Canboulay Riots
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The Canboulay riots were a series of disturbances in the
British colony The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remnants of the former Bri ...
of
Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...
in 1881. The riots came about in response to efforts by the colonial police to restrict aspects of the island's annual Carnival festival. In
Port of Spain Port of Spain (Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municip ...
,
San Fernando San Fernando may refer to: People *Ferdinand III of Castile (c. 1200–1252), called ''San Fernando'' (Spanish) or ''Saint Ferdinand'', King of Castile, León, and Galicia Places Argentina *San Fernando de la Buena Vista, city of Greater Buenos ...
and
Princes Town Princes Town is a town within the Princes Town Regional Corporation, located on southern Trinidad island in Trinidad and Tobago. The population of the town is 28,335. History Founded as the Amerindian '' Mission of Savana Grande'', the town ...
, angered Trinidadians rioted in response to the actions of the police; several people were killed as a result of the riots. Canboulay music forms an important part the musical traditions of Trinidad and Tobago. The "chantwell" or chantuelle who was also an integral part of the celebrations was the forerunner of the
calypsonian A calypsonian,Definition of CALYPSO
soca music Soca music is a genre of music defined by Lord Shorty, its inventor, as the "Soul of Calypso", which has influences of African and East Indian rhythms. It was originally spelt "sokah" by its inventor but through an error in a local newspaper ...
.


Background

The annual Carnival in
Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...
dates back to the 18th century, when an influx of immigrants from the
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emigrated to Trinidad in the 1780s in response to encouragement from the Spanish colonial government. These immigrants included French planters (both white and Mulatto) and free and enslaved Blacks. Both the white and Mulatto planters staged elaborate masquerade balls at
Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...
as a "farewell to the flesh" before the season of
Lent Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...
, with each group mimicking the other in their masks and method of entertainment."'Mama Dis is Mas': A Historical Overview of the Trinidad Carnival, 1783 – 1900"
National Library and Information System Authority Over time, the traditions of the Carnival were merged with another tradition introduced by French immigration- the
calinda Calinda (also spelled kalinda or kalenda) is a martial art, as well as kind of folk music and war dance in the Caribbean which arose in the 1720s. It was brought to the Caribbean by Africans In the transatlantic slave trade and is based on nativ ...
, a form of martial art accompanied by music and dancing. Trinidad was captured by the
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in 1797, and in 1834, the
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passed the
Slavery Abolition Act The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 (3 & 4 Will. IV c. 73) was an Act of Parliament, Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which provided for the gradual abolition of slavery in most parts of the British Empire. It was passed by Charles Grey, 2n ...
which outlawed slavery in the
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. Slavery was fully abolished in Trinidad by 1838, and the Carnival, hitherto restricted to the island's planters, became a tradition among Trinidad's emancipated slaves, who created the ''jammette'' (underclass) masquerade to participate in the festivities. The emancipated slaves first celebrated their freedom on 1 August the anniversary of their emancipation but soon participated in Carnival instead. As part of this transformation, they started carrying burning sugar canes or "cannes brulees" which were soon called
canboulay Canboulay (from the French ''cannes brulées'', meaning burnt cane) is a precursor to Trinidad and Tobago Carnival. The festival is also where calypso music has its roots. It was originally a harvest festival, at which drums, singing, dancing and c ...
. The carnival soon featured ribald dancing by men and women in masks. The people would also gather in "
kaiso Kaiso is a type of music popular in Trinidad and Tobago, and other countries, especially of the Caribbean, such as Grenada, Belize, Barbados, St. Lucia and Dominica, which originated in West Africa particularly among the Efik and Ibibio peop ...
" tents where a "chantwell" or lead singer would lead them in song to vent their feelings. "Kaiso" music has its origins in West Africa and was brought over by the slaves who (in the early history of the art form) used it to sing about their masters. The British colonial authorities disapproved of the festival because of its
bacchanalian The Bacchanalia were unofficial, privately funded popular Roman festivals of Bacchus, based on various ecstatic elements of the Greek Dionysia. They were almost certainly associated with Rome's native cult of Liber, and probably arrived in Rome ...
overtones, but the festival was popular with the majority of the population on the island. The Carnival was often marred by clashes between groups of revellers carrying sticks and lighted torches. While the confrontations started in song duels between the chantwells, they often worsened to physical violence. The colonial authorities banned carrying sticks and torches in 1868 due to a clash between two groups. However, this ban was not enforced for some years.


Riots

Captain Arthur Baker became the head of Trinidad's police force in the early 1880s and was determined to end the canboulay, which he perceived as a threat to public order. In 1881, the colonial police force clashed with revellers in Port of Spain who had banded together against them due to their restrictions. This caused resentment amongst the general public in Trinidad who valued the festival despite the clashes. Due to the feelings of the population, Governor Sir
Sanford Freeling Sanford may refer to: People * Sanford (given name), including a list of people with the name * Sanford (surname), including a list of people with the name Places United States * Sanford, Alabama, a town in Covington County * Sanford, Colorad ...
confined police to barracks in order to calm down the situation. However, when Freeling was recalled in 1883, Baker sought to crack down at the canboulay in the southern cities of San Fernando and Princes Town during the carnival of 1884. In Princes Town, the masqueraders attacked the police station after magistrate Hobson decided to confine the police to barracks because the crowd was too large. After Hobson was felled with a stone, the police opened fire on the rioters killing a youth and seriously wounding two others causing the crowd to flee. There were also serious clashes between police and rioters in San Fernando during Carnival, with the police eventually being able to suppress the riots and restore order.


Legacy

The British colonial government’s attempt to ban canboulay in 1881 resulted in open riots between Afro-Creole revelers and police, a turn of events that caused deep resentment within Trinidadian society toward the colonial government. In 1883, drumming was banned in an attempt to prevent violence breaking out during the Carnival; with this injunction coming about after the Canboulay riots. Canboulays were processions during carnival that commemorated the harvesting of burnt cane fields during slavery. It was a labor-intensive process, involving forced marches of slaves from neighboring plantations in order to more efficiently harvest the cane. The open resistance of the revelers towards the police redoubled concerns among officials in the colonial government over this potential threat to public order and led to an alternative strategy - the banning of drumming - in 1883. Stick-fighting itself was banned in 1884. A substitute for the drums and sticks, called tamboo bamboo, was introduced in the 1890s. A tamboo bamboo band is a percussion band used to accompany calypso songs during Carnival time. Tamboo bamboo bands consist of three different instruments, each cut from bamboo: boom, foulé, and cutter. The boom serves as the bass instrument, is usually about five feet long, and is played by stamping it on the ground. The foulé, which is a higher-pitched instrument, consists of two pieces of bamboo, each about a foot long, and is played by striking these pieces end to end. The cutter, which is the highest- pitched instrument in the ensemble, is made from a thinner piece of bamboo (of varying length) and is struck with a stick. These three types of instruments combined to beat out rhythms that accompanied the chantwells and were a staple of carnival celebrations for many years (they were gradually rendered obsolete by the steelband). After the riots, the Carnival became more restrained. The bottle-and-spoon joined drums as percussion instruments. In the 1930s, steel pans became widely used and this music was popularised throughout the world when the US Navy set up a base in Trinidad and US sailors took the music of the "panmen" to the
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and hence throughout the world. Steel pan music remains an integral part of Canboulay music contests. The Canboulay Riots are an important part of the history of Trinidad and Tobago and are still celebrated today.


References


1984 article by Michael Anthony on the Canboulay Riot
*{{cite book , author=Anthony, Michael , author-link=Michael Anthony (author) , title=Historical Dictionary of Trinidad and Tobago , publisher=Scarecrow Press, Inc. Lanham, Md., and London , year=2001 , isbn=0-8108-3173-2

* ttp://www.carnavalsf.com/dudley3.html Excerpt from Professor Shannon Dudley's ''Carnival Music in Trinidad'' Riots and civil disorder in Trinidad and Tobago 1881 riots 1884 riots Conflicts in 1884 Conflicts in 1881 February 1881 events February 1884 events