Dr. Buzzard
From Association of Independent Readers and Rootworkers
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Dr. Buzzard is both one of the most well-known and, at the same time, most mysterious African American root doctors of the early 1900s. Various sources state that his given name was Stepheney Robinson, with the first name also spelled Stephney or Stephany. As best we know he was born on Saint Helena Island, just off the mainland of South Carolina, at a date estimated to have been anywhere between 1860 and 1885. He died in 1947, supposedly of stomach cancer, at an age ranging from 62 to 87 -- with a post-Emancipation birth date far more likely, as he never mentioned having been born in slavery, although it is said that his African-born father was held as a slave.
Clients came from all over the nation to seek Dr. Buzzard's services, most notably his help in legal matters, and he was known for his prowess in obtaining dismissals and verdicts of innocence for his clients in a time and place where racism, race-hatred, and enforced segregation were the norm. His fame is complicated by the fact that after he retired, as well as after his death, more than a dozen pretenders took his name in an attempt to cash in on his reputation. These "Little Buzzards," as they came to be called, ruined many sincere attempts to learn the birth date and life history of the original Dr. Buzzard, thus rendering a once and a highly regarded member of his community into a sort of metaphysical franchise, with a name that signified mystery and obscurity. By the 1930s, when the folklorist Harry. M. Hyatt travelled the South and asked people what they knew of Dr. Buzzard, his Black informants variously reported that Dr. Buzzard was dead, was alive, was retired, was still working, was Black, was White, was middle-aged, was very old, lived in this town or that town, or had been replaced by a flock of "Little Buzzards" -- with each person telling Hyatt what they knew about their own local "Dr. Buzzard."
Dr. Buzzard lived and worked in the Low Country, around Beaufort, South Carolina, and along the islands of the Gullah coast of Georgia and South Carolina. The word Gullah derives from the region of Africa now known as Angola, and was a term applied to an ethnic group of people who were enslaved in the Low Country during the 19th century. They are also called Geechie Gullah people, with Geechie derived from the Ogeechee River in Georgia, a Muskogan word meaning "River of the Yuchi," commemorating the Yuchi tribe who lived there until European colonization destroyed their culture. As a Geechie Gullah root doctor of considerable power who fought for his clients in the spiritual realm against governmental and legal injustices, Dr. Buzzard was known far and wide, but few would openly talk about him. Even the exact location of his grave is a secret, known only to a select few, to keep it from being pillaged by seekers of his graveyard dirt or other remnants of the famed conjurer.
There are multiple tales of how Dr. Buzzard obtained his 'mantle,' the source of his powers. One such tale says that he learned his skills from his father, a purported witch doctor, who was trafficked from West Africa to the United States during one of the last known smuggling runs in the late 1850s. On the other hand, it is also said that Buzzard himself shared the tale that he received his mantle when a Mockingbird landed on his head, and that from that point forward he had what he called "the sight."
Stories of his power are legendary. In one account it was said that Dr. Buzzard had in his possession a magical seashell which was a direct line to Satan that he would use to contact the Devil should anyone cross him up. Another person shared a story of an ill-fated Gullah fishing expedition in which the fishermen, having had incredible success in their endeavor, overloaded their large boat with fish and had to make the return trip in their smaller boat. A storm killed all involved. Not long after, the boat loaded with fish returned to port on its own with a Buzzard perched on top, providing the proof needed that this was the work of Dr. Buzzard. He was most well-known for his practice of chewing the root -- releasing a sacred plant's magical power by chewing on it -- and spitting the powerful juice wherever necessary to manipulate the outcome of a court case. Witnesses to Dr. Buzzard’s courtroom appearances said that it was guaranteed to be a spectacle when he arrived on behalf of one of his clients, for by all reports he was a striking presence whenever he appeared in town. Descriptions reveal him to have been a gaunt man who wore loose, funereally black clothing. His eyes were hidden behind a pair of dark blue tinted glasses, regardless if it was day or night, to ensure that no one could look directly into his eyes, give him the evil eye, or interfere with his own control of his will. In the years since his passing, he has become both an icon and a Spirit Guide to many.
Credits
This page is brought to you by the AIRR Tech Team:
- Author: Reverend Art
- Contributors: cat yronwode, nagasiva yronwode, Reverend James, Papa Newt, Lukianos
- Image: AI (Night Café), with prompts by Deacon Millett, photo-edited by nagasiva yronwode and cat yronwode
