Indigenous, animistic religions inherently convey a close relationship and stewardship for the environment. This stewardship is very apparent in the region of southern Benin, Africa. The Fon peoples of this region practice a traditional religion termed Vodun, which manifested from the 17th century slave trade, and subsequently migrated to the Caribbean and Americas where it transmuted into Voodoo, among other religions. The migration of pre-colonial religious canon to the Western Hemisphere has garnered ample study; however, the pioneering religion, Vodun, has received far less scholastic attention, despite Benins recognition of Vodun as a national religion. In this thesis, I contend that the Fon exemplify a society that incorporates rites and rituals of their animistic religion into their daily lives expressed through forms of stewardship, particularly as it pertains to the Forêt Sacrée de Kpassé. This fusion of religious tradition with environmental interaction is inseparable, as are the subsequent environmental effects. This thesis discussion entails an investigation of the impacts of Vodun beliefs on environment-society relations. The results of this study are based upon a qualitative study conducted in the summer of 2009 in Ouidah, Benin.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:MONTANA/oai:etd.lib.umt.edu:etd-05202010-102238 |
| Date | 11 June 2010 |
| Creators | JANSSEN, HAYDEN THOMAS |
| Contributors | Jeffrey Gritzner, Sarah Halvorson, Tobin Shearer, William Borrie |
| Publisher | The University of Montana |
| Source Sets | University of Montana Missoula |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lib.umt.edu/theses/available/etd-05202010-102238/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Montana or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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