Dominica’s creole culture explored!

Let us dance bele!

World Creole Music Festival is on this weekend (24-26th Oct. 2014)

National wear – dress up!

Crab callalloo – yummy!

Creole Language

Creole (Antillean Kwéyòl) was born out of the slavery era, Africans were assigned to the slavery plantations in the French Antilles; the French of their slave masters and their native tongues were somewhat useless as a method of communication since they spoke different tribal languages. As a result, they were forced to develop a new form of communication by relying on what they heard from their colonial masters and their fellow tribesmen.

Sporadically, they would use words they thought they heard their colonial masters speak and combine them with their African expressions and sentence structure; thus, new words were fashioned and given meaning.

Gradually, this new method of communication among the slaves spread across the regions of the Caribbean. This “Creole” language (French for “indigenous”) progressively grew into a more recognizable language.

Traditional creole national dress

The Wob Dwiyet is Dominica’s traditional costume worn by women from the 1800s to the 1960s, and is now only seen at national festivals such as independence celebrations. Starting life as a dress worn on Sundays or feast days when slave women were able to discard their drab uniforms and dress up in the kind of colours to which they were accustomed, and the traditional Creole Wob Dwiyet was born. Over the years the style has been modified and accessories have been added to develop this attire but the combination of bright skirt over white chemise, with lace adornments, coloured head scarf and kerchief is in essence the same as the national dress that is worn today.

The wearer of the wob dwiyet is known as the matador and on formal occasions she may choose to wear a headpiece, or tete en l’air, made of a square piece of madras. The dress is worn with pride and poise as it displays the island woman’s innate strength and confidence in herself and pride in her island. This square of Indian cotton, made by the Kalabari in the vicinity of Chennai (formerly Madras), was known as the mouchoir madras and became very popular with Creole women towards the end of the 18th century. French, English and Portuguese merchants were involved in the trade of madras, or injiri, as it is known in India, around 400 years ago. It is thought these merchants brought the material to west Africa where it was worn by the Igbo in southern Nigeria.

The men wear long black pants and a white long sleeve dress shirt with a red satin. Madras is used to decorate this attire in the form of ties, large waist bands or waist coats.

Creole traditional dance

QUADRILLE: A square dance of French origin. Four couple dance opposite and with each other. In the original Quadrille there are five separate and complete figures. The whole forms a set of Quadrille. This can take some time to complete, and since most are now done as public performances rather than for personal amusement, a number of sets are usually cut out. The pace of the quadrille has naturally been quickened and among the types danced today are the ‘Sharp’ ‘Slow’, ‘French’ and ‘Irish’ Quadrilles.

LANCERS: This is a later quadrille which came via Britain in the 1830’s and contained familiar figures from the traditional English dances and Scottish and Irish reels. It was popular with the military and the steps of the male have a more stiff and formal pace.

MAZOOK: From the Mazurka which had its origins in Poland but was very popular in France and so came to the West Indies. The steps have great variety but the music pattern starts with a smooth glide on the third note, shuffle step for the next note, another smooth glide and a series of cross steps until one is back to the first position. A special feature is the clicking and raising of the heels at the end of each round in the Heel and Toe Polka Mazook.

BÉLÉ: This probably is the earliest Creole dance which also has the strongest, virtually untouched African pattern. It has its roots in mating and fertility dance rites. There is a single instrument – the tambou drum – which is properly made of goat skin stretched over a hallowed tree trunk. The drum rhythm follows the steps of the single dancer who performs in a circle of spectators who also form the chorus or lavway for the lead or chantuelle. Although there are two dancers, only one usually dances at a time except at the end. The pattern usually is:-

1. Cavalier show physical style and prowess.
2. Dam shows approval and tempts him.
3. The Cavalier seeks the Dam once more.
4. Both dance in the most heated piece.

In all pieces dancing is directed towards the drum. Bélé is noted for the deep booming drum very vigorous body movement and steps, high pitched lavway with short and simple wording.

Creole music

Jing ping

Jing Ping is a kind of folk music originated on the slave plantations of Dominica, also known colloquially as an accordion band. In Dominican folk music, jing ping bands accompany a circle dance called the flirtation, as well as the Dominican quadrille. Jing ping bands are made up of boumboum (boom pipe usually made with a piece of bamboo) syak or gwaj (scraper-rattle), tambal or tabou (tambourine) and accordion. The double bass and banjo are also sometimes used.  Bamboo flutes led the jing ping ensembles before the 1940s, when accordions were introduced.

Chanté mas

The chanté mas (masquerade song) tradition is based around pre-calypso Carnival music performed in a responsorial style by partygoers. The Dominican Carnival masquerade lasted for two days of parading through the streets, with a singer dancing backwards in front of the drummer on a tanbou lélé. Chanté mas lyrics are traditionally based on gossip and scandal, and addressed the personal shortcomings of others.

Other folk music

Dominica’s folk musical heritage includes work songs, storytelling, children’s music and masquerade songs. Dominican work songs are accompanied by the tambou twavay drum, and are performed by workers while gathering fruit, building roads, fishing, moving a house or sawing wood. Many are responsorial, and are generally short and simple, with the lyrical text and rhythm tying into the work to be accompanied. On modern Dominica, work songs are rarely performed.

The kont, or storytelling, folk tradition of Dominica was focused around entertainment for night-time festivals, funeral wakes and feasts and festivals. Modern kont is mostly performed during major festival competitions. Most kont storytellers work with local traditions, such as legends and history, and provide an ethical or moral message. A one line theme song, often based around a duet between two characters, recurs throughout most kont performances.

Unlike most Dominican folk songs, children’s songs and musical games are mostly in English. They were originally in the same Creole as the rest of the island, but have come to be primarily of English, Scottish, and Irish derivation. Children’s musical traditions include ring games and circle dances, and music accompanied by thigh-slapping and circle dancing.

Calypso

In the sixties, calypso and steelband music became very popular and indeed replaced lapo kabwit and chanté mas as the music of carnival, particularly in the capital Roseau. Many of the traditional songs were performed in the new calypso beat. Calypsonians and calypso monarch competitions emerged and became extremely popular. Steelbands emerged all around the country. The older musicians and bands had moved on and were replaced by the younger musicians. Bands such as Swinging Stars, The Gaylords, De Boys an Dem, Los Caballeros and Swinging Busters surfaced and began to cut records. The emergence of radio, first WIDBS and later Radio Dominica helped to spread the music.

Calypso has been popular in Dominica since the 1950s; the first Calypso King was crowned in 1959. Popular calypso in Dominica has always been closely associated with steelpan music. The first wave of Dominican steelpan includes bands like Esso, Shell and Regent, Vauxhall and Old Oak.

Cadence (kadans)/compas

In the 1970s, a wave of Haitian, mostly musicians, to Dominica and the French Antilles (Guadeloupe and Martinique) brought with them the kadans, a sophisticated form of music that quickly swept the island and helped unite all the former French colonies of the Caribbean by combining their cultural influences. This was followed by mini-jazz like Les Gentlemen, Les Leopards, Les Vikings de Guadeloupe and others.

Later in the decade and into the 1980s, the French Antilles became home to a style of cadence music called cadence-lypso. Gordon Henderson’s Exile One innovated this style, as well as turned the mini-jazz combos into guitar-dominated big bands with a full-horn section and the newly arrived synthesizers, paving the way for the success of large groups like Grammacks, Experience 7, among others. Drawing on these influences, the supergroup Kassav’ invented zouk and popularized it with hit songs like “Zouk-La-Se Sel Medikaman Nou Ni”. Kassav’ formed from Paris in 1978.

Cadence-lypso (Dominica kadans)

The most influential figure in the promotion of Cadence-lypso was the Dominican group Exile One (based on the island of Guadeloupe) that featured mostly the cadence rampa of Haiti and calypso music from the English speaking caribbean. It was pushed in the 1970s by groups from Dominica, and was the first style of Dominican music to find international acclaim.

Dominica cadence music has evolved under the influence of Dominican and Caribbean/Latin rhythms, as well as rock and roll, soul, and funk music from the United States. By the end of the 1970s, Gordon Henderson defined Cadence-lypso as “a synthesis of Caribbean and African musical patterns fusing the traditional with the contemporary”.

Aside from Exile One, other bands included the Grammacks, Black Roots, Black Machine, Naked Feet, Belles Combo, Mantra, Black Affairs, Liquid Ice, Wafrikai, Midnight Groovers and Milestone, while the most famous singers included Bill Thomas, Chubby Marc, Gordon Henderson, Linford John, Janet Azouz, Sinky Rabess, Tony Valmond, Jeff Joseph, Mike Moreau and Anthony Gussie. Ophelia Marie is a popular singer of cadence-lypso in the 1980s.

Cadence-lypso was influenced by nationalist movement that espoused Rastafari and Black Power. Many groups performed songs with intensely ideological positions, and much of the repertoire was in the vernacular kwéyòl language.

Bouyon

Bouyon is a fusion of Jing ping, Cadence-lypso and traditional dances namely bèlè, quadrille,

chanté mas and lapo kabwit, Mazurka, Zouk and other styles ofCaribbean music, developed by a band called Windward Caribbean Kulture (later WCK). WCK was among the most prominent of ’80s Dominican soca bands. They began using native drum rhythms such as lapo kabwit and elements of the music of jing ping bands, as well as ragga-style vocals. Bouyon is popular across the Caribbean, and is known as jump up music in Guadeloupe and Martinique.

The best-known band in the genre was Windward Caribbean Kulture “WCK” in 1988 by experimenting a fusion of Jing Ping and Cadence-lypso. While the Cadence-lypso sound is based on the creative usage of acoustic drums, an aggressive up-tempo guitar beat, and strong social commentary in the local Creole language, this new music created by the “WCK” band focused more on the use of modern technology with strong emphasis on keyboard rhythmic patterns.

The World Creole Music Festival, three nights of pulsating rhythms, held annually in October is a huge celebration of creole music and culture.

Creole Cuisine

Dominica’s cuisine is similar to many other Caribbean island. Its cuisine has a distinct twist to its cuisine. Breakfast is an important meal in Dominica and is eaten every day. Typically eaten meals include salt-fish (which is imported dried and salted codfish) and bakes (made by making dough and frying it in oil). Salt-fish stuffed bakes also doubles up as a fast food snack that can be eaten throughout the day. Snack shops and roadside vendors sell these snacks to passers-by, as well fried chicken and fish.

Salt-fish or smoked herrings shredded and stewed in onion and green seasoning served with boiled green banana or breadfruit roasted over an open fire (with the charred exterior and internal seeds removed, of course) are popular traditional dishes served at lunch time. Ground provisions and local produce are commonly eaten.   Meat and poultry typically eaten include chicken (which is very popular), beef, fish which are normally stewed down with fresh tomatoes, onions, carrots, garlic, ginger and herbs like thyme and using the browning method to create a rich dark sauce. Coconut cream/milk features highly in meals cooked creole style. Locally made juices are served throughout the day which are made with locally produced exotic fruits, including grapefruit, oranges, guava, soursop, passion fruit, pineapples, ripe bananas and mangoes, which can also be eaten as dessert.

Dominica’s national dish is callalloo, a soup made from blended dasheen leaf with meat (often smoked) and crab during the crab hunting season (during independence celebrations – September to November), seasonings, chopped vegetables, root crops, such as yams, dasheen, potato, or green banana and plantains added. Coconut milk may be added to get it thicker and to enhance the flavor.

The national dish used to be mountain chicken, a species of frog, which is now endangered.

Sources: Dominica: the Bradt Guide, Wikipedia.com, SearchDominica.com & Lennox Honychurch

Breadfruit season again! Take advantage of the abundance!

Delicious breadfruit curry … yummy!

The Breadfruit

Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) is a species of flowering tree in the mulberry family, Moraceae, growing throughout Southeast Asia, South India and most Pacific Ocean islands. It is also grown in the Leeward Islands and Windward Islands of the Caribbean and in Africa. Its name is derived from the texture of the cooked moderately ripe fruit, which has a potato-like flavor, similar to freshly baked bread.

Ancestors of the Polynesians found the trees growing in the northwest New Guinea area around 3,500 years ago. They gave up the rice cultivation they had brought with them from Taiwan, and raised breadfruit wherever they went in the Pacific (except Easter Island and New Zealand, which are too cold). Their ancient eastern Indonesian cousins spread the plant west and north through insular and coastal Southeast Asia. It has, in historical times, also been widely planted in tropical regions elsewhere.

The late-18th-century quest for cheap, high-energy food sources for British slaves prompted colonial administrators and plantation owners to call for the introduction of this plant to the Caribbean.

Breadfruit to end poverty?!

It may not be a fruit that you automatically reach for in the supermarket with its lumpy/prickle-like green skin (depending on the variety) but this soccer-ball sized exotic fruit is being touted as a wonder food.

The fruit can be ground into flour and used in sweet and savoury dishes, including pancakes and crisps.  It is rich in vitamins and minerals, as well as being a high source of gluten-free carbohydrate, fiber and protein.  The protein in the fruit has a higher proportion of amino acids than soy.

Hawaii’s National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) has been studying the plant since the 1980s and formed the Breadfruit Institute which has suggested that this fruit may be the key to end world hunger.  Growing on one of the earth’s highest-yielding trees, it requires little care and thrives in the tropics.  Now experts are investigating which varieties best suit certain environments and climates – as well as local tastes – in countries lacking food security.

The Trees That Feed Foundation, for example, is planting more breadfruit trees in Haiti, where they hope to feed at least 1,000 orphans every day.  Traditionally in Polynesia, a breadfruit tree would be planted when a child was born, believing that this would guarantee food throughout that child’s life.

A million ways to eat breadfruit!

There are many ways to cook breadfruit.  In Dominica, it is mostly eaten boiled as a staple side instead of rice, substituted for potato in a salad, or with salted-fish stew.  It is a popular dish during the island’s independence celebrations (September to November) since this is the time of year it bears the most.  It is usually roasted over an open fire to give it a delicious smoky taste that goes well with a savoury meat or fish.  It is also tasty fried as French fries or chips lightly salted.

In countries such as Sri Lanka, it is either cooked as a curry using coconut milk and spices (which becomes a side dish) or consumed after boiling. Boiled breadfruit is a famous main meal and is often consumed with scraped coconut, or “sambal” made out of coconut and chilies. Fritters of breadfruit are also a local delicacy of coastal Karnataka.

In Seychelles, it was traditionally eaten as a substitute for rice, as an accompaniment to the mains. It would either be consumed boiled (friyapen bwi) or grilled (friyapen griye).  It is also eaten as a dessert, called ladob friyapen, where it is boiled in coconut milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and a pinch of salt.

In Puerto Rico, it is traditionally eaten boiled with bacalao (salted codfish). It is also used to make rellenos de pana (mashed breadfruit filled with seasoned meat), mofongo, tostones de pana (double fried breadfruit), and even lasagna de pana (cooked mashed breadfruit layered with meat and topped with cheese). There is also a popular dessert made with sweet ripe breadfruit:flan de pana (breadfruit custard).

In Barbados, breadfruit is boiled with salted meat and mashed with butter to make breadfruit coucou. It is usually eaten with saucy meat dishes.

Bet you did not know this!

Here are a few surprising and mostly unknown uses of breadfruit:

Leaves: Breadfruit leaves are eagerly eaten by domestic livestock. In India, they are fed to cattle and goats; in Guam, to cattle, horses and pigs. Horses are apt to eat the bark of young trees as well, so new plantings must be protected from them.

Latex: Breadfruit latex has been used in the past as birdlime on the tips of posts to catch birds. The early Hawaiians plucked the feathers for their ceremonial cloaks, then removed the gummy substance from the birds’ feet with oil from the candlenut, or with sugarcane juice, and released them.  After boiling with coconut oil, the latex serves for caulking boats and, mixed with colored earth, is used as paint for boats.

Wood: The wood is yellowish or yellow-gray with dark markings or orange speckles; light in weight; not very hard but strong, elastic and termite resistant (except for drywood termites) and is used for construction and furniture. In Samoa, it is the standard material for house-posts and for the rounded roof-ends of native houses. The wood of the Samoan variety ‘Aveloloa’ which has deeply cut leaves, is most preferred for house-building, but that of ‘Puou’, an ancient variety, is also utilized. In Guam and Puerto Rico the wood is used for interior partitions. Because of its lightness, the wood is in demand for surfboards. Traditional Hawaiian drums are made from sections of breadfruit trunks 2 ft (60 cm) long and 1 ft (30 cm) in width, and these are played with the palms of the hands during Hula dances. After seasoning by burying in mud, the wood is valued for making household articles. These are rough-sanded by coral and lava, but the final smoothing is accomplished with the dried stipules of the breadfruit tree itself.

Fiber: Fiber from the bark is difficult to extract but highly durable. Malaysians fashioned it into clothing. Material for tape cloth is obtained from the inner bark of young trees and branches. In the Philippines, it is made into harnesses for water buffalo.

Medicinal Uses: In Trinidad and the Bahamas, a decoction of the breadfruit leaf is believed to lower blood pressure, and is also said to relieve asthma. Crushed leaves are applied on the tongue as a treatment for thrush. The leaf juice is employed as ear-drops. Ashes of burned leaves are used on skin infections. A powder of roasted leaves is employed as a remedy for enlarged spleen. The crushed fruit is poulticed on tumors to “ripen” them. Toasted flowers are rubbed on the gums around an aching tooth. The latex is used on skin diseases and is bandaged on the spine to relieve sciatica. Diluted latex is taken internally to overcome diarrhea.