"Cuba did not become a world-class sugar producer until the 1800s. As a result, the largest waves of enslaved workers arrived later than in the rest of the Caribbean. Perhaps that is one reason why many workers in Cuba were able to preserve the religions, cultural distinctions, and languages they practiced in Africa. One of the many distinct ethnic groups brought to Cuba as slaves were the Congolese. Cuban Congo religion is known as Palo and this excerpt is taken from a recording made at the Asturias sugar mill in Matanzas. “[The song] Ndudu dale vuelta al ingenio-(The spirit is circling the sugar mill) might be unique in that [it] place[s] an important Kongo ritual element in a rural sugar-mill context.