They still call it masquerade
By Kim Lucas
Stabroek News
December 23, 2003
A band of masqueraders in Church Street last week.
"Deck the halls with...Tra-la la la la"
"Five yard curtain rod a hundred"
"Get yuh wining Santa...going
cheap!"
The hawkers along Regent Street in central Georgetown with merchandise in gold, green and lots of red to catch the eyes of the compulsive shopper; blinking lights at almost every doorstep and blaring carols everywhere - there is no doubt, Christmas is here.
Amid the cries of "Money ain't deh", or "Girl, me ain't know wah a doing fo de holiday", the very housewives (or husbands) have already mentally priced the new curtains, tablecloths, eggs and ham that will grace their home come December 25 and for a while thereafter. Money, they lament, is in short supply, but will be found by hook or by crook to make the season bright.
Such is life in Guyana at this time of the year and amid it all, there seems to be another group of persons who are caught up in the fever. The masqueraders, decked in colourful costumes, can be caught on the busy streets of Georgetown (never the quiet ones) making their rounds as the buses and cars are forced to slow down (or at times, stop) by the lumpy backside of someone representing the 'Mother Sally' of the band.
At the junction of Vlissengen Road, Lamaha and Irving Streets, or at Camp and Regent Streets, the masquerade "dancers" take their tolls as they act as human traffic lights. A drummer stands at a central position, while his helpers spread out, making it virtually impossible for any vehicle to pass without forking out a $20 or something more generous.
"Lef something wid meh nah baby," one of the masqueraders pleaded while his gyrating behind stalls a car on the road. The 'Mother Sallies' or 'Bam Bam Sallies' seem to dominate the show and here and there, one might find a malnourished 'Mad Cow', but that is as far as it goes for many bands.
Gone are the days when members of the band showcased artful footwork as they flounced around the coins thrown at them to delight a child or group of spectators. The pouches (and in some cases, buckets) are now stuffed with the not much more valuable paper currency.
Gone are the days when the piping melodies of the flute player alerted you to the band, or 'Mad Cow' rushed the children and marvelled at their screams in sadistic delight. Hardly are there spectacular dangling dances of the 'Long Lady' (stilt dancers), but they still call it masquerade.
The masquerade culture in Guyana seemed to have been passed down from the slaves, most of whom were brought from West Africa, but everyone has their own theory on the genesis of the festivity.
What is commonly agreed on in the region is that what was called "masquerade" was done as a brief annual revolt against the slave masters for a year of oppression. And like the slaves, many persons in eighteenth century England used the masquerade as a much-needed outlet from the strict confines of what was socially acceptable. Historians believed that one reason for the popularity of the masquerade was because people wore masks that allowed them to be something else and really express themselves.
The façade was dropped and the masks allowed one to take off another mask. Thus a central symbol is the mask, since it plays an important role in concealing the identity of the masquerader.
Explaining the origin of the mask on one Caribbean island, Dr Lennox Honeychurch writes: "Carnival or Masquerade as it was more popularly called in Dominica, was strongly an Afro-French festival. The observance of two days of feasting before lent goes way back to the time when the early Christians meshed the pagan festival of the Roman gods into their pre-lent ceremonies and there it flourished through Roman Catholic Europe."
According to Honeychurch, the word 'masquerade' was probably derived from the Arabic 'maschara' (a mask) and it might have been the flamboyant Catherine de Medici who introduced the celebrations to the French Court as grand masked balls.
"When this festival was brought to Dominica by the French settlers, it took root and flourished along with the African love for wild colour and rhythm."
A born Trini, on the other hand, accustomed to his carnival, would look you in the eye and ask "what dat?" if you were to ask him about masquerade, and after a lengthy explanation, he would catch on but point out that the stilt walkers are called 'Moko Jumbies' in his country.
That particular character originated in West Africa and is representative of the tall robed figures, who according to legend, moved through the dark African night and terrorised wrong-doers.
And what other reason would the slaves have to don the long full skirts or pants, brightly coloured satin or velvet jackets and an elaborate admiral's hat topped by plumes once every year?
But regardless of its origin and significance, masquerade seems to be one tradition in Guyana that is here to stay in whatever form or shape it continues to take.