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| photo © patrice dougé All rights reserved |
A man and his wife sit under a mapou tree while participating in a vodou celebration in Souvenance, Gonaives. Trees are the earth's lifeblood and ancient cultures were wise to recognize this. To this day, many indegenous cultures worship trees or one specific tree."These people will never be conquered again, they will be exploited, they will be downtrodden, they will be impoverished - but you can tell not a single Haitian walks around with his head down... They're more human than the people who enslaved them. They were better than their masters, able to live in another realm. There's no other more articulate response to oppression than that. And that's why Vodou is here - because Vodou is the soul of the Haitian people" Ira lowenthal