion which destroyed his palace, not a single Haitian person with whom Hurston spoke believes the official narrative. Instead, they universally say that Leconte was murdered before the explosion occurred, and that the palace was destroyed in an attempt to cover up his cause of death. There is no consensus, however, on the method or motive of the alleged assassination.

Hurston was presented with many conflicting theories, but one of the most prevalent and convincing is that Leconte was killed by rival political opponents because his own popularity and incorruptibility threatened their ambitions. The story goes that the president dismissed warnings of possible insurrection from his minister and close friend Sansarique, and was called to an emergency meeting one night in his palace. At the meeting, conspirators murdered him and butchered his body, disposing of it elsewhere and exploding the palace to hide any evidence of their misdeed. The vast majority of the conspirators met gruesome ends soon afterwards, and the next president, Tancred Auguste (1856-1913), died soon after taking office.