Spirit bird

Dara Healy writes a weekly column for the Newsday.

Amid headlines of great escapes, daylight armed robbery, cross dressing murder and mayhem of varying kinds, a rather obscure story about a mysterious phenomenon in St Madeleine emerged.

It seems that for about a year, fishermen and residents have been running scared from a mysterious creature living in the pond near to the Usine St Madeleine sugar factory. People would go there to fish, and on seeing something moving in the water would run away, leaving their rods and fishing gear behind.

Apparently, the first sighting of this “thing” was as far back as ten years ago, developing subsequently into legend. It got to the point where people were convinced there was an enormous anaconda in the water. It turns out that the story behind the legend is much less interesting or scary than first believed. Recently, the creature was identified by officials as nothing more than a black bird with an S-shaped neck that dives deep into the water for food; scientific name, Neotropic Cormorant.

I investigated a bit more and the bird, found in the same family as pelicans, does indeed go to extraordinary depths for food. However, its appearance is not nearly as bizarre or as interesting as portrayed. So, what caused this relatively unremarkable bird to assume such a larger-than-life identity?

Our innate belief in and respect for indigenous folklore allow us to accept and often normalise the existence of beings who exist between realms. Folklore is defined as “the traditional beliefs, customs, and stories of a community, passed through the generations by word of mouth.” In TT we have a wealth of these stories and prescribed behaviour (eg don’t open an umbrella in the house or a jumbie will stand under it with you).

Many are associated with Trinidad, while others are specific to Tobago. They derive mainly from our African heritage, but represent our many cultural influences. Collectively, these stories have permeated our consciousness in ways we may not even understand or recognise.

One example is the way we include our folklore characters in everyday language. “Better be careful Papa Bois don’t deal with you for over-hunting eh;” “yes girl, people say douens take the chile;” “you ent see how my leg black and blue? Like soucouyant suck me.”

In talking about them like this, we accept that they interact with us and impact us on many levels. Further, our folklore characters teach us lessons or morals, often by presenting us with scenarios and allowing us to make the final choice. We instinctively recognise we must face the consequences of our decisions and actions.

So, children who are not watched closely by parents may be lured into the forest by douens. Or a young man, having drunk too much alcohol, is dazzled by a beautiful woman and led to his death, just after she reveals her ugly face and deformed foot. And there are stories of hunters who describe a feeling of being watched by Papa Bois when they are in the forest; in the East Indian tradition, the guardian spirit is called Dee Baba.

The St Madeleine story is interesting in the context of the history of the community. Once a large estate, it was owned by Marie Madeleine. During enslavement, sugar cane was the main economic activity. After the abolition of enslavement in 1838, various efforts were made to sustain the industry, including the importation of indentured labourers from India, China and Africa as well.

In 1872, a modern sugar factory was constructed to make the production of sugar more efficient; the word Usine was added, from the French word meaning factory. At one point it was the largest refinery in the British Empire.

The point is, as with many of our villages, Usine St Madeleine has a complex history, characterised by the presence of diverse peoples and indigenous belief systems, many of who do believe in the spiritual linkages between the past, present and future through the unborn child.

A recurring theme in our folklore is the unsettled spirit that wanders looking for peace. Our nation has still not effectively dealt with the residual trauma of enslavement, indentureship and other oppressive social structures. Is it far-fetched to suggest that we also have not harnessed or understood the morals of those stories?

Judging by the headlines of just this past week, maybe the shape-shifting spirit bird of St Madeleine is trying to teach us all a lesson. Maybe it is time that we listen.

Dara Healy is a performance artist and founder of the NGO, the Indigenous Creative Arts Network – ICAN