Religion in the Caribbean: Creation by Creolisation

Joop Vernooij Religion in the Caribbean: Creation by Creolisation The Caribbean region is a unique part of the world with its mixed peoples, cultures and religions, a melting pot or callaloo. The region is an in between of East and West, North and South, the region of indigenous peoples, ex-enslaved, indentured labourers of Asia, Lebanese, Chinese. All of them experienced the chal- lenges of a multi- and intercultural society. The peoples created for themselves new worlds, cultures, and religions. The meeting or confrontation with colonial Christianity led to new features of religion like voodoo (Haïti), santería (Cuba), winti (Suriname), and orisa (Trinidad). Also, Hinduism and Islam from Asia adapted to the new context. Writers, theologians, and philosophers in the French Caribbean launched the concept of creolisation, the dynamic process of creation of culture and religion. For them, tout monde (everybody) has to create life by creolisation. This concept can be a vehicle for the analysis of developments of religion(s) in the world. Philip Jenkins does not mention the Caribbean in his The New Christendom (2002). Philip Jenkins’ book The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity (2002) makes no mention of religious issues in the Caribbean. He does not refer to the unique and particular world of the Caribbean. The Caribbean region is an in between of North and South, East and West. The region has been called a melting pot, a callaloo, a pepper-pot, a salad bowl, in social as well as in religious affairs. It is a seedbed of cultures and religions. As a long-time resident of the region, I would like to describe the specific sit- uation and special function of religion in the Caribbean. Specifically, I will con- centrate on the concept of creolisation of religion and of theology in the region. Such an approach can lead to new concepts, attitudes and perspectives, both for people inside as well as outside the region. The history of the Caribbean has been on of a search for identity and integrity. People have achieved their survival and liberation through the process of creolisation. This contribution will focus mostly on the Christian religion in the Caribbean. The Caribbean, or the West Indies, is not only a geographical or strategic notion, but has meaning in the field of culture, economics and politics, as well as religion. The picture is a complex one. For 500 years the region has been a site of violence, begun by the European powers with their introduction of red and black slavery, neo-colonialism, and fragmentation as a variety of population groups, languages, religions, and lifestyles were brought in for “development” of the region (Premdas 1999). 148 Joop Vernooij Before the Caribbean became Spanish, French, English, and Dutch, it had its own indigenous culture. In the course of five centuries it developed its own identity, that of a new humankind. The Dominican friar Bartolomé de las Casas described the history of his time as one of destruction and dehumanisation of land and people (de las Casas 1578). The European powers created this situ- ation as their own colonising development project. Historical characterisation of the region by scholars from abroad, starting in the early twentieth century, focused on the search for African and Asian cul- tural survivals from the time of black slavery and indentured labour. Later on, a focus on the Indo-Caribbean, the Chinese Caribbean, the Maroon Caribbean and even the indigenous Caribbean histories concentrated on the reshaping of the region’s cultures, religions, languages by the newcomers in diaspora. It was at this time that the key concept of creolisation was introduced. By way of beginning I need to explain the subtitle “Creation by Creolisation.” What this tries to express is that in the Caribbean the whole world came together, creating its own new world on local level. The history of the development of the idea of creolisation can be useful and fruitful for the whole world today, especially where the main issue was and is creation of new humankind in the midst of inhuman circumstances. The Religious Panorama First of all I need to give a brief overview of the complex religious field in the region of the West Indies. The Christian churches in the Caribbean were colonial churches with racism (for example, a baptism day for whites and another day for blacks; the whites seated in front of the church and the blacks in the back benches), and prejudice that led even to the denial of the cultures of the new peoples (Caldecott 1970; Dayfoot 1999; Bisnauth 1989; Lampe 1992, 2001). These characteristics are evident already in the stories of de las Casas and con- tinued into the last century with remnants still present now. The perspectives changed only through the self-conciousness and self-organisation of the peoples themselves (Hurbon 2000; Bebel-Gisler 1975). In the midst of this the peoples created new life styles and religions. We note the religions with a clearly Roman Catholic component such as Santería (Cuba), Vodu (Haiti), Candomblé (Brazil) and the religions with a European protestant component, such as Baptist Shouters (Trinidad) and Kuminia (Jamaica). There are other new types of religion like Orisa (Trinidad), Kele (St. Lucia), Confo (Guyana), Winti, Kejawen and Inderjaal (Surinam). The well-known Rastafaria is a new model of religion, created in the roots of Caribbean slavery, indentured labour, neo-colonialism, with significant survivals from West Africa. The East Indians and Chinese came for work and created a new life style and religions..

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