This chapter focuses on watershed moments in the evolution of the Rastafari in order to provide sociohistorical context, to illustrate instances of disruption in their ethnogenesis, as well as to situate personal identity formation within the context of ethnogenesis. By drawing our attention to the birth and evolution of a people, the ethnogenesis approach offers us the opportunity to delve into the dynamics of collective identity formation, especially the social interactions, conflict, disruptions, and unanticipated outcomes involved. Thus, the chapter combines the focus on ethnogenesis with the concepts of “perturbation” and “self-organization,” in order to emphasize the contingency, unpredictability, and increasing complexity involved in Rastafari ethnogenesis.