Tiia McKinney
What are The Bahamas to a Bahamian? Growing up on a small island in The Bahamas, I remember all of the cultural lessons that I learned in my small classrooms and all of the lessons that I learned outside of my classroom surrounded by family. I remember dark nights by my aunt’s house, the slow steady beat of reggae music reverberating through my body and my heart as I would eat food and listen to the chatter of the adults. There under the starry pitch-black nights, I learned about my Bahamian culture. Bahamian culture comes from our food and our dialect created by the people, created from our history and our triumphs. Bahamian culture celebrates our free spirits from the shackles of history; today, The Bahamas is little known for the beautiful culture, but rather for its beautiful beaches and fancy resorts. While The Bahamas’ beautiful scenery is an important part of our culture and pride, it is not the only thing that makes The Bahamas home. Even so, today when tourists visit my home, they don’t see the culture and the connection that I see and feel every day.
Bahamian culture is largely related to our national dishes, and in order to understand Bahamian culture, tourists should enjoy one of our many national dishes when visiting. A few of the main dishes throughout the Bahamian islands are conch salad, or fish with a nice plate of southern grits, or even a common soup that we eat called souse. Our national dishes mainly consist of seafood or soul food which are meant to be enjoyed as a family; these dishes emphasize our dependence on our nature and eating from the land. For example, our many seafood dishes like fish and grits are so common because of the waters that we are surrounded by. When I was younger, I remember that before my grandmother or my mother would prepare a seafood dish, they would always visit the dock and we would watch the fishermen gut and clean the fish. My senses were filled with the salty smell of blood in the air and seagulls screeching in the background. Then they would bag and weigh the fish before my family took it home to clean and then prepare our meal. Our meals in The Bahamas are a taste of our culture, a part of our livelihoods, and a key part of our connectedness. Today, whenever I return home, I look forward to these dishes that remind me of my family and take me back to my roots.
Art is also a large factor of Bahamian roots and culture. From our arts and crafts market in downtown areas to our everyday life, Bahamian culture is art. Even when I was a younger child in my dusty schoolyard I learned art in the form of plaiting. Some of my classmates and I would rip the leaves off of palm trees and cross our hands one over the other, trying to create a strand of plait- a form of weaving in The Bahamas that is used to make bags or hats. I remember that one of my classmate’s grandmother made straw bags and hats and she would help us to know which pattern to create and show us how a single strand of plait was supposed to look. There, in that dusty schoolyard, I remember the pride that I felt when I saw the pattern forming in the browning saggy palm trees that I had just picked. Even so, Bahamian art isn’t only seen in some of these straw markets full of handmade bags and hats, but also on the streets whenever we have festivals. Bahamian art is shown in the costumes that we rush the road in for festivals or in the face paint that we wear all to celebrate that we are free. From childhood to even now, I see art in everything that we do in The Bahamas because art is our way of life.
So the next time that you visit The Bahamas, remember that we are more than just our beaches. The next time you visit The Bahamas, stop by a downtown store, support the local artists, stop by a roadside stand, or even a popular Bahamian restaurant, and try the food. Explore The Bahamas beyond the pristine, sharp walls and gates of your resort because The Bahamas is about the people, our cultures, and livelihood. We are full of culture and spirit that are tied to our dishes and to our creative art. The Bahamas is about connectedness, family, and freedom. The Bahamas is home.
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