Dutty Boukman
18th-century African slave and priest; leader in the Haitian Revolution
Who was Dutty Boukman?
Dutty Boukman (or Boukman Dutty; died 7 November 1791) was a leader of the Haitian Revolution. Born to a Muslim family in Senegambia (present-day Senegal and The Gambia), he was initially enslaved in Jamaica. According to some contemporary accounts, Boukman, alongside Cécile Fatiman, a Vodou mambo, presided over the religious ceremony at Bois Caïman, in August 1791, that served as the catalyst to the 1791 slave revolt which is usually considered the beginning of the Haitian Revolution. Boukman was a key leader of the slave revolt in the Le Cap‑Français region in the north of the colony. He was killed by the French planters and colonial troops on, just a few months after the beginning of the uprising.
Historical significance
He eventually ended up in Haiti, where he may have become a leader of the maroons and a vodou houngan (priest), however this claim only originated in modern sources.