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CAST 5008PANYARDSTUDIES
REPORT ON PAMBERI PANYARD.
Aneshia Beach (ID# - 67803)SUBMITTED 17TH JANUARY 2015
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Why did Trinidad’s Carnival take root differently from the other
Caribbean Islands?
Trinidad and Tobago’s Carnival has been heralded by locals and
foreigners alike as “The Greatest Show on Earth”. The season is
resplendent with colour and vivacity, a direct reflection of the
vibrancy of the people. It is said that the country basically
‘shuts down’ as locals and foreigners alike take to the street in
this mass celebration of a country’s history and freedom. In a
historically Catholic and intrinsically Eurocentric society, it
has always been taught that the Carnival celebration is of a
strictly French origin which was later picked up by the slaves
and free coloureds as a form of mimicry of the plantocracy. While
the French involvement in the festival’s origin is pivotal, there
are many factors as to why the Trinidad Carnival is so different
from that which is held in colonies with a distinct French
colonial history such as New Orleans and Haiti. This study seeks
to elucidate that Trinidad’s Carnival in its uniqueness, was born
out of many West African traditions forcibly intertwined with the
European culture after the Cedula of Population of 1783 breathed
new life into this small island.
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The word ‘carnival’ is derived from the Latin root word “carnem
valere” which means a farewell to meat. It is Trinidad’s greatest
annual celebration which begins on Boxing Day (a British holiday
celebrated on the day after Christmas day) and culminates with a
mass street parade on the Monday and Tuesday before the beginning
of the Lenten season (Ash Wednesday). Those engaged in this
massive street parade are said to be ‘playing mas’, a term
derived from the masquerade balls of the French elite and the
masking of the West Africans. The Carnival Monday morning begins
with an early morning mud mas or J’ouvert celebration where
people of different backgrounds take to the streets after
midnight covering themselves with mud and paint, a celebration
that goes back to 19th century. Later that Monday and on Tuesday,
masqueraders adorn themselves with elaborate costumes and partake
in what is called ‘pretty mas’ with the aim of crossing the
savannah stage in the capital city or any particular spectator
points in different pockets of the island.
There are many disputed theories of exactly when the Carnival
season began in Trinidad but what is certain is that this
festival was born out of the need of different groups, both the
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oppressed and oppressor, to express themselves and display their
culture in a foreign land. During this season the country is
abuzz with activity in the pan yards, calypso tents, mas camps
and soca fetes. It is a period of gaiety where the locals display
all of their talents and revel in it while the foreigners are in
awe at the effervescence and unity displayed. It is an all-
inclusive affair where the now immortalized words of Patrick
Castagne “Here every creed and race/ Find an equal place” ring
true. From the elaborate costumes to the competitive nature of
those involved, Carnival is nothing short of amazing as out of a
history of colonialism and suffering this great celebration was
born.
In order to understand where Carnival began on the island, one
must take into account the history of colonization and each
group’s contribution. Trinidad had long been a forgotten colony
after its capture by the Spanish in the 1500’s. Bartolome de Las
Casas accounts that “In 1516, one of these adventurers (Juan
Bono) made his way there with sixty or seventy men experienced in
the ways of robbery and announced that he and his men were coming
to settle on the island and to live alongside the native
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people.”(9) Although there were early accounts of what seemed
like some sort of interest in the island, this did not last long
for the Spanish. Trinidad’s geographic location as the
southernmost island and its lack of mineral wealth (gold and
silver) led to it attracting little attention from the Spanish
colonisers. C.R. Ottley in his work The Story of Port of Spain
notes that “This regal attitude was to have its repercussions on
Trinidad in full measure in the years which were ahead.”(4) One
such repercussion is Trinidad Carnival.
Before the 18th century, Trinidad was relatively under developed
and under populated comprising mainly of Spanish settlers and the
Amerindian community who managed to survive the diseases, rapes
and murders that the Europeans wrought on their race. As the
first European group in Trinidad, their culture would have not
only affected the landscape, but the intangible aspects of a new
Trinidad was beginning to take shape. Although it has been
famously stated that the French introduced the carnival type
atmosphere, the Spanish’s own history of Carnival would have
influenced the island.
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Spanish landowners who came directly from Spain would have known
of the Carnivals in many Spanish towns such as Madrid, Barcelona
and Aragon where there were celebrations and feasting after the
conquests of the Moors. There were simulated battles in the
streets between Christian and Moorish bands representing good
versus evil. These soon became associated with religious
festivities and were therefore held on the three days preceding
the Lenten season. It was known for gambling, bullfights,
weddings, masquerade parties and dances. This aspect of the pre-
Lenten feasting and celebrating was transported across the
Atlantic to Trinidad.
Andrew Carr states that “It has been thought by some that there
might have well been a modest form of the festival in Spanish
times prior to 1783.”(363) The Spanish in Trinidad frequently
engaged in a lot of merriment, often forcibly mixing with the
Amerindian women and utilizing the resources of the land at their
leisure. The Amerindian community though, remained uninvolved in
the festivities. Spanish peons, (those born in the new world),
the majority of whom were in fact half Indian, portrayed Wild
Indians of South America in the later years. The Spaniards were
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in full celebratory mode on this territory and they were found to
be consuming “great quantities of rum and simulating bow and
arrow combat in their dances while costumed with motifs and
chivalry.” (Liverpool 89) They were known to usually party around
Christmas time moving from house to house visiting and serenading
their friends. “This house to house musical stop became known as
a ‘parang’ from the Spanish verb ‘parar’ meaning to stop.”
(Liverpool 88). The parang is still found today among the local
inhabitants during the Christmas (pre carnival) season. Some were
even found to party from Christmas until the beginning of the
Lenten season creating this party type atmosphere in this little
forgotten island. One can say that this is the initial stage of
the celebratory atmosphere that would lead to the solidification
of carnival’s place in Trinidad.
Although the island remained relatively untouched two hundred
years after the first European inhabitants’ arrival, there was a
need to develop it but with the aid of outsiders. There was, in
1783, a management plan devised by the Spanish to encourage
settlers from the French islands to populate and develop
Trinidad, with a promise of free land and guaranteed profits.
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This plan was known as the Cedula of Population. Perceived as the
catalyst that shifted Trinidad’s history, the Cedula shifted
Trinidad from being a Spanish and Amerindian state to one with a
mixture of Indigenous, African and European peoples all
endeavouring to salvage some aspect of their culture. C.R. Ottley
noted that in 1797 the young capital of Port of Spain comprised
of “a motley collection of French, Spanish, Italian, African and
American peoples. They were black, white and coloured.”(9) It is
this multifaceted frame upon which Trinidad Carnival was built.
Due to the Cedula of population, there was a mass influx of
French settlers, the majority from neighbouring islands while
some came from the mainland. Carr notes that in 1783, there were
126 white Spaniards and 245 free coloureds while in 1797 there
were 150 white Spaniards and 200 free coloureds compared to the
2250 French whites and 4700 free coloureds. The French brought
with them their own form of celebration named what we know it as
today, Carnival. Due to their being in the majority of the white
population (95% of whites according to Michael Anthony) they had
a great influence over the cultural practices and language of the
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island. They came with a remarkable history of Carnival in
France. The French adopted their carnival traditions during the
medieval period of 1200 - 1400 where there was a revival of the
Roman “Lupercalia” (the mad carnival of Rome). This was a period
of complete license granted to citizens. Historian Edward Gibbon
noted that “all social barriers were down, and slave and
freedman, patrician and pauper, ran riot in the streets of Rome
hand in hand.” (Liverpool 85) There were accounts of overtly
sexual behavior and nudity, rape and som0etimes even murder. That
period of celebration spread throughout Europe even to France but
at the fall of the Roman Empire, that form of carnival died with
it.
Upon its medieval revival, the gaiety of the festival returned
taking a more humourous and mocking stance against the serious
tone of the society. There are accounts of prodigious Mardi Gras
parades in Romans, a town south east of Lyons in 1560 but the
carnival eventually degenerated into a form of rebellion against
the government and taxes. Christians began to associate their
pre-Lenten preparations with the carnival celebrations partaking
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in excessive feasting and revelry the two days before Ash
Wednesday. It was their method of ridding their bodies of all
forms of carnal sin by engaging in it in its entirety for two
days, (a practice still engaged in by many Christians on the
island). Effigies of the French monarchy were hung throughout
the streets and there was a lot of satire at the expense of the
ruling classes. A ban was placed on the Mardi Gras celebrations
in France prior to the French Revolution which lasted from 1789 –
1805. The French who came to Trinidad therefore appreciated the
fact that they could have fêted (partied) during the pre-Lenten
season with no restrictions imposed on them. The elite French in
Trinidad wore disguises like the French Marquis and Marquise,
English noblemen and noblewomen, Swiss damsels etc. Aspects of
their celebration were to poke fun at the enslaved and free
coloureds who were debarred from engaging in their festivities.
The performance of Canne Brulees (burning of the canes) was one
such example as they mocked the action of the slaves who were
sent to the cane fields to extinguish fires that were randomly
set. They even mimicked the extravagant dress of the mulatresse
(woman of mixed African and European heritage) and the pitiable
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attire of the negre jardin (field Negro). Their celebrations were
marked by elaborate feasts, masked balls (fetes champetres) and
visiting their friends and families around the island. The French
brought with them, apart from the merriment, the organization and
some names of aspects of the festival that we know today such as
Carnival, Dimanche Gras and J’ouvert.
It can be assumed that both cultures, European and African,
contained some sort of similarities in their celebrations before
they even met in the new world. Historians like Robert Tallant
noted that this was no coincidence as he studied the origins of
Carnival. He stated that these feasts and merriment began in
Egypt and was then transplanted to Greece and Rome therefore
making its way to other European nations. There was therefore a
cultural cycle occurring as the French and their culture of
Carnival, which, upon exploring, originated in East Africa were
about to have their traditions intermingled with the West
Africans in the New World through slavery.
Slaves were brought from the French territories to Trinidad and
in order for the sugar industry to grow rapidly, large imports of
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slaves were made from West Africa. An excerpt of a memoir
published in CLR James’ The Black Jacobins describes the African
slaves as “unjust, cruel, barbarous, half human, treacherous,
deceitful, thieves, drunkards, proud, lazy, unclean, shameless,
jealous to fury, and cowards.” (17) Sentiments such as this
expressed by a French settler strove to justify the inhumane
treatment of the blacks therefore presenting the idea that the
Europeans, namely the French, who were now populating Trinidad
were in no way intent on crediting the African slaves on having
any effect on their culture or on that of the colony. It was
believed that the African’s lacked the mental capacity to retain
any of their former traits and were simply mimicking the
metropolitan classes. Dr. Hollis Liverpool corroborates this
assertion as he states “Little or no credit has been given to the
thousands of Africans who settled in the colony as enslaved men
and women.” (Liverpool, H. 3). The belief that there is no trace
of African history in Trinidad Carnival is severely flawed and
may even be dangerous in an attempt to understand our colonial
history.
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The Slave Registration Order of 1812 revealed that the majority
of enslaved Africans in Trinidad were Igbos from Southern Nigeria
(39.4%), Mandingoes from Senegambia, Yoruba’s and Alladas from
Benin and Dahomey, Kongos from the Congo Basin and Asantes from
the Gold Coast.” (Liverpool 9) It has been discovered that each
civilization had their own form of celebration mirroring the
rituals performed in the modern carnival. Corey Gilkes in his
essay, “Afro Caribbean Resistance” states “Carnival has its roots
in African festivals still celebrated today such as the Egungun
festival of Nigeria which lasts anywhere between 17 days to 3
months. (March to May) These festivals present all that is
existing in Trinidad Carnival such as reversal of social station,
gay revelry, pantomime, street parades…music and masking. The use
of the mask is as old as humanity: people wore animal skins and
heads and “became” the deity or totem they represented.” Gilkes
also noted that the hat worn by the midnight robber has been
found to be worn by high priests and priestesses of Yoruba. The
African slaves, much like the Spanish and French who occupied the
island prior to their arrival, managed to retain a lot of their
cultural heritage in this new land.
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Dr. Liverpool’s works Rituals of Power and Rebellion and Origins
of Rituals and Customs in the Trinidad Carnival highlight many
aspects of the African culture that were transplanted to Trinidad
prior to the slaves’ emancipation in 1838. Masking was a very
important aspect of African tradition as it precedes the age of
written history in Africa. The Dogon people along the cliffs of
the river Niger made Kanaga masks representing animals and birds
while the Bambara people made masks in association with ancestral
worship. In Igbo land (South Eastern Nigeria), secret societies
would appear masked at night as supernatural beings almost taking
on a new persona much like the J’ouvert masqueraders as they
begin celebrating in the wee hours of carnival Monday morning
often masked or covered in mud embodying a totally different
persona compared to how they present themselves on a daily basis.
This is due to the ancient African belief that masking was a
representation of spirit associated transformation where masks
allow the wearer to eliminate their personalities. It can be
inferred that the slaves would don masks and hold celebrations of
their own while the French were gaily feasting, in an attempt to
escape their harsh reality and hold onto their traditions.
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Other than masking, many other aspects of the African culture is
still present in today’s carnival. The Gelede Masquerade
(spectacles performed by the Yoruba people in Nigeria) featured
dances dictated by drums, satirical speeches, and satirical
costumes emphasizing buttocks and breasts similar to the Dame
Lorraine still present today. The Egungun masqueraders openly
criticized those in authority much like today’s calypsonians,
while the Pierrot Grenade, (Appendix B) is also a direct
descendant of Egungun (Yoruba masquerades or masked, costumed
figure connected with ancestor worship). The Moko Jumbie can be
found in a Ketu town in West Yoruba land, near the Dahomean
border. They were called Gagalo stilt dancers who came out at the
annual festival to honour the supernatural protector of the town.
Maskers portraying devils and wild Indians like the Igbo “Ogollo”
whipped each other much like they do today. Body painting linked
the masker to the ancestral world and coloured cloth as used in
the Egungun masquerades, portrayed the glory of a lineage.
Feathers which adorn many a modern masquerader demonstrated the
ability of the spirits to fly to different worlds while the
beads, also found in modern mas date back to antiquity in Africa
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used on garments, costumes, diviners bags and secular objects.
Cowrie shells, mirrors and any reflective item represented eyes
that allowed the masked spirits to see in different directions
simultaneously. Umbrellas were also used as symbols of rank.
These and many others are examples of the types of celebrations
present in West Africa prior to them being uprooted and
transported to Trinidad. The ability of the African people to
maintain their culture under such harsh conditions in an
oppressive environment was quite extraordinary.
“Africans in Trinidad remembered the harvest in Africa, which was
usually accompanied by masking and masquerades. For them, harvest
was a time to praise their God and their ancestors. The sight of
the whites dancing in their ballrooms also gave the Africans an
additional reason to fete, to masquerade and to ritualize the
Cannes Brulles.” ‘Tarzan’ Walla, a deceased stickfighter and
descendant of a slave who was involved in the early carnival
celebrations in Trinidad remarked on how the Africans maintained
their cultural practices as it coincided with the European period
of merriment. How it was done was through a creolisation process
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as they mixed all of their West African cultures along with their
new experiences to form one that would be viewed as indigenous to
Trinidad. “Shaped and modified by the new environment, elements
of African folklore, textiles, sculpture, architecture, music,
language and religion were transplanted in the Americas to
initiate the African Continuum: African civilizations reflected
in the aesthetic, social and metaphysical traditions of the New
World.” (Liverpool 19) In a state of oppression and grave
cruelty, the forms of African celebrations and ritual are mainly
what held this race of people intact and it is in the
opportunities taken during the period of French feasting and
gaiety to have their own celebrations, many of the African
rituals remained. The fact that slavery in Trinidad lasted for
roughly 50 years as opposed to the approximately 200 years in the
other colonies gave the slaves in Trinidad a greater opportunity
to retain a great deal of their native culture as their lineage
would have been closer aligned with the mainland.
After the English gained control of the colony from the Spanish
in 1797, some new changes took place that also affected the
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island. Martial Law was imposed during the Christmas season due
to a fear of rioting in the island as there was much partying
taking place during this time. The Spanish tradition of heavy
partying during the Christmas season was therefore transferred to
the pre-Lenten period of merriment brought by the French. The
British’s contribution also lessened the three day Carnival
celebration to two.
Although the festivities of the British were not on such a grand
scale as that of the French, they still engaged in “Harvest Home”
festivals celebrating the wheat and corn harvest. Barbados and
Jamaica has been greatly influenced by British and African
festivals and have developed their Cropover and Yam festivals
respectively which are similar to the Carnival but Trinidad’s
French colonial history sets it apart from the other British
colonies. The British also acknowledged Shrove Tuesday, a day
before the beginning of Lent when they would feast on pancakes as
they would rid their homes of flour and eggs in preparation for
the fasting period. Although the pancake-day did not continue on
the island, the English found themselves engaging in the
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festivities brought by the French and the Africans. Although
Carnival has a high African and French influence, the presence of
the British was definitely felt on the island. The Boer War, a
struggle between the British and Dutch for supremacy in South
Africa, broke out in 1899 which led to chantwells singing
calypsos in English instead of French Creole as a show of
allegiance thereby changing the entire style of calypso.
The carnival in Trinidad could have been viewed from two
different social frames. With regard to the French, it was a
period of social exclusion as they would maintain their feelings
of superiority over the blacks and free coloureds barring them
from their festivities. For the African slaves though, it became
a period of rebellion and protest simply by displaying their
native dances and songs as well as new cultural spectacles that
were based on their experiences on the plantation. Despite
reports by the planters, enslavement in Trinidad was extremely
harsh and there was an air of grave discontent which the planters
felt.
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Apart from the numerous methods of outright rebellion such as
poisoning of their masters, the carnival season was an outlet for
the African slaves to express themselves and feel some level of
freedom. The slaves in Trinidad lived in the town areas of the
island as opposed to other colonies where the slaves were located
in the rural areas. The slaves were therefore in greater numbers
near where the whites were gathered in great celebrations
allowing them to congregate in abundant numbers and take part in
festivities of their own. It seemed as though pre emancipation
Carnival was a result of social conflict between the free and
unfree where the Blacks viewed the whites with contempt and the
whites tried to contain the blacks for fear of a revolt. In 1810
Africans were not allowed to carry sticks as they could have been
used as a weapon or a tool for stickfighting. That was just one
small instance of how a simple tool used in the Carnival
celebrations of the blacks struck fear in the hearts of the
whites.
It was in the Carnival of 1839 that the slaves were able to take
to the streets to openly present their discontent for the whites
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which was confined to the plantation areas for almost 50 years.
It is there that we see the formation of what is our carnival
today as the slaves were free to celebrate their new found
emancipation in the streets in the capital city. The different
cultures collided into a mass celebration of colour, revelry and
chaos. This new carnival was heavily criticized by the planter
class and the former slaves had to fight to retain it. The
history of its development is filled with battles to preserve it
such as the Canboulay riots of 1881 and marks of development like
Ignacio Bodu (Papa Bodi) introducing competitions among the bands
for a prize in 1900. Although the whites viewed the blacks with
contempt the whites eventually grew to enjoy the carnival
celebrations of the masses. All of the influences of colonialism
and slavery; Amerindian, Spanish, French, African and British
were and are still on full display.
“It is about fighting for something because that is what Carnival
came out of, fighting for self and for your right.” (Ottley 2012)
The Carnival celebrations of Trinidad didn’t just happen by
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chance but took root out of the need for self-identification by
the many different groups that came. It can therefore be
understood that the Carnival of Trinidad cannot be classed with
others as although the island shares a colonial past with its
Caribbean brothers and sisters, the influences were definitely
different and far wider. It is this difference that leads all who
witness this spectacle to proclaim that this is indeed “The
Greatest Show on Earth”.
Works Cited
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Anthony, Michael. "Historical Dictionary of Trinidad and Tobago." Latin American Historical Dictionaries #26 (1997): 103-106. Print.
Brereton, Bridget. An Introduction to the History of Trinidad and Tobago. Oxford: Heinemann Educational Publishers, 1996. Print.
Carr, Andrew T. "Trinidad Carnival ." Caribbean Quarterly, Trinidad Carnival issue, 4.3 & 4 (1956): 207-363. Print.
De Las Casas, Bartolome. A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies (Translated by Nigel Griffin). London, : Penguin Group, 1992. Document.
Gilkes, Corey. "Afro Caribbean Resistance." 23rd February 2003. mascotts2000.com. Web. 21st October 2014.
James, C. L. R. The Black Jacobins. New York: Random House, Inc., 1963. Print.
Liverpool, Hollis. Rituals of Power and Rebellion: The Carnival Tradition in Trinidad andTobago, 1763 - 1962. Chicago: Frontline Distribution International Inc., 2001. Print.
Liverpool, Hollis Urban. "Origins of Rituals and Customs in the Trinidad Carnival: African or European?" TDR (1988-) 42.3 (1998): 24-37. Print.
Ottley, C. R. The Story of Port of Spain. Port of Spain: Charran Educational Publishers, 1961. Print.
Ottley, Rudolph. ""Barack yard to Big Stage" East Port of Spain Sparked TT's Carnival Revolution." Newsday Sunday Newspaper 19th February 2012: 12B. Print.