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The T & T Heritage at Christmas By Elma Lathuillerie Reyes A Trini and Toby Heritage Publication 1996
A republication in memory of the late
Elma Reyes. Not to be printed and sold. This document is intended for not-for-profit
electronic distribution.
This document is also available in MS Word format Dedicated to
Author’s Note I consider myself one of those fortunate ones, who was from an early age surrounded by persons who were not only knowledgeable about certain aspects of the national heritage, but willing to pass on such information. When, just over three decades ago I became a member of the working press, my group of informants was considerably expanded, and I was also made aware of non-human sources which are available to me both locally and overseas. It has been with great satisfaction that I experienced meeting people of all ages, nationalities and backgrounds who have indicated interest in the material which I have gathered, and which I have, untidily I admit, placed in shelves, boxes and notebooks. The sudden demise recently of some of my close friends and relatives, shocked me into recognising that if this life’s work is not put in some kind of order and made available to interested persons of the wider society it would be placed, together with my old clothes and assorted junk, in a fire heap after my death, and so I am launching, with the support of my relatives, what I wish to have known as “THE T. & T. HERITAGE FOUNDATION” which I hope will be approved by the relevant authorities as a non-profit body. The representative characters TRINI and TOBY HERITAGE were created by me when I wrote for my now grownup daughter Caitleen and niece Jennifer Bell, as indigenous “Nature Alphabet” which won the Universal Book Year (T&T) Best Children’s Illustrated Book award in 1972 and the National Text Book Competition shortly after, but has never been published. I have since created material for young family members around “Trini & Toby” which is inclusive of a copyrighted poem “The Family Tree”. I am very disturbed by the recent, seemingly successful efforts, at reconstruction of Trinidad and Tobago’s unique history, in which bigots and their discriminatory activities have been presented as indicative of the majority behaviour. It was South Africa’s eminent and respected thinker Archbishop Desmond Tutu who first described us as “...a Rainbow People.” It is an apt description, although in actuality, the diverse ethnic and nationalistic background of the people of Trinidad and Tobago, which has allowed considerable interbreeding of races and religions, has resulted in ‘I... more shades than the Rainbow...” This terminology is not intended to be reflective only of the physical appearance of our people but also of the wealth of culture and survival systems which have been endowed by the ancestors to succeeding generations. Trinidad and Tobago is no earthly paradise. It contains, as does everywhere else on earth, both negative and positive elements. There happens to be however, more than enough of the positives, which if wisely utilised by those who live here, can allow personal and national economic benefits, an improved lifestyle for more of the citizens, and a far wider range of job opportunities and career options than is now available. This writer is no economist, nor financial investor/analyst. I have however been able to observe how people in several other countries, have been able to utilise assets which are indigenous to Trinidad and Tobago to provide all of the above for their societies, and this has motivated my decision to use what the Creator has placed in my way, to share with others who may wish to know. The decision to produce the first item of the “T. &T. HERITAGE FOUNDATION” around the historical and cultural background of CHRISTMAS in our part of the world, was made because there is no time in which the true spirit of love and tolerance for each other is better demonstrated. One does not have to be a Christian in Trinidad and Tobago to celebrate the Birth of the Christ Child which took place approximately Two Thousand years ago in the Middle East, now one of the most troubled places on earth. It is my belief that the “tolerant majority” that exists within Trinidad and Tobago has the capability of teaching what “peace on earth and goodwill to all” really means to other, more supposedly “developed” societies. Elma Lathuillerie Reyes
Parranda: A Caribbean Hispanic Tradition What is known in Trinidad and Tobago as “Parang” and elsewhere as “Parranda’ was brought from Spain to the Western Hemisphere by religious missionaries who sought to convert to Christianity, indigenous people of the region. Bartholomew de las Casas, who has been identified historically as “the Apostle of the Indians” is said to have suggested teaching the people met, Christian Doctrine and the Life of Christ through the use of songs. This system has long been employed in Spain to teach the illiterate, and proved to be equally successful wherever it was used in the Western Hemisphere. Almost every group of missionaries who set out from Spain for what is now known as I’... the West Indies and the Americas...” was inclusive of priests who were skilled musicians and artisans. They in turn, once accepted by the indigenous people, would find persons with parallel skills, and there eventually emerged branches of the visual and performing arts which fused systems of Spain with that of the specific indigenous group. The traditional instruments of “Parang” is such an evolvement, and so is much of the basic and festive food of what can be considered the “Latin” cultures, aspects of which must be accepted as traditional to Trinidad, if not Tobago. It is possible that “Parang” was first demonstrated at St. Joseph. There it was in 1592, that the first permanent group of immigrants from Spain established what they intended to be the “capital city” of colonised Trinidad. Later, groups of missionaries, most of them Capuchins from southern Spain came and established “Mission Towns” in various parts of the island. All these settlements, including St. Joseph, never really developed into substantially populated towns or villages, and some were actually destroyed by indigenous people who resented the intrusion of newcomers. When administrators in Spain decided to offer land grants in Trinidad to Roman Catholic persons of other nationalities once they were prepared to accept its Monarchs as theirs, and to fully cultivate lands received, the population was increased. Most of those who came were from the French speaking Caribbean, but many were from the neighbouring South American country of Venezuela. These people were experienced in the art of growing cocoa and preparing it for export and shared both their knowledge and folk traditions such as Parang. with the other immigrants, When in 1797 the English took Trinidad in a bloodless coup, the Spanish governor Don Jose Maria Chacon insisted on including in the terms of capitulation that the religious and cultural traditions of the people should not be interfered with. These terms were accepted by the British administrators up to the time Trinidad and Tobago became an independent nation, and explains why such traditions as the pre-Lenten Carnival and Parang, were retained although lesser officials might have been critical, even hostile, of them. Unlike Carnival, which is a non-religious activity sanctioned by the Church, “Parang” is unquestionably linked with religion, for the songs relate principally the Life of Christ. Knowledgeable persons compose and perform verses which narrate the events which start with the Annunciation and the Visitation and lead through the Nativity (el Nacimiento) and the Coming of the Rings. Up to the 1950s Parang was strictly a communal activity with groups going house to house to entertain residents, while sharing the good news of the Christ Child and adding to it, good wishes to the specific family. In turn, householders prepared to receive the serenaders with a varied menu of food and drink. Towards the end of this decade, the tradition was in danger of dying out as foreign music and traditions intruded through films and the airwaves, and the only parranderos were isolated groups of elderly males and a few, very few, “brave” women. During the early 1960s, concentrated efforts by these people, and tentative efforts to have the various media agencies assist in educating the wider public and encouraging young persons to stay with the knowledge retained by the elders, began to bear fruit. There emerged two representative bodies, the National Parang Association of Trinidad and Tobago (NPATT) and the Trinidad and Tobago Parang Association (‘ITPA). Both organizations were sensitive to the changed social structure of Trinidad and Tobago which did not comfortably accommodate house to house parang. Consequently they organized, with the assistance of the business community, the now established performance competitions and the “free to the public “concerts, the brainchild of Holly Betaudier and Pablo (Paul) Castillo. The role of parang, as a traditional musical expression of the people of this South Caribbean nation, has been an outstanding success. So much so, that even while there is acknowledged efforts to keep the “purer” forms of parang alive, from this base exciting non-religious music has been created and is now collectively called “soca parang.” Because the original tradition which was introduced by Capuchin missionaries more than 200 years ago allowed narration of the Life of Christ, there used to be up to the 1930s. performance of songs which narrated the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Knowledgeable elders are concerned because this custom has died out, and live in hope that it too can be revived. Meanwhile, from the month of October
to January 6, the day known variously as “Los Reyes” “Twelfth Night” ”
the Epiphany” and “Le Rois”, the parranderos and parranderas of Trinidad
and Tobago ensure that the sweet sounds of stringed and rhythm instruments
will, together with human voices, help the nation at large to celebrate
Christmas as they share the joyful news in their aguinaldos, estrabillos,
chorros and other serenales.
Creche and Cantiques in Old Trinidad The enslavement of people from the African continent allowed the economic development of many parts of the Western Hemisphere, among them Trinidad and Tobago. In Trinidad the small Spanish colonial community was poor and unable to lay the groundwork for European type development. They were also hindered by the success of the indigenous people in defending the island against intrusion by the newcomers. Eventually, Spain recognising the important need to retain the strategically located island, decided to invite settlement from other persons, once they were of the Roman Catholic religion, prepared to swear allegiance to the Monarchs of Spain, and to develop the place with agricultural and business activity. The logical areas to seek such persons were in the French Caribbean. They had either been captured by the British or were in danger of such an occurrence. These people, it was rationalised, already had knowledge of sugar cultivation and processing for European markets as well as the experienced workforce of enslaved Africans. They however, were not at first enthused about this suggestion when the first “Cedula of Population” was proclaimed in 1767. The offer did however, attract a sizable number of people of the group them identified as “free blacks and coloured people.” These non-whites were either former slaves who by marketing specialised skills or produce, had earned enough money to purchase freedom for themselves and their families, or being the offspring of African mothers and white landed proprietors, had been given freedom and the right to bear the paternal name. Neither group were however, allowed to own property or to occupy a stable position in the relevant society. To them, the offer of land in Trinidad was a blessing, and so from Guadeloupe, Nevis, Dominica, St. Lucia and Grenada they came. From the indigenous people they learned agriculture and food harvesting systems, while the Venezuelan immigrants shared with them knowledge of cocoa cultivation. While the administrators in Spain held discussion with the representative of the slave owning sugar planters, Roume de St. Laurent, the non-white immigrants settled themselves on the principally hilly terrain which they had acquired. The cultivation of cocoa, which allows intercropping with food plants, and an abundance of game in the forest, ensured these people from the French speaking Caribbean a comfortable lifestyle, with enough time for home and communal entertainment. While Spanish speaking people observed Christmas by singing serenals which narrated the Life of Christ from Annunciation to the Coming of the Kings; these French Caribbean immigrants recalled these events by locating in their homes a “Creche”, reconstructing with handcarved figures the scene of the Nativity, and by singing songs which they called “Cantiques de Noel.” Both activities lent themselves to “house to house” visiting, and to accompaniment by often homemade musical stringed and rhythm instruments. The proclamation of the second Cedula de Population in 1783 led to an even greater impasse of French speaking people on the general population. Not only did the white sugar planters come with their slave workers, but an even larger number of non-white settlers from the French Caribbean took advantage of the opportunity to become land holders in Trinidad. When the British took Trinidad from Spain, in the bloodless coup of 1797, the island had the unique situation of accommodating 4476 “free black and coloured” persons of the property owning group, while there were 2 I5 I “whites” which would incidentally, be inclusive of such persons as overseers, bookkeepers and tutorial employees. The total number of enslaved Africans, most of whom had been born in the Caribbean and spoke the “French-creole patois”, numbered 10,009. By 1820, these figures had grown to 13,347 “free blacks and coloureds”, 3270” whites’ and 22,245 enslaved Africans. Trinidad was still very much a place of isolated settlements, although the small holders, which most of the non-white were, tended to establish villages which at later date developed into small towns. The state of the island at that time,
and its gradual development after slavery was abolished in 1834, ensured
that fairly large numbers of people could without fear of intimidation
and restrictive laws amuse themselves, their families and neighbours with
music, dance and festive foods, and it is to these pioneers that is owed
the cultural traditions of which the “Parang” and Creche” remain predominant,
despite bombardment of intrusive element from outer sources.
The Custom of the Creche Up to the late 1930s ” the language of the people” in many areas of rural and urban Trinidad was the French-Creole patois. Children who attended school were taught English Grammar as an educational tool, and were made to recognise its use as “the official Language.” However, in such places as St. Joseph, Maraval and Arima, they would go home to families who spoke to each other in the language which had been brought to Trinidad from Dominica, St. Lucia and Guadeloupe, three or more generation ago. In such families “the book”, a collection of prayers and “Cantiques” (religious songs all in the French language), was a prized possession. The elder women, always devout Roman Catholics, would be the ones who around Christmas time oversaw the children as they planted rice paddy and corn grains in recycled containers; collected moss from cocoa trees; and selected suitable miniature trees and shrubbery to decorate the “Creche” a nativity scene composed with (usually handcarved) statues which were family heirlooms. At night, the family would gather around
these dignified personages to rehearse the “Cantique de Noel”, and often
a member with known talent would be asked by the local Parish priest to
render at Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, one of these songs. When these
families visited each other, they would stand as a group around the creche
of the household to sing together these songs, after which traditional
refreshments would be served.
Carols, Cards, Crackers and Cake: From England with Love Before the capitulation the only religion allowed in Trinidad was Roman Catholicism. The British Colonial government, while adhering to the agreement of not interfering with the religious and cultural systems met, did not only introduce the c Anglican Church of the British Monarch and aristocracy, but allowed other Protestant religions to be established and practiced. Slavery, which was introduced after the Cedula of 1783, was ended in Trinidad when Emancipation was declared in 1834. The British government, in spite of disapproval of the former slave owning class, approved monetary grants to establish schools for the free people. When Lord Harris arrived as governor in 1846 he met fifty four schools being operated by various denominational groups. Most however were poorly administrated and supervised. He decided to establish a network of “ward” (later “government”) schools in which religious instruction was offered on a specific day, and most attention was paid to giving the pupils what was then identified as ‘I... a sound elementary education...” By the end of the 19th Century there were enough persons in the island with knowledge not only of reading, writing and ‘rithmetic, but also with the capability to perform plays and music, including Christmas carols, based on the British schools performance system. End of the year concerts were in fact, a showcase for such skills, and some school principals actually imported at their own cost, books which were published for this market, from England. Textbooks such as “The Royal Reader” and at later date, the “West Indian Readers” (produced by Director of Education Captain Cutteridge) introduced to persons to whom such literature would have been otherwise inaccessible, excerpts from British novels in which their Christmas traditions were described. Inspectors of schools, like the Director of Education were British, and encouraged such extracurricular activities as the making of greeting cards and crepe paper decorations, which activities students extended to their communities. The more avid readers who emerged from these schools obtained either from libraries, “book vans”, by book store purchases, and sometimes by importing from abroad, such popular novels as Charles Dickens “A Christmas Carol”. These further influenced the trend to adopt British Christmas traditions. During the period between the 1870s and the 1920s now described as “... when cocoa was Ring in Trinidad...” the export of this crop generated considerable income within the society. Ambitious immigrants, most of them British, established department and grocery stores which made available to the general populace imported basic and luxury goods. The type of Christmas celebrations most elders now describe, date from that time. It was a period in which people feasted on “York” hams; *‘sweet biscuits” (cookies) made by “Carr’s” and “Huntley & Palmer”; and the breakfast table on Christmas morning bore among the local goodies such as Pastelles and “Sweet” bread, the round red Gouda or Edam cheese from Holland. Later in the day home made wines and liquors would share space with West Indian rums and wines from Europe, and always, a liquor-soaked fruit cake. The main dishes of lunch and dinner would be backyard reared poultry, meats slaughtered on the family country estate; game captured from the still abundant forest; with side dishes of also home-grown vegetables and legumes. Cooking in those years was done on “coal pots", “dirt” ovens and firesides; and such items as the boiled ham and Pastelles were tended outdoors on wood tires set between three boulders. The British tradition of house to house caroling by red hooded adults and children’s choirs shared performance space with the parang and creche singers. Although World War II brought some
change in the menu, due to the unavailability of British and European luxury
fare and trinkets, once this was resolved such customs as balloons, crackers,
exchange of greeting cards and door to door caroling returned, and have
remained as positive and enjoyable aspects of Christmas in modem-day Trinidad
and Tobago.
Mythical Characters of Christmas In Trinidad, during the 19th and early 20th Century, children with a Hispanic family background would have looked forward to receiving sometime during the Christmas season a gift from “The Wise Men” as is still customary in Latin America and Spain. French speaking family traditions identified such a gift as being left in the shoe of young members by “the Infant Jesus”. As the British cultural customs became established parents and children grew to accept that the benevolent individual who came on the night before Christmas to leave gifts was very certainly “Father Christmas”. This personage bore a close resemblance to the individual whom youngsters in the USA knew as “Santa Claus”, so it was not surprising when, in the post-World War II period, both the commercial sector and families acknowledged the mysterious gift giver by this name. Department stores and charitable organizations advertise the presence of Santa Claus at a specific time, to a hoped-for clientele, and parents can now, for a fee, have their youngsters photographed seated on the knee of the jolly old man in the red flannel suit. It is now almost universally accepted that Santa Claus, originally a grey robed Bishop on horseback, now circles the world on Christmas Eve night in a magical sleigh drawn by eight reindeer. His preChristmas appearances in Trinidad
and Tobago has him arriving in a wide range of vehicles from donkey cart,
(popular in agricultural districts), to a police jeep and even a helicopter!
Festive Foods from the Western Hemisphere The Christmas menu for most people, is inclusive of turkey, pastelles, salads made with potatoes or cristophene, and other foods which would be garnished or spiced with varieties of pepper. In the Caribbean the dish of “stewed” peas or beans is enhanced with diced pumpkin, while in the USA this vegetable is the main ingredient for a seasonal dessert pie. These and several other traditional food items of the Christmas season are totally local food ingredients then unknown to the Europeans who came to the Western Hemisphere, but were part of the food chain long before developed by the First Nations, the “Amerindians”. Christmas was first celebrated in Trinidad in 1569. The innovators of this observance were six priests of the Order of Observantines headed by Fr. Miguel Diosdados, who had arrived on December 2 1, the feast of St. Thomas the Apostle. According to historical reports, their party was led by a Spanish official Juan Troche de Leon, who later returned to Puerto Rico. The priest and lay persons visited several villages on the island, and according to their written reports were well treated everywhere. They identified among the many foods and fruits served I’... sweet canes, batatas (potatoes) of several kinds; maize and cassavas...” These foods have remained staples in the region as well as ingredients for celebratory food, although rarely acknowledged in Trinidad of the present time as important indigenous fare. Annually, as the people of the USA celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas, they recall that the first colonists were saved from starvation by the American Indians who brought them maize, pumpkins, squashes, nuts, cranberries and turkeys which at the time were “wild game”. They later learned from their benefactors how to grow these food crops, and reared turkeys as backyard and commercial poultry. Unfortunately the Pawi, a local specie of turkey, was hunted to near extinction by those who came, and the idea of domesticating indigenous creatures for food is still considered “risky” in Trinidad and Tobago. Pastelles, known as “Hallacas” in the neighbouring Republic of Venezuela, is the local recipe for a corn and meat pie, which is found in the celebratory menus of every one of the Latin American societies. The basic method of all of them is the same. It is herb flavoured chopped or ground meat enclosed in a cornmeal paste and wrapped either in banana leaves or corn husk for steamcooking. With colonisation and economic development which allowed entry of foreign food items, ingredients such as raisins, capers and olives and flavourings - garlic and onions - were added. Cassava bread, once a food staple of both the indigenous people and settlers, was eventually by-passed in favour of bread and desserts made with wheat flour. Elsewhere, the toasted meal known as Farine is called “Tapioca”, and is the base of a number of elegant desserts including one served at Christmas time in Bermuda. While the sugar cane that is grown commercially for conversion into sugar, molasses and rum is derived from plants introduced from the Canary Islands and elsewhere, the “ribbon” cane was always in the region (inclusive of areas of South America) as has been reported by all early travellers. All of the indigenous people made from its juice a fermented drink which is known in Trinidad as “Warrap” and in Cuba and other Latin American countries as “Guarapo”. This drink was up to fairly recently, made for Christmas and other festive occasions by persons of Amerindian-Hispanic ancestry, who use a device (Trapiche) built into a live tree trunk, to extract the juice into a bucket or other large container. The juice is strained into another
container with flavouring herbs, given a closefitting stopper, and buried
for nine days, during which it is mildly fermented.
Christmas Eve Sancoche In Trinidad of yesteryear, devout persons observed days of fast as obligatory. Christmas Eve was considered a day for partial fasting, in that keepers of the custom accepted they should eat only fruit to stave off hunger. It was a practical as well as health-benefiting exercise, for a too busy home maker did not feel obligated to prepare a regular meal while trying to have ready for the next day, large quantities of baked meats, bread and baked desserts; ham, pastelles and bottled drinks. Healthwise, it “left the stomach clear” for the generous and sometimes too rich foods which are accepted as necessary on the Christmas menu. To break the fast at midnight without “dipping into” the festive foods for “the day”, some families prepared a Pelau with Pigeon peas, assorted meats and coconut milk, while others elected to make, on an outdoor fire usually, what Latin Americans call “Sancocho” but is given the Frenchified name “of Sancoche” in Trinidad and Tobago. This was made at a time when many households reared poultry in a backyard run, and it was always possible to get from this source the main ingredient “an old fowl”. The slaughtered bird was rubbed with lime, or lemon, or Sour orange before being put to boil in a generous amount of water with a securely tied bundle of mixed herbs, a pound of diced pumpkin and two pounds of green Pigeon peas. To this was added the trimmings and bones from the other meats when these became available, and the skin of the boiled ham cut in serving sized lengths. These boiled for at least one hour, with water being added whenever necessary. Assorted tubers and green bananas, including half ripe plantain cut in slanted pieces, was added when the meat of the fowl was considered “fairly tender”, with coconut milk and salt to taste. A “hot” pepper was usually added then as well, but would be removed before it “burst”, having given its flavour to the soup. This hearty one-pot dish allowed “fortification”
to those who would be busy either at work or pre-Christmas Day celebration.
Le Rois The cocoa crop which gave Trinidad its first economic base was not, as is now vaguely suggested, the result of slave labour on the vast plantations of a “small white upper class”. After Emancipation, a sizable number of the former slaves deciding to “put distance” between their past and present, journeyed to remote areas where they followed the example of the “free blacks and coloured” people who planted cocoa intercropped with food plants, and built themselves tapia (mud and grass) houses roofed with palm thatch. In 1820 the land owning “free blacks and coloureds” numbered 13,347, and the enslaved Africans 22,245. The people who went into cocoa cultivation both before and after emancipation were usually part of family groups, and few of them had what the then Crown colony administrators considered beneficial developments. Opportunity to own their modest holdings was given by Govern0rA.H. Gordon during his term of office (1866-70) a time when there was considerable demand for Trinidad cocoa on the world markets. The land was sold to them at f I per acre, on purchase of no less than five acres. These “small holder cocoa cultivators” were identified as “creole” (that is locally born) Africans, Yoruba, Ashanti, Congolese, and Mandingo people, British West Indian immigrants and East Indians, former indentured immigrants. In addition to this group of self employed persons were a fair number of people in Port of Spain and other urbanised areas who supplied a wide range of service operations, and often provided jobs for other people as well. For these people the period of Christmas Day to January 6 was one of “total holiday”. Cocoa would have been sold, and the money acquired by owners and workers, spent to ensure a pleasant period of celebration. Those considered “well to do” bought household items and luxury goods from the “established” merchants, while their employees sought the “bargain” outlets and the Arab house-to-house traders for attractive, but lower priced goods. During the holiday period each respected the privacy of the other, as this was considered a time to devote to one’s family and intimate friends. On January 6 however, every employer was obliged to attend Church and to sit with those in his (or her) employ, and later host an all day celebration for the workers at his (or her) home. On this day too, members of the family were expected to utilise all of the remnants of the Christmas goodies and this gave rise to the custom of making as a dessert for that day “Gateau Tan” which means literally “Brown Cake”. It was made by cutting into small pieces all leftover bread, Sweetbread, cake, and Sweet biscuits (cookies) the latter being crushed. This was then soaked in milk, the proportion being one cup to two cups of leftovers. To this was added a dash of bitters and of Vanilla Essence, leftover raisins, currents, mixed peel and chopped cherries. Yeast, prepared according to direction, was added to the mixture and so was two eggs (or more depending on the amount of batter) which were well beaten. Finally flour was added, a quarter cup at a time to make a smooth “pouring” batter, and finally enough “burnt sugar” colouring to give the mixture a rich brown colour. This was poured into a well greased tin dusted with flour to prevent sticking, and baked in a moderately hot oven for one hour or until a skewer (or ice pick) in the centre came out clean. Commercial bakers of yesteryear appreciating the practicality of this recipe made a “more substantial version” the batter of which was poured on a pastry base. It became very popular with schoolboys
who gave it the alternative name of “Bellyfull”.
Christmas in a Tobago Village The annexation of Trinidad and Tobago during the late 19th Century has since been described as “a marriage of convenience”. The subsequent “convenience” was not brought about by the desire of the people of the two islands in any of the social or economic groups, but to the perceived benefit of their appointed administrators, by the power controllers of what was then Great Britain. Not surprisingly, the people of both islands did not really mesh until fairly recently, through failure of colonial administration and even some “after independence” local authorities, to provide what would be considered “modem amenities” which would have made such interrelation easy and affordable to the majority, in each island. The exception to this has been in the north-east villages of Trinidad and those of the southern part of Tobago where inter-travel is said to have been started when an African slave (“Sandy”) successfully left Tobago travelling be sea and was accommodated by indigenous people who up to mid-colonial times, still were in control of the area. The route is said to have become the equivalent of America’s escaped slaves “underground railway”. From post-Emancipation times and up to the 1930s such intertravel was accelerated, and many families in the north-eastern counties of St. Andrew-St. David identify ancestry that can realistically be described as Trinbagonian”. None-the -less, this writer, as most Trinidadian nationals, only knows of the traditional customs of Tobago through reminisces of friends. These indicate that Tobago, an island which changed colonial control twenty-two times, has a cultural influence that is a blend African, British (principally Scats) and French, with remnants of the original Amerindian people, as in for example the use of Cassava bread and farine. It was in fact, the reminisces of a New York based friend Ursula “Roma” Phillips (whose current “married” name I do not know) that gave me some knowledge of a Tobago Christmas. She was describing how her mother “Miss Annie” made these Amerindian specialties, which were “a must” together with the bread and Sweet bread baked in the “dirt oven”, on the breakfast table on Christmas morning. Tobago, like Trinidad is a place where many Christian religions have long coexisted. Since however the church and school were the main places for social relationships, family leisure occupations when shared, were bases on reading aloud from the Bible and other religious text, and playing “quiz games” in which each member was expected to demonstrate how much he or she had learned from such study. In such an environment, celebration of Christmas was very much a religious happening. While in Trinidad, the easy availability of imported goods and outside influences led to a certain amount of “keeping up with the Jones” during the Christmas season, this did not seem to have happened in Tobago, if the description of life from such friends as the late Eric Roach, media co-worker Jimmy Andrews, and handicraft specialist Grace Caldon, is considered. Collectively, they described people who were almost totally self sufficient in food, and who only purchased such imported items as condensed milk, tinned sardines and at Christmas time a ham, for a bit of variety in the diet. While some fathers, and occasionally mothers, were otherwise employed, either with government of on the larger estates, every family seemed to have had in addition to their homes, “a piece of dirt” elsewhere. This allowed at least, the staples of their meals. That is, ground provision; the ingredients for Callaloo which was made on Sundays and other special days such as Christmas; and Pigeon peas when in season. Surplus of these crops earned the family income for other needed items, and so much in demand were these from Trinidad-based vendors that some produce, for example Pigeon peas, fetched a higher price on the sister island when identified as coming from Tobago. Each village had its group of talented musicians, and during the Christmas period they went house to house led by “Mr. Fiddler” to play religious and secular songs, while members of homes visited showed their ability to dance both what is now called “Ballroom” as well as the steps which had evolved from the combined traditions of Africa, Britain and France. The convenience of air travel led to a closer relationship between the two islands. While Trinidadians eagerly developed a taste for such “traditional Tobago” fare as “Curried crab and dumplings” and some actually learned to dance their version of the “Jig” and “Reel”, some went even further and moved, bag, baggage and family to live in what is internationally acknowledged as I’... an Eden-like island...” One such family headed by the late Neville Miranda did more. They provided an outlet for talented performers, some of whom have gone on to become world-hopping professionals. They also introduced to Tobago the Parranda which was traditional to the families of Miranda and his wife, whose maiden name was “Fernando”. At their intimate guest house “Della Mira” was located the first Tobago-based Parang band headed by Ossie Fernando and with daughter Marcia (now a calypso singer) as one of the lead vocalists. Students and adults who had studied Spanish as “school subjects” eagerly accepted an opportunity to practice the language in a “fun activity”, and the two Parang Associations both hosted performances in Tobago from the 1970s. Annually the series of Parang Concerts which is jointly organized by Holly Betaudier and Paul Castillo crosses the water that divides the sister isles, to share the message of goodwill in the tradition of Parang. |