First published in The Tribune on Monday, February 4, 2008 under the byline, Young Man’s View.
BAHAMIAN culture is quickly becoming a hybrid culture that is being corroded almost daily. The food Bahamians consume, the music we often listen to and our dress code is heavily influenced by our exposure to the American way of life, whether via the medium of television, interacting with tourists or by traveling. Bahamians seem to have a voracious yearning to keep up with the Joneses—foreign countries—emulating their fashion, entertainment and various other cultural influences. In short, are Bahamians natural imitators or underrated originators?
Our culture barely seems to be an expression of our African and European ancestry, appearing instead to be a diluted commodity that is rapidly being beleaguered by an invasion of foreign ideas and attitudes, and prostituted in marketing schemes. Although our culture is what makes us Bahamian, our creativity is buried by our knack to copy everything that’s foreign, as we have little to no appreciation or recognition for what we have already created (our architecture, our relation to the sea, our music, our dances, the original form of junkanoo, etc). Since independence, we have grossly neglected our culture!
According to Director of Culture Nicolette Bethel “our history has trained us to disregard and disrespect everything home-grown, and our governments have institutionalized the disrespect.”
Since the docking of the first slave ship in the Bahamas, African culture has been a ubiquitous and dominant social feature. The same can also be said of European cultural influences, which have merged with African customs over several centuries to form very distinct attributes that we all relate to being Bahamian.
These days, even within the Bahamas, Bahamian culture seems to have become dwarfed by Jamaican, Haitian and, even more prevalent, American customs. Frankly, the Bahamas can almost be seen as the fifty-first state or perhaps an extension of the Florida Cays! With the passage of time, Bahamian culture is becoming even more suppressed and is being speedily replaced by an apparent fixation and glorification of all things American (or foreign). When it comes to food, American fast food chains are widespread as many Bahamians seem to have acquired a taste for foreign dishes that competes with their penchant for native dishes. Quite honestly, even Bahamian cuisine is taking a back seat to the hodgepodge of international gastronomy that has now found a home in The Bahamas!
Junkanoo, an extremely popular expression of our heritage, has itself been politically exploited and viewed as a high-priced, money-making scheme that is losing its cultural flare and has, first and foremost, been marketed as a tourist attraction and then seen as a cultural expression. Junkanoo, which was born during the pre-emancipation era, was a grand dance that was organized by the slaves during special holidays at Christmas that gave them an opportunity to reunite with relatives, reconnect with their African heritage and temporarily enjoy themselves while away from the laborious plantation routines. Junkanoo began as a form of passive resistance to slavery. Today, junkanoo has become an excessively commercialized entity, whose original intent has been forgotten.
In speaking of junkanoo and music heard locally, historian Arlene Nash Ferguson said:
“What disturbs me is that Bahamians glorify American and Jamaican music. Jamaican music seems to be the default music among young Bahamians. We must do a better job in helping these youngsters to understand the richness of our musical heritage, as we have the same talent pool and abilities as Jamaicans.”
Mrs Ferguson contends that junkanoo is much more than competition, claiming that it represents a Bahamian spirit that “will not be quenched.”
Ivoine Ingraham, a social activist who holds a contrasting view, said:
“We aint gat no culture no more! Everything about us has been devoured by the US. Bahamians are followers. Junkanoo, an original idea, has been assassinated by greed as artists and artisans now mimic other places rather than build on what we have. We have imported the carnival from Trinidad and Tobago and mixed it with our own thing. We have sacrificed our heritage on the altar of greed for a different kind of product that would be more palatable.”
“Junkanoo, as a whole, was steeped in African origin. Ya see, junkanoo was not as glitzy and glamorous as what is seen today. One time ago, costumes did not have so many mirrors. What’s the point in fringing our costume when it’s covered with mirrors, rhinestones and so forth? How can a judge see if a costume is out of fringe paper with so much decoration on it? Every year the Bahamas’ government wastes hundreds of thousands to send junkanoo experts to Trinidad to learn what they do and then return to alter junkanoo,” he said.
He went on to say that, “the indigenous Bahamian music is rake and scrape. When tourists come off of the ships, a rake and scrape band should greet them. While Bahamian music may not have funds to market their product internationally, the level and style of music reflects our culture.”
According to Nicolette Bethel:
“Junkanoo is ‘respected’ only because the junkanoo community can make or break a politician—something that has never understood until 1987 when Perry Christie’s affiliation with the Valley Boys (who had hitherto been pretty fundamentally PLP) led to the defeat of Pedro Roberts and the PLP there. Christie’s success against the PLP was a huge upset and led to politicians’ taking junkanoo a whole lot more seriously.”
The sounds of rake and scrape are known musical expressions of Bahamian culture, developing increasingly on the heels of such great artists as Joseph Spence, Eddie Minnis and the Ancient Man. I recall sitting on a plane to Holland during the summer on the side of a very inquiring guy from Tennessee whose musical icon was the late Joseph Spence. Although Bahamian music is not treasured as it should be, this shows that genuine aspects of our culture are appreciated and revered even outside of the Bahamas!
The dress code of the Bahamas screams of external manipulation.
The Androsia, which is made in the Bahamas, is considered to be a fashion no-no by some Bahamians, unless it is worn as a work uniform or during cultural expositions. These days, Bahamians are used as human billboards, modeling and promoting trendy outfits by foreign designers on a daily basis. It is not uncommon to see Bahamians, clad from head to toe, in fashionable brands! While many Bahamians would pay exorbitant amounts for foreign designer wear, it seems that they further bury expressions of our culture by contemptuously snarling the efforts of upcoming local fashioners.
According to Arlene Nash Ferguson:
“The way we dress today, the way youngsters dress, has to do with what we see on TV and in music videos. They have no reference to the Bahamian way! Our youth pick up on the stupid trends from the US, for example, wearing the pants below the waist.”
Being Bahamian has much to do with our social and customary beliefs. One original aspect of Bahamian culture is the ‘asue’, which is a custom that has survived the test of time and allows many Bahamians to form cooperatives to contribute and accumulate cash. Since slaves were banned from using banks, they formed asues—with trustworthy persons organizing everything—to save and borrow money. Today, Bahamians participating in this continue to anxiously await their “draw.”
The arts and craft (eg, straw work) was once a major aspect of our cultural expression, which eventually became a prominent feature of our tourism offerings. Today, local works of art/craft are scarce, as fake designer items and cheap products from Asia form the core of what’s sold at the derelict, rodent-infested straw/flea market.
One uniquely Bahamian feature is penchant to credit or “trust.” Crediting, or “trussin’”, occurs when someone gets goods or money without immediate payment, promising instead to pay at a later date. This is usually done on the Family Islands.
Indeed, there are several traditional aspects of our culture that have weathered the test of time, for example, the formation of lodges or friendly societies, customs relating to burial or death, our religious practices and our development of pharmacology from bushes that are known to heal wounds.
During our interview, Mrs Ferguson also expressed a fear that even our most original cultural aspect—our dialect—is in jeopardy of being replaced by American lingo, such as “ ‘off the chains’ and ‘you guys’ without us even thinking about it.” Bahamian dialect originated from a marriage between African languages and European elements (British). It began as a communicative tool between the slaves and their masters, having an inconsistency of pronunciation (of English words) that developed over time and today serves as a distinguishing characteristic of Bahamians.
Could one of the reasons for the spate of violent crime our nation now faces—particularly in Nassau—be because many youngsters are not getting to truly experience our culture and therefore carry around pent up anger/aggression because they feel trapped, even landlocked on a small and crammed island such as New Providence?
Both Nicolette Bethel and Arlene Ferguson responded affirmatively to the aforementioned question.
Rick Lowe, a social activist, stated that one reason for the current spate of violent crime was the inclination of Bahamians to mimic everything emanating from Jamaica.
Bahamian youngsters are unable to experience their culture/nature, and instead are bombarded in homes with unimpeded access to American video games and television programs that pipe values into them that are contrary to traditional Bahamian values. By way of foreign influences, today’s youth are taught to view women as “a piece of meat”, to tote guns and engage in violence because it’s ‘cool’. Further adding to this sad reality is the notion that youngsters are confined to a small island, with hardly any accessible beaches or cultural happenings, which makes them incapable of interacting with nature or experiencing their culture beyond a watered-down junkanoo rush-out.
Although there are certain original aspects of our culture, most person interviewed categorically referred to Bahamians as “imitators” or “copy cats.”
Our culture arose out of our past and should be seen as an interaction between our ancestry, not carelessly discarded by the wayside. Given our unique circumstances—with immigration and also with tourism being our main industry—we must make deliberate efforts to preserve the aspects of our heritage that make us inimitably Bahamian and pass them on to future generations.
