Indeed, we find a clue historically to another African deity connection on August 16, 1820, when the Louisiana Gazette reported a police raid on a Faubourg Tremé home in New Orleans. Among those arrested were several free people of color, some slaves, and a single white man. The site of the raid was used for late-night gatherings of a religious, albeit illegal, nature, a home “used as a temple for certain occult practices and the idolatrous worship of an African deity called Vaudoo” (Louisiana Gazette 1820). Ritual objects were also confiscated, including “the image of a woman, whose lower extremities resemble a snake” (Louisiana Gazette 1820). From that brief description, the image sounds like Mami Wata, aka Mami Waters, meaning Mother Water, who was brought to Louisiana by way of enslaved peoples of West Africa (Benin, Togo, and Ghana).
Mami Wata is depicted as a mermaid, with a woman’s torso and the legs of either a fish or serpent. Sometimes Mami Wata is depicted as a whole woman carrying a large snake or snakes wrapped around her body. While she is often depicted as a mermaid or half woman–half snake, Mami Wata actually represents a whole pantheon of spirits and deities in West Africa. Mami Wata is the African ambassador to all the spirits of the waters: La Sirene, the Haitian Vodou loa who is similarly depicted as a mermaid; Yemoja, the Yoruban Mother of the Seven Seas; and Yemayá in Santeria and Ifá. Mami Wata remains an important spirit in the New Orleans Voudou pantheon.
Sculpture of the African water deity Mami Wata. Nigeria (Igbo). 1950s. Wood, pigment. Original
in the Minneapolis Institute of Art.
There is another documented incidence of a large wooden fetish that was likely Mami Wata. Referred to as the Voudou Virgin by the press, the fetish was reportedly confiscated by the police on August 10, 1850. This time, a gathering of Voudous was once again raided, and in the process several ritual items were seized. Among the items taken by the police was a wooden statue, a “chief relic of reverence and veneration . . . a quaintly carved wooden figure, resembling something between a Centaur and an Egyptian Mummy” (Daily Delta 1850). The newspapers called it the “Virgin of the Voudous.” The fact that they called it a virgin indicates it was likely female, and the reference to a centaur signals it was half woman, half creature in appearance. These clues, coupled with the previous 1820 report, lead me to believe the Voudou Virgin was a Mami Wata statue.
While confiscating items at a raid is common practice by the police, it quickly became evident that taking the Voudou Virgin was a big deal and that it would have to be returned to the Voudou community. After keeping it locked up with contraband for a period of time, and following several failed attempts by folks in the community to get the fetish back, a rumor started floating around that the police officer in possession of the fetish would sell it to the first Voudou woman to pay him $8.50. In no time at all, “the first one to reach the police was a young quadroon who paid the stated ransom and retired with her precious burden” (Dillard Project 1942, 36). She was followed by a number of other practitioners, each seeking possession of the most powerful, magickal fetish in New Orleans at the time, some offering two to three times the amount initially requested. Members of the Voudou community were upset it had been snatched up so quickly, so they decided to take the matter to the courts.
On the day of the court proceedings, at about 11 in the morning, a whole slew of folks showed up to make the case for their rightful ownership of the Voudou Virgin. Despite having good representation and putting forth their best arguments, in the end the judge ruled the fetish should stay in the possession of the quadroon who initially purchased it.
Of course, nothing is as straightforward as it seems in the life and legend of Marie Laveau. A different version of this very incident is provided by Herbert Asbury in his book, The French Quarter, wherein he describes a quadroon named Rosalie who had set her sights on overthrowing Marie Laveau as Queen of the Voudous. Apparently, Rosalie was in possession of a very powerful magickal fetish she had imported directly from Africa, “an almost life-size doll which had been carved from a single tree-trunk” (Asbury 1936, 265). The magickal fetish was invariably coveted by all the Voudous as it represented the Mother Land, life before slavery and the origin of the Voudou mysteries:
Painted in brilliant colors and bedecked in beads and gaudy ribbons, this doll formed such an impressive spectacle, and was so obviously a source of magick, that Rosalie began to make considerable headway in her schemes of rebellion. (Asbury 1936, 265
Once Marie Laveau got wind of Rosalie’s plans, she went to Rosalie’s home when she wasn’t there, marched right inside, grabbed the fetish, and left “in a characteristically masterful manner” (Asbury 1936, 265). Removing the object of power from Rosalie immediately removed any edge she may have had over Marie. This bold act put Rosalie back where she belonged, under the influence of the Voudou Queen, like everyone else.
But Rosalie wasn’t going to relinquish her power so easily. She actually had Marie Laveau arrested and took her to court! Clearly, Marie had stolen the fetish but from a magickal perspective, she had to in order to retain power.
And as to be expected, Marie absolutely maintained her power. She presented such a convincing case to the judge he actually ruled in her favor! Marie was allowed to keep the fetish, and “possession of this potent fetish, together with a magick shawl which she said had been sent to her by the Emperor of China in 1830, made her authority secure” (Asbury 1936, 266).
As a side note,
the Egyptian mummy part of the Voudou Virgin description points to the possibility that the fetish could have been an African power object characteristic of the Congo called a nkisi. The description of the doll “bedecked in beads and gaudy ribbons” sounds like these types of ritual objects as they typically have strips of fabric attached to them along with beads and a variety of other items. They really resemble assemblage art, and indeed every item attached to the object has a supernatural meaning and intention behind it. The strips of fabric may call to mind a mummy.
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By Brooklyn Museum, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26218530
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The raid of 1820 and the court case of the Voudou Virgin in 1850 provide crucial documentation of a likely representation of Mami Wata in the context of Voudou during that time in New Orleans. It is strong evidence that links New Orleans Voudou to West Africa; yet, the African link to New Orleans Voudou is often doubted and discredited by scholars. Some have even suggested there is no link to Africa and that New Orleans Voudou is derived from Haitian Vodou. This is patently incorrect. While there is no doubt that elements of Haitian Vodou can be found in New Orleans Voudou, the African link is stronger. Africa is the well from which the Voudou spring was sprung in Louisiana.