Bêtes Noires: Sorcery as History in the Haitian-Dominican Borderlands

In B皻es Noires, Lauren Derby explores storytelling traditions between the people of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, focusing on shapeshifting spirit demons called baka/bac? Drawing on interviews and life stories of residents in a central Haitian-Dominican frontier town, Derby contends that bac嫳--hot spirits from the sorcery side of Vodou/Vod?that present as animals and generate wealth for their owners--are a manifestation of what Dominicans call fuk? the curse of Columbus. The dogs, pigs, cattle, and horses that Columbus brought with him are the only types of animals that bac嫳 become. As instruments of indigenous dispossession, these animals and their spirit demons convey a history of trauma and racialization in Dominican popular culture. In the context of slavery and beyond, bac嫳 keep alive the promise of freedom, since shapeshifting has long enabled fugitivity. As Derby demonstrates, bac嫳 represent a complex history of race, religion, repression, and resistance.