Bois Caïman is site of the voodoo ceremony presided over by Dutty Boukmanon August 14 1791 (1). It is widely accepted as the starting point for the Haitian Revolution. Some scholars, however, have deemphasized the role of the Bois Caïman ceremony in sparking the Haitian revolution or have even gone so far as to question whether the event even took place (2). Whatever the ultimate disposition of these claims, no one can deny that the historical memory Bois Caïman has political and spiritual resonance for many Haitians to the present day. Dutty Boukman was the papaloa, or vodoun priest, who conducted the ceremony at the Bois Caïman in late August, 1791, usually understood to have been the opening of Haitian Revolution. ... The Haitian Revolution was the first successful slave rebellion in the Western Hemisphere and established Haiti as a free, black republic, the first of its kind. ...

Sources

1. Haitian Bicentennial Committee [1] (http://www.ci.miami.fl.us/haiti2004/history.htm)

2. THE BOIS CAIMAN CEREMONY: FACT OR MYTH [2] (http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti/history/revolution/caiman.htm)