A Simbi is a Central African guardian spirit of the water and nature in traditional Bakongo religion, as well as in African diaspora spiritual traditions, such as Hoodoo in the southern United States and Palo in Cuba. Simbi have been historically identified as water people, or mermaids, pottery, snakes, gourds, and fire. Due to the Atlantic slave trade, a large percentage of Bantu peoples were either bought or stolen from Africa to the Americas. This forced migration of over 12.5 million people is the main reason that the veneration of simbi exists today in countries, such as the United States, Brazil, Cuba, and Haiti.