Culture of the Bahamas
Encyclopedia
Bahamian culture
is a hybrid of African
, European
, and other cultures. During the past thirty years the culture has become increasingly influenced by the Hip-Hop culture of United States.
Bahamian culture is related to other creole cultures throughout the Caribbean Basin
, but also to the Gullah
culture in coastal South Carolina
and Georgia
in the United States. Many Gullah people were taken to the Bahamas after the American Revolutionary War
.
(December 26) and New Year's Day
(January 1). This traditional celebration was started with an African slave by the name of John Canoe. Slaves were given a special holiday at Christmas time, when they could leave the work of the plantation behind and celebrate. The parades are characterized by spectacular costumes made of crepe paper and powerful rhythms beaten traditionally on goatskin
drums (accompanied more recently with tom-tom drums or bongo drum
s) as well as rich brass bands and shaking cow bells. Bahamianhoes music also incorporates other Caribbean
forms such as Calypso
, Trinidadian Soca
and Jamaican Reggae
, as well as American-inspired Rap and Hip Hop
.
Calypso
and Rake 'n' Scrape
singers and bands such as Baha Men
have gained massive popularity in Japan
, the United States
and elsewhere. While Bahamian music continues to be enjoyed by the Bahamian public, with singers such as Ronnie Butler, "King" Eric Gibson
, K.B, Macklyn,the Brilanders and kandee effn stah.
, a vast majority of the population speaks "broken" English known as Bahamian Dialect. There are some minor regional differences from island to island in terms of pronunciation (but generally all are the same).
The second most spoken language is Haitian creole which is spoken by the 30,000-60,000 Haitian
Migrants in The Bahamas which also include a vast number of illegal Haitian Immigrants (2005).
heritage, derived from the Eleutheran Adventurers
.
Storytelling is one of the cultures taken from the African cultures these store's for example ber bookie ber rabbi etc.
This skill was useful when Bahamians led subsistence lifestyles, with baskets being used for carrying fruit and fishing traps. Today straw work, and wood carvings, are produced and sold to tourists in Nassau's Straw Market.
Eleuthera ,The Bahamas.
Spanish Wells,Eleuthera, The Bahamas.
Habour Island, Eleuthers , The Bahamas.
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
is a hybrid of African
Culture of Africa
The culture of Africa encompasses and includes all cultures within the continent of Africa. There is a political or racial split between North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa, which is in turn divided into a great number of ethnic cultures...
, European
Culture of Europe
The culture of Europe might better be described as a series of overlapping cultures. Whether it is a question of North as opposed to South; West as opposed to East; Orthodoxism as opposed to Protestantism as opposed to Catholicism as opposed to Secularism; many have claimed to identify cultural...
, and other cultures. During the past thirty years the culture has become increasingly influenced by the Hip-Hop culture of United States.
Bahamian culture is related to other creole cultures throughout the Caribbean Basin
Caribbean Basin
The Caribbean Basin is generally defined as the area running from Florida westward along the Gulf coast, then south along the Mexican coast through Central America and then eastward across the northern coast of South America. This region includes the islands of the archipelago of the West Indies...
, but also to the Gullah
Gullah
The Gullah are African Americans who live in the Lowcountry region of South Carolina and Georgia, which includes both the coastal plain and the Sea Islands....
culture in coastal South Carolina
South Carolina Low Country
The Lowcountry is a geographic and cultural region located along South Carolina's coast. The region includes the South Carolina Sea Islands...
and Georgia
The Golden Isles of Georgia
The Golden Isles of Georgia are a group of four barrier islands on the 100-mile-long coast of Georgia on the Atlantic Ocean. They include St. Simons Island, Sea Island, Jekyll Island, Little St. Simons Island, and Historic Brunswick. They are part of the Sea Islands.Since the American Civil War,...
in the United States. Many Gullah people were taken to the Bahamas after the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
.
Music
Junkanoo music is indigenous to the people of The Bahamas. It is a type of street carnival which occurs on Boxing DayBoxing Day
Boxing Day is a bank or public holiday that occurs on 26 December, or the first or second weekday after Christmas Day, depending on national or regional laws. It is observed in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth nations. In Ireland, it is recognized as...
(December 26) and New Year's Day
New Year's Day
New Year's Day is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar used in ancient Rome...
(January 1). This traditional celebration was started with an African slave by the name of John Canoe. Slaves were given a special holiday at Christmas time, when they could leave the work of the plantation behind and celebrate. The parades are characterized by spectacular costumes made of crepe paper and powerful rhythms beaten traditionally on goatskin
Goatskin
Goatskin may refer to:* Goatskin , the skin of a goat or the leather made from it* Goatskin , a container for wine...
drums (accompanied more recently with tom-tom drums or bongo drum
Bongo drum
Bongo or bongos are a Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of single-headed, open-ended drums attached to each other. The drums are of different size: the larger drum is called in Spanish the hembra and the smaller the macho...
s) as well as rich brass bands and shaking cow bells. Bahamianhoes music also incorporates other Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
forms such as Calypso
Calypso music
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
, Trinidadian Soca
Soca music
Soca is a style of music from Trinidad and Tobago. Soca is a musical development of traditional Trinidadian calypso, through loans from the 1960s onwards from predominantly black popular music....
and Jamaican Reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
, as well as American-inspired Rap and Hip Hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
.
Calypso
Calypso music
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
and Rake 'n' Scrape
Ripsaw music
Ripsaw is a musical genre which originated in the Turks and Caicos Islands, specifically in the Middle and North Caicos. A very closely related variant, rake-and-scrape, is played in the Bahamas...
singers and bands such as Baha Men
Baha Men
The Baha Men are Bahamian singers in a Bahamian band. They play a modernised style of Bahamian music called Junkanoo.-Early career as High Voltage :...
have gained massive popularity in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and elsewhere. While Bahamian music continues to be enjoyed by the Bahamian public, with singers such as Ronnie Butler, "King" Eric Gibson
Eric Gibson
"King" Eric Gibson is a Bahamian musician and entrepreneur. He is also the semiofficial Ambassador of Bahamian Goodwill.Gibson was born on the small island of Acklins to a musical family, although he didn't pursue music until his adulthood...
, K.B, Macklyn,the Brilanders and kandee effn stah.
Language
While English is the official language of The BahamasThe Bahamas
The Bahamas , officially the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, is a nation consisting of 29 islands, 661 cays, and 2,387 islets . It is located in the Atlantic Ocean north of Cuba and Hispaniola , northwest of the Turks and Caicos Islands, and southeast of the United States...
, a vast majority of the population speaks "broken" English known as Bahamian Dialect. There are some minor regional differences from island to island in terms of pronunciation (but generally all are the same).
The second most spoken language is Haitian creole which is spoken by the 30,000-60,000 Haitian
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
Migrants in The Bahamas which also include a vast number of illegal Haitian Immigrants (2005).
African influence
In Bahamian dialect ,some African words and expressions have been retained such as:- yinna - you (plural) (YorubaYoruba peopleThe Yoruba people are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. The majority of the Yoruba speak the Yoruba language...
) - jook (v.) - to stab or poke (Fulani).nnbb
- nanny -(v.n.)- feces or the act of defecation (probably of KongoKongo languageThe Kongo language, or Kikongo, is the Bantu language spoken by the Bakongo and Bandundu people living in the tropical forests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo and Angola. It is a tonal language and formed the base for Kituba, a Bantu creole and lingua franca...
origin, from the word nene, of similar meaning) - cut eye - an expression found in many Caribbean and Atlantic creoles, meaning to glare literally squint or 'cut' your eyes /role your eye
- Jumbay - meaning ghost,is related to the KongoKongo languageThe Kongo language, or Kikongo, is the Bantu language spoken by the Bakongo and Bandundu people living in the tropical forests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo and Angola. It is a tonal language and formed the base for Kituba, a Bantu creole and lingua franca...
word nzumbi of similar meaning, - Yam - to eat, a word still in use in some southern and eastern islands, related to the African word nyam.
Religion
The population of the Bahamas is 95% Christian of varying denominations, primarily Baptist, Anglican and Catholic. There are more churches per capita than in any other country. Bahamians religious enthusiasm and high regard for education are evidence of their PuritanPuritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
heritage, derived from the Eleutheran Adventurers
Eleutheran Adventurers
The Eleutheran Adventurers were a group of English Puritans and religious Independents who left Bermuda to settle on the island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas in the late 1640s...
.
Storytelling
Storytelling and folklore played a large role in traditional entertainment in Bahamian communities, particularly before modern television. Many of these highly amusing tales also carry wise lessons. Bahamian storytelling has witnessed some revival, through the works of Patricia Glinton Meicholas and other authors.Storytelling is one of the cultures taken from the African cultures these store's for example ber bookie ber rabbi etc.
Bush Medicine
Bush Medicine has been practiced since the time of the slaves in the Bahamas. It is still used today to cure many diseases using the naturally occurring plants found.Straw weaving
Traditional crafts include straw work on most islands (each one having a unique plaiting or braiding style) creating beautiful hats and baskets.This skill was useful when Bahamians led subsistence lifestyles, with baskets being used for carrying fruit and fishing traps. Today straw work, and wood carvings, are produced and sold to tourists in Nassau's Straw Market.
Canvas Art
Beautiful landscapes and vibrant houses and peoples of the Bahamian archipelago have inspired many artists both native and foreign. Some notable Bahamian artists include Amos Ferguson (deceased), Eddie Minnis, Brent Malone, Jackson Burnside, John Beadle and John Cox.Coral and Stone Art
Hand carvings from coral art and natural stone, cultivated from naturally occurring reef break-offs, beach erosions,outcrops, and smooth rocks.See also
- Bahamas
Eleuthera ,The Bahamas.
Spanish Wells,Eleuthera, The Bahamas.
Habour Island, Eleuthers , The Bahamas.