mami wata is a water spirit revered in parts of west, central, and southern africa, as well as within parts of the black diaspora in the americas. because she's so widespread, her appearance and purpose tend not to have one consistent form, with the variations on her name and her status as a water spirit being the most common unifying elements. she's usually shown to be half-woman and half-fish and is sometimes associated with snakes, who are considered water creatures in many western and central african cultures.
although water spirits, along with other elements which make up mami wata, have been present throughout the cultures which later adopted her for centuries, what evidence there is indicates that the concept of mami wata emerged with the first encounters of west africans with europeans in the 15th century, when said elements were merged with the image of the european mermaid (a common motif on european ship helms). the form and purpose she took went on to be molded by local traditions. she traveled with africans who were trafficked to the americas and appears in some african diasporic religions, including her continuation as a vodún in the different american variations of the practice. she also sometimes takes on christian and (from the arrival of indians in west/central africa in the 19th-20th centuries) hindu imagery.
the images shows ovimbundu, yaure, efik, baule/guro, sierra leonean, and haitian figures of mami wata respectively. click on the alt text to learn more about them.
