Source

Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn

Karen McCarthy Brown's is a scholarly ethnography centered on the life history of a single Haitian Vodou priestess practicing in contemporary Brooklyn, combining that individual's own life history with direct documentation of Vodou belief and ritual as she herself practices it, rather than describing Vodou generically from outside. That single case, life history based method is the study's real evidentiary basis and is why it is used here specifically to check and update Metraux's earlier mid-century ethnography of Vodou in Haiti itself. Use it for established facts about contemporary diaspora Vodou practice as documented in this specific case; it is not a general history of Vodou in Haiti, which needs Metraux's or a more general source addressed to that separate question.

Facts

Assessment

Reliability Tier

Karen McCarthy Brown's scholarly ethnography centered on a single Haitian Vodou priestess practicing in contemporary Brooklyn; documents contemporary diaspora Vodou practice through this specific case study, not a general history of Vodou in Haiti.

Notes

Scholarly ethnography centered on a single Haitian Vodou priestess practicing in contemporary Brooklyn, combining life history with description of Vodou belief and ritual as she practices it. Use for established facts about contemporary diaspora Vodou practice as documented in this specific case study; not a general history of Vodou in Haiti.

Citation

Author

Karen McCarthy Brown

Publisher

University of California Press

Publication Year

1991

URL

https://archive.org/details/isbn_9790520224758

Source Type

academic monograph

Claims Backed By This Source (84 claims)

This source backs 84 claims across the atlas. As facts: 55 well-attested. As cited relationships: 11 holds. Plus 18 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.

Disposition By Topic

Religious Roles & Titles, 14 claims: 10 well-attested, 2 holds, 2 general references.
Sacred Objects & Ritual Items, 13 claims: 9 well-attested, 2 holds, 2 general references.
Rituals, 12 claims: 9 well-attested, 2 holds, 1 general references.
Articles, 10 claims: 10 well-attested.
Deities, 9 claims: 3 well-attested, 1 holds, 5 general references.
Sources, 8 claims: 8 well-attested.
Doctrines, 3 claims: 1 well-attested, 2 general references.
Mythical Creatures, 3 claims: 2 well-attested, 1 general references.
Religious Symbols, 3 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 holds, 1 general references.
Sacred Sites, 3 claims: 2 holds, 1 general references.
Religious Organization & Structure, 2 claims: 1 holds, 1 general references.
Sacred Dances, 2 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 general references.
Subcategories, 2 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 general references.