Tituba: Difference between revisions
I've noticed some inconsistencies in the Salem Witch Trials section. Sometimes, it's said that Tituba denied being a witch entirely, and others it's said that she did confess to being a witch. In my knowledge, she did confess to being a witch, since confessed witches did not get executed and instead would be imprisoned. Which is it? |
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{{Short description|17th-century enslaved woman involved in the Salem witch trials}} |
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{{Infobox person |
{{Infobox person |
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| name = Tituba |
| name = Tituba |
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| image = Tituba-Longfellow-Corey (cropped).jpg |
| image = Tituba-Longfellow-Corey (cropped).jpg |
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| alt = |
| alt = |
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| caption = Illustration of Tituba by John W. |
| caption = Illustration of Tituba by John W. Ehninger, 1902 |
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| other_names = Tituba (from Barbados) |
| other_names = Tituba (from Barbados) |
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| known_for = Accused of witchcraft during the [[Salem Witch Trials]] |
| known_for = Accused of witchcraft during the [[Salem Witch Trials]] |
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| criminal_charge = Witchcraft |
| criminal_charge = Witchcraft |
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}} |
}} |
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'''Tituba |
'''Tituba''' ({{fl.|1692–1693}}) was an enslaved Native American{{efn|Only after the 19th century was Tituba's origin changed from Native to "Caribbean." In all literature up to the 19th century, Tituba is described as an enslaved Native woman.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nyhistory.org/blogs/salem-witch-trials | title=The Salem Witch Trials: The Real History Behind One of the Most Terrifying Events in Colonial History | New-York Historical Society }}</ref>}} woman who was one of the first to be accused of [[witchcraft]] during the [[Salem witch trials]] of 1692–1693. |
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⚫ | She was enslaved by [[Samuel Parris]], the minister of [[Danvers, Massachusetts|Salem Village]], in the [[Province of Massachusetts Bay]]. She was pivotal in the trials because she confessed to witchcraft when examined by the authorities, giving credence to the accusations. She accused the two other women, [[Sarah Good]] and [[Sarah Osborne]], of the same crime. She was imprisoned for over a year but never tried. What happened to her after a grand jury dismissed the case against her in May 1693 is unknown. |
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Only after the 19th century was Tituba's origin changed from Native to "Caribbean." In all literature up to the 19th century, Tituba is described as an enslaved Native Woman. [[https://www.nyhistory.org/blogs/salem-witch-trials]] |
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⚫ | She was |
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== Early life == |
== Early life == |
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The only records of Tituba pertain to her central position in the Salem witch trials, where she appears as the Indian slave of a local minister named [[Samuel Parris]]. It is not known how Parris initially came across Tituba, who was not from Massachusetts. |
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Tituba's husband was John Indian, an Indigenous man whose origins are unknown, but he may have been from [[Central America|Central]] or [[South America]], [[Tibitó]], [[Colombia]] to be precise. It is said that she was named after her town or tribe. Tituba may have originally been from [[Barbados]]. Many historians, such as Elaine Breslaw and Charles Upham, gathered that Tituba was a Native American based on Samuel Fowler's writing, "Account of the life of Samuel Parrish". Tituba may have originally been a member of the [[Arawak|Arawak-Guiana]] native South American tribe. While there is no physical evidence to prove this theory, it is believed that she was taken from her tribe and forced into slavery in Barbados, where she was sold to the Thompson plantation and became the family cook, as most [[Slavery among the indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American slaves]] were. This evidence was concluded through slave-transport documents which described things such as head counts and names of the slaves. As Tituba interacted with a diverse group of people in Barbados, it is assumed that Barbados is the place where she picked up most of her knowledge about witchcraft from mistresses and other slaves. Once the head of the Thompson plantation died, Tituba was inherited by Samuel Parris and then she was brought to Massachusetts.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hwang|first=Junghyun|date=2019|title=Rupturing Salem, Reconsidering Subjectivity: Tituba, the Witch of Infinity in Maryse Condé's I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem|url=https://dx.doi.org/10.22439/asca.v51i1.5790|journal=American Studies in Scandinavia|volume=1|pages=43–59| issue=1| doi=10.22439/asca.v51i1.5790|s2cid=203003057|via=The University of Tennessee Libraries}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Breslaw|first=Elaine|title=Tituba Reluctant Witch of Salem: Devilish Indians and Puritan Fantasies|publisher=New York University Press|year=1996|isbn=0-8147-1227-4|location=New York|language=english}}</ref> The often unreliable records of the enslaved persons’ origins makes this information difficult to verify.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=The Salem Witch Trials Reader (Cambridge, Massachusetts2009), 228.|last=Hill|first=Frances|publisher=Da Capo Press|year=2009|pages=228}}</ref> There are historians such as Samuel Drake who suggest that Tituba was African.<ref>Tituba, Reluctant Witch by Elaine Breslaw p. xxi</ref> Her husband went on to become one of the accusers in the Witch Trials.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Salem Story: Reading the Witch Trials of 1692|last=Rosenthal|first=Bernard|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=1993|location=Cambridge, UK|pages=60}}</ref> They appear documented together in Samuel Parris's church record book.<ref name=":0" /> |
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The sole source for Tituba's birthplace is [[Thomas Hutchinson (governor)|Thomas Hutchinson]], who wrote in 1764 – decades after Tituba's death – that she had been "brought into the Country from [[New Spain]]". Later historians have taken this to mean the [[Caribbean]] or more specifically [[Barbados]], but this is speculation.<ref>Mary Beth Norton. ''In the Devil's Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692''. Vintage, 2007. p.21.</ref> In the 1990s, Elaine G. Breslaw identified her with a "Tattuba," born circa 1662–1666, who was documented as enslaved to one Samuel Thompson in Barbados in 1674. Breslaw proposed that the name Tituba was derived from the Tetebetana clan of [[Arawak language]] speakers, and that she was born near Venezuela and captured as a child.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Breslaw |first1=Elaine G. |title=Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem: Devilish Indians and Puritan Fantasies |date=1996 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=978-0-8147-1307-5 |pages=12–14 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt9qg919.6?seq=12}}</ref> Other historians including Peter Charles Hoffer and Samuel Drake have suggested that Tituba was born in Africa.<ref name="hoffer">{{cite book |last1=Hoffer |first1=Peter Charles |title=The devil's disciples : makers of the Salem witchcraft trials |date=1996 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |location=Baltimore |isbn=978-0-8018-5200-8 |page=8 |url=https://archive.org/details/devilsdisciplesm0000hoff/page/8/mode/2up?q=titub}}</ref><ref>Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem by Elaine Breslaw, p. xxi</ref> In 1998, Bernard Rosenthal objected to both lines of argument as compounded speculation. He observed that Barbadian slaves were indeed generally African, but Tituba was universally described as Indian in Puritan sources.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rosenthal |first1=Bernard |title=Tituba's Story |journal=The New England Quarterly |date=1998 |volume=71 |issue=2 |pages=190–203 |doi=10.2307/366502 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/366502?seq=9 |issn=0028-4866}}</ref> |
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In support of the theory connecting Tituba to Barbados, Elaine Breslaw and Charles Upham pointed to Samuel Fowler's writing, "Account of the Life of Samuel Parrish", which described Tituba's eventual master Samuel Parris as transporting slaves from there. While there is no direct evidence to prove this theory, Breslaw presumes that she was Samuel Thompson's family cook, as most [[Slavery among the indigenous peoples of the Americas|enslaved Native Americans]] were. Tituba would have interacted with a diverse group of people in Barbados, likely picking up knowledge about witchcraft from mistresses and other slaves.<ref name="rupturing Salem" /><ref name=":1"/><ref name="hoffer"/> |
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Samuel Thompson inherited his farm in 1676, then fell deathly ill in 1679 and deeded his estate to others. No evidence links Thompson to Parris, but the Thompson estate was in flux at this time, and "Tattuba" could have been purchased or inherited by Parris, who returned to Massachusetts in 1680.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Breslaw |first1=Elaine G. |title=Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem: Devilish Indians and Puritan Fantasies |date=1996 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=978-0-8147-1307-5 |pages=22–24 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt9qg919.7?seq=2}}</ref><ref name="rupturing Salem">{{Cite journal|last=Hwang|first=Junghyun|date=2019|title=Rupturing Salem, Reconsidering Subjectivity: Tituba, the Witch of Infinity in Maryse Condé's I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem|journal=American Studies in Scandinavia|volume=1|pages=43–59| issue=1| doi=10.22439/asca.v51i1.5790|s2cid=203003057|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Breslaw|first=Elaine|title=Tituba Reluctant Witch of Salem: Devilish Indians and Puritan Fantasies|publisher=New York University Press|year=1996|isbn=0-8147-1227-4|location=New York|language=english}}</ref> There is no surviving record, however, of a woman named Tattuba or Tituba being transferred.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=The Salem Witch Trials Reader (Cambridge, Massachusetts2009), 228.|last=Hill|first=Frances|publisher=Da Capo Press|year=2009|pages=228}}</ref> |
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Tituba's husband was called "John Indian," and his origin is unknown. His name is an apparent exonym, and he may have been a Wampanoag or another Indian from New Spain. John became one of the accusers in the Salem witch trials.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Salem Story: Reading the Witch Trials of 1692|last=Rosenthal|first=Bernard|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=1993|location=Cambridge, UK|pages=60}}</ref> They appear documented together in Samuel Parris's church record book.<ref name=":0" /> |
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== Salem witch trials == |
== Salem witch trials == |
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Tituba was one of the first |
Tituba was one of the first people to be accused of practicing witchcraft by [[Betty Parris (Salem witch trials)|Elizabeth Parris]] and [[Abigail Williams (Salem witch trials)|Abigail Williams]]. It has been theorized that Tituba told the girls tales of [[Haitian Vodou]] and witchcraft before the accusations.<ref name="newsweek">{{cite magazine |last=Shapiro |first=Laura |date=31 August 2016 |title=The Lesson of Salem |url=http://gnauss.hrsbteachers.ednet.ns.ca/sites/gnauss.hrsbteachers.ednet.ns.ca/files/documents/The%20Lesson%20of%20Salem.pdf |magazine=Newsweek |location=New York City, New York |pages=64–67 |access-date=27 October 2016 |archive-date=27 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161027123146/http://gnauss.hrsbteachers.ednet.ns.ca/sites/gnauss.hrsbteachers.ednet.ns.ca/files/documents/The%20Lesson%20of%20Salem.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Tituba was allowed to speak against her accusers despite her race because it was not illegal for slaves to give testimony in court. She was also the first person to confess to practicing witchcraft in [[Salem Village, Massachusetts|Salem Village]] in January 1692. Initially denying her involvement in witchcraft, Tituba later confessed to making a "witch cake", but she confessed to making it only after [[Samuel Parris]] beat her. Tituba also confessed to speaking with the devil, and in her confession, she stated that he ordered her to worship him and hurt the children of the village. When she was questioned later, she added that she learned about occult techniques from her mistress in "her own Country" (presumably Barbados), who taught her how to ward herself from evil powers and reveal the cause of witchcraft. Since such knowledge was not supposed to be harmful, Tituba again asserted to Parris that she was not a witch. Still, she admitted that she had participated in an occult ritual when she made the witch cake in an attempt to help Elizabeth Parris.<ref name="Breslaw">Breslaw, Elaine G. ''Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem: Devilish Indians and Puritan Fantasies''. New York: [[New York University Press]], 1996, pp. 107, 170, et al.<!-- ISSN/ISBN needed --></ref><ref name="acab">{{Cite Appletons'|wstitle=Parris, Samuel|year=1900}}</ref> Due to how young the accusers were, the accusation did not get taken to court, but Samuel Parris still beat Tituba in an attempt to get her to confess. A month later, Tituba, as well as Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne, were accused of witchcraft again, this time by two adult women who were able to get the accusation taken to court.<ref name="Boomer">{{Cite web |last=Boomer |first=Lee |title=Life Story: Tituba |url=https://wams.nyhistory.org/settler-colonialism-and-revolution/settler-colonialism/tituba/ |access-date=2023-07-21 |website=Women & the American Story |language=en-US}}</ref> Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne were sent to jail in Boston to await trial and punishment on March 7, 1692.<ref name="Breslaw" /> Despite these confessions, there is no proof that she did the things to which she confessed.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Salem Witch Trials Reader|last=Hill|first=Frances|publisher=Da Capo Press|year=2009|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|pages=300}}</ref> |
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Other women and men from surrounding villages were accused of practicing witchcraft and arrested during the Salem witchcraft trials. Tituba not only used these outlandish accusations to stir confusion among Massachusetts residents, but she also used them to displace the punishment and |
Other women and men from surrounding villages were accused of practicing witchcraft and arrested during the Salem witchcraft trials. Tituba not only used these outlandish accusations to stir confusion among Massachusetts residents, but she also used them to displace the punishment and death sentence that could have been imposed upon her. By deflecting people's attention, she convinced others that she was a credible witness, and her recognition saved her life and reputation. Tituba must have been aware that she could not hide from the accusations which were being made against her due to certain prejudices which people held against her based on her ethnicity. She claimed not to be a witch and denied that accusation against her despite her use of occult practices, admitting that the devil visited her and Parris' determination to find her guilty. Her confession and accusations not only served as a [[scapegoat]], they also served as a new form of entertainment to the residents of Salem as they experienced [[Spirit possession|possessions]] because of her words.<ref name=":1" /> Not only did Tituba accuse others in her confession, but she talked about black dogs, hogs, a yellow bird, red and black rats, cats, a fox, and a wolf. Tituba talked about riding sticks to different places. She confessed that Sarah Osborne possessed a creature with the head of a woman, two legs, and wings. Since it mixed various perspectives on [[witchcraft]], Tituba's confession confused listeners, and its similarities to certain stock tropes of [[demonology]] caused some Salem Village residents to believe that [[Satan]] was among them.<ref name="Breslaw" /> |
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After the trials, Tituba remained in [[Boston Gaol (Massachusetts)|Boston Gaol]], which had |
After the trials, Tituba remained in [[Boston Gaol (Massachusetts)|Boston Gaol]], which had deplorable living conditions, for thirteen months because Samuel Parris refused to pay her jail fees. During that time, she would testify in other trials of accused witches.<ref name="Boomer"/> In April 1693, Tituba was sold to an unknown person for the price of her jail fees.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://historyofmassachusetts.org/tituba-the-slave-of-salem/|title=Tituba: The Slave of Salem|website=historyofmassachusetts.org|date=3 January 2013|access-date=2019-02-01}}</ref> In an interview with [[Robert Calef]] for his collection of papers on the trials, titled ''More Wonders of the Invisible World: Being an Account of the Trials of Several Witches, Lately Executed in New-England'', Tituba confirmed that Parris had beaten a confession out of her and then coached her on what to say and how to say it when she was first questioned.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/speccol/calef/calef.html|title=MORE WONDERS of the INVISIBLE WORLD|website=salem.lib.virginia.edu|access-date=2019-02-01}}</ref> |
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There is no record of Tituba or John Indian after 1693. In 1694, Parris apologized to the people of Salem for his role in the witch trials. In 1711, Massachusetts offered compensation to victims of the trials, but Tituba's name was not listed among those compensated; she may have been deceased by this time. She may have had a daughter, as an "Indian woman" named Violet is named in Parris's will in 1720, but nothing is known of Violet's life either.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Breslaw |first1=Elaine G. |title=Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem: Devilish Indians and Puritan Fantasies |date=1996 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=978-0-8147-1307-5 |pages=87, 177 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt9qg919.7?seq=2}}</ref> |
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== In popular culture== |
== In popular culture== |
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Tituba is featured prominently in the 1953 play ''[[The Crucible]]'' by [[Arthur Miller]]. The image of Tituba as the instigator of witchcraft at Salem was reinforced by the opening scene of ''The Crucible'', which owes much to [[Marion L. Starkey]]'s historical work ''The Devil in Massachusetts'' (1949).<ref name="Bloom">{{cite book|last1=Bloom|first1=Harold|title=Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations – Arthur Miller's The Crucible|date=2008|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=9780791098288|page=209|edition=New|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vp3P5Vk6bUYC&q=%22the+crucible%22+%22The+Devil+in+Massachusetts%22&pg=PA209|access-date=24 December 2015}}</ref> |
Tituba is featured prominently in the 1953 play ''[[The Crucible]]'' by [[Arthur Miller]]. The image of Tituba as the instigator of witchcraft at Salem was reinforced by the opening scene of ''The Crucible'', which owes much to [[Marion L. Starkey]]'s historical work ''The Devil in Massachusetts'' (1949).<ref name="Bloom">{{cite book|last1=Bloom|first1=Harold|title=Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations – Arthur Miller's The Crucible|date=2008|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=9780791098288|page=209|edition=New|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vp3P5Vk6bUYC&q=%22the+crucible%22+%22The+Devil+in+Massachusetts%22&pg=PA209|access-date=24 December 2015}}</ref> |
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In Miller's play, Tituba is said to have come from Barbados, where she was taught how to conjure up spirits |
In Miller's play, Tituba is said to have come from Barbados, where she was taught how to conjure up spirits and had allegedly dabbled in [[Magic (paranormal)|sorcery]], witchcraft, and [[Satanism]]. The play suggests that [[Abigail Williams (Salem witch trials)|Abigail Williams]] and the other girls tried to use Tituba's knowledge when dancing in the woods before the trials began; it was their being caught that led to those events. With the original intention of covering up their own [[sin]]ful deeds, Tituba was the one to be accused by Abigail, who had drunk from a magic cup Tituba made to kill John Proctor's wife, Elizabeth, and to bewitch him into loving her. She and the other girls claimed to have seen Tituba "with the [[Devil]]". Ironically, the belief that Tituba led these girls astray has persisted in popular lore, fiction, and nonfiction. The charge, which is seen by some as having barely disguised racist undertones, is based on the imagination of authors like Starkey, who mirrors Salem's accusers when she asserts that "I have invented the scenes with Tituba .... but they are what I really believe happened."{{r|Bloom}} |
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Tituba appears in the novel ''Calligraphy of the Witch'' (2007) by [[Alicia Gaspar de Alba]] as an Arawak Native American Indigenous from [[Guyana]] fluent in several languages |
Tituba appears in the novel ''Calligraphy of the Witch'' (2007) by [[Alicia Gaspar de Alba]] as an Arawak Native American Indigenous from [[Guyana]] fluent in several languages and the only person in the Boston area who understands Spanish. She is a friend and English tutor to the indentured servant Concepción Benavidez, who is accused of witchcraft in the Boston area because of her Mexican and Catholic culture.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.serendipitylit.com/clients/item/calligraphy-of-the-witch-a-novel |title=Calligraphy of the Witch: A Novel |website=Serendipity Lit |access-date=28 June 2016 |archive-date=6 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160406200558/http://serendipitylit.com/clients/item/calligraphy-of-the-witch-a-novel |url-status=dead }}</ref> |
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In ''[[American Horror Story: Coven]]'' (2013–2014), young |
In ''[[American Horror Story: Coven]]'' (2013–2014), young witch [[Queenie (American Horror Story)|Queenie]] states that she is a descendant of Tituba.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://jezebel.com/american-horror-story-which-witch-was-the-most-badass-1447254644 |title=American Horror Story: Which Witch Was the Most Badass This Week? |last=Davies|first=Madeleine |publisher=Gawker Media |date=17 October 2013 |website=Jezebel |access-date=26 April 2016}}</ref> Later in the series, Voodoo Queen [[Marie Laveau (American Horror Story)|Marie Laveau]] and Supreme witch [[Fiona Goode]] have an in-depth discussion of Tituba's history and legacy. They suggest her magic came from her [[Arawak]] ancestry.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eonline.com/news/471066/american-horror-story-coven-witches-and-bitches-lowdown |title=American Horror Story: Coven: Witches and Bitches Lowdown! |last=Bricker |first=Tierney |publisher=E! Entertainment Television |date=17 October 2013 |website=E! News |access-date=26 April 2016}}</ref> |
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In ''[[Salem (TV series)|Salem]]'' (2014–2017), Tituba ([[Ashley Madekwe]]) is portrayed as an enslaved biracial woman of Arawak descent who made a [[deal with the Devil]] and taught witchcraft to leading character [[Mary Walcott|Mary Sibley, née Walcott]] ([[Janet Montgomery]]), plotting against Puritan settlers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dailyactor.com/interview/interview-ashley-madekwe-salem/?utm_content=cmp-true|title=Interview: Ashley Madekwe on Her New Show ‘Salem’: “I struggled with trying to find an accent that felt like it was steeped in truth”|publisher=Daily Actor|first=Kristyn|last= Burtt|date=January 24, 2014|access-date=November 17, 2024}}</ref> |
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⚫ | Tituba is portrayed in the [[Jayce Landberg]] song ''Happy 4 U'', featured on the album ''The Forbidden World'' (2020).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bostonrockradio.com/forum3/articles.php?article_id=1024&fbclid=IwAR1CBUQqIWGYe9_7oTpi6U4KYWfDsbsGgFOw6w6XU6MET2eTUqdMgsyFHd8|title = Boston Rock Radio |
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⚫ | Tituba is portrayed in the [[Jayce Landberg]] song ''Happy 4 U'', featured on the album ''The Forbidden World'' (2020).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bostonrockradio.com/forum3/articles.php?article_id=1024&fbclid=IwAR1CBUQqIWGYe9_7oTpi6U4KYWfDsbsGgFOw6w6XU6MET2eTUqdMgsyFHd8|title = Boston Rock Radio – BRR Articles: Interview with Swedish Guitarist Jayce Landberg by Thomas Amoriello Jr}}</ref> |
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⚫ | Tituba is the protagonist of [[Maryse Condé]]'s 1986 novel, [[I, Tituba: |
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⚫ | Tituba is the protagonist of [[Maryse Condé]]'s 1986 novel, ''[[I, Tituba: Black Witch of Salem]]''. The English translation includes a foreword by activist and academic [[Angela Davis|Angela Y. Davis]].<ref>Condé, Maryse (1992). I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem. New York: Caraf Books. pp. Forward: x. ISBN 0-345-38420-2.</ref> |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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* [[List of slaves]] |
* [[List of slaves]] |
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* [[List of people of the Salem witch trials]] |
* [[List of people of the Salem witch trials]] |
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==Notes== |
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{{notelist}} |
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==Citations== |
==Citations== |
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==Bibliography== |
==Bibliography== |
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* {{cite book|last1=Breslaw|first1=E.G.|title=Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem: Devilish Indians and Puritan Fantasies|date=1996|publisher=New York University Press|location=New York|isbn=0814713076 |url=https://archive.org/details/titubareluctantw00bres}} |
* {{cite book|last1=Breslaw|first1=E.G.|title=Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem: Devilish Indians and Puritan Fantasies|date=1996|publisher=New York University Press|location=New York|isbn=0814713076 |url=https://archive.org/details/titubareluctantw00bres}} |
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{{salem}} |
{{salem}} |
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{{authority control}} |
{{authority control}} |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Tituba (Salem witch trials)}} |
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tituba (Salem witch trials)}} |
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[[Category:17th-century American slaves]] |
[[Category:17th-century American slaves]] |
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[[Category:17th-century births]] |
[[Category:17th-century births]] |
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[[Category:18th-century deaths]] |
[[Category:18th-century deaths]] |
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[[Category:17th-century Native Americans]] |
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[[Category:17th-century Native American women]] |
[[Category:17th-century Native American women]] |
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[[Category:Barbadian slaves]] |
[[Category:Barbadian slaves]] |
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[[Category:People accused |
[[Category:People accused in the Salem witch trials]] |
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[[Category:People of the Salem witch trials]] |
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[[Category:Place of birth unknown]] |
[[Category:Place of birth unknown]] |
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[[Category:Year of death unknown]] |
[[Category:Year of death unknown]] |
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[[Category:American women slaves]] |
[[Category:American women slaves]] |
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[[Category:Barbadian emigrants to the United States]] |
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[[Category:Violence against women in Massachusetts]] |
Latest revision as of 17:47, 3 December 2024
Tituba | |
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Other names | Tituba (from Barbados) |
Known for | Accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials |
Criminal charge | Witchcraft |
Tituba (fl. 1692–1693) was an enslaved Native American[a] woman who was one of the first to be accused of witchcraft during the Salem witch trials of 1692–1693.
She was enslaved by Samuel Parris, the minister of Salem Village, in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. She was pivotal in the trials because she confessed to witchcraft when examined by the authorities, giving credence to the accusations. She accused the two other women, Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne, of the same crime. She was imprisoned for over a year but never tried. What happened to her after a grand jury dismissed the case against her in May 1693 is unknown.
Early life
[edit]The only records of Tituba pertain to her central position in the Salem witch trials, where she appears as the Indian slave of a local minister named Samuel Parris. It is not known how Parris initially came across Tituba, who was not from Massachusetts.
The sole source for Tituba's birthplace is Thomas Hutchinson, who wrote in 1764 – decades after Tituba's death – that she had been "brought into the Country from New Spain". Later historians have taken this to mean the Caribbean or more specifically Barbados, but this is speculation.[2] In the 1990s, Elaine G. Breslaw identified her with a "Tattuba," born circa 1662–1666, who was documented as enslaved to one Samuel Thompson in Barbados in 1674. Breslaw proposed that the name Tituba was derived from the Tetebetana clan of Arawak language speakers, and that she was born near Venezuela and captured as a child.[3] Other historians including Peter Charles Hoffer and Samuel Drake have suggested that Tituba was born in Africa.[4][5] In 1998, Bernard Rosenthal objected to both lines of argument as compounded speculation. He observed that Barbadian slaves were indeed generally African, but Tituba was universally described as Indian in Puritan sources.[6]
In support of the theory connecting Tituba to Barbados, Elaine Breslaw and Charles Upham pointed to Samuel Fowler's writing, "Account of the Life of Samuel Parrish", which described Tituba's eventual master Samuel Parris as transporting slaves from there. While there is no direct evidence to prove this theory, Breslaw presumes that she was Samuel Thompson's family cook, as most enslaved Native Americans were. Tituba would have interacted with a diverse group of people in Barbados, likely picking up knowledge about witchcraft from mistresses and other slaves.[7][8][4]
Samuel Thompson inherited his farm in 1676, then fell deathly ill in 1679 and deeded his estate to others. No evidence links Thompson to Parris, but the Thompson estate was in flux at this time, and "Tattuba" could have been purchased or inherited by Parris, who returned to Massachusetts in 1680.[9][7][8] There is no surviving record, however, of a woman named Tattuba or Tituba being transferred.[10]
Tituba's husband was called "John Indian," and his origin is unknown. His name is an apparent exonym, and he may have been a Wampanoag or another Indian from New Spain. John became one of the accusers in the Salem witch trials.[11] They appear documented together in Samuel Parris's church record book.[10]
Salem witch trials
[edit]Tituba was one of the first people to be accused of practicing witchcraft by Elizabeth Parris and Abigail Williams. It has been theorized that Tituba told the girls tales of Haitian Vodou and witchcraft before the accusations.[12] Tituba was allowed to speak against her accusers despite her race because it was not illegal for slaves to give testimony in court. She was also the first person to confess to practicing witchcraft in Salem Village in January 1692. Initially denying her involvement in witchcraft, Tituba later confessed to making a "witch cake", but she confessed to making it only after Samuel Parris beat her. Tituba also confessed to speaking with the devil, and in her confession, she stated that he ordered her to worship him and hurt the children of the village. When she was questioned later, she added that she learned about occult techniques from her mistress in "her own Country" (presumably Barbados), who taught her how to ward herself from evil powers and reveal the cause of witchcraft. Since such knowledge was not supposed to be harmful, Tituba again asserted to Parris that she was not a witch. Still, she admitted that she had participated in an occult ritual when she made the witch cake in an attempt to help Elizabeth Parris.[13][14] Due to how young the accusers were, the accusation did not get taken to court, but Samuel Parris still beat Tituba in an attempt to get her to confess. A month later, Tituba, as well as Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne, were accused of witchcraft again, this time by two adult women who were able to get the accusation taken to court.[15] Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne were sent to jail in Boston to await trial and punishment on March 7, 1692.[13] Despite these confessions, there is no proof that she did the things to which she confessed.[16]
Other women and men from surrounding villages were accused of practicing witchcraft and arrested during the Salem witchcraft trials. Tituba not only used these outlandish accusations to stir confusion among Massachusetts residents, but she also used them to displace the punishment and death sentence that could have been imposed upon her. By deflecting people's attention, she convinced others that she was a credible witness, and her recognition saved her life and reputation. Tituba must have been aware that she could not hide from the accusations which were being made against her due to certain prejudices which people held against her based on her ethnicity. She claimed not to be a witch and denied that accusation against her despite her use of occult practices, admitting that the devil visited her and Parris' determination to find her guilty. Her confession and accusations not only served as a scapegoat, they also served as a new form of entertainment to the residents of Salem as they experienced possessions because of her words.[8] Not only did Tituba accuse others in her confession, but she talked about black dogs, hogs, a yellow bird, red and black rats, cats, a fox, and a wolf. Tituba talked about riding sticks to different places. She confessed that Sarah Osborne possessed a creature with the head of a woman, two legs, and wings. Since it mixed various perspectives on witchcraft, Tituba's confession confused listeners, and its similarities to certain stock tropes of demonology caused some Salem Village residents to believe that Satan was among them.[13]
After the trials, Tituba remained in Boston Gaol, which had deplorable living conditions, for thirteen months because Samuel Parris refused to pay her jail fees. During that time, she would testify in other trials of accused witches.[15] In April 1693, Tituba was sold to an unknown person for the price of her jail fees.[17] In an interview with Robert Calef for his collection of papers on the trials, titled More Wonders of the Invisible World: Being an Account of the Trials of Several Witches, Lately Executed in New-England, Tituba confirmed that Parris had beaten a confession out of her and then coached her on what to say and how to say it when she was first questioned.[18]
There is no record of Tituba or John Indian after 1693. In 1694, Parris apologized to the people of Salem for his role in the witch trials. In 1711, Massachusetts offered compensation to victims of the trials, but Tituba's name was not listed among those compensated; she may have been deceased by this time. She may have had a daughter, as an "Indian woman" named Violet is named in Parris's will in 1720, but nothing is known of Violet's life either.[19]
In popular culture
[edit]The majority of fictional pieces that artistically or historically depict Tituba's life portray her as a Black woman or an "outgroup" by Puritan society, due to her racial and socioeconomic status as a South American Indigenous and an indentured servant woman or slave.[20] Although it is not explicitly discussed in all of the movies, plays and books, that account for Tituba's conviction, it is quite possible that the "fear of strangers" in combination with the Western European traditional belief and understanding of witchcraft, made Tituba a prime target for witchcraft conviction.[21] With reference to the historical understanding of Tituba and why she was convicted, it has been argued that the pre-existing ideas about "out groups" and stereotypical ideas of foreign cultures combined with fictional portrayals of witchcraft and sorcery works, has created a case where history and fiction shape each other.[22] Essentially, the fictional works have assisted in the idea of what the Salem Witch Trials were like and what events lead to the convictions, trials and confessions, but without factoring in racial, political, religious and economic influences of the time, the portrayals of Tituba in media remain, for the most part, fictional.[23]
In John Neal's 1828 novel Rachel Dyer, a socially isolated Matthew Paris (based on Samuel Parris)[24] feels threatened by Tituba's relationship with John Indian and is motivated to accuse her of witchcraft as a result.[25] Neal described her as a "female Indian" who "did the drudgery of the house".[26]
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, in his 1868 play entitled Giles Corey of the Salem Farms, describes Tituba as "the daughter of a man all black and fierce…He was an Obi man, and taught [her] magic." Obeah (also spelled Obi) is a specifically African and Afro-American system of magic."[27]
Tituba is featured prominently in the 1953 play The Crucible by Arthur Miller. The image of Tituba as the instigator of witchcraft at Salem was reinforced by the opening scene of The Crucible, which owes much to Marion L. Starkey's historical work The Devil in Massachusetts (1949).[28]
In Miller's play, Tituba is said to have come from Barbados, where she was taught how to conjure up spirits and had allegedly dabbled in sorcery, witchcraft, and Satanism. The play suggests that Abigail Williams and the other girls tried to use Tituba's knowledge when dancing in the woods before the trials began; it was their being caught that led to those events. With the original intention of covering up their own sinful deeds, Tituba was the one to be accused by Abigail, who had drunk from a magic cup Tituba made to kill John Proctor's wife, Elizabeth, and to bewitch him into loving her. She and the other girls claimed to have seen Tituba "with the Devil". Ironically, the belief that Tituba led these girls astray has persisted in popular lore, fiction, and nonfiction. The charge, which is seen by some as having barely disguised racist undertones, is based on the imagination of authors like Starkey, who mirrors Salem's accusers when she asserts that "I have invented the scenes with Tituba .... but they are what I really believe happened."[28]
Tituba appears in the novel Calligraphy of the Witch (2007) by Alicia Gaspar de Alba as an Arawak Native American Indigenous from Guyana fluent in several languages and the only person in the Boston area who understands Spanish. She is a friend and English tutor to the indentured servant Concepción Benavidez, who is accused of witchcraft in the Boston area because of her Mexican and Catholic culture.[29]
In American Horror Story: Coven (2013–2014), young witch Queenie states that she is a descendant of Tituba.[30] Later in the series, Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau and Supreme witch Fiona Goode have an in-depth discussion of Tituba's history and legacy. They suggest her magic came from her Arawak ancestry.[31]
In Salem (2014–2017), Tituba (Ashley Madekwe) is portrayed as an enslaved biracial woman of Arawak descent who made a deal with the Devil and taught witchcraft to leading character Mary Sibley, née Walcott (Janet Montgomery), plotting against Puritan settlers.[32]
Tituba is portrayed in the Jayce Landberg song Happy 4 U, featured on the album The Forbidden World (2020).[33]
Tituba is the protagonist of Maryse Condé's 1986 novel, I, Tituba: Black Witch of Salem. The English translation includes a foreword by activist and academic Angela Y. Davis.[34]
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ^ "The Salem Witch Trials: The Real History Behind One of the Most Terrifying Events in Colonial History | New-York Historical Society".
- ^ Mary Beth Norton. In the Devil's Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692. Vintage, 2007. p.21.
- ^ Breslaw, Elaine G. (1996). Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem: Devilish Indians and Puritan Fantasies. NYU Press. pp. 12–14. ISBN 978-0-8147-1307-5.
- ^ a b Hoffer, Peter Charles (1996). The devil's disciples : makers of the Salem witchcraft trials. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-8018-5200-8.
- ^ Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem by Elaine Breslaw, p. xxi
- ^ Rosenthal, Bernard (1998). "Tituba's Story". The New England Quarterly. 71 (2): 190–203. doi:10.2307/366502. ISSN 0028-4866.
- ^ a b Hwang, Junghyun (2019). "Rupturing Salem, Reconsidering Subjectivity: Tituba, the Witch of Infinity in Maryse Condé's I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem". American Studies in Scandinavia. 1 (1): 43–59. doi:10.22439/asca.v51i1.5790. S2CID 203003057.
- ^ a b c Breslaw, Elaine (1996). Tituba Reluctant Witch of Salem: Devilish Indians and Puritan Fantasies. New York: New York University Press. ISBN 0-8147-1227-4.
- ^ Breslaw, Elaine G. (1996). Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem: Devilish Indians and Puritan Fantasies. NYU Press. pp. 22–24. ISBN 978-0-8147-1307-5.
- ^ a b Hill, Frances (2009). The Salem Witch Trials Reader (Cambridge, Massachusetts2009), 228. Da Capo Press. p. 228.
- ^ Rosenthal, Bernard (1993). Salem Story: Reading the Witch Trials of 1692. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 60.
- ^ Shapiro, Laura (31 August 2016). "The Lesson of Salem" (PDF). Newsweek. New York City, New York. pp. 64–67. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
- ^ a b c Breslaw, Elaine G. Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem: Devilish Indians and Puritan Fantasies. New York: New York University Press, 1996, pp. 107, 170, et al.
- ^ Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1900). . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.
- ^ a b Boomer, Lee. "Life Story: Tituba". Women & the American Story. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
- ^ Hill, Frances (2009). The Salem Witch Trials Reader. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Da Capo Press. p. 300.
- ^ "Tituba: The Slave of Salem". historyofmassachusetts.org. 3 January 2013. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- ^ "MORE WONDERS of the INVISIBLE WORLD". salem.lib.virginia.edu. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- ^ Breslaw, Elaine G. (1996). Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem: Devilish Indians and Puritan Fantasies. NYU Press. pp. 87, 177. ISBN 978-0-8147-1307-5.
- ^ Cakirtas, Onder (2013). "Double Portrayed: Tituba, Racism and Politics" (PDF). International Journal of Language Academy. 1: 13–22.
- ^ Tierney, H (1999). Women's Studies Encyclopedia. Westpot, CT: Greenwood Press.
- ^ Jalalzai, Zubeda (2009). "Historical Fiction and Maryse Condéś, "I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem"". African American Review. 43 (2–3): 419. doi:10.1353/afa.2009.0009. S2CID 202639379.
- ^ Reis, Elizabeth (1998). Spellbound: Women and Witchcraft. Wilmington, Del: Scholarly Resources.
- ^ Richards, Irving T. (1933). The Life and Works of John Neal (PhD thesis). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University. p. 697n2. OCLC 7588473.
- ^ Fleischmann, Fritz (1983). A Right View of the Subject: Feminism in the Works of Charles Brockden Brown and John Neal. Erlangen, Germany: Verlag Palm & Enke Erlangen. p. 303. ISBN 978-3-7896-0147-7.
- ^ Neal, John (1964). Rachel Dyer: A North American Story. Gainesville, Florida: Scholars' Facsimiles & Reprints. pp. 50, 57. OCLC 468770740. Facsimile reproduction of 1828 edition.
- ^ Hansen, Chadwick. "The Metamorphosis of Tituba, or Why American Intellectuals Can't Tell a Native Witch from a Negro", The New England Quarterly 47 (March 1974), pp. 3–12.
- ^ a b Bloom, Harold (2008). Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations – Arthur Miller's The Crucible (New ed.). Infobase Publishing. p. 209. ISBN 9780791098288. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
- ^ "Calligraphy of the Witch: A Novel". Serendipity Lit. Archived from the original on 6 April 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
- ^ Davies, Madeleine (17 October 2013). "American Horror Story: Which Witch Was the Most Badass This Week?". Jezebel. Gawker Media. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
- ^ Bricker, Tierney (17 October 2013). "American Horror Story: Coven: Witches and Bitches Lowdown!". E! News. E! Entertainment Television. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
- ^ Burtt, Kristyn (January 24, 2014). "Interview: Ashley Madekwe on Her New Show 'Salem': "I struggled with trying to find an accent that felt like it was steeped in truth"". Daily Actor. Retrieved November 17, 2024.
- ^ "Boston Rock Radio – BRR Articles: Interview with Swedish Guitarist Jayce Landberg by Thomas Amoriello Jr".
- ^ Condé, Maryse (1992). I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem. New York: Caraf Books. pp. Forward: x. ISBN 0-345-38420-2.
Bibliography
[edit]- Breslaw, E.G. (1996). Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem: Devilish Indians and Puritan Fantasies. New York: New York University Press. ISBN 0814713076.
- 17th-century American slaves
- 17th-century births
- 18th-century deaths
- 17th-century Native Americans
- 17th-century Native American women
- Barbadian slaves
- People accused in the Salem witch trials
- American women slaves
- People enslaved in Massachusetts
- Barbadian emigrants to the United States
- Violence against women in Massachusetts