Essay The Origin of Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago 1.

When did carnival start in Trinidad

The natives began to participate in the festivities from 1838 after the abolition of slavery.

2. Who brought carnival in Trinidad and Tobago

The French brought Carnival to Trinidad & Tobago , which was noted to be a season of gay and elegant festivities extending from Christmas to Ash Wednesday.

3. When was the first parade of the bands The first parade of the bands took place in the year 1955.

4. When did it first start

5. What are the origins of the first set of Carnival characters

6. What type of Music they had to company the parade of the first parade of the bands

7. Select four traditional carnival characters and describe in detail

a)Origin

b)Costume

c) portrayal of how they play the mas

HISTORY OF CARNIVAL AND ITS ELEMENTS

Wednesday, 27 October 2010 13:00 | | |

Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago is celebrated before the commencement of the Lenten season. From 1783 for half a century, the French developed their Carnival , which was noted to be a season of gay and elegant festivities extending from Christmas to Ash Wednesday. These festivities consisted of dinners, balls, concerts and hunting parties. The Africans started to participate in the festivities from 1833 after the Emancipation Bill was passed. The Africans brought Canboulay to its festivities. Canboulay was first played on August 1st, Emancipation Day , but subsequently took place after midnight on Dimanche Gras, the Sunday before Carnival. In early celebration of the festival by the masses activities were held over the three days preceding Ash Wednesday. However in the face of over 60 years of criticism from the upper class about the low standard of Carnival and strong feelings expressed about the desecration of the Sabbath, in 1943 Carnival on the street was restricted to the Monday & Tuesday. Carnival celebrations were banned for the duration of World War II. ( Andrew Carr, Carnival from David Frost Introduces Trinidad and Tobago, London: Andre Deutsch, c1975 )

Carnival today is the end result of the evolution of an expressive cultural artform. To visitors it seems to be natural in every Trinbagonian despite of race, colour, creed and class. The festivity consists of many ingredients that over time has been expertly woven into the very fabric of Trinidad Carnival. Calypso, steelband and costuming are the main factors in our celebrations and when that is mixed with the human element the end result is Trinidad Carnival. Full of pomp, splendour, gaiety, joy, tears and laughter. One must not forget the bachanal element; without this main ingredient our carnival would be like the others that are held in major cities all over the world. Here is a historical perspective of our carnival. Carnival is a pot-pouri of cultural expressions, drawn from European and African influences; that we celebrate along the catholic church calender. That is the time we celebrate our carnival is determined by the Catholic Church calender, our carnival is held every year on the Monday and Tuesday preceeding lent the two days before Ash wednesday. We must remember that the Spanish and French colonialist brought catholiscism with them when they rediscovered the "New World". Christopher Columbus made first landfall in the Caribbean in 1492; and later on to Trinidad in 1498 when the island began its new-world history under the flag of Spain. Carlton R Ottley one of Trinidad and Tobago historical writers states: "Carnival had come to Trinidad sometime in the 1780 s with the arrival of the flood of French immigrants. It is true that the Spaniards did celebrate with disguise balls before that, but, the beginning of the festival.

Masqueraders such as known today, may be said to be a product of those early French men and women who sought refuge here towards the close of the (18th) century". The beginings of Carnival may have started through the 16th and 17th Centuries, roots must have been there for it to have spread in the Caribbean, Rio de Janeiro and New Orleans alike. As to whether Carnival started somewhere in the West Indies, and then spread further afield is debateable. Costumed MasqueraderWhat is clearly evident, is that the character of the Caribbean islands is very different. Populated by different cultures, over different timelines, under different conditions of wealth, health, religion and stewardship, the carnivals have evolved in the Caribbean region , are different with each island having their own style and one can see the difference when we look at the size and styles of costumes and the music the dance and even the number of participants. But the spirit of carnival is a common thread through out the region.Trinidad and Tobago carnival hads evolved along stronger national and community lines and this is evident by the thousands of participants every year and in 2008 the official reports are saying that the numbers are increasing.

19 Century Mas in Port of Spain Let us look at what Carlton R Ottley wrote about some early carnivals in Trinidad; at the turn of the 19th Century. Additional extracts are shown to provide notes on some practices at Christmas, that then led up to the event of Carnival. "Although (Lieutenant Colonel Thomas) Picton (Military and Civil Governor or Trinidad - 1797 to 1802) had dispossessed the free coloured people of many of their privileges, they remained free to take part in all the many festivities especially carnival, which to Trinidadians of the early 19th Century was the culmination of an annual season of great jollification and unrestrained merriment.The season was heralded with the mustering of the companies of militia. Simultaneous with the calling out of the troops martial law was annually declared on December 23rd" Martial law ended on January 8th, but the festivities once started went on without interruption. The wealthy of the city (Port of Spain) kept open house for their country cousins. There was a succession of balls, dinners, picnics, in all parts of town. The country was deserted. Everybody came to town. Trinidadians both ended and started their year with festivities. In the intervening months no opportunity was missed to celebrate the occasion whatever that might be. The last night of martial law was the occasion for the grand ball at Government House, when the elite of the land, jigged and polkaed and waltzed, to the strains of the music supplied by the band of the 3rd West India Regiment, at the time stationed in the island. Under the Spanish regime, the free coloured people were among those who attended balls at the Governor s residence, but with the apparent determination of all British Governors from Picton onwards to support the French aristocracy in its fight to keep the coloured inhabitants in their places, they were excluded from these balls much to their anger and disgust.Be that as it may, the festivities of Trinidad went right on undiminished until the carnival season was heralded in. This was the stimulus for the greatest exertions in the provision of gay diversions and complete abandon. There are several eye-witness accounts of Trinidad carnival of the early 19th century. These are of great importance in understanding the significance of this festival in the life of the islanders today.An English officer, in 1826, wrote to a friend: "I wish Bayley you had been here in the time of the carnival. You have no idea of the gaiety of the place in that season. Ovid s metamorphoses were

nothing compared to the changes that took place in the persons of catholic Trinidad. High and low, rich and poor, learned and unlearned, all found masking suits for the carnival. A party of ladies having converted themselves into a party of brigands assailed me in my quarters and nearly frightened me out of my wits. I was just going to cut and run when Ensign... who was with me, not knowing the joke, and thinking they were so many devils come to take him before his time drew his sword.." (From these pages: Carnival Monday 6th February 1826)

Another eye-witness account of carnival of that time runs thus: Having Fun"I was residing in Trinidad during the carnival, which commenced on Sunday, the 7th March at mid-night. I had seen the carnival at Florence, at Syra in Greece, and in Rome; and was now about to witness a Negro masquerade, which from its squalid splendour, was not unamusing, cheapness being the grand requisite". "The maskers paraded the streets in gangs of from ten to twenty, occasionally joining forces in procession. The primitives were Negroes, as nearly naked as might be bedaubed with a black varnish. One of this gang had a long chain and padlock attached to his leg, which chain the others pulled. What this typified, I was unable to learn; but, as the chained one was occasionally thrown down on the ground, and treated with a mock bastina doing it probably represented slavery". Each mask was armed with a good stout quarter-staff, so that they could overcome one half more police than themselves, should occasion present itself. Parties of Negro ladies danced through the streets, each clique distinguished by bodices of the same colour. Every Negro, male and female, wore a white flesh coloured mask, their wooly hair carefully concealed by handkerchiefs; this contrasted with the black bosom and arms was droll in the extreme". "Those ladies who aimed at the superior civilization of shoes and stockings, invariably clothe their pedal extremeties in pink silk stockings and blue, white, or yellow kid shoes, sandalled their sturdy legs. For the men, the predominating character was pulinchinello; every second Negro at least, aiming at playing the continental jack-pudding. Pirates were very common, dressed in Guernsey frocks, full scarlet trousers. and red woollen cap with wooden pistols for arms. From the utter want of spirit, and sneaking deportment of these corsairs, I presumed them to have come from the Pacific. Turks also there were and one highlander, a most udicrous figure, a caricature of the Gael, being arrayed in scarlet coat, huge grenadier cap, kilt of light blue chintz, striped with white, a most indescribable philibeg, black legs of course, and white socks bound with dirty pink ribbon". ( From these pages: Carnival Monday 8th March 1886 )

MAMA DIS IS MAS INTRODUCTION Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago is one of grandeur, colour, revelry, rhythm, and gaiety. Evolving over the past two centuries from an elegant, exclusive affair to a truly all-inclusive national festival, it is by far the most spectacular event on the nations calendar. Although a major part of the Trinidad Carnival mystique lies in its unique ability to bring people of

diverse backgrounds together in harmonious circumstances, the festival was not born to such noble pursuits. From the inception of street parades in 1839 and for more than 100 years thereafter, the celebration flowed in two distinctly different social streams - upper and lower classes. For the most part, the upper classes held their masked balls in the great houses of sugar estates during the 19th century Carnivals, then mobilized the mas (but maintained their distance), by using the trays of lorries as their stage until well into the 1950s. In order to fully understand the development of this festival, it is necessary to examine the complex historical, social, cultural and political contexts which gave birth to this national celebration. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND In 1498, Christopher Columbus landed in Trinidad and, as was the practice in the so called age of Discovery and Exploration, took possession of the island in the name of the King and Queen of Spain. The island did not have the promise of immense wealth like the other countries in Spains Western empire. Trinidad was, therefore, largely ignored for over two hundred and fifty years. In 1776, out of concern for this state of affairs, the Spanish king issued a Cedula of Population, which opened the island to colonization by the French. A second Cedula followed in 1783. This saw an even larger influx of planters from the French West Indian islands of Martinique, Guadeloupe and Saint Dominigue. Arriving also were Free Coloureds and Africans. The French brought with them their cultural traditions, language, dress, food and customs. In 1797, Trinidad was captured by the British and was made a crown colony of Great Britain. The British immediately began the process of colonization as they had in Barbados and Jamaica two centuries before. In this era, the period between Christmas and Lent was marked by great merrymaking and feasting by both the French and English. Historians of the nineteenth century wrote about the balls, fetes champetres (country style parties) and house to house visiting engaged in by the white upper class. It was also the custom of the British to impose martial law during the Christmas season. Military exercises were performed at the start of this martial law. The Carnival celebrations between 1783 and 1838 were dominated by the white elite. Africans and coloureds (persons of mixed race) were forbidden by law to participate in street festivities. This is not to say that they did not celebrate in their own way in their compounds. During this period also, there were numerous balls, parties and other entertainment. This gave the Africans some measure of freedom to enjoy themselves and engage in merry making. These festivities, along with the pomp and ceremony involved in imposing martial law, provided the Africans with ideas for some of the earliest masquerades for Carnival. The pre-emancipation Carnival saw whites costume themselves as Negues Jadin (Negres Jardin French for Garden Negroes) and mulatresses. They also reenacted the Cannes Brules (French for Burning Canes): the practice of rounding up slaves to put out fires in the cane field. With the emancipation of the slaves in 1838, however, the door was opened for the full participation of the Africans in the Carnival.

CANNES BRULEES ENTER THE DRAGONS While Emancipation brought freedom for the Africans, it also brought new concerns for the whites. The

British were entrenching themselves as the new Colonial power in the West. The French had lost their dominance in society. All the whites were caught up in the problems of labour, low productivity, and financial structures. Therefore, the opportunity was provided for Africans to take over Carnival and embrace it as an expression of their new-found freedom. In the beginning they celebrated the anniversary of their freedom (August 1) by reenacting scenes of Cannes Brules. Cannes Brules had its genesis during slavery. Whenever a fire broke out in the cane fields, the slaves on the surrounding properties were rounded up and marched to the spot, to the accompaniment of horns and shells. The gangs were followed by the drivers cracking their whips and urging them, with cries and blows, to harvest the cane before it was burnt. This event became known as the Cannes Brules Later called Canboulay. After Emancipation the slaves used this celebration as a symbol of the change in their status. They engaged in masking, dancing, stick fighting, mocking the whites and reenacting scenes of past enslavement. The August 1st celebration lasted for about a decade, after which it was transferred to the pre-Lenten season. The Canboulay usually started from midnight on the Sunday. This was, in essence, the beginning of the Africans Carnival. During this period the whites and coloureds ceased their participation in the street festival, thereby bringing an end to an era. FROM CANNES BRULEES TO CARNIVAL Africans were unperturbed by the preoccupations of whites and coloureds and proceeded to celebrate with gay abandon. They introduced their own musical instruments and dance movements. The drum replaced the fiddle, the poui stick dethroned the sword, while the nut and minard gave way to the Kalenda and Bamboula. The vigour and vibrancy of the African masquerade, the militaristic nature of the Kalenda dance and the violence of the stick fighting rituals, were frowned upon by the ruling class. The Kalenda (Calinda), a stick dance probably of African origin, was a popular form of entertainment for male slaves. It is an agile and dexterous dance performed to drums and chants while the dancers engage in mock combat with their sticks (bois). In the second half of the 19th century Canboulay and stick-fights dominated the Carnival. The main activity in the Canboulay was the stick-fight. The term Kalenda emerged as a general term for the stick-fight, the dance, the songs and other performances that accompanied it. The stick-fight involved two persons at a time with sticks three and a half to four feet long, who would Karay take up a defensive position in the middle of a circle (gayelle) and try to draw blood. The stick fighters were organized into bands representing different social groups. They were lead by a lead singer called a chantuelle or chanteuse, whose duty it was to egg on the fighters. The chantuelle was supported by a chorus of women. The purpose of the singing was to deride the opponent in song. These activities were all part of the Cannes Brules and they preceded the street carnival of Monday and Tuesday. The torchbearers, carrying flambeaux, led the march. They were followed by the batonnieres or stick fighters, then came the king and queen and royal attendants, body of supporters, substitute stick men, paraders, chanteuse, lead band. They all marched to kalenda songs accompanied by horns, conch shells, rattles and skin drums. Cannes Brules marked the beginning of the organized carnival bands.

THE JAMETTE CARNIVAL This term was used by the French and English to describe the Carnival celebrations of the African population during the period 1860 to 1896. It comes from the French word diametre meaning beneath the diameter of respectability, or the underworld . It was used at that time to describe a certain class in the community.

The Jamettes occupied the barrack yards of East Port of Spain. They were the stickfighters, prostitutes, chantuelles, matadors and dustmen. They lived in appalling conditions in areas which were rife with all the conditions for social instability: crime, vagrancy, disease, prostitution, unemployment, sexual permissiveness and dysfunctional families. It is no wonder, therefore, that Carnival was embraced with such fervour. For the Jamettes, it was a necessary release from the struggle that was their daily lives. The view of the whites was that the Carnival activities were immoral, obscene and violent. The kalenda, the drumming, the dances and the sexually explicit masquerades were thought to be totally objectionable. They were fully supported in this view by the contemporary press. Throughout this period there was a sustained attack on Carnival in most newspaper editorials. This ranged from outright condemnation to calls for a total ban. This was also the era of repressive legislation. The British Colonial Government passed several laws banning many of the activities associated with the Carnival including dancing to drums, carrying lighted torches and obscene songs and dances. However, it took more than legislation and police batons to stop the Carnival. The more repressive the legislation, the more aggressive were the responses. Finally, in 1881 masqueraders carried out a planned resistance against the police who attempted to stop the revelry. In the aftermath of the riot of 1881 Governor Freeling addressed the people and declared There shall be no interference with your masquerade. (qtd. in Liverpool 310). By acknowledging the importance of the Carnival to the people he proved that it was much more than just music, masquerade and dance but rather a necessary form of cultural expression. Unfortunately, this reprieve was short-lived. The following years saw an increase in governmental control over Carnival and pressure from the media to suppress the more objectionable aspects of the Carnival. The people's Canboulay Festival was abolished in 1884 and replaced with a restricted festival which took place at dawn on the Monday preceding Ash Wednesday. JOuvert (breaking of the day) became well established, with the tamboo bamboo replacing the African drums. The Canboulay and the stickfighters were eventually driven underground. Stickfighting, however, continued to flourish in rural areas from Tunapuna to Sangre Grande in the east and Freeport to Moruga in central and south Trinidad.

CARNIVAL IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY The first two decades of the twentieth century marked the gradual re-entry of the upper classes into the festival, after having withdrawn from the celebrations for most of the latter half of the nineteenth century. They returned after the Carnival was purged of some of its 'coarser' elements. However, they did not take to the streets but came in their decorated trucks and lorries. It took another forty years before they rejoined the street masquerade. Until then, they restricted their participation to house parties, club dances and fancy balls. Once again, Carnival took on a more organized and European character. Fancy dress balls were held at the Princes Building opposite to the Queens Park Savannah. In 1922, the first major Carnival stage spectacle was presented by the Les Amantes de Jesus Society a voluntary organization under the leadership of M. Joseph Scheult. The Society gave an annual charity ball on Carnival Monday night. This started in the 1920s and continued until 1948. This period saw increased participation by the various ethnic groups and classes in society. The private sector also became involved, organizing competitions and sponsoring prizes. The Carnival Sunday night Canboulay procession of the post Emancipation was replaced by a Dimanche Gras Show. This annual masquerade ball was organized by the Society of Les Amantes De Jesus, when a new venue necessitated a change from a ball to a stage spectacle. This stage presentation attempted to weave together all the main strands of

Carnival dance, costume and characters. The Dimanche Gras Show was inaugurated in 1948 as a vignette in the Carnival Queen Show. It was celebrated on Carnival Sunday night under the auspices of the Carnival Committee and continues to be the premier Pre-Carnival celebration. Although it has undergone several changes it is still seen as an attempt to create a valid theatrical experience out of the mass of Carnival material (Hill). In the early 1950s, with the rise in nationalism, the government decided that Carnival was too important a national festival to be left in the hands of private enterprise. The CDC (Carnival Development Committee) was therefore set up in 1957 and given the responsibility of managing the carnival celebrations. The festival began to resemble its present day form with Jour Ouvert (later anglicized to J'Ouvert) opening Carnival Monday from 4.00 am to 12.00 noon. By mid-century, Carnival was completely under the control of the central government. This meant more funding, more structure and increased participation by all sectors. This was the Golden Age of Carnival. Bandleaders and designers sought inspiration from history, films, great personalities and world events as they conceptualized their portrayals winning pieces. The economic aspect of Carnival was evident even then as businessmen responded to the opportunities created for the importation of fine fabrics and accessories for costumes. Masqueraders too, were aware of the benefits of being crowned King or Queen of Carnival. By the mid-1950s, mas became very competitive and a "Band of the Year" award was initiated in 1955 to recognize the effort that was being put into the presentations. In 1956, participation was on the increase and more than ten bands crossed the Queen's Park Savannah stage with over 300 masqueraders. From 1957 to 1959, the Band-of-the-Year first place winner was awarded $500. In 1957, an innovative bandleader from Woodbrook, Port-of-Spain, by the name of George Bailey, made a stunning appearance on the mas scene, at the young age of 21, and changed the face of Carnival forever. The authenticity of his presentation Back to Africa won Bailey Band-of-the-Year honours that year when he beat back other breathtaking presentations such as Irwin McWilliams' Ten Commandments and Harold Saldenahs The Glory That Was Greece. The extensive research that was reflected in the splendour of Bailey's presentation compelled others to follow suit in later years. In 1961, the first prize for the Band-of-the-Year was increased from $500 to $1,000 and, in 1963, a breakthrough was scored by steelbands when the Silver Stars Steelband of Newtown, Port-of-Spain, copped the Band-of-the-Year title with its presentation of Gulliver's Travels. It would be the first and only time in the 20th century that this feat would be accomplished by a steelband. By the mid-1960s, bands began to move from historical to fantasy themes and by 1969, the masquerading population was on the increase. Today, Carnival is Trinidad and Tobagos main tourist attraction and has inspired several Carnivals in cities where citizens of Trinidad and Tobago have settled, including New York, Toronto, Miami and London. Other Caribbean islands such as Jamaica, St.Vincent and Grenada have similar festivities but Trinidad and Tobago Carnival remains the greatest show on earth.