Montamentu is an African Caribbean

ecstatic Ecstasy () is a subjective experience of total involvement of the subject with an object of their awareness. In classical Greek literature, it refers to removal of the mind or body "from its normal place of function." Total involvement with a ...

religion found in

Curaçao Curaçao, officially the Country of Curaçao, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in the southern Caribbean Sea (specifically the Dutch Caribbean region), about north of Venezuela. Curaçao includ ...

. Precursors or earlier forms may be seen in ancestor veneration in the 18th century and a 1788 court case in which religionists were condemned by the colonial court for practicing the religion as an act of "lying to the bystanders". In the 1950s a new wave came about, introduced by migrants from the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

. As with most

African diaspora religions African diaspora religions, also described as Afro-American religions, are a number of related beliefs that developed in the Americas in various areas of the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Southern United States. They derive from traditional ...

from the colonial and slavery era, Montamentu is a syncretic religion. Roman Catholic, African and Native American, as well as some Asian deities are revered. Montamentu is accompanied by music. In some cases by tambú drumming, although this is a misnomer. Tambú, proper, is the drum, rhythms, music event, dancing and singing combined in a festive, non-religious setting. Also: in some ceremonies the music is provided by musical records from Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti or Venezuela. Sometimes there is chanting without drums.Bernadina, F. M. (1981). Montamentoe: een beschrijvende en analyserende studie van een Afro-Amerikaanse godsdienst op Curaçao: 21

Notes

Afro-Caribbean religion African diaspora in the Dominican Republic Religion in the Dominican Republic {{religion-stub