TABLE OF CONTENTS

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History of the Canboulay The Riots The Impact of the Canboulay Riots Conclusion Appendices Biblio raphy !

HISTORY

The "ord canboulay comes from the #rench Cannes Brulee "hich "hen translated means burnin cane. Before the emancipation of the sla$es in %&'&( "hene$er fires "ould brea) out at ni ht on the estate in the dry season( the sla$es "ould be assembled by the blarin of horns and then led do"n to the field by a "hip carryin sla$e dri$er to put out the fire. These roups of sla$es "ere marched to the estate( accompanied by the sound of drums( horns and shells and they "ould "ould carry torches and beat drums as they tramped do"n to the estate "hich "as bein burnt to rind the canes before they became sour. After sla$ery( the free sla$es continued to re*enact the canboulay as a "ay of celebratin their freedom. This "ould be done on +mancipation ,ay -% Au . as a means to commemorate the abolition of sla$ery. /hen the sla$es "ere fried( they "anted to participate in carni$al as "ell but there "ere many hindrances After emancipation in %&'&( the e0*sla$es "ould celebrate carni$al li)e the "hites. They en a ed in mas)in ( dancin ( stic) fi htin ( and re*enactin scenes of past ensla$ement. The Au ust %st celebration lasted for about a decade( after "hich it "as transferred to the pre*1enten season. The Canboulay usually started from midni ht on the 2unday. This "as( in essence the be innin of the Africans3 Carni$al. ,urin this period the "hites and coloureds ceased their participation in the street festi$al. This mas)in and mimicry mer ed o$er time "ith the 4alenda 5 or stic)fi htin accompanied by chantin and drummin The Kalenda is dance of sorts done to beatin drums "hile son s "ere performed in a call and response fashion. The fi hters "ould en a e in moc) combat "ith their stic)s -bois.. The stic)* fi ht in$ol$ed t"o persons at a time "ith stic)s three and a half to four feet lon ( "ho "ould 4aray 5 ta)e up a defensi$e position * in the middle of a circle - ayelle. and try to dra" blood.

WHAT CAUSED THE RIOTS AND WHAT OCCURRED? Thou h the Canboulay "as an e$ent that "as occurrin since before sla$ery "as ended( the riot itself "hich too) place in %&&% occurred because Captain Ba)er had s6uashed the Canboulay celebration in %&&7. The African celebration "as not seen as proper enou h in the eyes of the 8pper class( their dances "as seen as $ul ar and the "hites "ho "ere the minority "as afraid of "hat "ould happen "hen the celebration be an "ith the drummin and the dancin ( they also thou ht that the Africans "ould burn do"n the to"n "ith their li hted flambeaus. Captain Ba)er and his men "ould lay "ait to ambush the participants of the Canboulay re* enactment "hen it "as to be in at midni ht because they "anted desperately to put an end to this e$ent ho"e$er the Africans "ould collect stones and ha$e them layin in "ait as ammunition a ainst Captain Ba)er and his men. Go$ernor 2ir 2anford #reelin had confined the police to barrac)s in order to calm the situation of the riot do"n ho"e$er after 2ir #reelin "as re*called in %&&'( once a ain Ba)er sou h to crac) do"n on the Canboulay celebrations this time in 2an #ernando and Princess To"n durin the %&&9 carni$al celebration( this did not end "ell because in Princess To"n the mas6ueraders attac)ed the police station after they "ere confined to barrac)s because the cro"d "as too lar e. After the ma istrate "ho confined the police to barrac)s "as felled "ith a stone the police opened fire on the rioters )illin a youn person and seriously "oundin t"o others causin the cro"d to flee. There "as also a serious clash bet"een the police and the rioters in 2an #ernando durin the carni$al ho"e$er the police had ained the upper hand. In %&&9 the Africans "ere allo"ed to ha$e their re*enactment freely ho"e$er the use of the drums "ere banned because they "ere seen as e$il. The Africans then resorted to usin bamboos ho"e$er these "ere soon banned. ,ue to the fact that the stic) fi hters needed somethin to accompany them the Africans then used tins and oil drums little did they )no" that this "as the birth of the national instrument.

IMPACT OF THE CANBOULAY RIOTS

1oo)in ob:ecti$ely at the canboulay riots "e see a simple dispute bet"een the police of the day and the re$elers "ho obser$ed the annual procession 6uestionin "hether it "ould stay or o. Common sense tells us that the ar ument that the procession "as a ris) to the to"n bein ra;ed "as merely a smo)escreen( since it had already sur$i$ed countless years "ithout incident. As the issues of the day "ere further in$esti ated "e sa" "here the Police and by e0tension the people behind the police felt fearful that their carni$al festi$al "as e$ol$in beyond their control. /e also sa" the re$elers bein protecti$e to"ards their former emancipation celebration "hich "as bein threatened "ith e0tinction. The fears of both parties re" beyond control and ultimately erupted into the riots "hich spearheaded irre$ocable chan es to the island that e0ist today. Immediately follo"in the canboulay riots of %&&% the decision of Go$ernor 2ir 2anford

#reelin to confine the police to the barrac)s resulted in t"o unforeseen de$elopments that affected the island ne ati$ely. The first de$elopment "as that police officers felt betrayed by their employer the Go$ernor and became demorali;ed. This de$elopment led to se$eral police officers resi nin their positions and it "as only pleas by an unnamed non commissioned officer that resulted in police officers rescindin their resi nations and returnin to "or). The second of these de$elopments "as the police authority on the island bein undermined. This de$elopment led to the ro ue elements in the blac) society ainin momentum and losin respect for the police and the la"s of the land. This de$elopment could be seen as the enesis of the an $iolence that e0ists in Trinidad today. In %&&% follo"in the commission of en6uiry into the canboulay riots of %&&% <r. Robert G.C. Hamilton the commissioner( recommended that to a$oid the ris) of fire in a "ooden to"n( all torchli ht parades should be held in places such as the 2a$annah. This recommendation led to Carni$al3s relocation to the sa$annah "here it remains a permanent fi0ture in our culture. Commissioner Hamilton also recommended that Carni$al be strictly re ulated but this recommendation "as only fully obser$ed on <onday =%st >anuary %&&9 "hen Go$ernor 2ir 2andford #reelin dre" up an ordinance "hich declared that Carni$al shall not commence till ?@77am on Carni$al <onday and shall be ended %= midni ht Carni$al Tuesday. This stipulated time period still e0ists in the carni$al today( more than one hundred years later.

The Go$ernor 2ir 2anford #reelin s ordinance also abolished the canboulay by prohibitin by proclamation public torch processions( drum beatin any dance or procession and any disorderly assembly of %7 or more persons armed "ith stic)s or other "eapons. The ma0imum penalty for offences under this ordinance "as A=7 or si0 months in prison. This ordinance "as passed by the le islati$e council of the island "ithout opposition and it "as the first time the blac)s reali;ed the e0tent of their lac) of representation "ithin the o$ernment. This loss of the canboulay due to lac) of representation "as one of the reasons that made the blac)s e$entually see) political po"er. Althou h abolished in %&&9 the canboulay riots remains a fi0ture in our country3s culture. A re* enactment of the e$ent is performed on the Piccadilly Greens Port of 2pain before hundreds of spectators many of "hom are tourists. The canboulay riots a$e the carni$al of Trinidad and Toba o a distinct identity from all other carni$als performed throu hout the "orld.e . <ardi ras of Ne" Orleans and Carni$al of Rio ,e >aniero. The nuances of this distinction can be obser$ed durin carni$al. the annual re*enactment "hich ta)es place before the official start of our

BIB1OGRAPHB %. Brereton( Brid et. A history of modern Trinidad( %!&'*%C?=. 4in ston( >amaica@ Heinemann( %C&%. =. 1i$erpool( Hollis. Rituals of po"er and rebellion@ The carni$al tradition in Trinidad and Toba o. %CC'. '. ,e( Derteuil Anthony. The years of re$olt@ Trinidad %&&%*%&&&. Ne"to"n( Port*of*2pain( Trinidad( /.I.@ Paria Pub. Co.( %C&9. 9. Co"ley( >ohn. Carni$al( Canboulay and Calypso@ Traditions in the <a)in E Cambrid e F. /illiams( +ric. History of the people of Trinidad and Toba o. %C?'.