The culture of the contemporary Caribbean is multi-ethnic, or more importantly cross-cultural (according to Wilson Harris), and one can usually highlight the contributions of different ethnic groups. There are times, however, when traditions, cultural and religious, become intertwined. One of these traditions is the wake.
The wake is a cultural-religious norm known throughout the Caribbean. There are differences from one country to another, but there is a broad standard that has survived: visiting the home of the deceased at night and sitting with family and relatives. There are derivatives of this including the nine-night and the forty-day.
What is a wake in Guyana today? It is a rite of passage – a ritual related to death and a social custom; it is what is left over in contemporary times from a traditional practice. When someone dies, the family hosts a social event at the home of the deceased. Relatives, friends, visitors, and sympathizers arrive and entertain each other with conversation, games – most popularly, dominoes – and are provided with food and drinks by the hosts.
The event is sometimes held nightly following the death. Or the family announces to friends and acquaintances when it will happen, but it usually goes on for a number of nights. On the eve of the funeral, it can run late into the night or occasionally, all night. There is no standard as to how many nights or how late; that depends on the people involved.
The purpose is to have a communal gathering in honour or memory of the deceased during which there is mourning, or consolation of the bereaved family. More commonly, it is to keep the family company, show solidarity, enliven them, and keep their mind off grief or mourning. Sometimes it is celebratory. In more recent years some wakes have been fairly festive with music added to food and drinks. Sometimes there is dancing.
In urban Guyana, the wake is very much a mere social gathering, reflecting cultural change. In some rural areas, the wake is somewhat different.
The wake exists in Christian societies, so most people who practice it are Christians and this can influence its format. At many wakes, hymns are sung in keeping with a religious service, and there is a hybrid form arising from African vestiges mixed with the Christian.
Another practice is or has been the telling of stories about the deceased, so there is a kind of remembrance as part of the proceedings, sometimes bordering on hagiography or tributes, but sometimes candid, or humorous, and the humour is often a major focus.
There are two types of origins to the survivals – the secular and the religious. The secular may be entertaining, or it could have a social purpose, such as attempts to curb or influence errant behaviour among members of the community. The religious often delineates the reasons why the wakes are held. In this respect, there are different kinds of wakes. The nine-night and the 40-day referred to above are more commonly heard of elsewhere, like Jamaica, and not as much in Guyana.
A wake is held almost immediately after the person dies and may be one night or a series of nights until burial. It may be held for nine days and the ninth and final one is the nine-night. Often the nine-night is an event in itself. The 40-day is held 40 nights, purportedly of African derivation, but also supposedly influenced by the Jesus’s 40 days in the wilderness.
These traditions also have at their root, African ancestor worship. The ancestors are the spirits of elders who have died and who, it is believed, continue to exist in an ether world with the supernatural powers to see over and protect people and society. They are worshipped and acknowledged. People who die do not cease to exist but go on a journey to join the ancestors. They have to be sent off and guided along that journey as they transition, and these nine-night and 40-night rituals are held to perform that function. If these things are not done, it is believed that the spirit will remain in the world of the living, wander, and cause harm or mischief.
So, while wakes today in the consciousness of modern participants are for the family of the deceased, the traditional rituals are for the spirit of the deceased.
The following are samples of what was supposed to happen at an African wake according to the traditional rites of passage. The spirit of the deceased is invited and expected to turn up at the event. A special table with food for the spirit is set up (traditionally, this food must have no salt). The drinks at wakes include alcohol, but there must be really strong spirits for drinking, as well as for libation, for the spirit, and for use in the rituals. Sometimes this visit is acknowledged, sometimes not. But in order to give the deceased a peaceful send off, he/she must settle scores with people in the community, including those who might have wronged him/her. Therefore, the misdeeds of persons are revealed at the wake, particularly in cases where someone was responsible for the death – even cases of murder.
Some wakes will be attended by drums which can invoke spirits. They also accompany dancing and possession where a relative may be possessed by the visiting spirit. One of the dances performed is the bongo, an African dance for dirges, known in Trinidad in past years. All of these are parts of rituals to assist in the sendoff. Other customs include turning over the mattress or taking it outside; and covering all mirrors. These are done to prevent the spirit from returning. There is a belief that if an individual attends a wake and is about to leave to go home, they must not announce to the others that they are going because they can be followed and even killed by spirits.
These traditional wakes were very much about the spirit of the departed, because of the general belief in ancestor worship. They were the journey embarked on from one stage of life into another and illustrated the African presence in the fabric of Guyanese society.
These performances might be unheard of at wakes in Guyana today because they have faded away, but they used to be part of the traditional culture. But 180 years after emancipation, the society has definitely shed them.
Many post-colonialists complain that society has assimilated. That so many years after emancipation and another additional period after independence, it is further from liberation than it should be. But these very people care little for past traditions that have so much to teach about the society.
While it remains infinitely important and interesting to analyze the African presence in contemporary Caribbean society, it must also be remembered that this traditional, cultural presence has faded. This is especially the case in Guyana.
