Obeah and the early Caribbean digital archive

Abstract

In conjunction with this special issue of Atlantic Studies, the Early Caribbean Digital Archive (ECDA)-developed at Northeastern University and available at ecdaproject.org-has created a collaborative archival project, "Obeah and the Caribbean." This project consists, in part, of a digital exhibit of original obeah texts including a number of the primary sources that are discussed throughout the articles in this volume of Atlantic Studies. The ECDA is designed to serve not only as a repository but also as a digital commons and laboratory space for researchers and students interested in the early Caribbean: users of the site can curate, annotate, and discuss early Caribbean materials that are included in the archive. We invite readers of this issue to further engage and experiment with primary sources and to collaborate with other scholars by way of this exhibit and the digital workspace of the ECDA + CoLab. In the brief essay below, we discuss some of the core intellectual issues that inform the ECDA and our project on obeah.