In 2010 , a 7.0 earthquake that devastated Haiti brought negative attention to Vodou . Televangelist Pat Robertson stated that the country had cursed itself after the events at Bois Caïman , because he claimed they had engaged in Satanic practices in the ceremony preceding the Haitian Revolution . " They were under the heel of the French , you know , Napoleon the third and whatever . And they got together and swore a pact to the devil . They said ' We will serve you if you will get us free from the prince . ' True story . And so the devil said , ' Ok it 's a deal . ' And they kicked the French out . The Haitians revolted and got something themselves free . But ever since they have been cursed by one thing after another . " Scholarly research on Vodou and other African spiritual retentions in Haiti started in the early 20th century with chronicles such as Zora Neale Hurston 's " Tell My Horse " , amongst others . Other notable early scholars of Haitian Vodou one could cite are Milo Rigaud Alfred Metraux and Maya Deren , for example . In April 1997 , thirteen scholars gathered at the University of California Santa Barbara for a colloquium on Haitian Vodou . From that meeting the '' Congress of Santa Barbara '' was created , also known as KOSANBA . These scholars felt there was a need for access to scholarly resources and course offerings studying Haitian Vodou , and pledged , " ... to create a space where scholarship on Vodou can be augmented . " As further described in the Congress ’ declaration : " The presence , role , and importance of Vodou in Haitian history , society , and culture are unarguable , and recognizably a part of the national ethos . The impact of the religion qua spiritual and intellectual disciplines on popular national institutions , human and gender relations , the family , that plastic arts , philosophy and ethics , oral and written literature , language , popular and sacred music , science and technology and the healing arts , is indisputable . It is the belief of the Congress that Vodou plays , and shall continue to play , a major role in the grand scheme of Haitian development and in the socio-economic , political , and cultural arenas . Development , when real and successful , always comes from the modernization of ancestral traditions , anchored in the rich cultural expressions of a people . " In the fall of 2012 , KOSANBA successfully petitioned the Library of Congress to change the terms " voodoo " and " voodooism " to the correct spelling " Vodou "
7.0 earthquake
2010 Haiti earthquake
Haitian Vodou