The Orisha religion of Trinidad is a complex system of beliefs and practices drawn from a number of cultural traditions. Its beginnings in Trinidad can be traced back to the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries when Africans were brought to the island to work on the colonial sugar plantations Sometime during the early developmental period of the primarily Yoruba (Nigerian) derived Orisha religion, syncretism involving specific elements of Catholicism occurred. In the early part of this century, the Orisha religion underwent further change as a result of contact with the Spiritual Baptists, an Afro-Protestant religion comprised primarily of worshipers drawn from the same socio-economic and ethnic class as that of the Orisha religion. Since 1950, various elements drawn from Hinduism and the Kabbalah were added to the existing religious system. The result is a highly eclectic system that is so broad ideologically that a number of disparate worship patterns are tolerated. The exploration and utilization of these various patterns often leads to confusion and conflict The present form and structure of the Orisha religion is the result of both centrifugal forces which are tending to further expand the religious system and centripetal forces which are acting to temper this change. Those mechanisms that engender variability include the loose organizational structure of the religion, fiercely independent shrine heads whose success and popularity is often judged by their ability to handle a diverse system of ritual and paraphernalia, and methods of knowledge transmission and enculturation which involve a few passing on information to the many. Those mechanisms which act against the forces of change include the annual feast circuit, which brings together worshipers from all over the island on a weekly basis, and Africanization, an anti-assimilative and anti-syncretic movement that emphasizes the retention of African elements and the expurgation of extraneous elements from the religious system, especially those of Catholicism This symbolically rich and sometimes confusing religion is examined both historically and ethnographically in an attempt to both describe and explain the various processes that have acted to transform it through time / acase@tulane.edu
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TULANE/oai:http://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/:tulane_25380 |
| Date | January 1992 |
| Contributors | Houk, James Titus, III (Author), Bricker, Victoria R (Thesis advisor) |
| Publisher | Tulane University |
| Source Sets | Tulane University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Access requires a license to the Dissertations and Theses (ProQuest) database., Copyright is in accordance with U.S. Copyright law |
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