The Gombey is an iconic symbol of Bermuda

Bermuda

Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...

, this folklife

Folklife

Folklife is an extension of, and often an alternate term for the subject of, folklore. The term gained usage in the United States in the 1960s from its use by such folklore scholars as Don Yoder and Warren Roberts, who wished to recognize that the study of folklore goes beyond oral genres to...

 tradition reflecting the island’s blend of African, Native American

Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

, 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...

 and British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 cultures, incorporating them over time into a unique performance art full of colorful and intricate masquerade, dance and drumming.

Dancers are usually male, and perform in groups of 10-30 though in modern times female groups have emerged. The traditions have been passed down orally from one generation to the next within families and the Captains of each troupe determine the direction of the troupe and style that is taught. Thus within troupes there can be found subtle but distinct differences in beats, dances, costumes, headdresses, by which they can each be recognized.

Historically, the Gombeys were not viewed as a respectable art form by the island's ruling class and were banned by the slave masters. Slaves were allowed to dance only once a year and did so in masks in order to protest, without fear of retribution, the injustices done them by their slave masters.

In an article from The Royal Gazette

The Royal Gazette

The Royal Gazette, founded in 1828, is the only daily newspaper in the island nation of Bermuda. It is published Mondays through Saturdays; there is no Sunday edition....

 newspaper posted on January 10, 1831, a reward is being offered for the return of two slaves by the names of Ajax and Mentor who: “[w]ent off without a cause at Christmas, following that Idolatrous procession the Gumba. It is hoped that this late nuisance, the Gumba and other clamourous puppet shows of the Negroes, will meet the attention of all men of reflection that they be suppressed – as none but the worst or most ignorant Negroes follow such ridiculous shows”.

Henceforth Gombey tradition is at its liveliest during the Christmas season, traditionally performed during Boxing Day

Boxing 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...

, where the troupes would march the whole day around the island with crowds of followers. Also performances could be seen on Easter

Easter

Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...

, 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...

, Bermuda Day

Bermuda Day

Bermuda Day is a public holiday in the islands of Bermuda. Like certain other public holidays, it is always celebrated on May 24, or the weekday nearest May 24 if that date falls on the weekend....

 and in modern times at soccer and cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

 matches and other festivals and celebrations.

The word "Gombey" is related to the Bahamian "Goombay

Goombay

Goombay is a form of Bahamian music and a drum used to create it. The goombay drum is a membranophone with one goat skin head held between the legs and played with the hands or sticks....

", a similar dance tradition. It also refers to a specific drum of African origin (see List of Caribbean drums). In addition to the Bahamian Goombay tradition, Gombey is similar to some other Afro-Caribbean styles and celebrations (such as the Mummers). Afro-Caribbeans brought to Bermuda as slaves or convicts during colonial times introduced other Caribbean traditions. In addition to the bass, or “Mother” drum, typically home-madethe modern Bermudian Gombey is distinguished by the use of the snare drum

Snare drum

The snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...

 (generally in pairs), derived from the British use of the instrument. In addition, a kettle drum, a fife

Fife

Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...

 are integral parts of Gombey accompaniment and whistles are used by leaders to issue commands. The snare drummers play complicated riffs over the steady pulse of the mother drum, often employing call and response patterns, and striking the rim of the snare, as well as the skin. The result is an exhilarating, intoxicating, rhythmic mix which provides the impulse (or impetus) for both the dancers as well as the followers , with the snare drum patterns driving the body of the movement and the rimshots communicating with the dancer’s feet.

Gombey’s costumes cover their bodies from head to toe and are decorated with tassels, mirrors, bells, and other small items and symbols. The peacock feather headdresses, the painted masks, and the capes are distinguishing features of Gombey costumes. The Captains can be identified by their long capes and often carry a whip

Whip

A whip is a tool traditionally used by humans to exert control over animals or other people, through pain compliance or fear of pain, although in some activities whips can be used without use of pain, such as an additional pressure aid in dressage...

 to control the troupe or an unruly crowd; The Bowman or Lead Indian carries a bow and arrow often going slightly ahead of the troupe to scout the way on long marches; and the Warriors carry a tomahawk (axe)

Tomahawk (axe)

A tomahawk is a type of axe native to North America, traditionally resembling a hatchet with a straight shaft. The name came into the English language in the 17th century as a transliteration of the Powhatan word.Tomahawks were general purpose tools used by Native Americans and European Colonials...

 which they place on their shoulder and use during cockfights when they face off against each other to display their expression of the dance. Freedom dance, junkanoo, cockfights, biblical stories, slow dance, fast dance, snake dance, and rushing back are all elements to watch for when observing a Gombey performance.

Although the Gombeys have enjoyed a remarkable shift in social status, going from a marginalized group to now appearing on postage stamps and performing overseas, there are still today old laws in place that prevent Gombeys from performing in the streets of Hamilton without permits.

Gombey Research and Education

In February 2000, the Smithsonian Institution conducted training in folklife fieldwork for Bermuda-based researchers to prepare them to survey the cultural traditions of the island. Their fieldwork, conducted from April 2000 through March 2001, became the research basis for both the Folklife Festival, the development of the Bermuda Connections Cultural Resource Guide for Classrooms, and the development of a Bermuda Folklife Officer.

Dr. Richard Kurin

Richard Kurin

Dr. Richard Kurin is an American cultural anthropologist, museum manager and author. He is the Under Secretary for History, Art and Culture at the Smithsonian responsible for most the Smithsonian’s national museums as well as a variety of cultural and educational programs.For two decades served as...

writes in the foreword that [t]his education kit grows out of Bermuda’s participation in the 2001 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. It is based on the important research that went into the Festival and the documentation that resulted from it. Included in this document is a chapter on Gombeys, Bands and Troubadours. Since 2010 the entire Bermuda Connections Resource Guide has been made available for download in the Folklife section of Bermuda’s Department of Community and Cultural Affairs website.

Gombey Literature

One of the first major literary publications on the Gombeys was a book published in 1987 by Louise A. Jackson titled - The Bermuda Gombey: Bermuda's Unique Dance Heritage. The book contains pictures and sketches of Gombeys, and outlines details of history, group roles, performance and costumes. She subsequently also published a book titled Gombey Boy and a short narrative film on VHS. More recently a children’s book called Gombey Baby was written and illustrated by Bermudian JK Aspinall.

Gombey Film

In 2008 a feature length documentary on the Gombeys was created by the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs, Bermuda. Titled Behind the Mask: Bermuda Gombeys Past, Present, and Future – this film captures and documents the ongoing history of the Bermuda Gombeys, highlighting their importance as one of Bermuda’s oldest Folklife traditions. It premiered at the Bermuda International Film Festival in March 2008.

Directed by Bermudian filmmaker Adrian Kawaley-Lathan, and Co-Produced with Bermudian filmmaker Kalilah Robinson, the film was created to supplement Bermuda's education system; providing much needed cultural education for adults and children alike, whilst providing an entertaining narrative that could be enjoyed by tourists as well as locals. Its narrative chapters were split into detailed sections covering every aspect of the Gombey culture and traditions. The DVD chapters are listed in the following order:

• History
• Modern Groups
• Essence of Gombey
• Growing up Gombey
• Performance - Drums
• Costumes
• Performance - Roles
• Training
• Performance - Dance
• Crowds
• Community Support
• Keeping the Tradition Alive
• What has Changed
• Unity
• Future

The documentary process consisted of over 30 hours of interviews and performance footage which have been preserved as digital cultural archives, in addition all the preexisting data available on the Gombeys was amalgamated from private collections, the Bermuda Archives and Libraries into a singular resource. Primary interviews were conducted with:

• Gombey historian and writer Louise A. Jackson
• Tradition bearer Gary Phillips
• Master Drummers Henry 'Growther' Wilson and Jose 'Boots' Herbert
• Carnival Gombey founder John ‘Pickles’ Spence
• Costume Maker Janice Warner Tucker

And the Captains of each of the Gombey Troupes operating in 2008(alphabetically)-

• Shaun Caisey (H&H Gombeys)
• Kevin Fubler (K&K Gombeys)
• Andre Parsons (Roots Gombeys)
• Dennis Parsons & Andre Place (Place’s Gombeys)
• George Richardson (Richardson Gombeys)
• Irwin Trott (Warwick Gombeys)
• Algina Warner (Alisa Kani Girl Gombeys)
• Allan Warner (Warner Gombeys).

While the historical data remains accurate, changes have occurred in the modern troupes since the documentary was created. It is expected that in the future additional documentaries will be made to supersede this one, maintaining historical records of the shifting culture in Bermuda over the years. The Department of Community and Cultural Affairs remains the best source for current contacts and information on the Gombeys. A Gombey Festival is held annually to provide continued exposure to the folk art traditions of this important cultural heritage.

External Links

Department of Community and Cultural Affairs, Bermuda - Official Website Department of Community and Cultural Affairs

Bermuda Connections: Online Resource Guide - Free Cultural Resources on the community culture and history of Bermuda