The White King of La Gonave: The True Story of the Sergeant of Marines Who Was Crowned King on a Voodoo Island

Faustin Wirkus's The White King of La Gonave: The True Story of the Sergeant of Marines Who Was Crowned King on a Voodoo Island, begins with an introduction by William Seabrook, probably to add a touch of authenticity. Clearly written to appeal to US audiences with a taste for the primitive and sensationalized tales of 'Voodoo' or African atavism, Faustin Wirkus's narrative (ghost written by someone with more formal education than him) is a self-serving account of the US Occupation and his white savior complex. Although the author does not consider himself a racist, he consistently refers to Haitians as children, refers to Haitian villages as African and archaic, and describes La Gonave (which had about 12 thousand inhabitants during his 'reign') as Edenic, African-like, and mysterious. Playing on white imperialist fantasies of the era and racist notions of Africa and Afro-descended people, Wirkus's text surprisingly avoids some of the sensationalistic accounts of 'Voodoo' that other whites ensured an entrance into US popular culture (except for one occasion, where the author hints at possible cannibalism or human sacrifice). 

For those looking for a historical account of the US Occupation of Haiti (1915-1934), however, the book is full of detail pertaining to the 1915 landing of US troops, caco resistance in the countryside, Batraville's failed attempt to seize Port-au-Prince, and the conditions of the Haitian peasantry. While critical of the Haitian government and US Marines for endeavoring to prohibit 'Voodoo' (which is contradictory, considering how Faustin Wirkus actually breaks up a large Vodou ceremony on the mainland) and for not learning as much as they can about the peasantry to aid them, Wirkus describes the caco bands as terrorizing the countryside instead of seeing them solely as a response to US Occupation. Wirkus desribes in great detail campaigns near St. Marc, Perodin, Petite-Riviere and other inland areas near the Artibonite valley where caco bands were hunted and killed by US Marines and their local gendarmes, trained by the US white officers.  He also visits and spends time in Port-au-Prince, Arcahaie, and Carzal (presumably Cazale, the village where many descendants of Polish reside). He also makes it quite clear he didn't care for the Haitian elite or 'aristocracy' in Port-au-Prince, preferring to spend time with the 'native' peasants and rural population. 

When the text finally covers his time in La Gonave (nearly halfway through), he is placed in charge of the island by the US Commissioner and sees to some important changes. This is where the text is most interesting, since La Gonave's population is described by US Marines (who never ventured into the interior of the island) as being savage, isolated, and unknown. Instead, La Gonave is clearly connected to mainland Haiti. According to Wirkus's understanding, the land is owned by the government in Port-au-Prince, sublet to wealthy Haitians in the mainland, and then worked by tenant farmers, who were often cheated by the tax collectors and other officials of the state. In order to resist this, the peasants of La Gonave, for at least 3 or 4 generations, formed cooperative labor societies, Congo societies, to combine their resources and labor for more agricultural productivity. While only about half of La Gonave's population participated in these labor societies and cooperative groups (according to Wirkus's 'census'), those who were not part of the Congo societies were often barely eking out an existence or took advantage of other peasants through collaboration with corrupt government officials. 

Thus, La Gonave's population were clearly incorporated into the exploitative Haitian political system, but local notions of poer and rule were conducted through cooperative Congo associations in which women were the ultimate authority, appointed as queens. Wirkus describes in great detail the top queen, Ti Menmenne, a squat black woman with dignity and authority. Wirkus, while overstepping his power as a military leader, uses his relationship with top officials in the US Occupation to remove from power corrupt officials, appoint local leaders, and improve infrastructure on the island with a new wharf, a new home for himself in Anse-a-Galets (the main village where officials lived), landing stirps for Marine airplaines, and new seed for the Haitian peasants. For all these reasons, he became popular and beloved by the black 'children,' coronated as their 'king,' which solely referred to his prestige and services for the Congo societies on the island. While they sometimes incorporated Vodou into their rituals, the Congo societies appear to me as being permanent combite societies, something Wirkus surprisingly supported as a step to improving agricultural productivity and natives' happiness. 

Of course, Wirkus claims his successes and coronation as 'king' by the Congo societies on La Gonave led to him being replaced after President Borno visited La Gonave, upset to see him as 'king' of a Haitian territory. Besides praising his rule on La Gonave as benefitting the population, he also describes the 'children' of Haiti as viewing him as wonder worker (because he built a chimney for his home when stationed in Perodin). On the subject of Marine relations with local women, he is quick to avoid mentioning rape or sexual liasons, but was attracted to two women, one a black woman near Perodin and Marie, the 'white-skinned' descendant of Poles from 'Carzal,' who he loses to a Syrian (after the blue shoes he buys for her are taken by the Syrian). On describing local conceptions of skin color, he claims 'pure' blacks of the countryside looked down on mulattoes for being mongrels while describing the light-skinned peasants of 'Carzal' as only marrying other light-skinned people. 

In addition, he does not criticize polygamy in the countryside, nor does he disrespect Vodou ceremonies and local ritual (although, he certainly admits to laughing at how absurd some peasant customs were to him, or suspicions that some Vodou priests and bocor were frauds). Indeed, he even participates in some rituals and seems to respect 'Voodooism' and its syncretic nature as part of the culture and needs of the peasantry (such as the ceremony for Agwe and Erzulie). In that regard, Faustin Wirkus, Faustin II (reincarnated Soulouque, according to islanders in La Gonave) seems to have some respect for Vodou that transcends the usual American garbage and racist notions, yet he also accused Borno or officials in his cabinet of practicing Voodoo. Ultimately, this is an enlightening read on an important era of Haitian history, although sugar-coated and imperialistic. Travel narratives such as these nonetheless provide an important perspective on the US Occupation's impact on the countryside, which certainly was not as positive as this account describes it. Indeed, the writer white-washes his exploitation and abuse of Haitian laborers, and one is probably right to be skeptical of his arrogance and self-praise. 

Hepburn on Haiti in the Early Geffrard Years

So, Hepburn's Haiti As It Is focuses on the following 3 areas of Haiti that I find pertinent to my last post:

1. The effects of the earthquake of 1842 are still felt, paritcularly in the extensive ruins of Cap-Haitien and the any towns and villages of the north of Haiti. Yet one can still see that Cap-Haitien was the "Paris of the Antilles" and the finest town in the West Indies because of its impressive ruins and natural splendor. The earthquake's widespread destruction, remembered nearly 20 years later, shows how important understanding the impact of natural phenomena is for the study of history, since the 1842 earthquake contributed to the fall of the Boyer regime (and in more recent times, has obviously shaped Haitian and international politics in Hispaniola).

One gets the impression that for the most part, none of these towns have had any rebuilding efforts, although the streets of Cap-Haitien were repaved with limestones and Geffrard was, in the eyes of Hepburn, an able and wise ruler who cared enough for the people of Gonaives to endeavor to retain their trust by beginning a drilling project to establish an artesian well, despite the imperfect ground conditions. Also, apparently on the 8th of April in 1861, another severe earthquake struck the north of Haiti, centered near Port-de-Paix. Surprisingly, it did not cause the same kind of widespread and memorable destruction created by the one in 1842.

2. Geffrard's initiatives to improve the economy of Haiti also involved plans for light industry and another African-American immigration scheme, which sought to not only increase the population of Haiti for more laborers but recruit farmers with experience in cotton cultivation, a product Geffrard wanted to substantially increase the methods and amount of production. Indeed, Geffrard's interest in industrial technology and implements for agriculture also included a plan for the Haitian state to subsidize the distribution of said technology for farmers who would then pay the costs back gradually through commission and annual fees. These African-American settlers were mostly sent to the plain of the Artibonite, often to specialize in cotton.

Other economic priorities for Geffrard's administration in its early years included tapping into the mineral resources, which is part of the geological study conducted by Hepburn. In other news, Hepburn perhaps exaggerates the degree to which Haiti was dependent on American food, since most of the Haitian rice went to the domestic market and was widely consumed in Haiti, the American rice being mostly consumed in port towns and adjacent villages. If only Hepburn provided data on colonial Jamaica's trade, then we could see if Haiti was truly as equally dependent on the US and other countries for food.

3. In some ways, Nicholls echoes sentiments voiced by Hepburn in the 1860s, who believes "the social bane of Haiti is complexional prejudice; there, as here, it chokes every kind of sentiment, and there, as here, it leaves society a mass of jarring discordant elements." In addition to other social ills, the widespread practice of concubinage or sexual relationships outside of marriage, as well as Vodou (and shockingly, Hepburn visits a Vodou temple in Croix-des-Bouquets and claims that many Haitian officials practiced or observed the faith) inhibited progress, being a result of degeneration and emulation of French customs and savagery wrought by military government and barbarians like Faustin Soulouque. European bias aside, this Anglo-Jamaican writer is quick to defend anti-racist sentiments and attribute the causes of the decline in Haitian agriculture and society to military forms of government and other non-racial factors.In many ways he sounds like Candler and Hanna, two Christian travelers of British origins with similarly high opinions of the necessities of Christian moral instruction for improving society.

Alas, Hepburn's account ends too soon and he did not travel in other parts of Haiti, nor did he get to see firsthand the negative turn of events in Geffrard's presidency. From reading Dubois, Dupuy and a few others, I know Geffrard did support education, founded a law school, and his support for light industrialization was forward-looking, the rest of his administration seemed to have fallen into a similar pattern as his predecessors. I will have to do some more reading to have a well-rounded overview or appraisal of his presidency in a future post.

Haitian Exports in 1860

Haitian exports by weight and numbers in 1860, table taken from Hepburn's Haiti As It Is, a rather sympathetic description of his impressions of the early Geffrard years. Note that compared to 1838 and 1839, the weight of coffee exports is actually much smaller, around 22 million lbs. versus an average of over 43 million lbs. for 1838 and 1839. What went wrong? Also, tobacco is no longer an export, but other exports such as logwood remained more constant. Could the decline in coffee exports be attributable to competition from Brazil, Java (Indonesia) and elsewhere?

 Also, by 1860, Hepburn states that Haiti imported nearly twice the value of its exports, another sign of increasing dependency, especially on the US, the principal trading partner who provided mostly provisions (a similar economic relationship existed for the British colonies in the Caribbean, such as Jamaica, whose markets often relied on US provisions and exports for sustenance). Since the state derived most of its revenue from duties on imports and exports, clearly the masses felt the blow as they paid more for imports from the US, France, Germany, and Britain while receiving less and less in exchange for their own products. Because the most essential export product of peasant and rural communities remained coffee, but less coffee was being exported, one can see how the process of greater poverty and dependency began to appear.

There are some interesting what-ifs in Hepburn's overly optimistic and pro-Geffrard travel narrative. I am still reading, but there was talks between an Anglo-French company and the Haitian government to tap into Haiti's deposits of lignum vitae, which, according to Hepburn, was another source of energy, like coal, for the 19th century. According to him, this foreign company and Geffrard's government were discussing the establishment of a railway in the area of Haiti with vast deposits and connecting it to the nearest port town, as well as the transfer of industrial technology for such a project. That such an idea was in discussion under Geffrard was part of Hepburn's overwhelmingly pro-Geffrard narrative, because he saw Soulouque as causing a decline in Haitian civilization whereas Geffrard was able, wise, just, interested in education and industrialization, and preparing to remove the militarized form of the Haitian state to usher in progress and prosperity. He also got the Haitian government its first steam boats, each one named for the president! Moreover, Geffrard lessened the amount of time soldiers were expected to be on duty in order to support agriculture. 

Haiti's principal trading partner was the United States, and provisions were the majority of American exports to Haiti. Indeed, if Hepburn is to be taken seriously on this matter, Haiti, like Jamaica and other British colonies in the Caribbean, was quite dependent on US foodstuffs, such as flour, rice, pork, etc. France provided wine, Britain dry goods, and Germany, sausage, cheese and manufactured products. Unfortunately, Hepburn does not provide data on the values or weight and numbers of foreign products in Haiti. 

 Needless to say, Geffrard did not live up to the great praise and expectations of Hepburn, of being such a hero and progressive leader in mid-19th century Haiti. Instead, he retained a military system in governance and relied upon the British to put down an uprising against his regime before exile in Jamaica. I will write a follow-up post after I finish perusing Hepburn for additional insights or commentary on Haiti in the early 1860s.