The fact that a number of people in Africa and the Atlantic diaspora have employed the word “mermaid” to describe certain entities should not mislead us to assume that they perceived these beings in ways bound by European-Atlantic views of mermaids. Indeed, it appears the term “mermaid” has served primarily as a lexical and cultural point of contact to open dialogue between the people of African and European descent in the Atlantic world when contemplating the meanings of the female entities with spiritual power that also inhabit water. Recent usage of the term supports this interpretation. People in Central Africa, West Africa and in the Atlantic diaspora have employed “mermaid” and equivalent terms in other European languages (“sirène” in French, “sereia” in Portuguese, and “sirena” in Spanish) in ways not restricted to the specific definitions, concepts, and images associated with these words in European languages. Certainly, the use of mermaid terms accompanied the influence of European-based perceptions of mermaids in African-Atlantic cultures. Still, such an influence did not necessarily subvert or even change the core meanings of female water spirits in pre-existing beliefs and practices.
Ras Michael Brown, "But The Mermaid Did Not Rise Up": The Death Of A Simbi In The Carolina Lowcountry.