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COMMUNITY & CULTURAL AFFAIRS

 

Main Office

81 Court St, Hamilton HM 12

P.O. Box HM 886, Hamilton HM DX, Bermuda

 

Tel: 441-292-1681

Fax: 441-292-2474
Intro Bermuda Connections  

In the summer of 2001 in Washington, D.C., we created a mini-Bermuda for nearly a million people to experience as part of the Smithsonian Institution’s annual Folklife Festival. Our traditions and rich cultural heritage were showcased there for the world to see and enjoy. In 2002 we restaged the exhibition here in Bermuda to help spark renewed interest in our customs and revitalise aspects of our culture that uniquely belong to us.

 

The generosity of Bank of Bermuda Foundation has ensured that our traditions, so meticulously researched and documented by all involved throughout the Festival, are permanently recorded in these educational materials to be carried into the classrooms of all the schools in Bermuda. This resource provides our young people with a fascinating insight into their cultural background. Most importantly, it gives our teachers the springboard to help their students carry on the research and preserve these traditions that are so much a part of the Bermudian way of life. The hard work and dedication of all those who participated has resulted in this magnificent social documentary, and I feel sure that you will enjoy using these materials.

 

Many people were involved in the production of the guide, but in particular I would like to thank the officers from the Departments of Community and Cultural Affairs and Education and the Smithsonian team who were responsible for the writing and production of the guide, the video and the music CD. We must not forget the Teacher Fellows who devoted many extra-curricular hours to this project, and thanks must also go to the Advisors for their guidance with the detail and to the many others who contributed to the production of these educational materials.

 

We could not have done this without the financial help of Bank of Bermuda Foundation. Their support has provided our schools with a resource that I firmly believe is the beginning of a better understanding of who we are as a community.

 

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank Dr Diana N’Diaye, Curator at the Smithsonian Institution Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage for her dedication to this project. Her own Bermudian roots made this a particularly poignant research assignment.

 

 

Yours sincerely,

Minister of Community Affairs & Sport

Government of Bermuda
Bermuda Connections  
Bermuda Connections Cover Page
A Cultural Resource Guide for Teachers
Handbook Introduction
Being Bermudian
Family and Community Connections
Arts Of The Kitchen
Arts Of Celebration
Arts Of Play
Arts Of Performance
Arts Of The Land
Arts Of The Sea
Arts Of Hospitality
Resources
The Globalisation And Localisation Of Culture
Gombeys, Bands And Troudadours
Smithsonian Folklife Festival Project  

Smithsonian Folklife Festival Project

Bermuda Connections 2001

Homecoming 2002

 

Bermuda’s participation in the 2001 Smithsonian Folklife Festival was an unprecedented community experience that brought together and respectfully acknowledged the importance and expertise of Bermuda’s tradition-bearers.  Perhaps for the very first time, the way Bermudians prepare Christmas dinner, or how Bermudians build a dinghy, or where Bermudians decide to dance with the gombeys, were all acknowledged as legitimate, sturdy threads that form the fabric of this island’s culture.

 

The recordings for this project fall into three categories:  the 1999-2000 pre-festival fieldwork interviews collected in Bermuda by a variety of researchers; the recordings of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, including narrative stages, in Washington DC during the period of June 27 – July 1 and July 4 – July 8, 2001; and the recordings of the Bermuda Homecoming, a restaging of the Smithsonian Festival during Bermuda’s 65th Annual Agricultural Exhibition, 18-20 April 2002.

 

There are more than 120 pre-festival interviews, 86 of which have been transcribed.  There are approximately 100 Smithsonian Festival recordings, 5 of which have been transcribed (several of these tapes are musical recordings and therefore will not be transcribed).  None of the 15-20 recordings of the Homecoming have been transcribed.

 

The pre-festival fieldwork interviews cover several different categories: Arts of the Land (including crafts and farming), Building Arts, Arts of Celebration, Family & Community, Foodways, Hospitality, Maritime Arts, Music & Performance, and Sport & Play.

 
Bermuda Heritage Facts  
Dept - Community and Cultural Affairs - Bermuda Heritage Facts
Music and Entertainment

- The earliest recorded reference our musical heritage started with the church (Heritage Magazine, 1981, pg. 61).
- From America, Bermudians adopted spiritual, blues, ragtime, Dixieland, jazz and soul styles (Heritage Magazine, 1981, pg. 61).

For more information, click the link above.
Heritage Happenings

- In the early 1700's to late 1700's Bermudians both white and black, free and enslaved were heavily involved in maritime traditions such as boatbuilding, navigation (Folflife Research, 2001)
- The well at the entrance of Black Watch Pass was dug by British Infantry on the Island (Bermuda Folklore and Calypso Poems, by Stan Seymour).

For more information, click the link above.
Sports

- The first game of Cup Match was played in 1902 and grew out of a friendly match between two Lodges, one is St. George's and one in Somerset (Heritage Magazine, 1983).
-  The Bermuda Football Association was established in 1928, with two leagues.  The Bermuda Football League was formed for black players while the Bermuda Football Combination was formed for white players. (Heritage Magazine, 1981).

For more information, click the link above.
Agriculture and Folk Remedies

- In the 1700's pineapples were grown in Bermuda for 60 years and exported to England (Heritage Magazine, 1981).
- The loquat tree was introduced to Bermuda from Japan (Heritage Magazine, 1981).
- The delicious and succulent Bermuda orange was introduced to Bermuda well before 1617 (Heritage Magazine, 1981).

For more information, click the link above.
Bermuda Roots

-  Many Bermudians can trace their roots back to the Caribbean islands such as St. Kitts and the Dutch Antillies Islands of Saba and St. Eustacius (Folklife Research, 2000).
-  Between 1901 and 1902, there were 4,600 Boer prisoners of war from South Africa encamped on the larger islands of the Great Sound (Heritage Magazine, 1981).

For more information, click the link above.
Resources