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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.