Why I Respect My Saint Lucian Culture

My Culture as a Saint Lucian is a combination of English, French, and African heritage. Although the main language of the island is English, Créole, which is a form of French patois remains a secondary language. Saint Lucia had a long past under both French and British rule. “During this period, the island changed hands seven times British seven times French and was finally conceded to the British”. Saint Lucia is European colonial heritage, but the vibrant folk culture is a product of the African population which was brought to the island as slaves.

In my culture, the women usually stay at home to take care of the household chores and take care of the kids while the male goes out to work. The people on the island are mainly Catholic and so was my parents, but the religious climate is tolerant. Growing up my Mom believe that going to church every Sunday was a must and we had to stay every Sunday for prayer meetings and First communion classes. After First Communion then come to Confirmation, oh how I hated these days where I had to walk home after those classes because there were no buses available. In our family, Christmas season is famous for the Christmas carols at different locations on weekends with colorful light. In addition, several small festivals and parades take place throughout the island.

Every year we celebrate two main traditional events carnival and a cultural festival known as Creole Day; this is celebrated each year in October on the last Sunday. The various towns hosting this festival put out the result of their grand preparations; local foods and drinks such as green fig, salt fish, breadfruit, plantain, kingfish. Most people celebrate this day by wearing the island's national wear known as the Madras. However, people who do not want to wear the multi layered skirts and dresses make clothing out of the special colorful plaid material.

In addition to Creole day, we also celebrate Carnival which we were not allowed to take part in because my parents believe was ungodly. Carnival is a two-day festival where people parade about two miles in different extreme costumes with music and dancing, which requires heavy police guard in uniforms and camouflage. However, it is illegal for civilians to wear camouflage clothing on the island to avoid being mistaken for a person of authority/police officer.

Manners is a big deal in my culture if you walk past an elderly person and do not greet them with a simple good morning. Often people greet each other by shaking hands or a hug if they know one another very well. On the other hand, men greeting men “jam fist” or fist bump. In my culture, if a man thinks a woman is beautiful, he may attempt to get her attention by making a “psssst” sound. For the most part, greetings are shown with a simple hello.

However, touching is not very common, people tend to communicate at arm’s length to avoid getting into one personal space. Eye contact is acceptable but if you walk past someone and eye contact is too much it is considered staring which is rude. It is very rude and disrespectful to address someone at work and the elderly by the first name basis without Mr./Mrs.

St. Lucian Cuisine is a unique blend of, European mainly British, West African. French and East Indian cuisine this creates dynamic meal dishes such as stew chicken, macaroni pie, rice and peas and much more. Our main dish is green banana and codfish. A popular sport played in Saint Lucia is Football and Cricket. Cricket was originally made known to the West Indies by British; it is traditionally considered one of the most popular team sports West Indian Culture. This is my culture and what made me the respectful, honest and loving daughter and mother I am today.