Don PetwoorDon Pedro. The latter is believed to
have lived in the region of Petit-Goave in the late
18th century and to have distinguished himself by
actively participating in the struggle for freedom,
which eventually led to the independence of Haiti
in 1804. More specifically, according to some,
Don Petwo would have created a fast-paced dance
that could bring about the mounting of a whole
assembly by the Lwa. Furthermore, Don Petwo
was said to have great psychic powers because he
was gifted with clairvoyance.
The famous ceremony of Bois Caiman, which
took place on August 14, 1791, and which initi-
ated the revolutionary war in Haiti, was led by the
HounganDutty Boukman. During that ceremony,
a pig was sacrificed, thus clearly indicating that
the whole affair was a Petwo ritual because the
pig is the typical sacrificial animal in Petwo ritu-
als. In fact, and without this being surprising,
given their hot energy, Petwo Lwa are widely
believed to have played a major role in providing
the enslaved Africans with the ability to organize,
fight, and triumph over the French slave regime.
For example, one may discern on paintings of
Ezili Dantò two parallel vertical scars on her right
cheeks. Many believe and repeat that it was while
fighting against the white colonists during the rev-
olutionary war that Ezili Dantò’s face was thus
wounded. Also, sometimes Ezili Dantò is repre-
sented with a chopped-off nose, and this is
assumed by many to be as a result of a wound suf-
fered in combat as well. Another example worth
mentioning is that ofOgu Shango, a Petwo Lwa,
who would have, according to the oral tradition,
inspired and protected Dessalines, a major player
in the Haitian revolution, during fighting. Not
only are Ogu Shango and Ezili Dantò important
Petwo Lwa, but so are other spirits such as Legba
Petwo, Danballa Flangbo, Ogu Petwo, Ezili
Mapyang, Marinette Pye Chech, and many others.
Ceremonies devoted to Petwo Lwa are com-
mon occurrences. They include, like all Vodu
ceremonies, intense drumming and dancing. A
typical Petwo drum set consists of two drums:Ti
BakaandGwo Baka. Those two drums are quite
similar and only present a difference in size, with
the Gwo Baka drum being larger than the Ti Baka
drum. Furthermore, they are both made out of
soft wood, with their upper extremity covered in
goat hide. They are played with both hands.
Dances forPetwo Lwainclude theMakiyadance,
theBumbadance, theMakandadance, and the
Kitadance.Ama MazamaSeealsoLwa; Rada; Vodou in HaitiFurther Readings
Deren, M. (1972).The Divine Horsemen:The Voodoo
Gods of Haiti. New York: Delta.
Desmangles, L. (1994).Faces of the Gods:Vodou and
Roman Catholicism in Haiti. Chapel Hill: University
of North Carolina Press.
McCarthy Brown, K. (1991).Mama Lola:A Vodou
Priestess in Brooklyn. Berkeley: University of
California Press.
Métraux, A. (1958).Le Vaudou Haitien. Paris:
Gallimard.
Rigaux, M. (1953).La Tradition Voudou et Voudou
Haitien(Son Temple,Ses Mystères,Sa Magie). Paris:
Editions Niclaus.PEUL
The Peul (also Pular, Fulani, Fulfulde) are a large
ethnic group that reaches from Senegal to Chad
along the high plateau of the Sahel. Their numbers
are more than 40 million and are spread from the
Sahara to the rainforest. Among the first West
Africans to become Muslims, the Peul have lost
many of their traditional practices and rituals,
but they have become adept at Africanizing their
Islamic practices. In many respects, the Peul,
alongside the Wolof and Serer, have articulated a
special relationship to Islam and Christianity.
Their languages, probably influenced by and
influencing Arabic in West Africa, have grown to
show an affinity in expression and attitude.
According to some scholars, such as Moussa
Lam, the origin of the Peul is ancient Egypt. His
argument is that the Peul, because of chaos and
disorder, found their way from East Africa, out of
the Nile Valley, across the Sahel to Senegal. One
only has to examine the towns and villages in a
straight line from the Nile Valley region to the
Senegal Valley to see the reality of the presence,Peul 527