one of the eleusine seeds grew, whereas the others
died from water deprivation. Due to Pemba’s theft
and his incestuous act, the Earth became impure
and the eleusine seed turned red, the color it bears
today.
To restore harmony in the universe and purify
the Earth, Faro was sacrificed in heaven; his body
was cut into 60 pieces that were scattered
throughout space. The fragments of his body
descended onto Earth-producing trees, a symbolic
representation of vegetal restoration. The
Almighty God brought Faro back to life in heaven
and gave him human shape and sent him down
to Earth on an ark made of his celestial placenta.
Faro’s ark rested on the mountain called
Kouroula, which lies between Kri and Kri Koro.
This area was then given the name of Mande,
which the inhabitants translate as “son of the
person” (ma) or, more explicitly, “son of the
mannogo,” the person being Faro whose first
bodily form was that of a Silurian fish.
It is commonly believed among Mande people
that Faro serves as a redeemer and organizer of
the universe who is enthroned in the seventh
heaven and sends rain that brings fertility. In addi-
tion, Faro symbolizes revitalization and replenish-
ment of the universe. Consistent with the oral
tradition, Faro bestowed on humans their con-
science, order, purity, and sense of responsibility.
Justin GammageSee alsoGod; Mende
Further Readings
Dieterlen, G. (1957, April). The Mande Creation Myth.
Africa:Journal of the International African Institute,
27 (2), 124–138.
Okpewho, I. (1991, Summer). From a Goat Path in
Africa: An Approach to the Poetry of Jay Wright.
Callaloo, 14 (3), 692–726.
FATIMAN, CÉCILE
Cécile Fatiman was a Mambo or Vodu priestess
who with Dutty Boukman led a Vodu ceremony
that is generally recognized as the spark that
started the Haitian Revolution. The ceremony is
reported to have taken place on August 14, 1791,
in a thickly wooded area near a Lenormand plan-
tation known as Bois Caïman (Alligator Wood).
Cécile Fatiman was the daughter of an African
woman and a Corsican prince. She was sold into
slavery with her mother in Saint Domingue. Her
mother also had two sons who disappeared after
being sold into slavery. A mulatto with green eyes
and long black silky hair, Fatiman became the
wife of Louis Michel Pierrot, who led a black
battalion at Vertières—the site of the final and
decisive battle of the Haitian Revolution. Louis
Michel Pierrot would later become, for a brief
period, the president of Haiti. Cécile Fatiman
lived in Cap-Français, later Cap-Haitien, until the
age of 112, reportedly in full possession of her
mental abilities.
Information about Cécile Fatiman and the Bois
Caïman ceremony comes from the accounts of
Antoine Delmas written in 1793 and later
published inHistoire de la révolution de Saint-
Domingue (1814). Specific information about
Cécile Fatiman comes from her grandson General
Pierre Benoit Rameau. General Rameau is a
Haitian national hero who took part in the resis-
tance against U.S. intervention in Haiti in 1915.
He fought in the North along side Rosalvo Bobo.
During the Bois Caïman ceremony, Cecile
Fatiman was the officiating Mambo who invoked
the Vodou deity, or Lwa, Ezili Dantò. It is
reported that a black pig was sacrificed, thus
marking the ceremony as a Petwo rite of Vodou.
The Petwo rite, orNanchon, is believed to be a
uniquely Haitian manifestation of the Vodou
religion. For example, relatively to theRada, or
Ginen Nanchon, the Petwo Nanchon cannot trace
its origins solely to Dahomey. Its origins are rather
in the African struggle against slavery, and it is
closely associated with the Haitian Revolution, as
well as other Haitian uprisings against oppression,
such as the Cacos in 1915 or the overthrow of
Baby Doc in 1986.
According to Moreau de Saint-Méry, the Petwo
Nanchon was introduced in 1768 by a powerful
houngan by the name of Don Petro in Petit-
Goave. He introduced a dance called the Danse á
Don Pédre, whose rhythm was so powerful and
electrifying that it was forbidden. His impact was262 Fatiman, Cécile