Multi-Faith in the Caribbean
The Caribbean Islands are grounded in their spiritual beliefs and love for family and God. Did you know that the Island of Jamaica has more churches per square mile than any other country in the world? All the major religions are practiced throughout the Caribbean with families worshipping on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Mosques, Temples, Synagogues, Churches, and Parishes.
Early Missionaries in the Caribbean
As Dale Bisnauth correctly points out in his History of Religions in the Caribbean (1989), the study of Caribbean religions begins with Catholic missionary activities among aboriginal peoples. Initial reports concerning Caribbean religions were largely written by Europeans who had two agendas: (1) the conversion of native populations to Catholicism, and (2) the subjugation of aboriginal populations. In the later part of the twentieth century, new translations of the early chroniclers became available (e.g., Dunn and Kelley, 1988). These new translations provide greater insight into European perceptions of aboriginal Caribbean religions.
From a religious standpoint, the most intense and protracted contact between Europeans and Amerindians took place on the island of Hispaniola. On his third voyage in 1495, Columbus commissioned a poorly educated Hieronymite priest,
Raymond Pane, to live among the Taino for two years and compile a description of their religious beliefs and practices. Very little is known concerning Pane and the fate of his report to Columbus, which he completed around 1496 or 1497.
Pane's original report has been lost, but was reconstructed in 1968 by José Arrom from a 1571 Italian translation. Father Pane holds two important distinctions. He was the first Caribbean ethnographer, and he baptized Guaticabantu, the first Caribbean native to become a Christian.
With the notable exception of Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés (1535), early Spanish accounts are of limited value to historians. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries French missionaries wrote more detailed descriptions of
aboriginal religion, including the astute and careful observations of Mathias du Puis, Jean Baptiste du Tertre, and Jean Baptiste Labat, as well as the comprehensive Carib-French/French-Carib dictionary composed by Raymond Breton.
Twentieth-century interpreters of island-Carib religion emphasize that the religious life was greatly influenced by the harsh physical environment. As Bisnauth concluded, "hostile environments bred hostile spirits" (1989, p. 10).
With respect to aboriginal religions, few new sources have emerged, but there have been major advances in archaeological research (Rouse, 1992; Wilson, 1990). The most noteworthy advances have occurred as a result of the introduction of new
techniques in underwater archaeology. The exploration of flooded caves (see Becker et al., 2002) has yielded numerous religious objects fashioned from wood and cloth. Raymond Pane's account emphasized the importance of wooden objects
for Taino religion, but few examples had been found. Now, thanks to advances in underwater archaeology researchers have access to examples of wooden stools, zemis, and other decorated objects that are of finer workmanship and much
more detailed than their stone counterparts.
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the aboriginal population declined and attention increasingly focused on the religions of African slaves. Perhaps the best-known account is Mérédec Louis-Elie Moreau de Saint-Méry's Description topographique, physique, civile, politique, et historique de la partie française de l'isle Saint-Dominque (1797). Moreau
(vol. 1, p. 55) has the distinction of providing one of the first descriptions of an early vodou ceremony. Another excellent eighteenth-century source is Bryan Edwards's The History, Civil and Commercial, of the British Colonies in the
West Indies (1794). Edwards's history contains important data on religious practices of the Black Caribs.
Modern religious practices stems out of the fusion of African tribal religions, South-Asian and Native influences.
Religion is taught in schools and family-life is centered around religion and spirituality. It is common for visitors to the Caribbean to see businesses closed for the morning on Saturdays and Sundays as a time for rest, church-going
and religious activities.
Reference: Caribbean Religions: History of Study Encyclopedia of Religion | 2005 | Glazier Stephen
As Dale Bisnauth correctly points out in his History of Religions in the Caribbean (1989), the study of Caribbean religions begins with Catholic missionary activities among aboriginal peoples. Initial reports concerning Caribbean religions were largely written by Europeans who had two agendas: (1) the conversion of native populations to Catholicism, and (2) the subjugation of aboriginal populations. In the later part of the twentieth century, new translations of the early chroniclers became available (e.g., Dunn and Kelley, 1988). These new translations provide greater insight into European perceptions of aboriginal Caribbean religions.
From a religious standpoint, the most intense and protracted contact between Europeans and Amerindians took place on the island of Hispaniola. On his third voyage in 1495, Columbus commissioned a poorly educated Hieronymite priest,
Raymond Pane, to live among the Taino for two years and compile a description of their religious beliefs and practices. Very little is known concerning Pane and the fate of his report to Columbus, which he completed around 1496 or 1497.
Pane's original report has been lost, but was reconstructed in 1968 by José Arrom from a 1571 Italian translation. Father Pane holds two important distinctions. He was the first Caribbean ethnographer, and he baptized Guaticabantu, the first Caribbean native to become a Christian.
With the notable exception of Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés (1535), early Spanish accounts are of limited value to historians. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries French missionaries wrote more detailed descriptions of
aboriginal religion, including the astute and careful observations of Mathias du Puis, Jean Baptiste du Tertre, and Jean Baptiste Labat, as well as the comprehensive Carib-French/French-Carib dictionary composed by Raymond Breton.
Twentieth-century interpreters of island-Carib religion emphasize that the religious life was greatly influenced by the harsh physical environment. As Bisnauth concluded, "hostile environments bred hostile spirits" (1989, p. 10).
With respect to aboriginal religions, few new sources have emerged, but there have been major advances in archaeological research (Rouse, 1992; Wilson, 1990). The most noteworthy advances have occurred as a result of the introduction of new
techniques in underwater archaeology. The exploration of flooded caves (see Becker et al., 2002) has yielded numerous religious objects fashioned from wood and cloth. Raymond Pane's account emphasized the importance of wooden objects
for Taino religion, but few examples had been found. Now, thanks to advances in underwater archaeology researchers have access to examples of wooden stools, zemis, and other decorated objects that are of finer workmanship and much
more detailed than their stone counterparts.
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the aboriginal population declined and attention increasingly focused on the religions of African slaves. Perhaps the best-known account is Mérédec Louis-Elie Moreau de Saint-Méry's Description topographique, physique, civile, politique, et historique de la partie française de l'isle Saint-Dominque (1797). Moreau
(vol. 1, p. 55) has the distinction of providing one of the first descriptions of an early vodou ceremony. Another excellent eighteenth-century source is Bryan Edwards's The History, Civil and Commercial, of the British Colonies in the
West Indies (1794). Edwards's history contains important data on religious practices of the Black Caribs.
Modern religious practices stems out of the fusion of African tribal religions, South-Asian and Native influences.
Religion is taught in schools and family-life is centered around religion and spirituality. It is common for visitors to the Caribbean to see businesses closed for the morning on Saturdays and Sundays as a time for rest, church-going
and religious activities.
Reference: Caribbean Religions: History of Study Encyclopedia of Religion | 2005 | Glazier Stephen