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November 24, 2007
Sinterklaas
One of the wonderful things about traveling is learning local traditions. At 10am, Saint Nicholas was scheduled to arrive by tug boat at the town pier in Kralendijk. We followed the tug in PorFin’s dinghy, and arrived in time to see Saint Nicholas and his “assistants” disembark at the pier and walk into town, led by drummers. Several things were unique about this tradition. The man playing the role of Saint Nicholas was a black man painted white. And the “assistants” were painted very black, wore pink lipstick, and black gloves. According to this tradition, Saint Nicholas’ elves were, in fact, slaves. And Saint Nicholas’s costume was closer to religious than the traditional Santa Clause with which I am familiar.
This explanation comes from www.bonairetalk.com: “December 6th is St. Nicholas day. Internationally and traditionally he is known as Saint Nicholas, but in Holland [Bonaire is part of Holland] he is more commonly known as Sinterklaas. Many children anticipate his arrival 2 weeks before the festive day. Instead of coming to town by a sledge and nine reindeers this Sinterklaas comes to Holland by ship [the tug boat], from Spain, and rides through the streets on his white horse [a horse would have expired in the heat!]. Normally Sinterklaas is also accompanied by a whole lot of helpers who are known as Zwarte Piets. These helpers are dressed as jesters, and they paint any exposed skin black and wear thick red lipstick.
“It is said that during this time, both Sinterklaas and his helpers listen in through chimneys to see whether the children have behaved well or bad. If the children are bad they will be kidnapped and sent to Spain for slavery! On the eve of St. Nicholas day, the children in Holland would leave their clogs (wooden shoes) by the hearth filled with straw for the Sinterclass's horse. In return Sinterclass would leave the children treats. His gifts were given late at night so his identity would remain secret. Good kids get presents in their shoes and the bad kids get a chunk of coal.
“St Nicholas was a Christian priest, born in 280 AD, in Turkey. He was a wealthy man and traveled all around helping people, giving gifts of money and presents. The legend of Nicholas made him so popular that more European churches bore his name than that of any of the apostles. He was made patron saint of Greece and Russia. The date of Nicholas's death -- believed to be on December 6th, 326 AD -- was widely celebrated as the feast of Saint Nicholas, but was removed from the Roman Catholic calendar in 1969 because the legends about Saint Nicholas are so incredible. The transformation of Saint Nicholas (in his red & white bishop's robes) to Santa Claus happened largely in America -- with inspiration from the Dutch.”
Posted by dave at November 24, 2007 02:47 PM