ABSTRACT
The Caribbean, also known as the West Indies, is an archipelago of approximately 7000 islands and 13 separate nations surrounding the Caribbean Sea. The Jamaican national motto ‘Out of Many, One People’ may aptly describe the continent’s inhabitants. Stuart Hall agrees, “Caribbean people became subject at once to complex processes of assimilation, translation, adaptation, resistance, reselection and more – they became in a deep sense diasporic societies. For wherever one finds diasporas, one always finds precisely the complicated processes of negotiation and transculturation which characterise Caribbean culture.” Accordingly, this part will evidence the vibrancy of these complex and layered processes, from African masquerade traditions that parade and pave the streets of modern-day carnivals to the talking drums of the Yoruba, birthing the steel pan musical community in Trinidad. Creolisation is another example of this complex transculturation and can be described as the product of colonisation and slavery nurtured on plantations, created by the interactions of those from both the New World, including Europe and South and Central America, and the African continent; all of whom were deliberately separated by ethnic group but who innovatively created a means to communicate and plan revolt against enslaved conditions, valorising oral traditions and reinforcing the qualities of pluralism. This part will explore the oral and intangible traditions of Caribbean spirituality and the communicative, revolting role upheld in sharpening unsurmountable strength in its people during times of duress from colonisers who continually aimed to stop and strip away African customs. Throughout this book, the history of African cultural retention in the Caribbean region as well as the diaspora’s strength of will and colourful ethereality will be recurring themes; homing in on characters such as Nanny of the Maroons, who led a revolt against colonisers by utilising intangible powers. Maroon Town, located in Jamaica’s ‘Cockpit Country’, is a prime example of protecting and upholding the African Kromanti and Akan languages’ resources and customs, as is the case across the entire region. African culture is also retained through religion, dance and folk law, which will be further explored. This part will help teachers support young people in accumulating an appropriate depth of Caribbean history that does not simply cover the Windrush generation’s sails to labour and acclimatise to life in the UK. Young people will also think critically about the layers of how the Caribbean and its inhabitants came to be, carefully placing the missing puzzle pieces of African rooted history to create a wholesome Caribbean picture.
