during the enslavement of African peoples. The
transatlantic voyage left a traumatic impression
on enslaved Africans, and often their most diffi-
cult task was to work in the swampy lands, par-
ticularly in the coastal areas in Suriname and
Guyana, where devotees to Watramama were docu-
mented during enslavement. Water also provided a
source of food to supplement the often scant food
rations of the enslaved, and it was often the best
means to escape. This multifaceted relationship
with water created a powerful water deity that
was both celebrated and feared.
In Suriname, the first mention of Mami Wata
by name occurs in the 1740s, where the observer
noted that if proper rituals were not performed,
“Watermama” would harm her husband or
child. Both Africans and Indigenous peoples
feared the Mother of the waters. Thirty years
later, dances to Watermama were banned in the
country because of the “dangerous effects” they
were having on the enslaved Africans. Over time,
as Suriname society shifted to a land-based sys-
tem, the prominence of Watermama gave way
first to Earth spirits.
Because of the inclusive and fluid nature of
indigenous West African religious practices,
Mami Wata has incorporated perspectives and
iconography from Hindu, Muslim, and European
traditions, as well as modern urban living. In the
Vodou of coastal Benin, images of the Hindu
Lakshmi, goddess of wealth, beauty, and happi-
ness who emerges from seafoam, appear in shrines
to Mami Wata as do Islam’s al-Buraq, the winged
horse with a woman’s head that the prophet
Mohammed rode from Mecca to Jerusalem. An
image of a Samoan snake charmer girl from a
traveling German show made in 1887 arrived in
coastal Benin and was quickly appropriated into
Mami Wata iconography. Artist renditions of this
picture have since come to be the dominant image
of Mami Wata.
Also during this time, the popularity of many
local and regional versions of female water deities
increased as urbanization severed ties to a distinct
rural geographical community and fostered a sense
of individualism. In this new urban environment,
the desire for community still exists alongside dis-
tinctly individualistic aspirations for beauty,
wealth, and well-being. Mami Wata meets these
needs. New Mami Wata deities emerged that deal
with prostitution, birth control, and abortion. In
the diaspora, Mami Wata offers a way to recon-
nect with African ancestral spirituality, and it also
provides personal healing.Denise MartinSeealsoSpirit Medium; WaterFurther Readings
Rush, D. L. (1997).Vodun Vortex:Accumulative Arts,
Histories,and Religious Consciousnesses Along
Coastal Benin. Unpublished doctoral dissertation,
University of Iowa.
Van Stipriaan, A. (2003). Watermama/Mami Wata:
Three Centuries of Creolization of a Water Spirit in
West Africa, Suriname and Europe.Matatu:A
Journal for African Culture and Society, 27 – 28 ,
323–337.
Zogbe, M. (2007).Mami Wata:Africa’s Ancient
God/dess Unveiled(Vol. I). Martinez, GA: Mami
Wata Healers Society of North America.MAROONCOMMUNITIES
Maroons are groups of formerly enslaved Africans
and their descendants who gained their freedom by
fleeing chattel enslavement and running to the safety
and cover of the remote mountains or the dense
overgrown tropical terrains near the plantations.
Many of the groups are found in the Caribbean
and, in general, throughout the Americas—
Central, South, and North. In Brazil, Jamaica,
Haiti, Suriname (the former Dutch Guiana), Cuba,
Puerto Rico, St. Vincent, Guyana, Dominica,
Panama, Colombia, and Mexico, and from the
Amazon River Basin to the southern United States,
primarily Florida and the Carolinas, there are well-
known domiciles of the Maroons.
The wordMaroon, first recorded in English in
1666, is by varying accounts taken from the French
wordmarron, which translates to “runaway Black
slave,” or the American/Spanishcimarrón, which
means “wild runaway slave,” “the beast who
cannot be tamed,” or “living on mountaintops.” TheMaroon Communities 405