Origin, religion and language are generally considered the main elements drawn upon in the creation of an ethnic group. Indeed, in order to succeed in integrating into the local society, the returnees drew upon their 'stay' in Brazil, which was the only thing common to them all, given their diverse ethnic origins. It is almost as if slavery was taken as the starting point for a new life, as if it was predestined to be the new common origin. It was indeed, therefore, the culture acquired in Brazil that controlled the process. The Portuguese language and the Catholic religion were thus used to compose the new collective identity, which in reality corresponded to the identity of the Brazilians already established in the region.  
The inclusion of the formerly enslaved people as citizens in society at large thus occurred by means of their identification with the members of the Brazilian colony, a fact that is recognized by all those within this social group, who indistinctly call each other Agudás. It is therefore possible to say that the former slave traders and those who were sold as enslaved people succeeded in socially overcoming the seemingly insurmountable contradiction between their initial social conditions to together form a social group strong enough to  
consolidate the economic and social advantages already acquired by the first Brazilians to settle in the region.  
Being an Agudá in Benin today means sharing a common memory in relation to a series of achievements and a 'Brazilian' way of being. To better understand this situation, we can break down into three successive periods the process by which this social identity was constructed (Guran, 1996, 2000, 2010).