Cécile Fatiman

Cécile Fatiman was a Haitian vodoo priestess born in the 18th century. On August 1791, Fatiman presided over a ceremony at the Bois Caïman in the role of mambo together with priest Dutty Boukman. Boukman prophesied that the slaves Jean François, Biassou, and Jeannot would be leaders of a resistance movement and revolt that would free the slaves of Saint-Domingue. An animal was sacrificed, an oath was taken, and Boukman and the priestess exhorted the listeners to take revenge against their French oppressors. During the ceremony, Cécile Fatiman acted as if she were possessed by the goddess Erzulie. A week later, 1800 plantations had been destroyed and 1000 slaveholders killed. It is reported that she lived to the ripe old age of 112 years old.