culture - National Council on Drug Abuse

CULTURE
And M e
Written by June Cezair Wallace
Illustrations & cover design by Delroy MacDowell
Photographs: courtesy of the National Library of Jamaica
Funded by the European Union
Produced by Wallace & Wallace Associates Limited
for the National Council on Drug Abuse
©National Council on Drug Abuse, 2003
Culture and Me
List of Contents
1.
WHAT MAKES ME ME? .................................................................................................... 3
2.
MY FAMILY ........................................................................................................................ 5
3.
THE FOODS WE EAT ........................................................................................................ 9
4.
CULTURE AND HISTORY ................................................................................................11
5.
FOLKLORE .......................................................................................................................23
6.
ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES...................................................................................................25
7.
BUILDINGS .......................................................................................................................29
8.
SPORTS & OTHER ACTIVITIES .......................................................................................31
9.
JAMAICA AND CULTURE ................................................................................................34
10. OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO CULTURE ............................................................................35
11. MAKE A COMMITMENT TODAY ......................................................................................38
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1. WHAT MAKES ME ME?
What does culture have to do with me? I am a Jamaican and I live in Jamaica. It
is only by accident that I was born here. I could have been born anywhere. What
difference does it make where I am born or where I live?
Do you think it makes a difference?
ACTIVITY
Put three children in a room-one from Trinidad, one from
United States of America and one from Jamaica. Do you think
there would be any difference, even if they were wearing the same
clothes?
Of course there is a difference! That difference is the way of life of the people.
The main differences are based on the culture of each child.
Culture Is The Way Of Life Of A People
Our culture tells us how we dress; how we behave; what food we eat; what kind of
house we live in; what we say and how we say it; what our religion is; the kind of
buildings around us; the kind of schooling we get and to which groups we belong.
Activity
Try to remember some other things that are part of our culture.
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I MAY BE…….
I may be Black; I may be Chinese; I may be Indian; I may be White or I may be a
combination of many different races. It does not matter I am still a Jamaican.
Read the passage below:
Who am I? I may be mixed with German and Black; Black and
White; Black and Chinese or Black and Indian or I may be full
Black, full white, full Chinese or full Indian. Or I may be black with
a Chinese or Indian name. It does not matter! I am a Jamaican.
I am Proud to be a Jamaican; I am proud to be Black and I am
proud to be me. No matter what I look like. There is no other person
in the world like me. I am a very special person, created by God
through my parents, whoever and wherever they are.
I am proud to be a Jamaican because I have all those special
qualities that Jamaicans have – I am an independent, adventurous,
thoughtful, caring, hospitable, kind, reliable and dependable person.
Are there any points that you agree or disagree with? Is there anything that you
would like to add or leave out?
Activity
Look at yourself in a mirror. Write down all those qualities you
like about yourself and all those you do not like. Explain why
you do not like them, and whether or not you can change them.
Focus on all those things that you like about yourself and
remember them
them always.
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The Jamaican motto says:
Out of Many One People
Can you tell what it means?
DID YOU KNOW?
It is against the laws of the country to do anything harmful to
anyone because they belong to one ethnic group or another or
because they are of one colour or another.
2. MY FAMILY
My family may belong to any ethnic group or combination of ethnic groups.
DID YOU KNOW?
Many racial or ethnic groups make up Jamaicans. Some groups are below:
Chinese
English
Indians
Irish
Arawaks or Tainos
Dutch
Blacks
Lebanese
Germans
Syrians
French
Welsh
Italian
Fill in this box
Can you name any others? Do you know anyone who represents only one ethnic
group? Let’s look at a family tree.
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Each box represents one family member.
GGM
GGF
GRAND
MOTHER
GGM
GGF
GGM
GGF
GGM
GRAND
MOTHER
GRAND
FATHER
GGF
GRAND
FATHER
FATHER
MOTHER
ME
GGM = GREAT GRAND MOTHER;
GGF = GREAT GRAND FATHER
This is what a family tree looks like. You may belong to a family that only has a
mother or a father or one in which you live with an aunt, uncle or grandmother.
Your family may be:
Í Single parent (mother or father)
Í Nuclear
Nuclear (with both parents)
Í Sibling (Children living
living with older brothers and/or sisters)
Í Extended (Mother/father living with parents, grandparents, aunts and/or
uncles)
Í Adoptive (the child/children may be adopted)
Í Foster (children were not born to the adult, but are not formally adopted)
No matter what kind of family you live in, you were created by a mother and a
father. Perhaps you can draw your own family tree and put the names of your
great-grandparents, grandparents and your parents in those boxes? Some persons
can trace their families back for two hundred years. Looking at the surnames may
tell you the name of the ethnic group to which you belong.
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Activity
Name the different ethnic groups that these surnames match:
Llewelyn
Sutherland
McLaughlin
Stein
Suckee
ChinSang
DeMercado
deRoux
These names may represent families that were originally Welsh, Scottish, Irish,
Indian, Chinese or French. But they are all found in the Jamaican telephone
directory.
Can you tell the history of your family’s surname?
DID YOU KNOW?
Families play many different roles in your lives:
Children learn about themselves, the community and the society
from their parents
Children first learn the difference between right and wrong from
their parents
Parents expose children to the various practices that are part of
the Jamaican way of life
Children learn that they have a body, mind and spirit
Parents look after the physical, social, emotional and spiritual
well-being of their children
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Parents create a feeling in the family so that children feel loved,
protected, safe and secure
The adults in the family must earn a living so that they can feed,
shelter and educate their children
Parents teach their children about God or some other spiritual
being
Families look after the well-being of each other
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3. THE FOODS WE EAT
In the same way that families are mixed from the various ethnic groups, so too is
our food. Is your favourite food listed below?
Í Stew Peas and Rice,
Í Curry Goat,
Í Ackee and Codfish,
Í Escovitch Fish,
Í Bammy,
Í Jerked Chicken
Chicken
Í Corned Pork
They all have cultural connections. There are some foods listed in the table below.
Activity
Can you match them to the ethnic group that first brought the
foods below to Jamaica and name some others?
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Abari
Fufu
Codfish
Cassava
Curry
Chop Suey
Breadfruit
Pita bread
Ackee
Stew with dumplings
Irish potato
Hot cross buns
Dokonu
Badoo
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DID YOU KNOW?
Codfish was imported from Canada by the planters to feed the
slaves.
Breadfruit came from Africa and for several years was dumped or
used to feed the pigs.
Ackee came from West Africa.
Cassava is one of the few plants originally found in Jamaica and
used by the Tainos; it is used to make bammy today.
Jerked pork probably started with the Buccaneers, who used to
salt their meat in a similar way. That process was called boucan.
The Easter (Hot Cross Buns) bun and the Christmas (Plum)
puddings are English traditions.
Foods brought by the East Indians and Chinese are very popular
among non- Indian and non-Chinese Jamaicans.
Name your favourite Indian and Chinese dishes
In recent years a number of fast food restaurants have become
popular? Can you name some of them and state the country that
they first came from?
Name three Jamaican fast food restaurants.
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4. CULTURE AND HISTORY
What is culture?
Culture is based on all the experiences of the country or nation, the
community and the family.
Various ethnic groups came to Jamaica at different
times of our history. The Tainos or Arawaks were
the first to arrive to Jamaica, although some
believe that Africans visited before they came.
If you look at the Jamaican Coat of Arms [to the
right] you will see the Arawak Indians or Tainos.
They became the first Jamaicans.
Next came the Spaniards, they brought their culture or way of life.
Many plants and animals, such as horses and cows, came with
them. They also brought their language –Spanish- with them.
There are many towns in Jamaica today with Spanish names.
Activity
Name at least three towns, places or schools, which have Spanish
names. One example is Mona in St. Andrew.
The Spaniards brought the first Black slaves to Jamaica, before the island became
English in 1655.
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After that many more slaves were brought to work on the sugar estates. During
slavery many Irish, Welsh and Scottish persons also came to the island. In later
years other Europeans came. When slavery ended the Syrians, Portuguese,
Lebanese, East Indians and Chinese were brought to work as labourers on the
sugar estates because many Blacks refused to work there. Most blacks settled in
the hills, especially with the help of foreign missionaries.
Photograph 1: A Group of Chinese Indentured Labourers
When each group of people came, they brought their own way of life, i.e. their
culture. For example Photographs 1 & 2 show how the Indians and Chinese
dressed, when the first came to Jamaica.
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Photograph 2: An East Indian Family
The way of life,
which spread the
quickest and
became the most
well known, was
that which the
Blacks brought –
the West African
way of life.
DOES CULTURE AFFECT YOUR COMMUNITY?
Culture affects your community in many different ways. It may be through its
name, its music, dance, musical instruments, religious practices, folklore, design of
the buildings, speech or other customs or practices.
Place Names
Many communities or places in Jamaica have strange names. Some names are:
Gimme me bit
Me no sen you no come
Wait a bit
Jackass Hill
Put Together
Bloody Bay
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Each of these names tell a story, based on the experiences within the community.
However there are other communities or places, whose names are based on the
groups that first started them, for example Ocho Rios was first named Las
Chorrerras (meaning the falls, i.e. Dunns River Falls) by the Spaniards and the
name later corrupted to Ocho Rios by the English.
Activity
Read the following names carefully and try to find out the ethnic
group from which the name was taken.
Calabar
Ocho Rios
Quasheba Mountain Sligoville
Oristan
Accompong
Rio Bueno
Llandovery
Marlborough
Lluidas Vale
Yallahs
Auchtembeddie
Street Names
In certain communities, especially in Kingston and St. Andrew, streets are named
to mark special events or circumstances. There are a number of streets named
after islands in the Caribbean in honour of the Federation, e.g. St. Lucia Road,
Trinidad Road, Barbados Road, St. Kitts Road, Grenada and Antigua Roads.
There is also a place called Olympic Gardens with roads named after the famous
Olympians - Rhoden, McKenley and Wint. Also nearby are roads around Cricket
Way celebrating well-known cricketers called Rae, Holt, Binns and Collie Smith.
Can you explain the history behind the name of your community?
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Festivals, Music and Dances
In your community special festivals may be celebrated. Do you know of any?
Did You Know?
Some festivals enjoyed are Yam festival (an African tradition);
Hosay Festival or Festival of the Lights (East Indian festivals). The
Jonkunnoo dance, now often seen at Christmas time is West
African in origin. The Jonkunoo masquerade was held to
celebrate the harvesting of provision grounds, which were left in
the control of the slaves.
Photograph 3: Maypole Dancers
Ettu (in Hanover),
Gumbay and Dinkie
Minnie dances (in
St. Mary) all came
from West Africa
with the slaves. To
the right is an Ettu
dancer.
Photograph 4: An Ettu dancer
Dances were also brought by the English planters, for example a photograph
showing the Maypole Dance is above to the left.
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There were also Quadrille Dancers. Can you describe the differences between the
English dances and those
brought
from
West
Africa? Today they are
all Jamaican.
Photograph 5: East
Indian Musicians
There are also a variety of musical instruments, only some of which can be
mentioned here. Above is a group of East Indian musicians with their traditional
instruments.
Photograph 6: Mento
Band
The Mento Band, a
traditional Jamaican
band (seen to the left)
has a mix of
traditional and modern
instruments.
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To the right is a traditional Goombay drum. In West
Africa, the Goombay is associated with dance rituals
linked with healing and the removal of witchcraft.
Religious Practices
Photograph 7: A traditional
Goombay Drum
A main belief of Kumina is
that the spirits of the ancestors
remain close to the living. In
dancing the Kumina, the priest
or priestess could tell what the
spirits were thinking. Kumina
is popular in some parts of
Jamaica today. Can you name
one place?
Photograph 8: Kumina
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Photograph 9: Pocomania Dancers
Pocomania is another semi-religious practice that has its roots in West Africa.
Like Kumina, it is still practised in some communities today.
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Did You Know?
In Jamaica religious practices are many and varied:
The Tainos had many Gods and are believed to have worshipped
statues.
Myalism is an important religious movement brought by the
Africans. At the centre of myalism is the belief that all misfortune
is caused by evil forces.
The roots of Kumina and Pocomania are from Myalism.
Rastafarianism is a religious practice that originated in Jamaica.
The Spanish brought Roman Catholicism; the English brought
Anglicanism. There are many other Christian denominations.
Also found in Jamaica are Hinduism, Budhism, the Bahai Faith
and other Eastern beliefs.
Tip
It is against the law in Jamaica to discriminate or exclude anyone
because of his/her religious or political beliefs.
Be tolerant of those who are not like you – think how boring the
world would be if everyone was the same
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Photograph 10: Masquerade or Jonkunnu dancers, Courtesy of the Jamaica National
Library
The masquerade dancers (above) were
popular at Christmas time. During
Christmas the slaves were free to relax
as they wanted. Jonkunnu was held to
celebrate the harvesting of ground
provisions.
Other Traditional Music
Jamaicans like to sing and dance. Singing was used to communicate, even during
slavery. The slaves sang to help make their work lighter. Singing during work
continued long after slavery into the nineteenth century. They would sing work
and other songs like
“Go down ah Manuel Road, gal and bwoy fi go bruk rock stone, bruk dem
one by one; bruk dem two by two….”
“Rafting down the Rio Grande, Oh Ho”
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“Pass di ball and di ball gone roun”
“Wheel and tun me,”
“Dip an’ Fall Back”
Can you recognize any of the songs above? Choose one and try to
find out the words.
It is the rhythm from those kinds of songs called “Call and Response” that we get
the more modern music such as Ska, Rock Steady, Reggae and Dance Hall
Music. The emphasis on rhythm, (the beat that you keep hearing over and over
again) and the use of percussion instruments (like the drums) are West African in
origin. Great singers and performers, like Robert Nesta Marley and Jimmy Cliff
saw the value in mento music, and created more modern styles of music in the
true Jamaican tradition.
The modern music styles, such as dance-hall soca, are variations of the same kind
of music with the mixing in of calypso music, which was born in the Eastern
Caribbean during slavery.
Activity
Try listening to mento music and compare it to some of Bob
Marley’s songs
In” Redemption Song” Bob Marley talks about Emancipate
your mind from mental slavery –
Discuss what do you think he means with your friends.
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Tip
Remember slavery means total dependence on someone else for the
provision of food, clothing, housing, education and health – the slave
masters were supposed to have provided these .Get a skill and be
independent
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5. FOLKLORE
Anancy and Tacoomah are two popular fold heroes in the Jamaican culture. Both
came directly from our West African heritage. Anansi is a spider trickster, wellknown among the Akan people of West Africa. The name Tacooma is taken
directly from the name Ntikuma, the son of an Akan folk hero.
Activity
Ask an older relative to tell you at least one Anansi story.
When you have heard it share it with others. Do you think that
Anansi is a criminal, trickster or a kind-hearted “person”?
Which would you like to be?
Proverbs
Proverbs are one way of handing down advice from one generation to another.
You may have heard your grandmother talk in proverbs! Many Jamaican proverbs
are similar to those of West Africa. Below are two Jamaican proverbs and Asante
ones (from West Africa) that are very similar:
Jamaican
Asante
Sheep and goat no all one
A sheep does not give birth to a
goat
Noisy ribber no drown nobody
It is the river, which stand calm
and silent that drowns.
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Activity
Discuss with your friends what these proverbs mean. Try using
them in sentences to each other.
Are there any links between this picture and the proverbs?
If yes describe what they are and how you can make this happen.
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6. ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES
Blacks were brought to Jamaica as slaves to work on the sugar estates. The
Indians, the Chinese and many other groups of persons were also brought as
contract workers to work on the estates. But each group brought along their own
practices from their place of origin. These customs were passed down from one
generation to another.
Many Indians who came were accustomed to working with metals, and they
tended to focus on jewellery making. The Chinese brought their rice-farming
skills with them and many became shopkeepers, when they left the estates. Many
persons of Lebanese and Syrian descent sold fabric and clothing, first from horsedrawn carts and then from their cars, before they set up businesses in stores.
In agriculture, many descendants of West Africans brought the “slash and burn”
method that is still used for clearing land. Higglering continues to be a very
popular economic activity, although it was brought to Jamaica from West Africa.
First women used to travel long distances by donkey; nowadays they travel by
truck from country to town. People in Jamaica today still do higglering, especially
in the tourist resorts.
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The craft of weaving baskets was also brought from West Africa; it is still
popular today.
In Ghana, women are mostly involved in agriculture
and marketing, as it is in Jamaica. In Jamaica the craft
has extended to include the buying and selling of
many other consumer items, such as shoes, clothing
and other goods imported from other countries.
Photograph 11: Women in West
Africa weaving baskets
To the left are two types of
African craft. Is either of
them produced in Jamaica
today?
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Many
blacks
started
planting
bananas that were exported to
England. Both women and men
worked in the industry. To the right
is a photograph of women carrying
bananas for loading unto the ship.
Photograph 12: Women carrying bananas
Linked to the banana industry is the start of tourism. The ships in the late 1800s
took bananas to the East coast of United States and returned with American
visitors to Portland. This was the start of the tourist industry in Jamaica.
Tourism is based on the natural kindness and hospitality of most Jamaicans.
Many persons believe that Jamaicans are natural salesmen, although sometimes
they are persistent to the point of harassment.
Tip
The freed slaves went into in different occupations, e.g. small
farming, shopkeeping, buying and selling.
There are a variety of small businesses that anyone can start. Bill
Gates, the computer giant and probably the wealthiest man in the
world, started out putting computers together in his garage. In
Jamaica one hotel chain owner started out selling air conditioning
units from the back of his car. The father of another started out by
selling cloth to people in various places.
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Selling illegal drugs is NOT THE ANSWER.
Jamaicans have a spirit of independence. Are you practising your spirit of
independence today? Do you have plans of independence for the future?
Many young people choose to make a lot of money
through drug trafficking or pushing, especially by
swallowing them and taking them overseas.
If you swallow any drugs or attempt to take any drugs
out of the country or into another country – you will
be caught and sentenced to jail.
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7. BUILDINGS
Photograph 15:
wooden House
Photograph 13: A slave hut
Small
Settler’s
Jamaican buildings and houses have displayed a great variety of shapes, sizes and
styles. They range from the
slave hut (on the left) to castles,
such as Colbeck and Stokeshall.
Photograph 14: Kellits Hospital built during slavery
The slaves built their huts for themselves, when they first arrived on the sugar
estates. They were mostly built of materials, such as wattle and daub, that were
easily available on the estate. They also built the castles and many other
buildings, such as hospitals. In Photograph 14 is the Kellits hospital, which was
used by slaves.
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Once the slaves left the estates and started to earn a living from planting on small
plots of land, there were able to build better houses, as you can see in Photograph
15. As they earned more money from selling their agricultural products, their
houses got larger.
Did You Know?
There are very few wattle and daub houses today. Most houses
are made of concrete and/or wood.
The first prefabricated building in the western world was put up
in Port Royal
The first prefabricated bridge was erected in St. Catherine.
Activity
There are two government organisations that build house/housing
solutions today. Find out their names and how you can qualify
for a house.
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8. SPORTS & OTHER ACTIVITIES
In Jamaica sports are very important. They are played by a wide variety of
persons – adults, children, youth, men and women. There are a wide variety of
sports that are played. The most popular sport is football. There is six-a- side and
scrimmage football, frequently played on the streets. There are many different
kinds of competitions, e.g. schoolboy as in Manning and DaCosta Cups and there
are major league and club competitions.
Many persons play cricket, the game which
was brought to Jamaica by the British and
which is still often played on Sunday evenings
on the village green or in the community.
Among females the most popular game is netball.
Activity
Name all your favourite sports and state where you think they
originally came from.
Jamaicans do very well nationally and internationally in sports. There are such
sports heroes as Courtney Walsh, Herbert McKenley, Donald Quarrie, Merlene
Ottey, Warren Barrett and Connie Frances.
Several other games like Dominoes, Drafts, Ludo, Snakes and Ladders are also
very popular.
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Young Jamaicans have also been very successful in performing arts, spelling and
debating competitions.
Other customs or practices
There are many other customs and practices that you find only in Jamaica. There
are customs related to birth, death, funerals and marriages. For example Nine
Night is still practised in most places. This occurs on the ninth night after some
one has died. It is practised to help the spirit to leave the body in peace.
DID YOU KNOW
Nine night is both an Irish and a West African custom.
Activity
Ask you older relatives to tell you about some practices today
that were practised by their grandparents.
UNHEALTHY HABITS
There are some practices in our culture that are unhealthy. These include:
•
Not bringing up children within a family
•
Not ensuring that children have proper supervision
•
Not attending school regularly
•
Smoking any substance, e.g. tobacco, crack cocaine and/or ganja or
using any drug legal or illegal for pleasure
•
The illegal drinking of alcohol by underage students
•
Handling or using any offensive weapons, including knives and guns
•
Showing disrespect for others, especially elders
•
Using words that are offensive
•
Not forming a line or displaying discipline when needed
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Activity
Discuss with each other how you feel about these things. Do you
think that these things lead to problems in the community and
Jamaic?. Suggest ways that you can make a difference in your
life.
Tip
You can be sent to jail and/or pay a fine if you are convicted of
using, selling, storing or possessing cocaine, ganja or any other
illegal narcotic substance. It is also illegal for persons under 16 to
drink or buy any alcoholic beverage.
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9. JAMAICA AND CULTURE
Jamaica as a country and as a nation has many
symbols. One very important symbol is the
Jamaican flag and the Jamaican symbols.
There are other national symbols can you name them?
Write down both verses of Jamaica’s National Anthem.
There are also our National Heroes and Heroine.
Each of these person played very significant roles in the development of Jamaica
as a nation and its people. They helped Jamaica to become a sovereign nation and
helped Jamaicans to understand how very important they are nationally and
internationally.
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Activity
There are four of them above. Name the other three. Select one
and visit the public library to find out all you can about the
person. Why don’t you select one of the heroes/heroine as your
role model?
10.
OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO CULTURE
Our culture makes us Jamaican. It makes us who we are. Our culture is made up
of all the cultures, practices, customs and behaviours of the different people who
make up Jamaica. If it were not for the Nana or Old Lady during slavery, much of
our West African heritage would have been lost.
During slavery the Nana
used to stay with the
young children and tell
them the stories about
their heritage. She would
tell them Anansi and
ghost stories, proverbs
and many other customs
and practices.
Our responsibility is to pass on what we know to our children and grandchildren,
so that Jamaican will continue to be unique and special.
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Our culture gives us pride in ourselves, our self-respect and our respect for each
other. How can we make sure that we will continue to be Jamaicans and that we
do not become Americans or anybody else? This is especially important because
we have a steady diet of other cultures through movies, soap operas, films and
stories about other countries. We can do this by:
Í Making sure that we know all there is to know about our culture
Í Passing
Passing it on to other people we know
Í Passing
Passing it on our children and grandchildren
Í Practising
Practising those aspects of our culture that are healthy and help us to advance
ourselves
Í Refusing
Refusing to take part in those aspects of our culture that are harmful to us
and that may shorten our lives
Í Assuming full responsibility
responsibility for our families
Those things that help us
The first thing that we can do is get involved in things around us. For example we
can:
• Play a sport – there are many youth and sports clubs all
around Jamaica
• Love your neighbour and help others in the community –
there are always people who are less fortunate than we are
– some are blind or unable
unable to walk; you could describe
what is happening around them
• Help others around us – there may be a young child trying
to cross the road
• Stand up for peace and justice, starting in our families, at
school and in our community
• Show respect for all elderly people
• Become part of a performing group
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• Become involved in religious or spiritual activities
There are many times in our lives when we do not get support from our friends
and families. We are more vulnerable when:
• Our parents are away
• Someone may be encouraging
encouraging us to abuse drugs
• Someone may be trying to abuse us sexually
At those times and whenever the need arises we can turn to:
• Friends whom
whom we can trust not lead us astray
• Pastor of the church or an elder in a religious group
• An older friend or relative whom we can trust not to lead
us astray
• A friendly policeman at a police station
• The Friends Hotline or the Addiction Alert Organisation
or the National Council on Drug Abuse
• A nurse at a clinic or Health centre
• Someone at Y.M.C.A.
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Culture and Me
11.
MAKE A COMMITMENT TODAY:
This is my Pledge to myself
I promise to learn all I can about my Jamaican heritage.
My Jamaican Heritage makes me who I am. I shall practise all those habits and
customs that are good for me, good for my own development and the
development of my country.
I will stay away from all those aspects of the culture, which will harm me, my
family, my community and/or my country, for example smoking tobacco or
ganja; drinking alcohol or using any other licit or illicit drug.
I will stay away from anything that will destroy me as a healthy person and I will
encourage others to stay away from anything that will prevent their healthy
development.
I will have clear and definite goals and work towards achieving them. While I am
working I will not intentionally harm or upset anyone.
I will respect my mother, all older persons – friends and relatives. I will strive to
help my neighbours whenever I can.
That is my pledge to myself.
A NCDA Publication
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