GUEST COMMENTARY: BY DR. HARRIS EVANS
(EDITOR’S NOTE: I am always tremendously impressed by the Facebook posts of Dr. Harris Evans, especially those focusing on his obvious knowledge of Bahamian history. I liked this post on Empire Day so much that I decided to share it as a Guest Commentary in BAHAMAS CHRONICLE. This is the kind of information that should be disseminate via a history lesson in our schools.)
NASSAU, Bahamas, December 28, 2020 — Queen Victoria’s 63-year reign on the British throne ended at her death in 1901.Two years later, the government of Britain deemed May 24th as Empire day; this was the date of birth of the late monarch. From 1903 for many years after, all throughout the British colonies — including the Bahama islands — Empire Day was celebrated.
There was much anticipation and preparation that went into this festive time where British subjects lauded the greatness of their overlords. Roadways were spruced up, public areas cleaned and government buildings painted and decorated with bunting and garlands of flowers. The gathering in The Bahamas was usually in a central area — on Andros it was the school buildings. Split palm fronds lined the doorway and dais outside, where the speakers and singers gave utterance to the joyous occasion.
I remember clearly us school kids gathering in neat rows in the blazing heat as the official representative of the British government drove up and we shouted, “Rule Britannia,” and waved small replicas of the Union Jack. We were much too young and in the throes of Naivete to know or understand that we were being indoctrinated to accepting the brutal tenets of Colonialism. So we sang songs about the greatness of Britain and listened to stirring speeches about how the sun never sets on the British Empire.
The highlight for me, apart from the government sponsored bag of treats, was the plaiting of the Maypole –a tall wooded appendage with long bands of coloured ribbons fastened at the top and streamed to the ground. Each ribbon was held by a young woman and as the music played, the girls would skip and dance and whirl around each other in a dizzying fashion. What resulted was a colorful pattern manifesting on the pole, made by the intertwining of the ribbons. This ritual dance was a phallic holdover from the long held Druidic celebrations during fertility rites from thousands of years ago on the European continent.
On New Providence, the Royal governor, the Queen’s representative, was the central figure of the festivities, usually held at Clifford Park. I can remember at Nicolls Town (Andros) when Sir Ralph Grey rode into the settlement in a Land Rover, dressed in a Safari suit, the signature uniform of the British oppressors. Of note in the Bahamian historical landscape was the unveiling of the stature of Queen Victoria by Governor Sir William Grey-Wilson on Empire Day 1905. This marble likeness was the art of sculptor John Adams-Action and was commissioned by the Bahamas chapter of the Imperial Order of Daughters of the Empire (I O D E.).
By the year 1966, Empire Day was no longer celebrated in The Bahamas. It was replaced by an observance of a lower key, Commonwealth Day. The handwriting was already on the proverbial Bahamian wall for the ushering in of internal self-government and eventually independence in 1973. (c) Dr. Harris Evans 28/12/2020 Creative Writers InC. All Rights Reserved).
(EDITOR’S NOTE: I can very well remember Empire Day celebrations as a young boy growing up at Stanyard Creek, Andros, very much similar to the celebrations described by Harris Evans during his youthful years at Nicholls Town, Andros. For the record, however, I am not one of those Bahamians who totally disregard the fact that the British established some extremely effective institutions in its colonies – Judicial, Political and Educational, for example – that benefited those of us who grew up under British rule. Of course, racism was very prevalent under British rule, but for the most part in The Bahamas – and I suppose in other British colonies where there was a sizable indigenous white population – raw racism was nurtured and virulently enforced by the indigenous whites with the consent and support of The British. Nonetheless, we cannot deny the fact that the strong institutions the British established in The Bahamas are the main reasons for the very stable democracy that exists in our country.)
