Jannes Martínez

We met Cuban American Jannes through a Puerto Rican colleague in Seattle, Washington. When we visited Jannes, we were immersed in a lively Cuban-Puerto Rican community in Seattle dating back to the 1970s when local stores prohibited them from entry. She is in her forties, and yet she is an elder in Afro-Cuban regla de osha and regla conga. Jannes was initiated into Palo/Congo practices at the age of 9 months and at 2 years old she became a priest of Obatala. Now in her late thirties, she leads a ceremonial community in Seattle and supports her family’s multigenerational sacred practices in Florida. Her Puerto Rican husband is a keeper of the sacred practice of the batá drums. Both lead a spiritual community in Seattle and teach others in the US Pacific Northwest about their spiritual healing traditions.

Jannes Martínez leads regla de osha house in Seattle

Interviews

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Caribbean Women Healers
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