Benin uses Vodun days for Reparations

The topic of decoloniality has grown and become omnipresent in every day dialogue in the Global South and with this process, one topic in particular, one that only used to be whispered a few years ago, is being discussed with more urgency: reparations. African countries whose populations, culture and governance systems were decimated by slavers and their funders in Europe and America are joining forces with descendants of slaves to demand reparations. An Africa Union reparation conference took place in Accra, Ghana, in November 2023. Speaking at the opening of the conference, Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo said: “"No amount of money can restore the damage caused by the transatlantic slave trade. But surely, this is a matter that the world must confront and can no longer ignore."

Proceeds from the slave trade built many economies and corporations that survive to this day. While the main drivers of the slave trade made vast amounts of wealth, the descendants of slaves and the communities that they came from are still scarred by the trauma of this scourge. However, beneficiaries of slavery often retort: “who do we pay reparations to and how much?” Of course, this is a disingenuous question because it is possible to trace the main beneficiaries of the slave trade and the descendants of slaves or the districts and tribes that they were taken from. It is easy to see through the hypocrisy of this question because it is never followed up by a real effort to atone for the sins of the past.

However, one African country is making an important effort to atone for sins of the past. In 1991, Benin President Nicéphore Soglo made January 10 National Vodun day to celebrate the Vodun spiritual belief (or Voodoo as it is known in modern popular culture) as well as to exorcise the land of the sins of the past.

Dahomey (today Benin Republic) and neighbouring Oyo (Nigeria today) were key African tribes that made money through capturing and selling Africans. The Fon kings of Dahomey played a key role in the slave trade. Starting from the reign of King Houegbadja, their forces captured hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Africans who were then sold to the many European slave ships that landed frequently on their coast. The sleepy town of Ouidah belies the outsized role that it played in the slave trade. Many descendants of slaves in Brazil and all across the Americas were taken from Africa through Ouidah. Of course, hundreds of thousands also died when they were dragged down to the town of Ouidah as well as in the many holding cells along the way. Dahomey’s participation in the slave trade ended only in 1984 when Béhanzin’s forces were defeated by the French army.

Vodun days are the opportunity for all the Vodun deities to come together and ask for forgiveness from the millions of slaves who perished on African soil or in the Americas. It is an opportunity to remember the cruel treatment that slaves received both in the kingdom of Dahomey and in the Americas.

On Vodun days, different Voduns across the nation converge on the Slave Route (la Route de l’Esclave) in Ouidah where a door of no return stands today and perform elaborate ceremonies. The Slave Route is an initiative that was conceived in Port au Prince and developed by UNESCO and the government of Benin to perform three things:

• Break the silence surrounding the tragedy of the slave trade and slavery by contributing to a better understanding of its root causes, the issues at stake and its modus operandi through multidisciplinary scientific multidisciplinary research.
• To shed objective light on the impact of the slave trade and slavery on modern global transformations and the cultural interactions between peoples between peoples that this tragedy may have generated.
• Contribute to the culture of peace and peaceful coexistence between peoples peoples, by encouraging reflection on cultural pluralism, the construction of new the construction of new identities and citizenship, and intercultural intercultural dialogue.

Members of the diaspora have responded positively to the Vodun days. René (not his real name) from Haiti says that he first heard about Vodun days from France and has attended the event several times. He believes that it is an important step towards atoning for the sins of the past.

Edouardo from Brazil who attended the 2024 edition of the Vodun days says that he came to Benin with many friends from Brazil. He is interested in both Benin and Vodun itself. He says that many people know about Vodun in Brazil. It is a source of pride to afro Brazilians and he wants to know more about it.