Tapanahony: The Dance

Elliot came by. Elliot is a Peace Corps volunteer in a village near Matt. This is Elliot with me.

That weekend, the area that had been the site of somber speeches to a deceased leader became an amazing party in front of his casket. The transition from sad to happy reminded of the 2^nd lines for funerals in New Orleans. One part of the funeral is very sad and somber, but another part is a celebration of the person’s life. A band called Turbulence flew in from Jamaica just for the dance - and they sang in Njuka.

Elliot and I danced, while Matt worked at the Rasta Bar. The Rasta Bar is a tiny store that sells drinks and snacks to funeral goers.

This is Elliot with friends at the dance.

This is me at the dance with Matt’s friends.

The next night, the broko-dei was canceled. The grave collapsed, breaking one man’s leg. I hope that he is alright.

Tapanahony: The Funeral

As I mentioned earlier, the funeral lasted 3 or 4 months. Since the graanman was in power for over 40 years and widely respected throughout the country, the community needed a long time to say goodbye. The grave took a long time to dig because it was the size of a house. Four or five days a week, men would go to the grave site across the river. I watched the boats leave in the morning and return in the evening. No one was allowed to stand in the water while the grave digger’s boat was traveling to the grave site. Women would bring them lunch.

 Here is a photo of the women pounding rice together for the funeral.

When the gravedigger’s boat returned home, women stood in the river and splashed water.  Everyone else stood on the pier and watched as the boat drove in proud circles. Someone played drums, and someone dressed up. The kids loved it – they ran towards the water, then ran away and screamed when the women splashed them.  (Then the kids tripped over each other and got hurt). The place where the gravedigger’s boat returned each day was a temporary dance floor constructed just for the funeral. Several gorgeous hand-woven pangies hung from the ceiling. This area was in the village, rather than near the gravesite.

The casket had its own room facing the dance floor so that we could see it while we danced. The casket was beautiful. It was wrapped in dozens of pangies (traditional maroon cloth), and covered with a Surinamese flag. It was about 5 tall and 6 or 7 feet wide. A photo of the graanman was placed above the casket. The room had space for the graanman’s wives to sleep behind their deceased husband.

Later, several men gave speeches to the deceased graanman. They updated him on their progress in digging the grave. Photos of the casket and funeral speeches were not allowed, so I have no pictures of this.