Slaves from plantations in Saint-Domingue hold a Vodou ceremony led by houngan Dutty Boukman at Bois Caïman, marking the start of the Haitian Revolution.

Saint-Domingue was a French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1803. The name derives from the Spanish main city on the island, Santo Domingo, which came to refer specifically to the Spanish-held Captaincy General of Santo Domingo, now the Dominican Republic. The borders between the two were fluid and changed over time until they were finally solidified in the Dominican War of Independence in 1844.

Haitian Vodou is an African diasporic religion that developed in Haiti between the 16th and 19th centuries. It arose through a process of syncretism between several traditional religions of West and Central Africa and Catholicism. There is no central authority in control of the religion and much diversity exists among practitioners, who are known as Vodouists, Vodouisants, or Serviteurs.

Oungan is the term for a male priest in Haitian Vodou. The term is derived from Gbe languages. The word hounnongan means chief priest. Hounnongan or oungans are also known as makandals.

Dutty Boukman was a leader of the Haitian Revolution. Born to a Muslim family in Senegambia, he was initially enslaved in Jamaica. He eventually ended up in Haiti, where he may have become a leader of the maroons and a vodou houngan (priest), however this claim only originated in modern sources.

Bois Caïman was the site of the first major meeting of enslaved blacks during which the first major slave insurrection of the Haitian Revolution was planned.