Haiti marks 235th Bois Caïman anniversary with calls for unity and security
Haiti’s 235th Bois Caïman commemoration linked the 1791 ceremony that launched the anti-slavery uprising to present demands for security, national unity and political renewal.
- The Bois Caïman ceremony took place on August 14, 1791 in Plaine-du-Nord.
- The 235th anniversary was marked on August 14, 2026 across Haiti.
- Haitian independence was declared on January 1, 1804, after the Battle of Vertières on November 18, 1803.
- Kenbe Kapow, founded in 2025, organised a Cap-Haïtien commemoration event.
- Participants demanded security and removal of the 52 percent state budget allocation to churches.
What does commemorating Bois Caïman mean for Haiti today? It turns the 1791 ceremony that helped start the anti-slavery revolution into a platform for demanding security, unity and a new political direction amid crisis.
On the night of August 14, 1791, enslaved people and rebel leaders met at Bois Caïman in Plaine-du-Nord, in Haiti’s Northern Department. Led by the houngan Dutty Boukman and the manbo Cécile Fatiman, the gathering invoked Vodou spiritual forces and set in motion the first major anti-slavery movement in Saint-Domingue, the French colony that became Haiti.
The struggle continued over 12 years, through leaders including Toussaint Louverture, Jean-Jacques Dessalines and Henri Christophe, and women such as Marie-Jeanne Lamartinière and Sanité Bélair. It led to the Battle of Vertières on November 18, 1803, where insurgent forces defeated French colonial troops, and to Haitian independence on January 1, 1804.
On August 14, 2026, the 235th anniversary was marked with socio-cultural, Vodou and debate events across the country. In Cap-Haïtien, the youth collective Kenbe Kapow, founded in 2025, held a meeting with political, academic, literary and cultural figures. At the historic site, houngans, manbos and participants from Artibonite, a department severely impacted by gang violence, gathered with drums, bells, rattles, banners and protest music.
Participants carried banners calling for security, for the state to remove the 52 percent allocated to churches from the national budget, and for "Haiti for Vodou, Vodou for Haiti." Speakers compared marronage to today’s despair, urging Haitians to move from withdrawal to collective action.
"We need a second Bwa Kayiman, a second sit-down meeting, a second great gathering, and a second major battle," said Dominique Dupuy, a former minister and Haiti’s ambassador to UNESCO.
Organisers linked the anniversary to Haiti’s ongoing crisis, noting that poverty, political instability, corruption, gang violence and foreign interference continue to shape daily life.
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