Zombies, Fact or Fiction?

Ryan Luedtke

Origins
Bakongo and Bandundu people in the Congo

Language of Kikongo

Nzambi meant god

Symbols in United States

Zombie movies after World War 2 were symbolic of Americas fear of a
nuclear apocalypse with Russia during the Cold War.

In the 1980s more zombie movies were released because filmmakers

were trying to capture Americans fear of the ongoing plague
(AIDS).

Symbols in Haiti
Zombies in Haitian culture were symbolic of the loss of humanity in
Haiti during the Atlantic slave trade.

Zombies once created were turned

into slaves in Haitian culture.

How were zombies created in Haitian culture?

1. The family of the person would hire a Boker to turn him/her
into a zombie(this was done if the family did not like the
person).
2. The Boker would poison the person with coupe padre which
would temporarily kill the person.(Coup padre is a mixture of
ingredients which was poisonious.
3. The family would bury the person and then the Boker and his
henchmen would dig the person out of his grave.
4. The Boker would then enslave the person for the rest of
his/her life because he could not think for himself due to the

The Story of Clairvius Narcisse

In 1962, two American doctors pronounced Clairvius Narcisse dead at hospital in Haiti.
Clairvius said when he was buried, he was fully aware of what was happening but he
could not move or speak.
He later said he was broken out of his coffin by a Boker and was turned into a zombie then
was enslaved on a sugar plantation.
Clairvius and other zombies managed to escape from the plantation and then Clairivius
returned to his village where he meet his sister for the first time in 18 years.

Kahoot
https://create.kahoot.it/#/quiz/fa60fad7-c224-4913-8b3a-e0f646c38ee7