Ways that Slaves maintained their culture during slavery in the Caribbean

Ways in which slaves resisted planters and retained some aspects of
their Culture
1. The slaves congregated late at night and in secret which was against
the law.
2. Some plantation owners used obeahmen as supplements to doctors.
This was intended to be a cost-effective measure but provided the
slaves with the opportunity to pass down herbal secrets and practices
of their forefathers.
3. Others used or allow the obeahmen to continue his practice as a
means of driving fear in the slaves.
4. The slaves conducted their own funeral services and so the tradition
and practices were preserved with each successive funeral that they
performed. Of course, the planter did not attach any significance to
these ceremonies so he did not attend them. His absence gave the
slaves the opportunity to do their own thing and so preserve their
heritage.
5. The slaves used their own language when communicating. This
includes the language of the drums and other musical instruments. As
more slaves were bought and brought to the estates, the languages
revived.
6. They kept their dances and songs, and the planters, at times, believed
that when they danced and sang, it was a sign of their contentment,
and so left them alone.
7. They held on to the rhythm of African music and revelry.
8. The slaves were given some amount of leniency at Christmas time in
particular. They managed to mix and hide their religion within the
established faith. For example, Pocomania is a mixture of the Roman
Catholic faith and the African religion.
Reasons slaves were able to keep aspects of their Culture
1. Firstly, the mortality rate was very high on the estates. This meant that
the
planters had to constantly buy new slaves. Though he tried to buy
slaves from different areas, the reality was that most planters liked to
buy slaves from a particular area of the West African coast because
they were known for their hard work and industrial skills.
2. The slaves had a strong determination to continue to practice their
culture.
3. They practised some aspects like drumming and obeah secretly
because any evidence of these could have dire consequences including
death for the adherents.
4. A large number of slaves helped to keep the culture alive as they
were able to strengthen the will and the memory of one another, so
that what some were afraid to do, others would dare to do, and what
some forgot, others would remind them of.
5. Many of the slaves who came were young, and they had a strong
recollection of their cultural practices and so, although they were
robbed of the material aspects when they were taken from Africa,
they could use what was available locally to recreate what they had
lost.
6. The planters’ ignorance of the significance of some aspects of the
culture caused them to encourage or ignore some and outlaw others
and so, even though the John Canoe dance, for example, was fraught
with rebellious overtones, the planters did not understand that, and so
they allowed the slaves to practice it freely.
7. They were able to pass on aspects of their culture to succeeding
generations through their strong oral tradition, which was encouraged
by the quasi-communal lifestyle, which they maintained.
8. Their obeahmen were responsible for the survival of the culture as
they provided bold leadership and defied the odds in order to maintain
their practices.