Newspaper Page Text
4B
JUNE 10, 1999
Descendants of African slaves keep
Corpus Christi celebration alive
. CHUAO, Venezvela
(AP) African slaves in this iso
lated coastal village used to cope
with working one of the world’s
richest cacao plantations by don
ning devils’ masks and dancing
ecstatically through the streets to
‘celebrate the feast of Corpus
Christi.
Morethan 200 years later, their
descendants are keeping the tra
dition alive in one of Latin
America’s longest- running, best
preserved “dancing devils” ritu
als.. '
During the three-day event,
which runs until Friday, local men
and boys don multicolored outfits
and black, red and white devils’
masks to mark the Roman Catho
lic feast.
To the beat of African drums,
they collapse on the sandy streets
three times to pay homage to
Jesus Christ. Then they dance
before the “Cross of Pardon,” a 4-
foot-high (1.3-meter) wooden cross
their ancestors fled to in order to
avoid punishment by masters who
would not dare whip them there.
In the event’s most dramatic
moment, the dancerslayfacedown
on the broiling cement plaza in
front of the village church for 15
minutes to “purify” themselves
before God. During this time, the
devils — symbols of evil — are
submitted to the forces of good.
Hundreds of communities across
Venezuela — especially coastal
slave towns — used to hold such
dancingdevil ceremonies, brought
toLatin America centuries ago by
the Spanish conquistadors and
Catholic priests.
Today barely a dozen still exist,
and most have become commer
cialized or otherwise lost touch
with their origins.
The one in Chuao remains
largely unchanged because of the
village’s remote location on
Venezuela’s western coast. Boxed
in by lush mountains and the Car
ibbean Sea, the town can be
THE AMEN CORNER
(continued)
Johnson, founder and co-pastor of
Faith and Deliverance Outreach
Mission Ministries of Smyrna, Ga.
Rev. Dr. Rosa L. Williams is pas
tor.
B Tabernacle Baptist
Church, 1223 Laney-Walker
Blvd. of Augusta, will hold Vaca
tion Bible School from June 21 -
July 2. Theme will be “Go for It ...
With Jesus!” Courses will run
daily from 4 - 7 p.m. and offer
spiritual, social educational de
velopment, Bible learning, cul
tural awareness and self-esteem
activities. Refreshments will be
served everyday. For more info,
call (706) 724-1230. Rev. Otis
Moss 111 is pastor.
M Case Icthus presents the Bit
ter-Sweet Dreams Tour with BEC
recording artist Value Pac, Tooth
and Nail recording artist Fanmail,
and local punk artist God Conduit
on Tues., June 22, at 7:30 p.m.
These three Christian bands will
present positive punk music. A
$5 suggested donation will be re
ceived at the door. This all-age
concert will be held at The Fish
Tank, a k a New Hope Activity
Center, at the New Hope
Church of God, 715 Old Belair
Rd. of Augusta. For more infor
mation, call (706) 868-6410 or e
mail cafeicthus@aol.com.
B Fellowship Churches
United, a congregation of inter
national missionaries taking
Christ tothe nations, 1607 Barton
Chapel Rd. of Augusta, will be
holding its 13" Annual Interna
tional Convention June 23-27.
Twenty-one churches represent
ing the U.S., India and Africa will
present. For more info, call
3&)’729-9593.
: J'i‘be Augusta-Rich
" mond County Fire
Rescue has awarded
the Augusta Focus
the 1999 Media
Phoenix Award for
Community Service
reached only by first taking a boat
from neighboringvillages and then
traveling 2 1/2 miles (4 kms) in
land through a towering forest.
“Few outsiders have moved into
the village, where people still
mainly walk barefoot along sand
streets. Most residents are de
scendants of slaves who worked
on a cacao plantation that still
produces some of the world’s best
cacao, the main ingredient in
chocolate. Slaves were freed in
Venezuela in 1854.
The Spaniards, who imposed
Catholicism on slaves, used the
dancingdevilritual toattract them
to the church and provide an es
cape valve from their punishing
lives, according to Francisco
Planchez, a villager who writes
about Chuao’s history.
Theslaves adapted the ceremony
to their own culture, incorporat
ing African drums into the ritual
that marks Corpus Christi, when
Catholics celebrate the transfor
mation of Christ’s body into the
host they receive during Holy
Communion.
On Wednesday, the “devils”
were led by Jesus Franco, 70, who
has been dancing since he was 12
and is considered the patriarch
and spiritual leader of this town of
1,300 people.
Headingother contingents were
Focus your religious news or
special announcements in
the Amen Corner. Call:
(706)724-7855 or.fax
(706)724-69609.
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the “Capataz,” the devils’ robust,
whip-bearing “father,” and “La
Sayona,”a skirt-wearing man who
plays the devils’ mother.
The ceremony is “authentic,
original and beautiful,” said Au
gusta de Chavez, an elderly woman
who blesses the dancers with in
cense and prayers. The men be
lieve they could become possessed
by the devil during the ritual, and
blessings and amulets are essen
tial to make sure that doesn’t
happen.
The number of participants in
the devil dancing at Chuao has
been on the rise in recent de
cades, and this year’s 130 devils
was the highest number in
memory, residents said.
Corpus Christi celebrations
were alsoheld across Brazil Thurs
day.
About 100,000 worshippers at
tended a mass at Rio De Janeiro’s
Cathedral, while thousands con
gregated in the poor Sao Goncalo
suburb to see “carpets” of biblical
pictures made out of sawdust, cof
fee and salt.
In the northeastern Brazilians
city of Salvador, about 5,000 people
followed the city’s archbishop
Geraldo Majella Agnelo along the
path of an historic annual proces
sion dating back to 1549.
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