By Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. In his book, “L’Oiseau Nègre: L’Aventure des Pintades Dionysiaques”, Jean-Marie Lamblard follows pintades from Pharaonic Egypt to Alexandria, Greece, Abyssinia, Venice, Africa, and America in reverse order and includes the role of “oiseaux negres” in Haitian Vodou, where they are a symbol of the runaway slave because these birds reclaimed their freedom immediately after being introduced on the island in the early 16th century.