THE BULL PLAY OF ST KITTS: The "Cowhead" Figure in West African Cultural Traditions

Creighton Pencheon

INTRODUCTION

This paper is an attempt to place into proper perspective the relationship between the "cowhead" figure in the "Bull" play of St Kitts and that which is exemplified in African culture, and subsequently to show parallels traceable to west African masking traditions.

The "Bull" play of St Kitts is an exciting folk drama re-enacting through drama, music and dance, a true incident which is said to have occurred at Belmont Sugar Plantation around 1917. The conflict of the play builds around Arthur Davis, the plantation owner and his attempts at trying to bring his enraged stud bull under control. Assistance by two experienced cattle men renders the bull incapacitated. A deaf veterinary Surgeon comes in, resuscitates the bull and pandemonium breaks loose.

The performance element of the "Bull Play" reflects the clash and contact of both African and European cultures. However, despite this acculturation the African aesthetics and symbolism surrounding the "cowhead" figure remains, and is traceable to African practices. This link with Africa no doubt was established by the slave trade from Africa to the Caribbean. From historical reports, we learn that the earliest slave trade to the Caribbean originated in the Senegambia region of West Africa, an area spanning Senegal, Gambia and Mali. As a matter of fact, the British who dominated St. Kitts for over three hundred years took over the area in the mid-eighteenth century, establishing it as the primary source of labour for the plantations in the Caribbean. It is from this region that a great majority of the slaves were captured and transported to the British Colonies of the Caribbean, hence our African customs and practices can be traced to that region. It is in this light that the significance of the symbology embodied in the "cowhead" figure and other features associated with it will be examined.

The "cowhead" figure and other recurring elements of the play such as dance and music cannot be ascribed to any specific region of Senegambia, West Africa, because the various cultures of the region exhibit striking parallels with regards the "Cowhead's" function and meaning. Generally, the "cowhead" mask in African culture is a symbol embodying power and authority. It is a known fact that horned figures in Africa symbolize strength and power vested in important personages by virtue of their superior physical, political or supernatural attributes, which is associated with priests, warriors, witchdoctors and secret societies. The symbol of the horn also has a religious function associated with funerals and initiation or circumcision ceremonies. It is also exemplified in many of the masquerade traditions of West Africa, which would de dealt with in more detail later.

This concept of person as horned embodiment of power according to Thompson is associated with the extraordinary person in West Africa. In relation to this, he describes a helmet collected in Mali, as being stylistically similar to that worn by a priest. This maginificent horned headdress, as he describes it, is a "ritual helmet surmounted by a small figure of a mounted ruler, clearly visible between two horns."

In another account, the Mandingos, one of the most dominant tribes of the Senegambia region and known for their superior political and social systems, use the cow horn in masks as a symbol of strength. In Ashanti culture, the oxhead is of similar strength. Edwin Smith also claims that the horn represents an emblem of office among the Nyakyusa headmen. In another account, he explains how the dynastic poets of the kingdom of Ruanda utilize the mythological personification of the Bull to symbolize "the divine rights of kings."

They multiply metophors in extolling the kings power over nature. The king is the Bull that fecundates the realm, He gathers the clouds, he causes rain to fall, the lightening to flash, the thunder to roll, all by the grace of God who made him king and infused mystical power into him at the moment of conception. As every Hamite sets apart an offical bull to be the symbol of it's master, so God enthrones the king to be this symbol. God created kings with a view to increase the cows.

Smith goes on even further to describe in yet another vivid account, that of, the symbol of fertility embodied in the horned figure of the Bull.

At a certain point the king, secluded in this ceremonial booth, spits medicine to the east and to the west, and as he does so the people shout: "He stabs it!" It means that he is strengthening the earth. He is hailed as "Our Bull!" for just as the bull fecundates the herd so he fecundates the soil. The King, seated naked upon a black ox, is washed with sacred water in which "medicine" have been placed.

The rights of passage once practiced in St Kitts regarding the drinking by young men of quicksilver from cowhorn or deer horn receptacles to render them potent serves a similar function as the "medicines" described by Smith:

a drug given to bulls and men to stimualte their procreative power. The finest bull in the herd is slaughtered and the parts which contain its power are made into "medicines", for the king.

The mystical power of the horned symbol is known to the Nyakyusa people as "Amanga", which, besides increasing the potency of the male enhances prestige of office.

The theme of the horned mask, features strongly among the Manding and territories influenced by their culture. There is a manding masking tradition in Central Eastern Ivory coast whcih finds many parallels with the cowhead figure in the "Bull" play. It is perhaps imprtant to note that the vegetal masks in the Manding tradition are connected to "a ritual which includes references to an important aspect of manding history. This tradition is known as "Do", and related to the Sundjata myth which tells of a famous Manding hunter who was given magical powers by a witch to kill a wild buffalo, which ravaged the land, vanquishing all who tried to capture it, with its "menacing horns". According to the epic, the horns of the buffalo became an emblem of magic force and accomplishment of the great hunter. This symbol of bravery and accomplishment finds a striking parallel in the "Bull" play where the character of Oak also known as destroyer defeats the enraged bull, after others tried unsuccessfully to capture it. Another striking similarity is found in the upraised, curved shape of the horns of the cowhead sharacter, with that of the Do bush-cow masks of the "Do play". According to Thompson "the power of nature is honoured in great horns, upraised, while the curve of the horns communicates great energy, in the tradition of the Manding people".

The horned-mask theme is further exemplified in the Fara-fita-Kankurang in eastern areas of Senegal and Gambia. It is a huge vegetal masquerader who presides over circumcision ceremonies and according to Bettelheim this figure "appears on Boxing Day and also on special festivities. . ." She further stated that very often two ox horns are attached to the top portion of the vegetal costume which are utilized during the street performances to frighten children. This activity is similar to the "cowhead" figure in the "Bull" play which scares children and adults alike whenever it performs during the Christmas season.

In other parts of West Africa, particularly in the Yoruba Culture the cowhead and other horned figures such as the horned-ram are symbols of power and strength of the ancestors spirits according to their status. In almost every instance when this type of mask is worn, it commands respect from onlookers, hence it becomes a means of social control. Cheryl Ryman in an article points out that:

In Africa the mask and masquerader are often linked to secret societies and to communication with and the embodiment of the ancestors and deities as a means of social control.

The Secret societies of West Africa utilizes the "cowhead" figure as a symbol to empower their leaders. These societies serve a religious as well as a social function. Two of the most outstanding and highly developed institutions are the Poro and Egungun. The Poro can be found in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Ewe-fon. One of their main function is to preside over initiation/circumcision rites. In the case of the Egungun, the powerful figure of the senior or elder masquerader also known as Cum Witch-Executioner, wears a horned headdress, which protrays supernatural authority. This awesome looking figure comes as ancestors to hear disputes, enforce traditon and uphold moral standards. According to Patterson the impersonation of the ancestral spirits are usually connected with festivals surrounding agricultural activities, which is similar to the activities of the plantation setting out of which the "Bull" Play has evolved and around which the performance centres. Connected to the feativals of the Egungun are masked dancers who utilize the mask in their dance as a medium linking the ancestral world with the human world. The powers embodied and directed through the mask, effectively reduce the spirit world to a level at which human beings might participate through the integrative medium of music and dance.

Ulli Beier states that "... the Egungun dancer does not merely display the mask; he acts the part". According to him stories bordering on profanity are enacted where:

The harlot often does a kind of strip-tease act - displaying long cloth breasts and embroidered pubic hair - and she may frequently do a mock copulation with the policeman or some other character.

There is a striking similarity between this dance description and that exhibited by the "cowhead" character of the "Bull" play, as he imitates the movements of an animal in the act of copulation. This bawdy and lewd quality of dance associated with bovine themes in masking, is exemplified also, as in the case of Bijugos ox head.

Thompson quoting Fernando Galhano, explains that Bijugos oxhead mask "frequently appeared at festivals, the wearer imitating with great realism the motion of the animals". These sensual movements in dance which may appear to be indecent to the uncultured mind, is in fact connected with a fundamental element of African life, that of fertility. As Wynter puts it "as it parodies with obscenity, it celebrates the life force and vice versa". She further stated in reference to secular and profane masks of the Egungun, that the profane and the sacred are never quite separate in the African context.

Bordering on this element of profanity, mask and dance, is the element of satire achieved through impersonation of characters. For example the Egungun cult used "profane mask in their parades to satirize" groups such as prostitutes, policemen, Europeans, Hausa . . . .". Another reference is also made to the Mandingo's who untilises the "cowhead" mask in their plays. According to Ruth Finnegan in a description by Labouret and Travele of a Mandingo play states:

They are all comic, intended for entertainment and the realistic portrayal of characters and faults of everyday life. As implied by the Mandingo term kote koma nyaga, the play treat especially of married life, but also involve satirical comment on many aspects of life.

These elements of profanity, satire, mime and mimicry all feature strongly in the performance of the Bull play. On Closer examination of the bull as the central character, it is clear that this play is really a satire of the Kittitian plantocrocy, parodying in particular the Davis family, owner of the estate which saw the earliest manifestations of the play. It is the inter-relationship of these elements which will continue to effect that link with a powerful African Aesthetic, giving life and meaning to play in the process.

The references and models discussed in African culture clearly shows that the aesthetic elements and symbolism embodied in the "cowhead" figure in African culture features strongly in present-day Kittitian "Bull" Play. It is these strong African retentions that would continue to preserve the artform even in the face of a changing society.

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URL http://www.uwichill.edu.bb/bnccde/sk&n/conference/papers/cpencheon.html