“The Fingerprint of Vodou Is in Everything”: Vodou, Health, and Identity in the U.S. Haitian Diaspora

Abstract

This thesis utilizes fieldwork conducted in New York City and South Florida with the U.S. Haitian diaspora to situate Haitian Vodou’s cultural, spiritual, and medical influences (what will be labeled as copresences) in the health, identity, and lived experiences of the U.S. Haitian diaspora. The ethnographic data illustrates Vodou as a health system that is under-recognized in medical anthropology of Haiti and its diasporas, but also as an interconnected or rhizomatic epistemology that impacts various sociopolitical processes in the U.S. diaspora. In addition, the exploration of decoloniality in Vodou’s epistemologies, including the intentionalities of knowledge and ignorance in its practice, also illustrates Vodou’s impact on the health and identity of the U.S. Haitian diaspora. The final section contemplates how Vodou’s epistemic structures shape the anthropology of Vodou and the decolonization of anthropology as a discipline.