contacts in the United States, Santeria has made
its way back into the Caribbean to Puerto Rico
and the Dominican Republic. Cubans trans-
planted the religion to Mexico and also to
Venezuela, where the santos/orishas have already
begun to win new devotees and exert an influence
on the Venezuelan popular religions. A small
number of exiled santeras have made their way to
Europe, and, through them, Santeria became es-
tablished in Spain, spreading from there to other
European countries.
At the beginning of the 21st century, Santeria
in Cuba is undergoing a renaissance fueled by
tourism, greater tolerance from the government,
and higher levels of contact among Santeria com-
munities dispersed throughout the Americas and
Europe, and with Yoruba practitioners in Africa.
Aided by high-speed travel and the Internet, there
is much greater intercommunication between the
growing number of people on four continents who
see themselves as devotees of the orisha.
George BrandonSee alsoOrisha; Yoruba
Further Readings
Abimbola, W. (1991). The Place of Traditional African
Religion in Contemporary Africa: The Yoruba
Example. In J. Olupona (Ed.),African Traditional
Religions in Contemporary Society(pp. 51–58).
New York: Paragon House.
Brandon, G. (1993).Santeria From Africa to the New
World:The Dead Sell Memories. Bloomington:
Indiana University Press.
Brown, D. (1993). Thrones of the Orichas: Afro-Cuban
Festive Initiatory and Domestic Altars in African
Diaspora History.African Arts, 26 (4), 44–59, 85–87.
Cabrera, L. (1983).The Forest. Miami, FL: Coleccion
del Chihereku.
Hagedorn, K. J. (2001).Divine Utterances:The
Performance of Afro-Cuban Santeria. Washington,
DC: Smithsonian Institute Press.
Murphy, J. (1993).Santeria:African Spirits in America.
Boston: Beacon.
Peel, J. D. Y. (2000).Religious Encounter and the
Making of the Yoruba. Bloomington: Indiana
University Press.
Sandoval, M. (1957).Afrocuban Religion. Madrid:
Coleccion Libre Plaza Mayor.
SARA
The Sara ethnic group lives in the Central African
Republic around the area of Lake Chad. They are
associated with several other linguistic and cul-
tural groups that include the Kara, Gula, Kreish,
Ngama, and Nduka. In fact, if one takes these
groups alongside the Sara proper, they constitute
the fourth largest ethnic group in the country.
What is clear is that the Sara material culture
shows evidence of migration from the eastern
region of the continent.
In examining the material contributions of the
Sara people, one has to pay attention to the produc-
tive qualities of the culture. They are mainly agrar-
ian. Among the foodstuff that they grow and eat
are taro, yams, and sweet potatoes that provide
their basic sustenance. They also raise cattle, sheep,
goats, and chickens, as well as small horses. Sara
people have relied on their agricultural skills to
maintain a healthy community and to ward off out-
siders. Nevertheless, they have had a history of
invasions from Arab slave traders who devastated
the culture of the people over a long period of time.
Arab slave traders from the 15th through the
19th centuries invaded the Sara lands, taking
many of the artisans and farmers into slavery. The
enslavement and persecution of the people created
enormous pressure on the traditional religion of
the people, forcing them to change many of their
practices and observances and to change the loca-
tion of their shrines. Punishment and brutality
eventually created a distorted traditional religious
practice. Many Sara were forced out of their
region into places controlled by Arabs, and others
became Muslims to escape the appellationinfidel.
Indeed, the interaction with the Arab slave traders
caused the people to seek the perforation of the
lower lips of their women so as to make them less
attractive to the Arab slave traders. Various deco-
rative plugs were placed in the perforations as
ornaments.
Sara culture remains deeply traditional,
although Islam has significantly influenced the
society. As is true of many African societies, bod-
ies of elders normally oversee autonomous village
communities, each of which is composed of sepa-
rate marriages outside the clan. This tradition as
a part of the historical response of the people toSara 593