Friday, October 01, 2004
Wakes
In days gone by whenever there was a death in the family villagers and clergy would gather at the house of the deceased to have a "wake". These wakes which consisted of prayers,singing and scripture verses were normally held on the third, ninth and fortieth nights. After the wake cocoa tea and buns were served.
These wakes were a significant part of the culture in that it was an opportunity for persons to show support for one another in their time of loss. It was really community bonding as simple as it seemed. Nowadays, the tradition is dying so today I was rather surprised to hear a co worker talk of having one for her grandmother. I don't recall going to any ( we did not have any when my grandmother died)so I may take this opportunity to experience one.
There is a new phenomenon that has really taken off with respect to Vincentian funerals too. Instead of the wakes there is now an after funeral "party". I know in North America when there is a death friends and neighbours bring food as the bereaved may not be up to preparing any thing. In SVG and I assume other Caribbean countries the trend now is for the mourners to converge usually at the deceased's house to dine on food prepared by the relatives.And believe me am not talking finger foods here.Things have really changed.
These wakes were a significant part of the culture in that it was an opportunity for persons to show support for one another in their time of loss. It was really community bonding as simple as it seemed. Nowadays, the tradition is dying so today I was rather surprised to hear a co worker talk of having one for her grandmother. I don't recall going to any ( we did not have any when my grandmother died)so I may take this opportunity to experience one.
There is a new phenomenon that has really taken off with respect to Vincentian funerals too. Instead of the wakes there is now an after funeral "party". I know in North America when there is a death friends and neighbours bring food as the bereaved may not be up to preparing any thing. In SVG and I assume other Caribbean countries the trend now is for the mourners to converge usually at the deceased's house to dine on food prepared by the relatives.And believe me am not talking finger foods here.Things have really changed.
# posted by Abeni @ 4:25 PM 
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Girl here we does call the modern day wakes happy hour.
Di dead forgotten and ppl drinking and eating and making Merry.
You remember how the burial ground used to be so depressing and a terribly sad place to be? Well now what I find is that it is a place to catch up. You see ppl you have not seen in a long long time and everybody ketching up.
I have been to funerals recently where the buzz from all the conversations has overpowered the singing over the grave as the Preacher does his last rights and the casket is being covered up. I find the older the person who died, the more the modern wakes and funerals look like what I describe.
But I think certain things have affected this change in practice of mourning; the advent of funeral homes where the bodies are kept for much longer than before ,giving family plenty time to cry themselves dry...also b/c the body is away from the family home death is not intimate anymore as the body goes from the hospital to the funeral home....the fact ppl live longer and more ppl deaths are not percieved as premature and b/c of improved transportation and the economics of most ppl over a few decades ago, funeral mouners no longer consist of close family, friends and villagers, thus lots of mourners are just partiers/limers.
Di dead forgotten and ppl drinking and eating and making Merry.
You remember how the burial ground used to be so depressing and a terribly sad place to be? Well now what I find is that it is a place to catch up. You see ppl you have not seen in a long long time and everybody ketching up.
I have been to funerals recently where the buzz from all the conversations has overpowered the singing over the grave as the Preacher does his last rights and the casket is being covered up. I find the older the person who died, the more the modern wakes and funerals look like what I describe.
But I think certain things have affected this change in practice of mourning; the advent of funeral homes where the bodies are kept for much longer than before ,giving family plenty time to cry themselves dry...also b/c the body is away from the family home death is not intimate anymore as the body goes from the hospital to the funeral home....the fact ppl live longer and more ppl deaths are not percieved as premature and b/c of improved transportation and the economics of most ppl over a few decades ago, funeral mouners no longer consist of close family, friends and villagers, thus lots of mourners are just partiers/limers.
Yup.Funerals are a huge social event,a place to connect with people you have not seen in a long time. I tell you rumshops and funeral go hand in hand with West Indian funerals eh
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