Sacred Slaves: Tchamba Vodu in Southern Togo

Abstract

Abstract This article ethnographically documents beliefs and practices surrounding Tchamba vodu among Anlo-Ewe vodu adepts in southern Togo. Mama Tchamba, or Grandmother Slave, is a religious order devoted to the veneration of the spirits of slaves purchased by the ancestors of Tchamba adepts and sold or kept in the community as wives and mothers. This article documents Tchamba vodu through the authors' interviews and observations in the community and situates these beliefs and practices in the larger cultural context of slavery and ritual among the Anlo Ewe. Drawing on mimetic theory, we argue that Tchamba ceremonial practices represent performed memorializations of the cultural experiences of slavery along the coast of the Bight of Benin and open culturally productive spaces and identities through mimetic bodily performance.