NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Culture of Trinidad and Tobago

The Culture of Trinidad and Tobago reflects the influence of African, Indian, French, Amerindian, Chinese, British, Spanish, Portuguese, Venezuelan, Caribbean, and American culture. Since the histories of Trinidad and Tobago are different, there are differences in the cultural influences which have shaped each island. Despite their small sizes, there are also regional differences within each island. A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ... Native Americans (also Indians, Aboriginal Peoples, American Indians, First Nations, Alaskan Natives, or Indigenous Peoples of America) are the indigenous inhabitants of The Americas prior to the European colonization, and their modern descendants. ... West Indian redirects here. ... Look up Trinidad in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Castara village beach looking south, Tobago Tobago is the smaller of the two main islands that make up the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. ...

Trinidad and Tobago is an English-speaking country with strong links to both the United Kingdom and the United States. Historical membership in the British Empire left a major influence on the country, including the dominance of the English language and the popularity of the two top sports in the country, football and cricket. The dominance of American television programming and Hollywood movies, together with the presence of a large emigrant population in the United States has resulted in a profound American influence on the culture. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... The British Empire in 1897, marked in pink, the traditional colour for Imperial British dominions on maps. ... Football (soccer) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... For the insect, see Cricket (insect). ... ... Emigration is the action and the phenomenon of leaving ones native country to settle abroad. ...

Download high resolution version (350x654, 12 KB)Treble pan from Tobago. ... Download high resolution version (350x654, 12 KB)Treble pan from Tobago. ...

Festivals and music

Carnival

The most influential single factor on the culture of Trinidad and Tobago is Carnival. Carnival was brought to Trinidad by French settlers in the latter part of the eighteenth century. Originally the celebration was confined to the elite, but it was imitated and adapted by their slaves and, after the abolition of slavery in 1834 the practise spread into the free population. The Canboulay Riots of 1881 were a turning point in the evolution of Trinidad Carnival. Carnival was originally confined to the upper classes, who rode the streets in floats, or watched from the upper storeys of residences and businesses. The night was given over to the lower classes. The first few hours of Carnival Monday morning, from about 4 am until sunrise, was known as J'ouvert (a contraction of jour ouvert). Costumed and masked by the darkness, J'ouvert allowed the wealthy to mix with the poor in relative anonymity. Monday night (night 'mas) had a similar, but lesser function. Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago is the event of the year. ... Image File history File linksMetadata All_the_time_is_party_time. ... Image File history File linksMetadata All_the_time_is_party_time. ... Carnival or Carnivale is an annual Christian festival season. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... Abolition is the act of formally destroying something through legal means, either by making it illegal, or simply no longer allowing it to exist in any form. ... Slave redirects here. ... 1834 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... The Canboulay Riots were riots by the descendants of freed slaves in the cities of Trinidad and Tobago against attempts by the British police to crack down on aspects of the celebration of Carnival. ... Year 1881 (MDCCCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar). ... Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago is the event of the year. ... Jouvert - a contraction of the French jour ouvert, or day open (morning) - is a large street party during carnival in the eastern Caribbean region. ...

Caribbean Carnival is an event that takes place in many of the Caribbean islands annually. ...

Mas'

The daytime of Carnival Monday and Tuesday are dominated by costumed masqueraders. Until World War II most of these masqueraders portrayed traditional characters including the Midnight Robber, Police and Thief, Wild Indian, Bat, Jab Molassie, Jab Jab, Red Devil, Blue Devil, and Dame Lorraine. The wartime presence of American soldiers (and war movies) added the Sailor Mas'. In the postwar period the individuals gave way to organised bands, which today can include thousands of masqueraders. Peter Minshall is often considered the greatest mas' designer. Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki TÅjÅ Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Peter Minshall is the foremost artist working in the field of dancing mobiles, a form of performance art that combines the three-dimensional quality of large-scale sculpture with the dramatic and choreographic expressiveness of a live human performer. ...

Carnival fetes

Christmas

Parang is a traditional form of music at this time of year. Pastelle, black cake, fruit cake, sweet bread paime are customary eats; Peardrax^[1], ponche de creme, ginger beer, sorrell wine are the drinks. Whiteways Peardrax is a pear-flavoured fizzy soft drink popular in Trinidad. ...

Divali

Deepavali, also called Diwali or Divali, is a major Hindu festival that is very significant in Hinduism, Sikhism and Jainism. ...

Hosay

Hosay is the local manifestation of the Shia Muslim Remembrance of Muharram in Trinidad and Tobago^[2] and Jamaica^[3] (where is it spelled Hussay). The name Hosay comes from "Husayn" whose marytrdom is commemorated in the festival. In Trinidad and Tobago it is primarily celebrated in Saint James, in northwestern Trinidad and in Cedros in southwestern Trinidad. Recently it has been revived elsewhere. Image File history File linksMetadata A_tadjah_at_Hosay. ... Image File history File linksMetadata A_tadjah_at_Hosay. ... A tadjah at Hosay in Port of Spain during the 1950s Hosay or Tadjah is a West Indian street festival, in which multi-colored model mausoleums are paraded, then ritually offered up to the sea, or any body of water. ... Shiʻa Islam (Arabic شيعى follower; English has traditionally used Shiite) makes up the second largest sect of believers in Islam, constituting about 30%–35% of all Muslim. ... The Remembrance of Muharram (Arabic: Ø§ØØªÙØ§Ù„ Ù…ØØ±Ù… or Ù…Ù†Ø§Ø³Ø¨Ø© Ù…ØØ±Ù…) is an important period of mourning in the Shiite branch of Islam. ... This article is about Husayn ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib (626 â€“ 680). ... St. ... The Coastal area known as Cedros lies on a peninsula at the South-Western end of the island of Trinidad. ...

Phagwah

Celebration of Holi Holi (Hindi: à¤¹à¥‹à¤²à¥€) or Phagwah (Bhojpuri) is a popular, Hindu spring festival, observed in India, also called the Festival of Colours. ...

Music

Calypso

Calypso developed together with Carnival. The chantuelle, who spoke for the band, evolved into the calypsonian (and other characters, such as the Midnight Robber). The music, which drew upon African and French influences, became the voice of the people. It allowed the masses to challenge the doings of the unelected Governor and Legislative Council, and the elected town councils of Port of Spain and San Fernando. As English replaced patois (Creole French) as the dominant language, calypso migrated into English, and in so doing it attracted more attention from the government. Calypso continued to play an important role in political expression, and also served to document the history of Trinidad and Tobago. Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music which originated in Trinidad at about the start of the 20th century. ... Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music which originated in Trinidad at about the start of the 20th century. ... A Calypsonian is a musician, usually from Trinidad, who has studied calypso and memorised its traditional tunes and stanzas. ... For other uses, see Governor (disambiguation). ... A Legislative Council in British constitutional thought is the second-to-top tier of a government led by a Governor-General, Governor or a Lieutenant-Governor, inferior to an Executive Council and equal to or superior to a Legislative Assembly. ... Port of Spain, population 49,000 (2000), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the countrys second largest city by population, after San Fernando. ... The City of San Fernando is the larger of the two cities, and the second largest municipality in Trinidad and Tobago. ... A creole language, or simply a creole, is a well-defined and stable language that originated from a non-trivial combination of two or more languages, typically with many distinctive features that are not inherited from either parent. ...

Soca

Soca is a dance music which is a mix of Trinidad's calypso and Indian music and rhythms, especially chutney music. It combines the melodic lilting sound of calypso with an insistent percussion. Soca and its derivatives (Chutney soca, Ragga soca) have largely displaced mainstream calypso as the music of Carnival. Soca, or soul calypso, is a dance music that originated in Trinidad from calypso. ...

Chutney

a type of music listened only in trinidad and tobago Chutney music is a form of music indigenous to the southern Caribbean (Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Suriname) which derives elements from soca and Hindi film songs. ...

Rapso

Rapso is a formas of Trinidadian music that grew out of the social unrest of the 1970s. ...

Parang

a soca and chutney melody listened around christmas and new years Parang is a musical style which fuses together Venezuelan and Calypso influences to create up beat tempos with a Spanish style and is popular in Trinidad & Tobago and various areas of Venezuela. ...

Pichakaree

Pichakaree is an Indo-Trinidadian musical form which originated in Trinidad and Tobago. Pichakaree songs are generally social commentary, and are sung using a mixture of Hindi, English and Bhojpuri words. The musical form was devised by RaviJi, spiritual leader of the Hindu Prachar Kendra, as an Indo-Trinidadian counterpoint to calypso which often takes a strongly anti-Indian tone. Pichakaree competitions are an integral part of Phagwa celebrations hosted by the Hindu Prachar Kendra. Pichakaree (or pichakaaree) is an Indo-Trinidadian musical form which originated in Trinidad and Tobago. ... Indo-Trinidadians are people of South Asian descent who are citizens or nationals of Trinidad and Tobago. ... Hindi (Devanagari: or ;; IPA: ), an Indo-European language spoken mainly in northern and central India, is one of the official languages of the Union government of India. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Bhojpuri is a popular regional language spoken in northeastern India in the western part of state of Bihar, the northwestern part of Jharkhand, and the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh, as well as an adjoining area of southern plains of Nepal. ... Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music which originated in Trinidad at about the start of the 20th century. ...

Steelband

The steelband developed during the wartime period. They were preceded by the Tambu Bamboo bands, which used percussion instruments based on bamboo. The steelband movement developed in the postwar period. Many bands took names from war movies including Casablanca, Tokyo, Free French and Tripoli. The steelbands originated in poor neighbourhoods, and clashes between the bands were often violent. Following the Black Power riots of 1970, corporate sponsors put money into the steelband movement, bringing it more into the mainstream, but also divorcing it from its base. Steelpan (also known as pan, steelpan, or steeldrums, and sometimes collectively with the musicians as a steelband) is a musical instrument and a form of music originating in Trinidad and Tobago. ... Steelpan (also known as Pan or Steel drum, and sometimes collectively with the musicians as a Steelband) is a musical instrument and a form of music originating in Trinidad West Indies. ... Tommie Smith (gold medal) and John Carlos (bronze medal) famously performed the Black Power salute on the 200 m winners podium at the 1968 Olympics. ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday. ...

Cuisine

The cuisine of Trinidad and Tobago draws upon the varied origins of its people. Three influences predominate - Creole, Indian and Chinese cuisine. The Cuisine of Trinidad and Tobago is indicative of the blends of Indian, Amerindian, European, African, Creole, Chinese and Lebanese gastronomic influences. ... Louisiana Creole cuisine is a style of cooking originating in Louisiana (centered on the Greater New Orleans area) that blends French, Spanish, and American influences. ...

Creole food commonly includes callaloo, macaroni pie and red beans. Indian food is based on curries. Although the Chinese element in the population is small, Chinese food is cooked in most homes, and is served in almost all "sit-down" restaurants. Amaranth Taro Xanthosoma Philadelphia Pepper Pot. ... Close-up photo of a handful of macaroni. ... Red bean can mean: Azuki bean (Vigna angularis), most common in East Asia Rice bean (Vigna umbellata) Any of various red varieties of the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), including the kidney bean, Honduran red bean, and Salvadoran red bean This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with... Chicken tikka jalfrezi, pilau rice and a cucumber rhaita. ... Toms Restaurant, a restaurant in New York made familiar by Suzanne Vega and the television sitcom Seinfeld A restaurant is an establishment that serves prepared food and beverages to order, to be consumed on the premises. ...

The Cuisine of Trinidad and Tobago is indicative of the blends of Amerindian, European, African, Creole, Chinese, Indian and Lebanese gastronomic influences.

A representative main dish from Trinidad and Tobago is callaloo, a creamy and spicy side dish made of dasheen leaves, ochro or okra, crab, thyme, coconut milk and shado beni (from "chardon bénit," French thistle or Fitweed) or bhandhanya or culantro. Callaloo is generally considered a national dish of Trinidad and Tobago; it is often prepared for Sunday Lunch and paired with cornmeal coo coo, and sometimes made with crab. Pelau, a rice-based dish, is also a standard dish in Trinidad and Tobago. Another popular food is roti-- this is a flatbread of Indian origin often served with of curried potatoes, channa (chick peas) and meat. Dhalpuri is a type of roti which has a middle layer of ground dhal, or split peas. Other local dishes include aloo choka, coconut bake, stewed (caramelized) chicken, sancoche, macaroni pie and breadfruit oil down.

Popular street foods include most importantly doubles, pholourie, geera pork, souse, corn soup, Maracas shark & bake, and black pudding.

Theatre

Painting, design, visual arts

Literary scene

Trinidad and Tobago have produced many noted writers—most famously, Nobel laureates Sir Vidia Naipaul and St. Lucia–born poet Derek Walcott. The Nobel Prizes (Swedish: ) are awards in physics, chemistry, literature, peace, physiology or medicine. ... V.S.Naipauls 2005 book Literary Occasions Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul, T.C. (born August 17, 1932, in Chaguanas, Trinidad and Tobago), better known as V. S. Naipaul, is a Trinidadian-born British novelist of Hindu Bhumihar Brahmin heritage from Gorakhpur in Eastern U.P. and Indo-Trinidadian ethnicity. ... Derek Walcott, courtesy of the Nobel Foundation Derek Alton Walcott (born January 23, 1930) is a West-Indian poet, playwright, writer and visual artist who writes in English. ...

Religion

The largest religious groups are the Roman Catholics and Hindus; the Anglicans, Muslims, Presbyterians, Methodist are among the smaller faiths. Two Afro-Caribbean syncretic faiths, the Shouter or Spiritual Baptists and the Orisha faith (formerly called Shangos, a less than complimentary term) are among the fastest growing religious groups, as are a host of American-style evangelical and fundamentalist churches usually lumped as "Pentecostal" by most Trinidadians (although this designation is often inaccurate). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, aka the "Mormon Church", has also expanded its presence in the country since the mid-1980s. Hinduism is the leading single religion of the Indo-Caribbean communities of the West Indies. ... Trinidad and Tobago is a multi-religious nation. ... The Roman Catholic Church or Catholic Church (see terminology below) is the Christian Church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, currently Pope Benedict XVI. It traces its origins to the original Christian community founded by Jesus Christ and led by the Twelve Apostles, in particular Saint Peter. ... Hinduism (known as in some modern Indian languages[1]) is a religion that originated on the Indian subcontinent. ... The Anglican Communion is a world-wide organisation of Anglican Churches. ... Islam (Arabic: ) is a monotheistic religion based upon the teachings of Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure. ... Presbyterianism is part of the Reformed churches family of denominations of Christian Protestantism based on the teachings of John Calvin which traces its institutional roots to the Scottish Reformation, especially as led by John Knox. ... The United Methodist Church is the largest Methodist denomination, and the second-largest Protestant one, in the United States. ... Afro-Caribbean may refer to: the British Afro-Caribbean community other members of the African diaspora in or from the Carribean This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ... Syncretism is the attempt to reconcile disparate, even opposing, beliefs and to meld practices of various schools of thought. ... The Spiritual Baptist (or Shouter Baptist) faith is a Afro-Caribbean syncretic religion which combines elements of traditional West African religions with Christianity. ... No one across the vast world, truly knows from where the Spiritual/Shouter Baptists of Trinidad and Tobago originated from. ... An Orisha, also spelled Orisa and Orixa, is a spirit that reflects one of the manifestations of Olodumare (God) in the Yoruba spiritual or religious system. ... In YorÃ¹bÃ¡ mythology, Shango (Xango, Shango), or ChangÃ³ in Latin America, is perhaps the most popular Orisha; he is a Sky Father, god of thunder and the ancestor of the Yoruba. ... The word evangelicalism usually refers to a broad collection of religious beliefs, practices, and traditions which are found among conservative Protestant Christians. ... Fundamentalist Christianity is a fundamentalist movement, especially within American Protestantism. ... The Pentecostal movement within Protestant Christianity places special emphasis on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. ... The Salt Lake Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the largest attraction in the citys Temple Square. ... The 1980s refers to the years of and between 1980 and 1989. ...

References

v • d • e

Culture of South America

The British Broadcasting Corporation, usually known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GBÂ£4 billion... Culture of South America: South America, a continent, has its own unique culture. ... Image File history File links South_America. ...

Sovereign states
Argentina · Bolivia · Brazil · Chile · Colombia · Ecuador · Guyana · Panama* · Paraguay · Peru · Suriname · Trinidad and Tobago* · Uruguay · Venezuela This is an alphabetical list of the sovereign states of the world, including both de jure and de facto independent states. ...

Dependencies
Aruba* (Netherlands) · Falkland Islands (UK) · French Guiana (France) · Netherlands Antilles* (Netherlands) · South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (UK)
* Territories also in or commonly reckoned elsewhere in the Americas (North America). A dependent territory, dependent area or dependency is a territory that does not possess full political independence or sovereignty as a State. ... Falklanders are very much into good food, being well known all over the southern half of South America and the Antarctic territories for their excellent wurstels. ... A transcontinental nation is a country belonging to more than one continent. ... World map showing the Americas CIA political map of the Americas The Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere or New World consisting of the continents of North America[1] and South America with their associated islands and regions. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ...

Contents