Transcript Caribbean_Culture.ppt

Cultural Influence on the Caribbean
American
Cuba, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands
British
Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados,
Bermuda, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, St KittsNevis, St. Vincent, Trinidad and Tobago, Virgin
Islands
Dutch
Netherlands Antilles, Aruba
French
Grenada, Guadaloupe, Haiti, Martinique, St. Lucia
Spanish
Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico
Hispaniola
An Island culturally divided
Haiti
• Haiti is a Creole and French speaking
Caribbean
country. Along
with the
Dominican
Republic, it
occupies the
island of
Hispaniola, in the
Greater Antilles
Blending of Culture
• Mulatto – Mixed African and European descent
• Creole – Spoken in Haiti - Blend of European,
African and Caribbean Indian Language
• Papiamento – Creole language that combines
elements of Spanish, Dutch, and Portuguese
• Voodoo – Mix of African religious beliefs and
Christianity – Good spirits, and bad spirits –
found in Haiti
• Santeria – Blends African and Christian beliefs
in Cuba
Haiti’s History
• Haiti's regional and historical position is unique for several
reasons. It was the first independent nation in Latin America,
the first post-colonial independent black-led nation in the world,
and the only nation whose independence was gained as part of
a successful slave rebellion.
• However, Haiti has remained the least-developed country in the
Americas. Haiti now ranks 146th of 177 countries in the United
Nations Human Development Index. About 80% of the
population were estimated to be living in poverty in 2003. Haiti
is the only country in the Americas on the United Nations list of
Least Developed Countries.
• Haiti has few natural resources and about 66% of all Haitians
work in the agricultural sector, which consists mainly of smallscale subsistence farming. The country has experienced little
formal job creation over the past decade. Mangoes and coffee
are two of Haiti's most important exports. With its political
chaos, It has consistently ranked among the most corrupt
countries.
• Why has Haiti had such a hard time becoming a good country?
Haiti - Poorest Country in the Western
Hemisphere
Haiti Earthquake 2010
Rescue Efforts
Relief Efforts
Clean-Up
Haitian
Immigration to
the U.S.
Voodoo Dolls
• There is a practice in Haiti of
nailing crude puppets with a
discarded shoe on trees near
the cemetery to act as
messengers to the otherworld,
which is very different in
function from how puppets are
portrayed as being used by
voodoo worshippers in
popular media and
imagination, i.e. for purposes
of sympathetic magic towards
another person.
• Another use of dolls in
authentic Voodoo practice is
the incorporation of plastic doll
babies in altars and objects
used to represent or honor the
spirits.
Santería
A system of beliefs that
merge religions of slaves
imported to the Caribbean to
work the sugar plantations
with Roman Catholic and
Native American traditions.
These slaves carried with
them various religious
traditions, including a trance
for communicating with their
ancestors and deities, animal
sacrifice and sacred
drumming.
Caribbean Culture
http://web.bobmarley.com/index.jsp
Reggae is a music
genre first developed in
Jamaica in the late
1960s.
Reggae is based on a
rhythmic style
characterized by
accents on the off-beat.
Reggae usually accents
the second and fourth
beat in each bar
Merengue
• Merengue is a fast, two-step dance from the Dominican
Republic that emerged around the early 20th century
and has European, African, indigenous and Creole roots.
Through the decades to come, merengue evolved from
its folkloric, rural origins to more modernized forms, and
became the national symbol by the late 1930s, as well
as one of the most popular Latin dance styles.
http://www.dominican-republic-holiday.com/merenguemusic.html
Steel Drum Music
• Traditionally, steelpans have been built from used oil barrels.
Nowadays, many instrument makers do not rely on used steel
containers and get the resonance bodies manufactured
according to their preferences and technical specifications.
• http://www.sweetsteel.com/sounds.htm