Ayiti
A name associated with the island in Indigenous tradition and widely used today in Haitian Kreyòl as the name of Haiti. Historical spellings and interpretations vary by source.
Museum Reference
Search the Glossary
Definitions are written for public understanding while preserving historical context. Disputed or evolving interpretations are identified rather than presented as settled fact.
Black-and-Red Flag
A flag configuration associated with important phases of Haiti’s revolutionary and early independence history. Its meaning and official use changed across different governments and periods.
Citadelle Laferrière
A monumental mountaintop fortress in northern Haiti constructed during the rule of Henry Christophe as part of a defensive system intended to resist a possible foreign invasion.
Department
One of Haiti’s principal administrative divisions. Departments are subdivided into arrondissements and communes and serve as the museum’s top geographic level beneath the country.
Evidence Confidence
The museum’s internal system for distinguishing primary-source evidence, well-supported secondary interpretation, debated claims, and traditions or legends requiring careful labeling.
Haitian Revolution
The revolutionary struggle that destroyed slavery and French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue and led to the declaration of Haitian independence in 1804.
Marron / Maroon
A person who escaped enslavement and established or joined communities beyond direct colonial control. Maroon resistance took many forms and varied across time and place.
Saint-Domingue
The French colonial name for the western portion of Hispaniola before Haitian independence. It became one of the Atlantic world’s most profitable—and most violently exploitative—plantation colonies.
Taíno
A term commonly used for Indigenous peoples of the Greater Antilles. Modern scholarship continues to refine how identities, languages, political communities, and regional differences are described.
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Learn with the Museum
Learning Guides
Short pathways help visitors interpret sources, understand historical debates, and make meaningful connections across exhibits.
01
How to Read a Historical Source
Learn to examine authorship, date, purpose, audience, context, and possible bias.
Open guide →02
Understanding Maps & Borders
Explore how maps reflect geography, political authority, historical knowledge, and the priorities of their makers.
Open guide →03
Fact, Interpretation & Tradition
Understand the difference between documented evidence, scholarly interpretation, oral history, memory, and legend.
Open guide →04
Haiti’s Geographic Structure
Learn how departments, arrondissements, communes, cities, historic sites, and landmarks relate to one another.
Open guide →05
Revolutionary Haiti: Key Concepts
A guided introduction to enslavement, resistance, emancipation, sovereignty, citizenship, and independence.
Open guide →06
Using the Museum Knowledge Graph
Follow connections among heroes, cities, events, artifacts, monuments, timelines, and reading-room sources.
Open guide →Curatorial Transparency
How the Museum Evaluates Evidence
Ewo Ayiti distinguishes documented facts from interpretation and identifies legitimate historical debates. Myths, traditions, and oral histories may be included when culturally relevant, but they are clearly labeled and placed in context.
Level APrimary-source evidence
Level BMultiple reliable secondary sources
Level CPlausible, debated, or incomplete evidence
Level DTradition, legend, or disputed claim
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Related Museum Resources
Hall of Heroes
Explore figures connected to Haiti’s political, intellectual, military, cultural, and social history.
Geographic Heritage
Discover departments, cities, monuments, historic sites, landscapes, and regional heritage.
Reading Room
Consult books, documents, maps, archival records, scholarship, and museum reference material.
