Winti and Christianity: A Study in Religious Change

A traditional Afro-American religion in Suriname is described and the impact of Christian missionaries and their teachings on this religion is assessed. There has been little or no African-Christian fusion of ideas, or syncretism, making Winti rather unique among Afro-American religions. Reasons for this lack of syncretism are explored. One important reason or factor that emerges from the present case study is the relative incompatibility between the native belief system and that of the Moravian Church. A variant of Winti,l an Afro-American magical-religious complex that Herskovits (1958) regarded as the most traditional belief system among Blacks in the Western Hemisphere will be discussed as it relates to religious change. A special type of Winti is found among the Matawai, a Maroon society in Suriname, South America.2 Maroon is the collective term given to descendants of escaped Black slaves in the Americas. Better known Afro-American religious such as Candomble (Brazil), Macumba (Brazil), Vodu (Haiti), and Santeria (Cuba) are all examples of dynamic African-Christian merging, leaving the impression that all Black religions in the Americas are syncretic. This paper will correct that impression by providing an exception. Following a description of central aspects of Winti, the impact of Christian missionaries and their teachings will be described and assessed. I will explore the reasons for both the success of Christianity and the tenacity of Winti beliefs since there has been little or no Christian-Winti syncretism, or dynamic merging and integration of belief systems. Instead of syncretism, we find among the Matawais a dual system of religious beliefs, a situation where Christian and Winti beliefs co-exist uneasily and are kept distinct for the most part. Reasons for the lack of syncretism will be offered in the final section.