Tituba, Native Americans & The Salem Witch Trials

Film Clip: Angel Heart (Voodoo Scene) + Crucible (opening scene) + French Crucible

Lecture:  Tituba

Intersection of Witchcraft & Native American Tribes in the European Colonial Imagination:

Devil as Black/Red Man:  as we have seen before, the Anglo-American devil is color-coded as dark skinned [tr] and the devil is frequently mentioned in the Salem Trial records as Black or Indian. 

Tituba = demonized accordingly

Voodoo:

Tituba = Only Real Witch? cf. Elaine Breslaw’s Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem (1996)

In-Class Writing Assignment: What is your response to Breslaw's interpretation of Tituba? Explain.

Lecture:  Beyond Salem Possessed :

Summary: Salem Witch Trials

Final Film Clip:  The Scarlet Letter (Hanging scene + Indians) [3 min]