Oshossi

Oshóssí quickly unleashes his arrow; we see him only to embrace a shadow. Oshóssí, the handsome archer with the sexy voice, came originally from Ketu in the former Òyó Empire, whence many slaves were kidnapped to Brazil. His symbols are the bow and arrow, often wrought in iron as a holy symbol, and the huntsman’s flywhisk. In the New World, where bowhunting and the forest were Native American signifiers, he gained a feather headdress, a jaguar skin, and considerable anxiety re: getting Fatebound into cultural appropriation.

But there’s depth behind the awkwardness. Another of Oshóssí’s symbols is three parallel arrows, which represent not only his marksman’s eye but also the strength of unity. He and his brother Ògún bickered all the time over hunting grounds until Èshù heckled them for not getting any hunting done while arguing. Thereafter, Ògún cleared brush with his machete and Oshóssí crept along behind to shoot game. So Oshóssí embodies the relationship between Africans and American Indians. When African captives escaped into the Amazon rainforest, American swamps, or Haitian backcountry, the First Nations helped them adapt their survival skills to new territory. Then, as Europeans systematically exterminated indigenous peoples and belief systems, some of their religious figures passed into African keeping and became Òrìshà.

Oshóssí’s parenting style is quiet and patient. A consummate hunter, he watches and listens more than he speaks, but his words are concise, beautiful, and memorable. His Scions are frequently multiracial, cross-cultural adoptees, or immigrants, living on the threshold between demographics. They love to explore; no social or geographic territory is too dangerous for them