March 14 Shero: Tituba

(late 17th century)

Tituba was an African American - Native American healer from Barbados, persecuted as a "witch." The slave of a Salem, Massachusetts minister who brought her from Barbados to the US, Tituba shunned the Puritan lifestyle and religion. She was feared for openly practicing her cultural rituals and sought after as a healer.

Ignorance and hysteria fueled the 1692 witchhunts and she was among the accused. Her trial began in march of 1692 and her petition for release was granted on February 21, 1693.