Abajomie: Difference between revisions
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| honorific_prefix = Saint |
| honorific_prefix = Saint |
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| name = Abajomie |
| name = Abajomie |
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| image = Abajomie Portrait.png |
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| caption = Portrait of Abajomie, discovered in Anahuac in 1886 |
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| birth_name = Joost Ruysbrack |
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| birth_date = 1802 |
| birth_date = 1802 |
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| birth_place = Doeckoe, Dutch Tussenland |
| birth_place = Doeckoe, Dutch Tussenland |
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| death_date = |
| death_date = 18 April 1853 |
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| death_place = Elegasthaven, Dutch Tussenland |
| death_place = Elegasthaven, Dutch Tussenland |
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| death_cause = Execution |
| death_cause = Execution |
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| occupation = Merchant, baker |
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| successor = [[Tegbesoe]] |
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| movement = [[Zoekerism]] |
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| criminal_charges = Insurrection, treason, sacrilege |
| criminal_charges = Insurrection, treason, sacrilege |
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| partner = Maaike Muys (1817-1904) |
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}} |
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''' |
'''Joost Abajomie Ojo''', simply referred to as '''Abajomie''' ([[Amerikaens]]: ''Abajomie van Tussenlandt''), was a [[South Tussenland|South Tussenlandic]] religious leader, martyr, saint, and central figure of [[Zoekerism]]. Born into slavery, he escaped at the age of fourteen. He converted to Christianity in 1819, preaching his egalitarian religious message while working as a merchant. Abajomie subsequently became a religious and political icon of the 1849 Revolution in South Tussenland, eventually being executed for his actions in 1853. After his death, his teachings greatly shaped the religion of Zoekerism and Afro-Amerikaener culture as a whole. |
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Abajomie was born with the Dutch name Joost Ruysbrack, the surname Ruysbrack being the name of the plantation he was born on. In 1821, he changed his first name to Abajomie - a common Yoruba name - in order to connect with his West African heritage. Years later in 1836, he adopted the last name Ojo, a royal surname connected to the imperial House of Oranyan. |
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== Etymology == |
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Abajomie was born a slave on the riverside Ruysbrack plantation in Doeckoe, [[South Tussenland]]. The plantation was under the management of the [[Royal Tussenland Company]]. According to written accounts, his grandparents arrived in South Tussenland from [[Cuba]] in the 18th century. |
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His name, Abajomie, is of Ioruba origin. His father was a Ioruba and minor member of the Ojo clan who was abducted by slavers during the empire's civil war. Abajomie is a contraction of the phrase "my enemies tried to mock me, but God did not permit that" (Ioruba: ''ota ibayomi sugbon olorunoje''). However, his slave name - used by slave masters and in legal documents - was the Dutch name Joost. |
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[[File:Ruysbrack Plantation Photograph.png|left|thumb|284x284px|Photograph of Ruysbrack plantation in 1934 shortly before its demolition. ]] |
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At age 14, he escaped the plantation and fled to the county of Daxomey, where he took refuge with a group of escaped slaves. During this period of his life, he was briefly abducted by a French merchant but narrowly escaped with his life. |
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Two years later, he emigrated to the city of Vrÿheidt, where he became acquainted with freed slave, baker, and abolitionist [[Karlÿn de Backer]]. He became a protégé of de Backer, converting to Christianity in 1819 and picking up the vocation of baking. |
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== Biography == |
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== Leadership in the Revolution == |
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Influenced by his time in Daxomey county and as a slave, he began syncretizing Protestantism with traditional West African religions. |
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Abajomie was born on the riverside plantation of Doeckoe in 1802 to slaves under the [[Royal Tussenland Company]]. His father was of Ioruba origin, while his mother was born in [[Florida]]. He was forced to work on the plantations from a young age and sustained several assaults from the young master of the plantation, [[Sybrand Moestra]]. At age 14, his father was beaten to death, prompting him to escape. |
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== Imprisonment and death == |
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For the next two years, Abajomie took up small jobs and was constantly avoiding the authorities. He was involved in goods smuggling, alligator hunting, and Mississippian fishing. He was briefly abducted by a French merchant but narrowly escaped with his life. |
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==== Exhumation and reburial ==== |
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In 1922, after the secularization of South Tussenland, Abajomie's body was exhumed in order to conclusively state his cause of death after lengthy court proceedings. Thousands protested against the exhumation, leading to riots. Days later, morticians stated his cause of death as strangulation. His corpse was moved from Elegasthaven and reburied in the capital city of Vrÿheidt out of concern of rising sea levels. |
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While in Vrÿheidt, he met freed slave and baker [[Karlÿn de Backer]] at age 16 in 1818. Initially resistant to Christianity, he began his career as a merchant and baker under the mentorship of de Backer. In 1819, he accepted the faith and began syncretising it with the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fon_people#Religion Voodon religion], which was popular amongst slaves on his plantation. |
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==== Prophethood ==== |
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==== Participation in the insurrection ==== |
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== Execution == |
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==== Arrest and imprisonment ==== |
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==== Theories relating to his death ==== |
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===== Eventual exhumation ===== |
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However, in 1922 - years after the secularisation of the nation - Abajomie's corpse was exhumed and examined by state morticians in order to decisively determine the cause of death. Thousands of Zoekerists protested against the exhumation, leading to minor riots and condemnation of the current administration. Three days later, the morticians concluded that Abajomie was strangled to death. |
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== Legacy and teachings == |
== Legacy and teachings == |
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==== Public speeches ==== |
==== Public speeches ==== |
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Fragments of Abajomie's speeches survive in Zoekerist texts, diary entries, and government documents at the time. Four speeches of his gained primary importance in the Zoekerist tradition, namely: |
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In modern-day Daxomey County, Natchez province, Abajomie gathered with his companions near the riverside town of Awese to deliver the first proto-Zoekerist sermon. |
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The name Abajomie has been one of the most popular male names in [[South Tussenland]] since the 1870s, mainly adopted by Zoekerist and generally Afro-Amerikaener populations. Several settlements have also been named after him in America and western Africa. |
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==See also== |
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*[[Zoekerism|Church of the Second Ascension]] |
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*[[South Tussenland]] |
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*[[List of notable people]] |
*[[List of notable people]] |
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