CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN THE CARIBBEAN REGION

• SS for CSEC Study Guide: Unit 2.1, pages 24-25

• Modules: page 180-192, 457-473

Lesson 1: Introduction and termsLesson 2: Caribbean cultural artforms/practices, etc.Lesson 3: Protecting, preserving and transferring our artforms/culture

OBJECTIVES

1. Explain the reasons for cultural diversity in the

Caribbean

2. Explain some of the terms and concepts relating to

cultural diversity

1. What is culture?2. Would you describe culture as something static or dynamic?3. How is culture expressed?4. What is the source of our culture?2. What groups comprise our ancestors?3. What is an ethnic group?4. What is:

a) Cultural diversityb) Cultural integrationc) Cultural assimilationd) Cultural penetratione) Cultural erasuref) Cultural retentiong) Acculturationh) Cultural renewal

5. How do we learn our culture?Who/what is responsible for teaching us our culture?

6. Commercialization of our culture7. Staged authenticity

1. WHAT IS CULTURE?• Culture: The way of life of a people, including

their customs, behaviours, beliefs, values, artefacts, ceremonies, religious practices, festivals, music, dances, songs, food, dress, and language.

• It includes everything about the way people live- the way they work, dress, study, speak, walk and eat.

2. WOULD YOU DESCRIBE CULTURE AS SOMETHING STATIC OR DYNAMIC?• Culture is not static, it is dynamic. It changes

with time and circumstance.

3. HOW IS CULTURE EXPRESSED?

Culture is expressed in many ways:

–Objects or artefacts

• household utensils, religious artefacts

–Values, beliefs, ideas

• Artistic works, rituals, social and religious ceremonies

–Codes of conduct/ways of behaving

• e.g. respect for elders

4. WHAT IS THE SOURCE OF OUR CULTURE?• Our ancestors5. WHAT GROUPS COMPRISE OUR ANCESTORS?• The Amerindians:

• Tainos / Arawaks, Caribs / Kalina (Kalinagos) • Started arriving around 4000BC.

• Europeans:• Spanish (1498), Dutch and Courlanders (1633-1636);

French (1783), British (1797) • Africans (1517; 1783-1806)

– (enslaved labour)

• East Indians– (1845-1917: indentured labour)

• Chinese – (1806: settlers; 1853-1866: indentured labourers; 1920-1940;

1970s)

• Syrians/Lebanese – (Christians fleeing persecution under Muslim rule)

6. WHAT IS AN ETHNIC

GROUP?

People who come from the same part of the world and share the same culture are known as an ETHNIC GROUP.Ethnic groups have:-

– Shared heritage

– Shared language

– Shared culture

List the main ethnic groups in Trinidad and Tobago.

CULTURAL DIVERSITY

• Our region is characterized by cultural diversity.

• Cultural diversity is created when different ethnic groups live together in one area and aspects of their different cultures are evident.

• The longer they live together, the more the cultures mix, leading to new cultures.

• Migration and the mass media have led to greater cultural awareness and diversity throughout the Caribbean.

• A number of factors have led to the Caribbean having one of the most culturally diverse societies in the world. We are people whose forefathers came from parts of South America, Africa , Asia and Europe .

• Caribbean culture is an amalgam of the cultures of all the groups which make up the region. The many cultures which have met here have produced many new elements e.g. the steel pan and the Kweyol (creole) language .

• Throughout the Caribbean new forms of language have developed . Whether we call them patois , kweyol, or native languages, these dialects are derived from the European languages brought by the colonizers. They have been changed and include other elements such as African and Amerindian words, structures and intonations. Creole languages are an example of something new being created out of many contributing cultures.

EAST INDIAN

CULTURE

AFRICAN CULTURE

AFRICAN CULTURE

• Coo coo and callaloo

• Pelau

• Crab and dumplin

CHINESE CULTURE

CONTRIBUTION OF THE AMERINDIANS

Taino instrumentsTaíno drum (mayohuacán or maguey, a wooden drum)

Maraca

guamó (conch shell)

Few people today in Trinidad and Tobago are descended from

the original settlers but evidence of their presence can still be

seen:

1. Place names: e.g. Arima, Paria, the Aripo mountains,

Chaguanas, Guayaguayare, and Mayaro.

2. Plant and animal names such as balata, carat, and timite

palms, tobacco, cacao, maize, and manicou, zandolie,

lappe, agouti, mapepire, etc

3. Foods (cassava bread, farine, corn, tobacco)

4. Artefacts: Hammocks, earthenware pots, graters, mortars

and pestles, clay pots, griddles

5. Today's towns and villages are built on former

Amerindian settlements, (e.g. Arouca and Tunapuna);

and roads are on old trails such as the Tumpuna Road in

Arima.

ANIMAL NAMES

• Manatee

• Caiman: Taken from the Carib word 'acayuman’.

• Iguana: Amerindian word meaning large green lizard -Arawak iwana.

• Zandolie (lizard)

• Manicou

• Crappo

• Agouti

ANIMAL NAMES

• Roucou: A red dye used by Caribs as body paint, derived from the Annatto plant.

• Maize: Taken from the Arawak word 'Maisi', which means corn or the Carib mahiz

• Cassava: from the Taino word 'caçábi’.

• Amerindian houses were strongly built so that they could withstand hurricanes. They were circular and had wooden frames, sloping roofs, and walls of reed and bark.

• Each house had one room often shared by several families.

• Inside the houses were hammocks for sleeping in (made by the women from cotton and bark rope).

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BOHIO (CACIQUE’S HOUSE)

CANEYE (FAMILY HOUSE)

Ajoupa: a wooden-framed hut or shelter with a thatched roof and (sometimes) open sides.

Carib: ajouppashed, palmetto or bamboo hut.

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Hamaca or Hamoca

• Food prepared by baking, roasting and stewing

• Flour made from grated cassava and corn ground using a mortar and pestle

• Cakes or bread baked on a clay griddle

• Fish and meat roasted over an open fire (Barbeque)

• Fire started from sparks obtained by rubbing two stones together

• Favorite dish was Pepperpot (a stew made from vegetables, peppers and meat)

PLACE NAMES

Arima, Aripo, Arouca,

Balandra, Carapichaima,

Carli Bay, Caura,

Chaguanas, Chaguaramas,

Cunupia, Curepe, Cushe,

Guaico Tamana, Guanapo,

Carapo, Cumana, Cumuto,

Guayaguayare, Icacos,

Iere Village, Macqueripe, Maracas, Maraval,

Matelot(e), Matura, Mataro, Mucurapo,

Naparima, Nariva, Ortoire,

Paria, Paramin, Piarco, El Tucuche, Salybia,

Siparia, Tabaquite,

Tacarigua, Toco, Talparo,

Tunapuna, Tumpuna,

Tragarete,

PLACE NAMES• Naparima: from the Arawak word naparima, meaning

‘large water’, or from Nabarima, Warao for ‘Father of thewaves’

• Mayaro: The word "ro" in the Amerindian language meant"the place of", so Mayaro denotes "the place of the mayaplant".

• Cuba: Cobao (Taino) – large island or place

• Jamaica: Yamaye (Taino) - Land of Wood and Water or Land of Springs

• Haiti: Ayiti (Taino) - Rough earth; Mother of all lands

• Tobago: Kalinago word ‘tavaco’

• Salybia: from 'Chaleibe', which is the Carib name for Trinidad

TREE NAMES

• Balata

• Tacare

• Mulatre

• Hurricane: The word hurricane is derived from the Amerindian (Taino) word Huraca'n which means tempest, the malignant spirit, center of the wind (hurricane), Hura, wind and Ca'n, centre.

Huracanwas the god of the wind.

Balata trees

• Barbecue: from the Arawak word 'barabicu’ -'framework of sticks set upon posts’.

• Pirogue: comes from the Carib piraua

• Guava

• Papaya

• tobacco - Arawak tzibatl

• yucca - Arawak

• Canoe

• Savanna

• Cocoyea

• Mauby

AMERINDIAN CONTRIBUTIONS

Food: farine, cassava cake, pepperpot

Items: hammock (hamaca); canoe

Musical instruments: maraca or chac-chac

Place names: Arima, Caroni, Toco, Guaracara, Piarco, Aripo, Chaguaramas, Mayaro, Couva, Curepe,

Mausica, Cunupia, Tunapuna, Chaguanas, Naparima, Chacachacare

Animal names: agouti, manicou, iguana, zandolie

Tree names: balata, tacare, mulatre

Houses: ajoupa

Words: hurricane (huracan); tobacco (tavaco)

Method of cooking: BBQ, stewing, baking

Skill: pottery making and basket weaving

CARIBBEAN CULTURE

Caribbean culture is unique and gives the region a distinct identity. The Caribbean is the only region in the world which has its particular mix of ethnic groups and history.

The cultures of the various ethnic groups which migrated to the region have fused or melted together to create our Caribbean culture.

We call this CULTURAL INTEGRATION and it is the reason why we often talk about the Caribbean as being a melting pot .

CULTURAL ASSIMILATION

• Cultural assimilation is the process by which a person or a group's language and/or culturecome to resemble those of another group.

• FORCED or VOLUNTARY

Cultural assimilation occurs when members of one cultural group adopt the language, practices and beliefs of another group, often losing aspects of their traditional culture in the process.

e.g. the forced assimilation of Amerindians and enslaved Africans, who were forbidden to speak their traditional languages, were forced to convert to Christianity, and were forced to adopt European forms of dress.

CULTURAL ERASURE

Cultural erasure is a practice in which a dominant culture, for example a colonizing nation, attempts to negate, suppress, remove or erase the culture of a subordinate group.

The idea of "civilizing" non-white people can be seen as cultural erasure.

• Caribbean culture has been the result of cultural penetration. Cultural penetration is when one culture influences another. It can happen naturally or by force. Throughout Caribbean history different cultures have influenced each other.

• Acculturation occurs when two or more cultures merge without losing their traditional elements. It involves some measure of cultural retention.

• Cultural retention involves keeping elements from the past, e.g. Guyana’s national dish: pepperpot; East Indians (food, music, dress, customs, religious practices, ceremonies).

• Cultural integration is the intermixing of different cultural elements e.g Caribbean cuisine, reggae-soca, chutney-soca, parang soca

• Cultural penetration is the influencing of one culture by another e.g how dancehall music is now part of Trini culture.

• Cultural renewal is the act of reviving a dying culture by trying to restore it to it's original form e.g. black Muslims wearing hijab and other ethnic wear.

5. HOW DO WE LEARN OUR CULTURE?

• Through the process of SOCIALIZATION

6. WHO/WHAT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR TEACHING US OUR CULTURE?

• Our family (Parents, grandparents, relatives);our religious leaders, our education system, our community

AMERINDIANS • Pottery skills, foods (pepperpot)• Agricultural lifestyle

EUROPEANS(legal marriage)

• Government• Commerce• Law• Religion• Family patterns

AFRICANS(visiting unions)

• Caribbean cuisine• Love of music, dancing and festivals

INDIANS(common-law)Indentured

• East Indian cuisine• Love of music, dancing and festivals

CHINESE • Shopkeepers, traders

SYRIANS & LEBANESE • Traders, business people

Our ancestors

ANCESTRAL INFLUENCE ON FAMILY UNIONS

• Europeans: monogamous legal marriage, nuclear families

• Africans: historically extended families however slavery changed that resulting in visiting unions

• East Indians: extended families, common-law marriage

7. COMMERCIALIZATION OF OUR CULTURE

TRADITIONAL COSTUMES

OLD TIME CARNIVAL COSTUMES AND

CHARACTERS• Dame Lorraine

• Pierrot Grenade

• Clowns

• Burrokeets

• Baby dolls

OLD TIME CARNIVALCOSTUMES

AND CHARACTERS

• Sailors

• Midnight robber

• Fancy Indians

• Minstrels

PRESENT DAY CARNIVALCOSTUMES (ANY CHARACTERS???)

What do you notice?

Present day

• Skimpy/revealing

• All relatively similar

• Focus on person’s physique rather than costume

• Raucous behaviour to match costume

Past

• Not revealing, lots of fabric (more modest)

• All different

• Focus on costume rather than person’s physique

What caused this change?

Commercialization of our culture!

Commercialization of culture is when cultural elements are used to make money. e.g. traditional dances may be performed mainly for tourists, musicians sell commercial CDs across the world, and companies make Jamaican jerk sauce. NB: Carnival costumes

Is commercialization good or bad?

COMMERCIALIZATION OF CULTURE -GOOD OR BAD?

GOOD BAD

• Dilution of culture/culturalerosion may occur due to the commodification of cultural goods (staged authenticity)

• Cultural erasure

• Standardization / loss of unique and distinct quality

• helps to keep cultures alive

• Earns foreign exchange• helps to boost economies

(earn foreign exchange -tourism $)

• provides jobs for calypsonians, soca artistes, wire benders/costume makers etc.

• Encourages talent development

LOSS OF AUTHENTICITY

AND STAGED AUTHENTICITY

• Adapting cultural expressions and manifestations to the tastes of tourists or even performing shows as if they were "real life" constitutes "staged authenticity".

• As long as tourists just want a glimpse of the local atmosphere, a quick glance at local life, without any knowledge or even interest, staging will be inevitable.

Home-work

Read up on:-

(a)ways of preserving our culture

(b)how our culture is transmitted

(c) why preserving our culture is important

Image sources

Phagwa: http://newglobalindian.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Utsav_a_la_Trinidad.jpegEast Indian food: https://culturepology.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/aloo_doubles.jpgFig leaf: https://trinidadandtobagoparadise.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/indian-food.jpgTassa: http://www.bestoftrinidad.com/pictures/hosaydrum.jpgEast Indian dancers: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/aa/d3/d5/aad3d52d02c1620613d03968d917f111.jpgAfrican dance: https://i.pinimg.com/600x315/ec/bd/7e/ecbd7ea403fa0397e189ca52cd792f22.jpgAfrican drummers: http://www.traveladventures.org/countries/trinidad-and-tobago/images/tobago-heritage-festival02.jpgAfrican wear: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/8c/8b/ac/8c8bac71717e4083d7d62ca50af52dc8.jpgPelau: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/57/b9/51/57b951faf141aedb77438c5efa04386e.jpgCoocoo and callaloo: https://www.gotrinidadandtobago.com/files/essen-collaloo.jpgCrab and dumplin: https://i.pinimg.com/736x/21/ad/89/21ad899790a0aadef6c8de7c9d205719--crab-restaurant-trinidad-food.jpgGroup in traditional African garb: https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-frm5AnugV8E/WXUE3TDIdtI/AAAAAAAAAaI/kHaxarsDdDQdcf9ib5i00e3gYYZl_tKjACLcBGAs/s1600/DESCA2.jpgAfrican slaves: https://www.history.com/.image/ar_16:9%2Cc_fill%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Cg_faces:center%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_768/MTU3OTIzNTc2NjUzOTQ4ODc4/how-slavery-became-the-economic-engine-of-the-souths-featured-photo.jpgArawaks: https://carriacou.biz/wp-content/uploads/arawaks-tribe.jpgEast indan indentured immigrants: https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=CvnHCtzH&id=F4A13FB6E6E0E8D4BEB90ABAC64C20F22047F20B&thid=OIP.CvnHCtzHa_j4XKMfZqwyWwHaKw&mediaurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.islandmix.com%2Fbackchat%2Fattachments%2Ff6%2F67596d1401669632-how-come-no-one-posted-anything-commemorate-indian-arrival-day-t-t-iad-couple.png&exph=479&expw=330&q=east+indian+indentured&simid=608020528579612419&ck=32F79D9CEAA076898E68BD9BF87022C7&selectedindex=2&form=IRPRST&ajaxhist=0&vt=0&sim=11Chinese foods: wordpress; pinterest; http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7AgI8cEeG08/UaVeMPmaHsI/AAAAAAAACIg/6Rl6jHneWQ8/s1600/038.JPG