Cajón pa' los Muertos ceremonies are relatively unknown compared to other forms of Afro-Cuban religious music.  As such, this is the first in-depth study of these heterodox musical ceremonies for the dead, which combine Espiritismo, Palo, and Santería, among other religious practices.

            Grupo Cuero y Cajón, from Pogolotti, Marianao (Havana), are the case study for this thesis.  Personal fieldwork with them over the past six years has led to this presentation of the drum rhythms they use as well as over two hundred songs from their repertoire, analyzed for their cultural and spiritual significance.

            This thesis is written from the framework of transculturation and foregrounds the role of musicians in the emergence of new traditions through the use of cohesive acts.  It also studies the antecedents of Cajón, issues of pragmatism in ritual, Cajón as a site of preservation and innovation, and suffering as expressed in popular religion.