'''''Dechoukaj''''' is a Haitian Creole term that literally means "uprooting". It is used primarily to refer to the political upheaval in Haiti following the exile of dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier on February 7, 1986. During the ''dechoukaj'' many ordinary Haitian peasants and city dwellers exacted revenge on their oppressors, including members of the ''Tonton Macoutes''.<ref name=zephir52>Zephir (2004), p. 52.</ref> The ''dechoukaj'' especially affected the institution of the Haitian Vodou religion, whose principals and traditions had been strongly and directly tied to the dictators and used to exert control over the population.<ref>Taylor (2001), pp. 110, 122.</ref>
==See also== *History of Haiti
==Notes== {{reflist}}
==References== *{{citation|last=Taylor|first=Patrick|title=Nation Dance: Religion, Identity and Cultural Difference in the Caribbean|publisher=Bloomington Indiana University Press|date=2001|isbn=978-0-253-10858-6}} *{{citation|last=Zephir|first=Flore |authorlink=Flore Zéphir |title=The Haitian Americans|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|date=2004|isbn=978-0-313-32296-9}} Category:1986 in Haiti Category:Political history of Haiti Category:Human rights in Haiti
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