Surviving Slavery in the British Caribbean by Browne Randy M.;

Author:Browne, Randy M.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.
Published: 2017-01-08T05:00:00+00:00

An Authority No Longer

Madalon’s death resulted in “the utter astonishment of many of the negroes,” who saw it as proof that the obeah practitioner who was supposed to “bring things on the estate to order” had failed them.77 As with all healers, Willem’s authority had rested not only on his capacity for violence and intimidation but also on demonstrable success in practicing his craft. Madalon’s death produced for Willem a sudden and almost complete loss of authority and therefore created a major crisis for him, for the drivers who had called him in, and for the other people on Op Hoop van Beter.

Far from helping, Willem had created a new set of dangers for everyone on the plantation, himself included. If word got out about the Minje Mama dance or about Madalon’s death, anyone who had failed to alert authorities or helped Willem might face interrogation, torture, and severe punishment. The people on Op Hoop van Beter no doubt knew what had happened to Hans and the other people on Demtichem, and they knew that obeah and the Minje Mama dance—not to mention murder—were illegal. The ways that the various actors—Willem, the drivers, those who had participated in the rituals, Madalon’s husband, and other bystanders—responded to Madalon’s death reveal how complete Willem’s loss of authority was and, paradoxically, how desperate most people were to keep the entire matter secret for as long as possible.

The immediate problem was getting rid of the corpse. The manager, Helmers, would soon notice Madalon’s absence, and if he found the body, the numerous cuts, bruises, and welts it bore—the “marks of the punishment were very visible,” one man observed—would prompt a threatening investigation. But even this urgent and seemingly simple task proved difficult for Willem. When he ordered a group of men to bury the body, they refused. They might have viewed the corpse as contaminated or spiritually dangerous, or maybe they were simply reluctant to get more involved in what was shaping up to be a major disaster. Willem “grew angry, and drove them away,” one man recalled. “Willem said it was of no consequence whether they had buried the body or not, as he would do that,” another witness testified. He boasted that “he was Minje Mama; he had plenty of people to assist him,” but he soon realized that in fact no one was willing to help.78

Willem’s encounter with Madalon’s husband, Munro, who came looking for his wife a few days after she went missing, underscored just how little power Willem now had. When Munro went to Op Hoop van Beter, having received a note earlier that day saying that Madalon had run away, Fortuyn—the estate watchman—intercepted him on the bridge and “told him he was not to go to the negro-houses.” Munro ignored Fortuyn and went to Madalon’s house, where he found David and asked him what had happened to Madalon. But David “answered he did not know, as he was only stockkeeper, and knew nothing of what took place in the field.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.