Croix-des-Bouquets

Croix-des-Bouquets Kwadèbouke
Commune
Croix-des-Bouquets Location in Haiti
Coordinates: 18°34′34″N 72°13′37″W / 18.57611°N 72.22694°W / 18.57611; -72.22694Coordinates: 18°34′34″N 72°13′37″W / 18.57611°N 72.22694°W / 18.57611; -72.22694
Country	Haiti
Department	Ouest
Arrondissement	Croix-des-Bouquets
Area
• Total	5.46 km2 (2.11 sq mi)
Elevation	64 m (210 ft)
Population  (2009)[1]
• Total	284,812
• Density	52,000/km2 (140,000/sq mi)

Croix-des-Bouquets (/ˌkrwɑː deɪ buːˈkeɪ, -bʊ-/,^{[citation needed]} French pronunciation: ​[kʁwa de bukɛ]; Haitian Creole: Kwadèbouke or Kwadèboukè) is a commune in the Ouest department of Haiti. It is located 12.9 kilometers (8.0 mi) to the northeast of Haiti's capital city, Port-au-Prince. Originally located on the shore, it was relocated inland after the 1770 Port-au-Prince earthquake. Due to this fact, it was not as badly affected in the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Croix-des-Bouquets was founded in 1749, by Royal Decree, on land donated by the owners of the Santo, Noailles, Bellanton, and the Argout to Savane d'Oublon Habitations. Legend has it that the city takes its name from a tradition that had the Spaniards passing to deposit bouquets of flowers at the foot of a large cross that was on the land where the city was built. Subsequently, Croix des Bouquets pursues a tradition of beauty through the sculpture of iron, and the village of Noailles is at the heart of this tradition specifically in ode to Haitian artist and sculptor Georges Liautaud.^[2]

Culture[]

Croix-des-Bouquets is a northern suburb in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area. Haiti is world-famous for its exuberant art, richly influenced by nature, history and religion, both Christian and Vodou. The entire village of Croix des Bouquets is a good example of Haitian creativity - it resonates with the sounds of clanging and banging of the mallets and chisels in the process of transforming raw metal into stunning, and often haunting, iron sculptures. The city of Croix-des-Bouquets is on the Plaine du Cul-de-Sac, where many people grow organic foods such as beans, sweet potato, and corn.

People[]

• Wyclef Jean, a Haitian rapper, musician and member of the trio the Fugees, was born in Croix-des-Bouquets, where he lived until he was nine years old.
• Junior Galette, a Haitian-American professional football player, was born in Croix-Des-Bouquets, where he lived until he was 8 years old.
• Michaëlle Jean, (French pronunciation: [mika.ɛl ʒɑ̃]; born September 6, 1957) is a Canadian stateswoman and former journalist who served as Governor General of Canada from 2005 to 2010, the 27th since Canadian Confederation. She is the first Haitian Canadian to hold this office.
• Jason Derulo, was born in Miramar, Florida, a son of Haitian parents. He changed the spelling of his French-sounding surname "Desrouleaux" for "Derulo" his stage name, to facilitate English-speakers.
• Garcelle Beauvais, (French pronunciation: [gaʁsɛl bovɛ]: born November 26, 1966)[1] is a Haitian-American actress, television personality, author, and former fashion model. She was born in Saint-Marc, Haiti,[1] to Marie-Claire Beauvais, a nurse, and Axel Jean Pierre, a lawyer. Best known for her starring roles in the sitcom The Jamie Foxx Show and the crime drama series NYPD Blue She also appeared in the films Coming to America (1988), Wild Wild West (1999) with Will Smith, White House Down (2013), and Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017). In 2020, Beauvais became a main cast member of the reality television series The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. She also co-hosts the daytime talk show The Real alongside Adrienne Bailon, Loni Love, and Jeannie Mai.
• Jimmy Jean-Louis (born August 8, 1968) is a Haitian-American actor and producer best known for his role as "the Haitian" on the NBC television series Heroes.

History[]

On March 22, 1792, the city was the scene of one of the first battles of the Haitian Revolution.^[3]

• Men of color, under the leadership of Pinchinat, Beauvais, and Lambert, took up arms in 1700 to conquer their political and civil rights.

• On September 1791, after the , the royalist whites of La Croix-des-Bouquets made a concordat with the freedmen encamped at Trou-Caïman, which obliged the contractors to execute the national decrees in favor of the freedmen, without restriction, nor protest. The concordat was signed at La Croix-des-Bouquets. The planters were represented by MM De Jumécourt, Lespinasse, Drouillard, Tarbe Lamarre, and the men of color by Beauvais, Riguad, Daguin son, Barthélemy, Joseph Labastille, Daguinaîné, Pierre Café and Pierre Pélerin. The freedmen came to camp at la Croix-des-Bouquets of the deputies who signed in the church of this borough, on September 11, a concordat with the freedmen. On the 10th of October, a deputation of the colonists of la Croix-des-Bouquets, sent by Hanus De Jumécourt, came to Port-Républicain, demanding the execution of this concordat: the deputies were not afraid to obtain anything, and almost even got their throats cut off in the streets. For their part, the freedmen came to fetch them, but the agitators chased them away.

• In 1791, Halaou, the leader of African bands, rebels of the Cul-de-Sac Plain, was killed at Croix-des-Bouquets on February 9th. There was, on that occasion, a general massacre of his gangs by the soldiers of the western region who occupied the village. A few days later, in March, several thousand new free, excited by Sonthonax, vassed Croix-des-Bouquets under the orders of a new chief, named Bébé Coutard. Men of color entrenched themselves in the church, and solved to sell their lives dearly. One of them, Daguin, came out of the ranks armed with a rifle, crossed the crowd of astonishing farmers, and asked to speak to Bébé Coutard. As soon as he was shown he adjusted and shot him with a shot. This stroke of audacity spread terror among the ranks of the new free, who dispersed. General Beauvais continued to occupy Croix-des-Bouquets until June, when the English came to remove Port-Républicain. They then returned to Jacmel. The English occupied the city, and returned to slavery.

• In March 1793 Beauvais abandoned Croix-des-Bouquets, dominated by Borel's party, and went to retreat at Gressier with 500 men.

• In April 1796, Toussaint L'Ouverture wanting to rid Croix-des-Bouquets of the occupying English, had unsuccessfully attack the outposts of the town. The next day he walked in person against the English. His cavalry reconquered four squadrons of hussars commanded by the Count of Manoux. The English, after several brilliant charges, overthrew the republicans, and drove them back to Grands-Bois.

• After the occupation of Port-Républicain by the troops of the LeClerc expedition, General Boudet learned, on February 9, 1802, of the appearance Dessalines in the Cul-de-Sac Plain. There were immediately 2,000 men occupying Croix-des-Bouquets. They extinguished what had been put to some houses as they approached.

• On September 19, 1803, Dessalines took possession of Croix-des-Bouquets.

• The first citizen who represented this commune in the first Chamber of Communes in 1817 was Plomba Ladouceur.

• On January 11, 1859 President Geffrard's troops made their entry into resistance.

• During the Cacos Revolution in 1869, Elfont committed all sorts of depredations in the name of President Salnave. On January 15, 1870, at 7 o'clock in the morning, Generals Saint-Lucien Emmanuel, Salnave's special secretary, Alfred Delva, his finance minister, Errié, Ulysses Obas, Pierre-Paul Saint-Jean, outlawed by decree of December 22, and arrested in arms after Salnave at Anses-à-Pitre, were executed at Croix-des-Bouquets by the triumphant revolution.

•In 1879, Catullo Mirville, commander of the place, took the arms against President Boisrond-Canal. He committed the atrocity of having four of the citizens shot without order. He fell into the woods and passed into the eastern part.

• The Nordists seized Croix-des-Bouquets on June 28, 1889, after the evacuation of the village by General Canal Jeune, whose forces were insufficient.

Prior to the 12 January 2010 earthquake, the once crowded city had been restored. The streets had been cleaned up, wholesale merchants and other commerce had been relocated to Port-au-Prince. Retail commerce which once crowded sidewalks downtown now had a dedicated building.

In the wake of the 12 January 2010 quake, the Cuban medical mission set up a field hospital in the region.^[4]

On 25 February 2021, hundreds of prisoners escaped.

Education[]

One school close by is Anís Zunúzí Bahá'í School to the north east which opened its doors in 1980^[5] which survived the 2010 Haiti earthquake^[6] and its staff were cooperating in relief efforts and sharing space and support with neighbors.^[7] A clinic was run at the school by a medical team from the United States and Canada.^[8] Currently it is a K-10 school and offers classes to transition from Haitian Creole to the French language but also a secondary language in English.^[9] The founders of Institution Chrétienne D'Haïti are seeking to build the Université Chrétienne D'Haïti here.

Another organization is the Haitian-American Caucus (HAC), which runs the École Shalom des Frères (Peace Be With You School of Brothers) in Michaud, a small community in Croix-des-Bouquets. The school is also known as the Alpha Academy and is funded in part by Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. This school was established in 2003 and as of school year 2010-2011, 75 students were enrolled. HAC is only able to accept additional students through child education sponsorships and partnerships with other organizations. Students can be sponsored for $125 a year. M.A.D.E has joined HAC in providing 3 vegetarian meals a week for students. The school also offers community English courses taught by Haitians who went through previous versions of the course, and supplemented with the help of English-speaking volunteers.^[10]

Settlements[]

References[]

External links[]

• Noailles, Croix dex Bouquets Metal Workers Village
• Haiti-x-change by Gary Charles
• Haitian Revolutionary studies by David Patrick Geggus
• 2003 WELOVEHAITI.COM designed by Marcus (marcus@rexnite.com)
• Image courtesy of Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center; http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov