Nation Dance: Religion, Identity and Cultural Difference in the Caribbean

233 Pages·2001·1.07 MB·English

by  Patrick Taylor

natı·on dance

·
natıon dance
Religion, Identity, and
Cultural Difference
in the Caribbean
Edited by Patrick Taylor
Indiana University Press
BLOOMINGTON| INDIANAPOLIS
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Nationdance:religion,identity,andculturaldifferenceinthe
Caribbean/editedbyPatrickTaylor.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-253-33835-2(alk.paper)—ISBN0-253-21431-9(pbk.:alk.paper)
1.CaribbeanArea—Religion.2.Religionandculture—CaribbeanArea.3.
Ethnicity—CaribbeanArea. I.Taylor,Patrick,date
BL2565.N382001
200(cid:1).9729—dc21
00-040919
1 2 3 4 5 06 05 04 03 02 01
In memory of Eva Fernandez Bravo
PhotobyNancyMikelsons

Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix
DANCING THE NATION: AN INTRODUCTION
PatrickTaylor 1
I.Spirituality,Healing,andtheDivine
1.AcrosstheWaters:PractitionersSpeak
EvaFernandezBravo,YvonneB.Drakes,andDelorisSeiveright 17
2.HowShallWeSingtheLord’sSonginaStrangeLand?
ConstructingtheDivineinCaribbeanContexts
AltheaPrince 25
3.CommunicatingwithOurGods:TheLanguageofWinti
PetronellaBreinburg 32
4.TheIntersemioticsofObeahandKaliMaiinGuyana
FrederickIvorCase 40
5.ReligionsofAfricanOrigininCuba:AGenderPerspective
Marı´aMargaritaCastroFlores 54
II.Theology,Society,andPolitics
6.Sheba’sSong:TheBible,theKebraNagast,andtheRastafari
PatrickTaylor 65
7.ThemesfromWestIndianChurchHistoryinColonialand
Post-colonialTimes
ArthurC.Dayfoot 79
8.CongregationalismandAfro-GuianeseAutonomy
JuanitaDeBarros 89
9.EdenafterEve:ChristianFundamentalismandWomenin
Barbados
JudithSoares 104
10.CurrentEvolutionofRelationsbetweenReligionand
PoliticsinHaiti
Lae¨nnecHurbon 118
III.Religion,Identity,andDiaspora
11.JamaicanDiasporicIdentity:TheMetaphorofYaad
BarryChevannes 129
12.Identity,Personhood,andReligioninCaribbeanContext
AbrahimH.Khan 138
viii Contents
13.Sanfanco´n:Orientalism,Self-Orientalization,and“Chinese
Religion”inCuba
FrankF.Scherer 153
14.TheDiasporicMo(ve)ment:IndentureshipandIndo-Caribbean
Identity
SeanLokaisingh-Meighoo 171
CARIBBEAN RELIGIONS: A SUPPLEMENTARY BIBLIOGRAPHY 193
CONTRIBUTORS 207
INDEX 209
Acknowledgments
This book is the result of the ongoing work of the Caribbean Religions Project
at the Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLAC) at
YorkUniversity.InconjunctionwiththeCanadianAssociationforLatinAmerica
and Caribbean Studies (CALACS) Annual Congress, the Caribbean Religions
Projectorganizedaseriesofkeynoteaddresses,panelsandspecialeventsrelated
toCaribbeanreligion,culture,andidentityatYorkUniversityinthefallof1996.
Many of the chapters in the book are revised versions of papers selected from
thosepresentations.Otherchapterswereaddedtocomplementandexpandthe
depth andbreadth ofthe volume. Mygreatest debt isto thecontributors, who
usually listened to my suggestions, sometimes humored me, and in all cases
workedwithmetodevelopandsharetheirvariousvisionsofCaribbeanreligion
andidentity.Theworkbenefitedfromthecarefulcommentsandthoughtfulsug-
gestions of the reviewers who read the manuscript. Joan Catapano graciously
shepherdedtheprojectthroughtopublication.Iamparticularlygratefultothe
principal team members of the Caribbean Religions Project, Frederick I. Case,
Ramabai Espinet, Bernardo Garcia, and Althea Prince, all of whom assisted in
many different ways and without whom we would not have been able to pull
togetherthecollection.SeanLokaisingh-Meighoospentmanymonthsproviding
research assistance and editorial advice, backed up more recently by Makeda
Silvera. Adriana Premat and Marshall Beck translated materials with precision
and speed. Grace Munroe and Carol Duncan introduced us to Queen Mother
BishopYvonneB.DrakesandArchbishopDoctorDelorisSeiveright.NancyMi-
kelsons, Honor Ford-Smith, and PatriciaSwanson ensured that Eva Fernandez
BravowouldalwaysrememberhertriptoNorthAmericainaverypositivelight.
Judy Soares widened our research contacts. I am also very grateful to Ricardo
Grinspun,myco-chairatthe1996CALACSCongressandtheformerDirector
of CERLAC, who encouraged and supported the book project from the begin-
ning.JimHandy,PresidentofCALACS,andKalowatieDeonandan,formerPresi-
dentofCALACS,havealsobeenverysupportive.LiddyGomes,formeradmin-
istrative assistant at CERLAC, was always there when needed, backed by co-
operativestaff,researchassistants,andvolunteersatbothCERLACandCALACS.
The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) re-
mains the principal sponsor of the project out of which this book has grown.
VariousunitsatYorkUniversityalsoprovidedfinancialassistanceandotherhelp
at different stages, particularly the Office of the Vice-President-Academic, the
Office of Research Administration, York International, the Faculty of Graduate
Studies,theFacultyofArts,the DivisionofHumanities,FoundersCollege,the
LatinAmericanandCaribbeanStudiesProgramme,theDepartmentofHistory,
and the Department of French Studies. SSHRC, the Canadian Foundation for
the Americas (FOCAL), the Canadian International Development Agency