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. Boukman prophesied that Jean François, Biassou, and Jeannot would be leaders of the slave revolt that would free the slaves of Haiti. Boukman is thought to have been of Jamaican birth. A large sequined Voodoo dwapo or flag by the artist George Valris The term Voodoo (Vodun in Benin; also Vodou or other phonetically equivalent spellings in Haiti; Vudu in the Dominican Republic) is applied to the branches of a West African ancestor-based spiritist-animist religious tradition. ... This article needs to be wikified. ... Note: as an adjective (stressed on the second syllable instead of the first), august means honorable. ... 1791 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 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. ... Jean François was a leader of the 1791 slave rising that began the Haitian Revolution. ... Biassou was the chief early leader of the 1791 slave rising that began the Haitian Revolution. ... Jeannot was a leader of the 1791 slave rising that began the Haitian Revolution. ...

Soon after the revolt began Boukman was apprehended by the French authorities and beheaded. The French publicly displayed Boukman's head in a move calculated to dispel his aura of invincibility that Boukman had cultivated (in keeping with the tradition of earlier Haitian rebels). The attempt failed and Boukman was eventually admitted into the pantheon of loa (vodun spirits). The uprising in the north would continue until the slaves controlled the entire region with only the port of le Cap being retained by the French colonial authorities.

Sources:

For the circumstances of Boukman's death see:

1. Haitian Bicentennial Committee [1]