Dahomey Amazons warriors are also the main focus and written about in Layon Gray's stage play "Black Sparta". The Dora Milaje, army/bodyguards to the "Black Panther", are based partially off the Dahomey Amazons. In Zora Neale Hurston’s "", 86 year old Cudjo Lewis, the last known survivor of the slaver Clotilda, describes his own capture by Dahomey Amazons when he was 19 years old. Dahomey Amazons The Dahomey Amazons or Mino, which means "our mothers," were a Fon all-female military regiment of the Kingdom of Dahomey in the present-day Republic of Benin which lasted until the end of the 19th century. They
Dahomey with surrounding populations; however, it also developed unique ceremonies, beliefs, and religious stories for the kingdom. These included royal ancestor worship and the specific vodun practices of the kingdom. Early kings established clear worship of royal ancestors and centralized their ceremonies in the Annual Customs of Dahomey. The spirits of the kings had an exalted position in the land of the dead and it was necessary to get their permission for many activities on earth. Ancestor worship pre-existed the kingdom of Dahomey; however, under King Agaja, a cycle of ritual was created centered on first celebrating the ancestors of the