Matthew Avery

In the article Origins of Rituals and Customs in the Trinidad Carnival, the author discusses the differences between the Carnivals of the different people who lived in Trinidad over the centuries. The article also discusses how these traditions helped develop the modern Trinidad Carnival that we know today.

The author, Liverpool, discusses how there have been many Carnivals in Trinidad, one from each of the different groups of people that lived there. The groups that Liverpool discusses are: the French, the Spaniards, the English, the Free-Coloureds, and the Africans. Liverpool mentions that each of these groups brought their own unique traditions to the Carnival: it was the French who introduced the idea of Mardi Gras; the Spaniards developed the custom of having their Carnivals on the three days before Ash Wednesday; the English came up the custom of the Grand Ball; the Free-Coloureds, however, had to keep their Carnivals to themselves, as the English deemed them as “inferior” to the white men. It was, however, the Africans who revolutionized the Carnivals: before 1838 when sugarcane fires broke out, it was the African slaves who were sent to put them out. Once the Africans were freed after 1838, they re-enacted the events, pretending to put out fires. This became known as the Cannes Brulées (which is French for “canes burning”). This was said to have been the origin for the Africans’ kalenda and Carnival.

Rowena Balraju

In the article titled: Origins of Rituals and Customs in the Trinidad Carnival African or European? author, Hollis Urban Liverpool talks about how many European academic writers, strongly asserted that the Trinidad Carnival as well as all other carnivals originated from Europe. These writer’s including Raphael DeLeon (1988), Errol Hill (1972), Andrew Carr (1975) and Andrew Pearse (1956) believed it was French Colonialism helped to contrive Trinidad and Tobago’s Carnival. Thus, French settlers changed the social, cultural and political life of the nation and that is the reason why textbooks and newspapers associate Carnival with French settlers from France. Another notion that the author argues is that these writers did not appreciate the experiences and ingenuity of the lower classes in Trinidad and Tobago, such as the Africans. Africans were slaves to the European settlers but they generated the wealth of the economy with their expertise in mass sugarcane, cocoa and coffee plantations.

The historical data that Liverpool refers to that is the reason for European and Caribbean academics to associate Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago with Europe is the season of Lent. Lent is when Christians fasted, prayed, and gave alms for their deeds. Most Christians feasted excessively before Lent. Before carrying out their penance for Lent, Europeans of Catholic and/or Christian religions pressured the church and priests to be involved in Pagan ritualistic feasting which required them to commit even more sins. Men and women were naked on the streets and women prostituted themselves to strangers. These were the sins they wanted to wash away. These practices were associated with Carnival and the church wanted to remove them, however, it was too late they were already being practiced in Madrid, Barcelona and Vienna. By 1979, slave trade was eliminated, British policy-making was in effect and many settlers from all across Europe resided in Trinidad and Tobago. The European settlers were experienced in the Carnival tradition and loved it. As well due to shortage of labor many Africans and East Indians, Chinese and Portuguese were brought over to live and work on the plantations of Trinidad and Tobago. Writer, Robert Tallant, researched the roots of European Carnival to originate from Egypt, where the festivities were used to celebrate fertility of the earth and of women and assumes that these settlers brought to work on the plantation brought with them their traditions, which they incorporated into Trinidad and Tobago’s Carnival.

The author then continues his article by describing how the historical European influence on Carnival continued for every cultural group existing in the lands of Trinidad and Tobago. For instance,

The Carnival of the French

• Celebrated Carnival before Ash Wednesday.
• Carnival includes parades, heavy drinking, parties and house-to-house visits.
• French referred to Africans participating in Carnival “jamettes” derived from “diamete” meaning “below diameter of respectability or the underworld.”

The Carnival of the Spaniards

• Celebrated Carnival during Christmas season.
• Carnival held last 3 days before Ash Wednesday.
• Carnival includes parades, consumption of rum, parties, playing guitar music to serenade women.
• Spaniards responsible for laws pertaining to Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago.

The Carnival of the English

• Celebrated Carnival during the Christmas season.
• Businesses were closed and militia was brought in to prevent riots.
• Duels or tournaments were allowed to ease conflicts between people.
• Carnival included event called “Pancake Day”, which involved masquerades, harvest festivals and tournaments.
• Annually, the Governor of Trinidad and Tobago would hold a “Grande Ball” where English noblemen, grooms, priests and French and Swiss maids gathered.

The Carnival of the Free-Coloureds

• Celebrated with the “whites” during Christmas time.
• When participating in Carnival they kept to themselves because the whites shunned them and they could not enter the African festive spaces.
• Free-Coloureds created their own ball, which was used as a form of passive resistance; they thought they were superior to Africans and can enjoy the same liberties of the whites.
• Their festivities included, dancing, disguising, feasting and house parties.

The Carnival of the Africans

• Celebrated Carnival during Christmas season
• Their celebrations occurred on the city streets and festive areas of the plantation.
• Includes event known as “Cannes Brulées”, French for “canes burning”. Both enslaved and freed Africans participated in this dance that involved masquerading activities and music played using African instruments.
• Another event was the “Kalenda” meaning, “stick fight”. This dance ritual was very rebellious and warlike. It involved chanting in call-and-response manner; remarks symbolic of the conflict and/or war between the Africans and the whites.
• The Africans organized a funeral procession to denote the end of Carnival so that the spirits of their ancestors who paraded with the living can return to their resting place.

African Masking Traditions

• Africans dominated Carnival and made it completely African in culture.
• Mask making and masquerading are traditions of the African culture.
• Masks and costumes represent the spirits of their ancestors protecting them during their time of slavery.
• Dances and songs and music are all of African origination and all reflect a symbol of freedom and deliverance from human bondage. This artistry also reflected their hard work on the plantations and not being paid for their labor and harassment they endured by the whites.

Author’s Conclusions

• Carnival customs and festivities include elements derived from the African traditions, Egypt being the prominent foundation. Even Mardi Gras originates from Africa. Carnival served as a function to celebrate freedom of a mass population that was tormented and is a form of remembrance of African life.
• The “whites” just use these elements and added to them to make their softer version of Carnival, which is their masquerade ball.

Questions to Ponder

1. Hollis Liverpool suggests that African traditions have greatly influenced Carnival, consider such festivities as Caribana, which is a derivative of Carnival and Carnivals taking place annually in Brazil and continuing in Trinidad and Tobago do you think that the original message portrayed by the Africans is lost in today’s festivities with younger generations influencing the style of music and lyrics?

2. Knowing that today, Carnival celebrated in Canada and South America and the Island of Trinidad and Tobago incorporate a multicultural group rather then isolating one cultural group such as the Africans do you think this helps one culture to share their history and pain with other cultures and do you think this is a positive use of this hybrid art form known as Carnival?

Andrea Barros

This journal by Hollis Urban Liverpool explores the foundation of the Trinidad Carnival. The main question posed is the origin based on the Europeans or the Africans? Many scholars tend to view Europe and Europeans through the lens of colonialism, therefore linking the Carnival as a European concept. On the other hand, Robert Tallant, who researched to roots of European festivities, has shown that Carnivals date back to the Egyptian of Africa, who thousands of years ago, held Carnival festivities in celebration of the fertility of the earth and women, as well as the replenishment of their food stocks. According to Tallant, the roots of the festival Mardi Gras lie in Africa.

When the Europeans settled in Trinidad and Tobago around the time of 1785, the ideas of institutions and networks had an extraordinary effect on the Caribbean. Black people did not participate in Carnivals of the white, for the Europeans saw them as unworthy slaves. Therefore the Europeans inserted their own festivals, such as Christmas. Only after the Africans have attained freedom under the Emancipation Bill of 1833, they were finally allowed to participate in the Carnival. But even as freed men, all the Carnival activities of the slaves still had to be in the slave-yards because the slave could not venture out on to the streets (Michael Anthony 1989: 4). Because they Europeans only cared about profit, they would overwork African slaves through the production of sugarcane, coffee and cocoa. Also, Europeans would sell slaves in order to establish flourishing estates and status on the island.

In the 19th century, Africans participated in their own carnival called the Trinidad Carnival which they had to obtain a permit in order to have dance festivities. One of the most popular dances called the Kalenda, emerged as a general term for stickfight, in which both the stickfighting is a dance ritual and a song. Kalenda songs were rebellious. Chants were sung in a warlike manner. The Kalenda seemed to represent a psychological release of tensions: frustration engendered by domination, and violent expressions of anger directed from below at the repressive white system of control and political organization that has eliminated many other African forms of expression. The performance includes sounds of horns and shells being blown and cracking whips with cries of their slavery. Also masks were a very important part of the Trinidad Carnival. Masking to the Africans suggest spirit-associated transformations, whereby the wearers cancel or obliterate their personalities by changing into other human characters and supernatural spirits, so that they were no longer themselves. Masks include forms of the Devil, whereby they dressed in tattered clothes, painted themselves in black or blue and wore horns on their heads to symbolize Satan and all his works. At times, they also poured molasses over their bodies to indicate that, having produced it with their sweat, they were not paid for their labor. There were also masks depicting animals such as sheep, cows, antelopes, and birds. Moreover, at this festival, yams are offered and stilt dancers perform before the harvest begins. In Trinidad today, stilt dancers thank the God and their ancestors for the harvest that is to come.

The question is still present. Is the Carnival an influence to the Africans by the Europeans or vice versa? In my opinion, I believe the idea of the Carnival were brought to Trinidad and Tobago by Europeans, but the activities, dances and rituals in the Carnival is an expression presented through the inspiration of the Africans.

Shane Collier

• The Carnival in Trinidad originated in Europe because of the known presence of Carnival in Europe from Roman Times. Carnivals lasted from Christmas time until Ash Wednesday, and consisted of music, dancing, concerts, balls, and was a long period of feasts and pleasures.

• European writers underestimated the experiences and thought processes of the oppressed lower classes in Trinidad and Tobago and particularly the African descent people. These people were not treated as freed people and were not given any credit for their contribution in carnivals.

• Trinidad is an island 13 miles off the coast of Venezuela, and has an area of 1,864 square miles.

• Cedula of Population: devised by the Spaniards in Trinidad where thousands of Frenchman from neighboring islands were encouraged to transfer their assets to Trinidad. This was done to help the neglected soil and solving the problem of the lack of management brought on by the scarcity of white Spaniards.

• Carnival festivities were performed to celebrate the fertility of the earth and women and the replenishment of food stocks.

The Carnival of the French:

• They brought a legacy to Carnivals, and had an annual Mardi Gras parade. The use of face masks were banned by the government as being “beneath the dignity of a citizen.” The French disliked face masks as they were disguises.

• Jamettes: French called the Africans who participated in carnivals meaning “below the diameter of respectability or the underworld.”

The Carnival of the Spaniards:

• They enjoyed partying around Christmastime. Of the 2,261 whites in Trinidad in 1805, 505 were Spaniards. In 1817, 3,823 Spaniards entered Trinidad and were called Peons as they were staunchly Catholic. They went house-to-house at Christmastime serenading loved ones, friends etc. with guitars, singing carols based on the birth of Jesus.

• The Spaniards were racist as they celebrated victories of Christendom over the Amerindians and Africans. Carnivals in Spain were held on the last three days of preceding Ash Wednesday and on this day a lot of gambling, bullfights, weddings, masquerade parties, lots of rum was consumed and dances took place.

The Carnival of the English:

• During the Christmastime season, martial law was enforced because of excessive partying. The British feared riots. Duels were also permitted.

• The Carnivals were not structured or popular compared to those in France and Spain, however, they did have many Harvest Home celebrating the corn and wheat. They held tournaments, balls, and parades.

• The Grand Ball’s were held annually by the Governor, this was an important event.

The Carnival of the Free-Coloureds:

• The whites were not fond of the free-coloureds but allowed them to participate in carnival celebrations. Many of these people considered themselves equal to the whites under the Spanish rule. However, they were offered job positions such as guards to houses of white officials which was a mockery.

• J.B. Phillip, a free-coloured to complain about this discrimination.

• In carnivals, they had to show proof of their free status, take an oath of allegiance to the English crown if asked, and had to obtain a permit to hold a dance and they had to pay $16 to hold a dance in1807. Public assemblies were also forbidden. However, these rules changed after 1825.

• Free-coloureds kept to themselves in carnivals and had more elegant celebrations with dancing, disguises, feasting and celebrating inside at people’s homes. They used Carnival as a form of passive resistance.

The Carnival of the Africans:

• Africans revolutionized carnival celebrations by taking over the city streets and the festive areas of the plantation. The dances were African in character and function.

• Cannes Brulee: an event where Africans as slaves were sent to put out sugarcane fires whenever they took place. Horns and shells were used to collect the slaves and drivers cracked whips hitting them. This recalls an event the slaves re-enact marching to put out the fires; it is now a ritual event.

• Whites did not give the Africans their festive space, they were forbidden to carry sticks which served as weapons and tools for stickfight rituals, or kalenda. It is a stickfight dance rituals and songs accompany the ritual. Kalenda songs were rebellious, chant-like, war-like, based on the call-and-response pattern. The chants are notable for their rhythms, melodies, defiant nature, and have their own secret cultural code.

• The kalenda had a psychological release of tensions such as frustration, violence, and anger, from the white system of control. It was their form of expression.

• White participated in kalenda but only because they wanted to affirm their domination.

African Masking Traditions:

• In most celebration, Mas making is an important tradition all over Africa and represents spiritual transformations. It is a state of changing into different character’s, supernatural spirits, and they are no longer themselves. It is a unifying force.

• People respond in various ways wearing the masks: drumming, dancing, singing, praying, hand-clapping, offering, etc. It is a practice that goes back to Ancient Egypt, and celebrations were held to praise the gods, kings, leaders etc.

• Masks looked very different from one another, big, small, life-sized, some had eyes with deep-set triangular apertures, some were cylinder shaped, etc. Some looked liked animals liked cows, sheep, deer and birds.

• Majority of Africans were of many descents. The Yoruba has three amazing masquerade traditions: the Egungun, the Efe/Gelede, and the Epa/Elefon.

• Many materials and characteristics were used on masks as well: umbrellas, crowns, mirrors, gold plaques, paint, staffs, big bulging eyes, feathers, etc.

• Africans eventually dominated the street carnivals and it became totally African becoming a symbol of freedom.

Freedom Day Celebrations by the Africans:

• Known as freedom day, marked by stick-fights, masquerades all over the country. Africans recalled times of enslavement by blowing horns, shells, and cracking of whips. It is a commemoration f what they have been through. It takes place on August 1st (date of their emancipation: Cannes Brulee).

• On this day they play loud music, eat blessed bread, there is a procession, and this continues for three days with festivities, dances, orgies, and remembrances of African life. 

Question for Analysis: How does the information in this reading relate to society in modern society today?