{"id":7177,"date":"2021-01-28T16:02:24","date_gmt":"2021-01-28T22:02:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/clacs\/?p=7177"},"modified":"2021-02-08T15:37:03","modified_gmt":"2021-02-08T21:37:03","slug":"salems-first-accused-witch-was-an-enslaved-west-indian-woman-this-opera-tells-her-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/clacs\/salems-first-accused-witch-was-an-enslaved-west-indian-woman-this-opera-tells-her-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Salem’s first accused ‘witch’ was an enslaved West Indian woman. This opera tells her story"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cObeah Opera\u201d is a theater production that was ten years in the making, focusing on Tituba, the first woman accused of witchcraft in the Salem Witch Trials. Although not much is known for sure about this enslaved woman, literature suggests that she may have been of African and\/or Indigenous descent, traveled to the New England colonies from Barbados, and a practitioner of obeah (an Afro-Caribbean collection of spiritual healing and justice-making practices). This award-winning opera tells the story of the deadliest witch hunt in colonial North American history from the perspective of enslaved Afro-Caribbean women. Learn more about the production and its creation in this CBC writeup<\/a> and on its website <\/a>and learn more about the history of uncertainty on Tituba\u2019s identity on the Smithsonian website.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cObeah Opera\u201d is a theater production that was ten years in the making, focusing on Tituba, the first woman accused of witchcraft in the Salem Witch Trials. Although not much is known for sure about this enslaved woman, literature suggests … Continue Reading<\/em> »<\/a><\/span>","protected":false},"author":22425,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-napa"],"yoast_head":"\nSalem's first accused 'witch' was an enslaved West Indian woman. This opera tells her story - Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/clacs\/salems-first-accused-witch-was-an-enslaved-west-indian-woman-this-opera-tells-her-story\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Salem's first accused 'witch' was an enslaved West Indian woman. This opera tells her story\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cObeah Opera\u201d is a theater production that was ten years in the making, focusing on Tituba, the first woman accused of witchcraft in the Salem Witch Trials. Although not much is known for sure about this enslaved woman, literature suggests\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/clacs\/salems-first-accused-witch-was-an-enslaved-west-indian-woman-this-opera-tells-her-story\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-01-28T22:02:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-02-08T21:37:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lin Haggerty\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lin Haggerty\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/clacs\\\/salems-first-accused-witch-was-an-enslaved-west-indian-woman-this-opera-tells-her-story\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/clacs\\\/salems-first-accused-witch-was-an-enslaved-west-indian-woman-this-opera-tells-her-story\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lin Haggerty\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/clacs\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f544bdb3ddfcfb9383df257a913a5aa5\"},\"headline\":\"Salem’s first accused ‘witch’ was an enslaved West Indian woman. This opera tells her story\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-01-28T22:02:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-08T21:37:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/clacs\\\/salems-first-accused-witch-was-an-enslaved-west-indian-woman-this-opera-tells-her-story\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":144,\"articleSection\":[\"\u00f1apa\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/clacs\\\/salems-first-accused-witch-was-an-enslaved-west-indian-woman-this-opera-tells-her-story\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/clacs\\\/salems-first-accused-witch-was-an-enslaved-west-indian-woman-this-opera-tells-her-story\\\/\",\"name\":\"Salem's first accused 'witch' was an enslaved West Indian woman. This opera tells her story - Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/clacs\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-01-28T22:02:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-08T21:37:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/clacs\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f544bdb3ddfcfb9383df257a913a5aa5\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/clacs\\\/salems-first-accused-witch-was-an-enslaved-west-indian-woman-this-opera-tells-her-story\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/clacs\\\/salems-first-accused-witch-was-an-enslaved-west-indian-woman-this-opera-tells-her-story\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/clacs\\\/salems-first-accused-witch-was-an-enslaved-west-indian-woman-this-opera-tells-her-story\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/clacs\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Salem’s first accused ‘witch’ was an enslaved West Indian woman. This opera tells her story\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/clacs\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/clacs\\\/\",\"name\":\"Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies\",\"description\":\"UW-Milwaukee\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/clacs\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/clacs\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f544bdb3ddfcfb9383df257a913a5aa5\",\"name\":\"Lin Haggerty\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c0161552a9638072e9fa2497cae69fe1e216e4f892b028f6fe7f6158f2292ef4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c0161552a9638072e9fa2497cae69fe1e216e4f892b028f6fe7f6158f2292ef4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c0161552a9638072e9fa2497cae69fe1e216e4f892b028f6fe7f6158f2292ef4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lin Haggerty\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Salem's first accused 'witch' was an enslaved West Indian woman. This opera tells her story - Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/clacs\/salems-first-accused-witch-was-an-enslaved-west-indian-woman-this-opera-tells-her-story\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Salem's first accused 'witch' was an enslaved West Indian woman. This opera tells her story","og_description":"\u201cObeah Opera\u201d is a theater production that was ten years in the making, focusing on Tituba, the first woman accused of witchcraft in the Salem Witch Trials. Although not much is known for sure about this enslaved woman, literature suggests","og_url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/clacs\/salems-first-accused-witch-was-an-enslaved-west-indian-woman-this-opera-tells-her-story\/","og_site_name":"Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies","article_published_time":"2021-01-28T22:02:24+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-02-08T21:37:03+00:00","author":"Lin Haggerty","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lin Haggerty","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/clacs\/salems-first-accused-witch-was-an-enslaved-west-indian-woman-this-opera-tells-her-story\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/clacs\/salems-first-accused-witch-was-an-enslaved-west-indian-woman-this-opera-tells-her-story\/"},"author":{"name":"Lin Haggerty","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/clacs\/#\/schema\/person\/f544bdb3ddfcfb9383df257a913a5aa5"},"headline":"Salem’s first accused ‘witch’ was an enslaved West Indian woman. This opera tells her story","datePublished":"2021-01-28T22:02:24+00:00","dateModified":"2021-02-08T21:37:03+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/clacs\/salems-first-accused-witch-was-an-enslaved-west-indian-woman-this-opera-tells-her-story\/"},"wordCount":144,"articleSection":["\u00f1apa"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/clacs\/salems-first-accused-witch-was-an-enslaved-west-indian-woman-this-opera-tells-her-story\/","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/clacs\/salems-first-accused-witch-was-an-enslaved-west-indian-woman-this-opera-tells-her-story\/","name":"Salem's first accused 'witch' was an enslaved West Indian woman. This opera tells her story - Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/clacs\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-01-28T22:02:24+00:00","dateModified":"2021-02-08T21:37:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/clacs\/#\/schema\/person\/f544bdb3ddfcfb9383df257a913a5aa5"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/clacs\/salems-first-accused-witch-was-an-enslaved-west-indian-woman-this-opera-tells-her-story\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/uwm.edu\/clacs\/salems-first-accused-witch-was-an-enslaved-west-indian-woman-this-opera-tells-her-story\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/clacs\/salems-first-accused-witch-was-an-enslaved-west-indian-woman-this-opera-tells-her-story\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/clacs\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Salem’s first accused ‘witch’ was an enslaved West Indian woman. This opera tells her story"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/clacs\/#website","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/clacs\/","name":"Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies","description":"UW-Milwaukee","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/clacs\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/clacs\/#\/schema\/person\/f544bdb3ddfcfb9383df257a913a5aa5","name":"Lin Haggerty","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c0161552a9638072e9fa2497cae69fe1e216e4f892b028f6fe7f6158f2292ef4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c0161552a9638072e9fa2497cae69fe1e216e4f892b028f6fe7f6158f2292ef4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c0161552a9638072e9fa2497cae69fe1e216e4f892b028f6fe7f6158f2292ef4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lin Haggerty"}}]}},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-23 07:48:24","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/clacs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/clacs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/clacs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/clacs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22425"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/clacs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7177"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/clacs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7177\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7178,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/clacs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7177\/revisions\/7178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/clacs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/clacs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/clacs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}