Archival Overview
Enslaved Jamaican-born Vodou priest and maroon leader who presided over the historic ceremony at Bois Caiman on August 14, 1791, delivering the immortal prayer that ignited the Haitian Revolution.
Biographical Record
Dutty Boukman (c. 1767–1791) was an enslaved man sold from Jamaica to a plantation in the Plaine-du-Nord in French Saint-Domingue. Literate and commanding profound physical and spiritual authority as a Houngan (Vodou priest), Boukman served as a clandestine liaison among maroons across the northern plantations.
On the stormy night of August 14, 1791, deep in the allik alligator forest of Bois Caïman, Boukman and priestess Cécile Fatiman gathered hundreds of enslaved conspirators. Slashing a black pig and speaking in Creole, Boukman prayed: 'The Good Lord who made the sun that shines on us commands us to cast off the chains of the white man.' Within eight days, 1,800 plantations were in flames.
Key Life Milestones
The Historic Oath of Bois Caiman
Conducted the sacred ceremony of August 14, 1791, uniting enslaved conspirators to launch the revolution.
The Northern Plaine-du-Nord Uprising
Led the coordinated strike of 50,000 enslaved laborers across northern Saint-Domingue against French plantation estates.
Memorial Guestbook & Tributes
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Final Resting Place
Perpetual MemorialMorne Rouge (Nord), Haiti