Dutty Boukman (or Boukman Dutty; died 7 November 1791) was an early leader of the Haitian Revolution. Born in Senegambia (present-day Senegal and Gambia), he was enslaved to Jamaica. He eventually ended up in Haiti, where he became a leader of the Maroons and a vodou houngan (priest). According to some contemporary accounts, Boukman, alongside Cécile Fatiman, a Vodou mambo, presided over the religious ceremony at Bois Caïman, in August 1791, that served as the catalyst to the 1791 slave revolt which is usually considered the beginning of the Haitian Revolution. Boukman was a key leader of the slave revolt in the Le Cap‑Français region in the north of the colony. He was killed by the French planters and colonial troops on 7 November 1791, just a few months after the beginning of the uprising. The French then publicly displayed Boukman's head in an attempt to dispel the aura of invincibility that Boukman had cultivated. The fact that French authorities did this illustrates their belief in the importance Boukman held to Haitian people during this time. Background In about 1767, Dutty Boukman was born in the region of Senegambia (present-day Senegal and Gambia), where he was a Muslim cleric. He was captured in Senegambia, and transported as a slave to the Caribbean, first to the island of Jamaica, then Saint-Domingue, modern-day Haiti, where he became a Haitian Vodou houngan priest. After he attempted to teach other slaves how to read, he was sold to a French plantation owner and placed as a commandeur (slave driver) and, later, a coach driver. His French name came from his English nickname, "Book Man", which scholars like Sylviane Anna Diouf and Sylviane Kamara have interpreted as having Islamic origins; they note that the term "man of the book" is a synonym for a Muslim in many parts of the world. Laurent Dubois argues that Boukman may have practiced a syncretic blend of traditional African religion and a form of Abrahamic religion. Ceremony at the Bois Caïman Contemporaneous accounts place the ceremony at Bois Caïman on or about 14 August 1791. Boukman and priestess Cécile Fatiman presided over the last of a series of meetings to organize a slave revolt for weeks in advance; the co-conspirators in attendance included Jean François, Biassou, Jeannot, and others. An animal was sacrificed, an oath was taken, and Boukman gave the following speech: According to Gothenburg University researcher Markel