In all of the court documents relating to the Witchcraft Trials, Titubas identity is listed as that of an Indian Woman, servant (for example, Warrant vs. Tituba and Sarah Osborne -SWP 745). But as scholars have recently pointed out, somewhere in the development of the Salem lore, Titubas racial heritage has been transformed and confused-thus she appears in texts variously as Negro, half-breed, colored, or half-Indian, half-Negro. Assumptions about her origins range from the island of Barbados to Africa to Native American. This confusion necessarily complicates any understanding of the consequential and critical part traditionally assigned to Tituba; we must consider how racial stereotypes and presumptions have contributed to the varying amounts of blame she is forced to bear.
Posted on: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 17:07:09 +0000
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