ISLAND OF THE DEAD

In Haiti and the Dominican Republic, some people still claim they have the ability to practise magic and command zonbi spirits. Professor Lauren Derby explores the history behind this unique form of Caribbean sorcery

- Lauren Derby

Zombies have long been represented in Hollywood films as the depleted husks of people who have had their souls removed, but that is not necessarily how they function in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, which share the Caribbean island of Hispaniola.

The term 'zombie', or zonbi in Haitian Creole, derives from the Central African Kikongo word for spirit, and Haitian talk about zonbis is more centrally concerned with the work done with the disembodied souls rather than the soulless bodies themselves.

For example, it is believed that zonbis can be harnessed by individuals and sent as supernatural assistants to obtain a favourable outcome in a legal case, or perhaps enact vengeance against a spousal betrayal. They can, it is said, also affect a person who incites accusations of jealousy; Haitian research assistant Georges René even claims that an errant zonbi once affixed itself to his leg, causing so much pain and swelling in the limb that he had to see a specialist to have the zonbi removed.

However, one thing that the Haitian and Dominican zonbi does have in common with Hollywood depictions is its use as a horror emblem. On Hispaniola, the largely negative feelings towards these spirit demons stems from the trauma of colonial conquest, and its enduring effects. The fact that the spirit demon known locally as the baka (part of the same group of shapeshifting spirits as the zonbi) only appears in the form of a dog, horse, cow or pig is significant since these were the invasive species brought to the island by Christopher Columbus in 1492, which enabled the conquest of the indigenous population. Conquistadores slaughtered people en masse atop their steeds, while dogs were used to hunt down escaped Amerindian rebels. Meanwhile, feral pigs ate people's staple tuber crops and cattle ravaged their maize, contributing to famine and the eventual collapse of the indigenous Taíno population within two decades.