Ethnic Influences in Cuba Resulting from the History of African Slave Trade to Cuba

[Warrior Princess]

Source: Summary by batadrums.com of c.1992 lecture by Lopes Valdez, Ethnologist from the Cuban Academy of Sciences


Bata drumming and other aspects of African culture were brought to Cuba through the slave trade. A variety of different ethnic groups were brought to Cuba over the course of hundreds of years, in different proportions at different times. Dr. Valdez has conducted research to identify which ethnic groups were most influential in Cuba at various times, and how their religions were transformed in Cuba. Yoruba, from whom bata drums came, were not the main ethnic group brought to Cuba, but their religious practices were ultimately the most widespread.

The slave trade from Africa began in the early 1400s. Thousands of Africans were brought to Spain and Portugal, as well as other countries, before they were brought to the Americas. In the early 1500s, at the start of the Spanish conquest and colonization of the Americas, Africans living in Spain were called Ladinos. Ladinos were brought to Cuba at least as early as 1511-1514, some as slaves and some free. Because they knew the Spanish culture and language, they were more able to escape after being brought to the new world as slaves. Slavers decided therefore to begin to import slaves directly from Africa.

The slave trade to Cuba began earlier and lasted longer than in the rest of the Americas/ Caribbean. While Africans did not arrive in the U.S. until 1619, and Brazil in 1538, they were brought from Africa to Cuba as early as 1521. The trade ended in the U.S. in the 1860s and in Brazil in the 1850s, but in Cuba lasted until the late 1870s.

The Portuguese began bringing Africans to Cuba and the Spanish followed. For a long period, the Spanish did not actually run the trade - mostly British, French, or Dutch slavers were involved since they had settlements early in Africa.

The geographic area from which slaves were taken during the slave trade was enormous. Its northern bounds were from Senegal to the center of Africa (Lake Chad) to Kenya. Its southern borders were a line along the southern borders of Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique. People were taken from both coasts and the central regions as well.

Overall, the slave trade resulted in approximately 100 million people being lost on the continent if one includes deaths during slave trade-related wars, slaves lost during the middle passage (across the ocean) and those landing alive in other countries. At least 15 million Africans landed alive as slaves in the Americas during the whole slave trade period. [For comparison, today, as of 1999, there are over 100 million people in Nigeria, of whom about 13 million are Yoruba.]
The number of slaves landing alive in Cuba over the whole period (1521-1870s) was about 1.3 million, almost one tenth of all slaves in the Americas. They were brought mostly in the 1800s:

Years Number of Africans landing alive in Cuba per year
1521-1762 500
1763-1789 600
1790-1820 8,300
1821-1870s 16,700


Notice that Africans began arriving in Cuba close to the time when bata drums were developed (although at first they were mostly from groups other than Yoruba). Ortiz wrote about bata in Cuba almost 100 years after the last Africans were brought to Cuba, or about 3-5 generations later.

Where Cuba's slaves were taken from in Africa varied over time. There were four major ethnic groups that accounted for most of the Africans brought to Cuba: Bantu, Yoruba, Ibo/Ibibio/Ijaw, and Ewe/Fon. The numbers of these peoples introduced to Cuba were:

Group Number of Africans landed in Cuba during slave trade
Bantu 400,000
Yoruba 275,000
Ibo/Ibibio/Ijaw 240,000
Ewe/Fon 200,000
Others 185,000


Bantu: The Bantu peoples, from south of the equator, were the most influential in Cuba and all of Afro-America. The two major subgroups were the Bakongo (northern Angola, southern Zaire, and southern Congo), and the Abudu (spelling?) from Angola and part of Zaire. Also, from the eastern areas south of the equator were the Makua (spelling?) from Mozambique. They, especially the Bakongo, formed the religion Palo Monte which survives in Cuba. They were introduced throughout the period of slave trade.

Yoruba: The Yoruba people were the second major ethnic group brought to Cuba from Africa. They were mainly from what is now southwestern Nigeria, and arrived mostly during 1820-1860s. Many were also brought to Bahia, Brazil. In Haiti, by contrast, the slave trade had ended in 1791 with the Revolution. The Yoruba brought religious practices which were formed into the religion called Santeria or Regla de Ocha in Cuba. (The Ijesha were a Yoruba sub-group from southwestern Nigeria. Their music is now called Iyesa. The Ketus were another Yoruba sub-group, from a western Yoruba kingdom where the Nigeria-Benin border is today. Many Ketu were sent to Brazil and were the majority of Yorubas in Salvador. The religion Ketu Candomble came from their culture).

Ibo, Ibibio, and Ijaw: These three related groups were from southeastern Nigeria. The began arriving in Cuba around 1762. A subgroup of the Ibibio called the Efik carried over to Cuba the only African secret society to survive the passage - the Abakua secret society (which is not a religion per se).

Ewe/Fon: The Ewe/Fon people were from the Dahomey Kingdom, which was in present day Benin. The Yoruba kingdom attacked Dahomey and many Ewe/Fon were brought to Cuba 1750-1800. The Yoruba were weakened by these wars, though, and then the Dahomey took many Yorubas captive and sold them into slavery in the 1800s. The Ewe/Fon created the religion known in Cuba as Regla Arara, mostly in Matanzas, but this religious practice has been largely assimilated by Santeria.

A great deal of ethnic and racial mixing existed in Cuba. As early as 1526, a Royal Decree allowed slaves in Cuba to buy their freedom. Interactions between free blacks, Spaniards, slaves, and various ethnic groups were frequent over a long period.

Although there were more Bantu than Yoruba, the religion of the Yoruba came to be the most widespread in Cuba, partly because it was open to assimilating other practices such as Regla Arara and could be practiced in parallel with other traditions including Palo Monte, Catholicism (commonly practiced by individuals in parallel with Santeria, but not so much with the consent of the Church), spiritism, and Abakua membership.