Because the founder and host of Strictly Facts: A Guide to Caribbean History and Culture, I’m captivated by the Caribbean folklore and fables we’ve been advised as didactic classes that join us to our ancestors.
The Caribbean is intertwined with African, Asian, indigenous, and colonial histories which have impacted our evolution. Collectively, we’ve got a wealthy oral historic custom of tales that spotlight the breadth of our previous via delusion and legend.
Though every island has its personal specific tradition of storytelling – regardless of being separated by nationwide boundaries and our bodies of water – a few of our folklore has carried all through the Caribbean and its diaspora, mapping our migrations, shaping our needs, and drawing novel concepts in regards to the similarities and variations of and across the Caribbean.
This Black Historical past Month, we bear in mind 5 characters in Caribbean folklore that remind us of our wealthy historical past as Caribbean Individuals.
Anansi/Ananse the Spider
Frequent all through a lot of the African diaspora, the tales of Anansi, also referred to as Kwaku Ananse, are believed to have originated in West Africa, by way of Akan folklore, and had been then transmitted to the west due to the transatlantic slave commerce. Anansi is understood for a lot of issues, however is most regarded for being a mischievous trickster who typically entertains himself via fooling and deceiving others.
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In some cultures, Anansi is regarded as the creator of the world or acts as an middleman between God and people, however the spider can also be thought to characterize survival and resistance as there are tales about deceiving plantation house owners.
Anansi’s fables typically finish with morals or key classes. Some are even answerable for frequent proverbs used at the moment like Jamaica’s, “If yuh cyaan ketch Kwaku, yuh ketch him shut” stemming from the story “Anansi and Brah Lifeless,” to imply that typically these near you generally is a goal of the revenge meant for you.
The Soucouyant or The Outdated Hag/Higue
Nations throughout the Caribbean home the legend of the Soucouyant or the Outdated Hag, however she has numerous names together with “Asema” in Suriname or is just like the “Loogaroo” in some elements of the French Caribbean.
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Whereas the story of the Soucouyant varies from place to position, the Soucouyant is often thought of an outdated, feminine recluse by day who sheds her pores and skin and enters folks’s houses by night time to suck their blood.
Whereas to some the Soucouyant might sound harking back to the European-style vampire, the parable parallels the Yoruba story of the Aje. Many writers and students have famous that tales of the Soucouyant evoke colonial resistance, cultural empowerment, and values relating to girls’s mobility and function in society.
The Chickcharney
Native to Andros Island in The Bahamas, the Chickcharney resembles an owl and stands three-feet tall with three fingers, three toes, and crimson eyes.
The bird-like creature stems from the Lucayan folks, an indigenous neighborhood in The Bahamas who had been the primary to come across Christopher Columbus as he falsely found the Caribbean.
The legend of the Chickcharney represents the Lucayans’ sturdy perception in nature and reverence for animal spirits, as it’s stated that if you happen to come throughout a Chickcharney and deal with it with kindness, you’ll be rewarded with luck. Nevertheless, if you happen to don’t, you’ll be cursed with unhealthy luck and tough instances.
It is usually stated that the Chickcharney nests in pine timber that they bring about collectively, including to the folklore. It’s speculated that their story relies on the prehistoric Bahamian barn owl.
Papa Bois/Papa Bwa and Mama D’Leau/Mama D’lo/Mama Glo
Papa Bois and Mama D’Leau are a married couple who’re regarded as the protectors of nature and whose tales are frequent in locations with not less than transient French colonial affect, together with Trinidad and Tobago, Saint Lucia, Grenada, and Dominica.
Papa Bois, which loosely interprets to “Father of the Forest,” is claimed to be an outdated man of African descent with not less than one cloven hoof. He’s described to have a physique lined in hair and that he carries a hole bull’s horn to warn animals of close by hunters. He may remodel right into a deer and lures hunters deep into forests to confuse and hinder them from searching.
Equally, Mama D’Leau, “Water Mom,” is a river protector and water animal healer. The legend of Mama D’Leau is considerably just like tales of mermaids or “river mummas” that may be present in different islands. She is claimed to be a stupendous lady from the waist up, with a golden comb she makes use of to brush her lengthy hair. Nevertheless, she is a big snake from the waist down and goals to guard rivers and water animals towards poachers and polluters by luring hunters in together with her magnificence.
Tales of Papa Bois and Mama D’Leau seem in a number of tales together with Nalo Hopkinson’s Midnight Robber and Danielle Y. C. McClean’s The Whisperer’s Warning: Secrets of Oscuros.
To find out about different Caribbean myths and legends, remember to take heed to the latest Strictly Info episode A Brief History on Caribbean Myths, Legends, and Folklore with Amanda Alcántara accessible on all podcast platforms. If there are new myths you realized about on this article or want to share folklore out of your island with us, be happy to tag us @striclyfactspod and @cnwnetwork on social media.
