Voodoo markets in West Africa
What is voodoo?
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What are fetish markets?
Vodou fetishes are a kind of charm or talisman believed to be endowed with particular powers or inhabited by spirits. Visitors to West Africa will see these in the fetish markets, or marchés des fétiches. Wood carvings, clay figurines and nuts, for example, can be used as fetishes, but more commonly the fetishes are comprised of animal parts: skulls and other bones, tails, paws, hides and more. Even the medicinal treatments likely involve wildlife, as bones are ground into dust and mixed with herbs and liquids to form “healing” pastes.Are all fetish markets connected with Vodou?
There are fetish markets in parts of Africa which do not follow Vodou beliefs, but where people still believe in the magical or healing powers of these items. In addition, there are witch doctors, traditional healers and shamans across the continent who use traditional medicine and witchcraft to treat patients. In South Africa, for example, these are called Sangomas. There is much less cultural and political tolerance in Southern Africa of the use of illegal animal parts in traditional medicines. In part this is because, unlike Vodou, this is not a recognised or official religion, and Sangomas are not as integral to the national identity as Vodou practitioners are in West Africa. As a result, if you do see Sangomas in South Africa or Swaziland, for example, it is likely that they are trading in legal goods, and may even have permits. Raids are more common, so any practitioners using illegally obtained animal parts would not be doing so openly. Tourists are therefore unlikely to come across illegal practices – although if you do notice anything suspicious, it is best to advise your tour leader.Our top West Africa Vacation
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Are the fetish markets legal?
Where do these animals come from?
While many of the species may have been hunted locally in Benin and Togo, several of the species – including the apes – are not found in these countries. This points to an illegal trade in species which stretches across Africa, including countries where Vodou is not practiced. Although the fetish, traditional medicine and bushmeat trades are separate issues, in some cases the same animals may be used. So for example, while sea turtle meat is eaten, its shell may then be sold on to a fetish market. Likewise with chimpanzees; while they are sold as bushmeat in their native country of Cameroon, their hands and heads are used by Vodou practitioners in Togo.How damaging are the markets?
There are a number of reasons why it is virtually impossible to understand the scale of the trade, and how many species might be threatened – at least locally – as a direct result. These include the unwillingness of governments to enforce the law; the inaccessibility of the regions where many of these species are poached and traded; the crossover with the bushmeat trade; and the reluctance of stallholders to discuss the provenance of the fetish items. Additionally, while the widescale poaching of species for bushmeat, ivory and Traditional Chinese Medicine (such as pangolin scales and rhino horn) continues to have such devastating impacts across the region, large conservation NGOs are less willing to focus their resources on the smaller – but still significant – trade in species on Vodou markets.Should you visit a fetish market while on vacation?
Additionally, entrepreneurial local residents have started charging visitors for tours of Lomé’s marché des fétiches, with extra fees for photos, which of course may include some of the more grisly items. Witch doctors – guérisseurs – are on hand to perform “white magic” on curious Western tourists, using bags of herbs, wooden sticks and so on.
At Responsible Travel, we understand that cultural traditions often stand in opposition to conservation, such as indigenous communities who hunt whales or polar bears, or traditional medicine practices in the Far East, for example. Fetishes are such an intrinsic part of what it means to be a follower of Vodou, so it is difficult to see how the religion could exist without this practice. However, although the governments of Benin and Togo seem to have turned a blind eye to the Vodou trade, they are party to the CITES Convention, which means that these markets are illegal. Tourists need to be aware of all these issues before visiting fetish markets and Vodou practitioners, and to consider if their actions are supporting damaging – as well as illegal – practices. You may not be coming home with a gorilla hand in your suitcase, but perhaps that photo of it is making just as great a contribution to the poaching of these apes.
*Source: Essay by Leslie Desmangles, a Haitian professor, in The Encyclopedia of the Paranormal, 1996
**Source: Ilse Truter in the South Africa Pharmaceutical Journal, 2007