Took me forever to figure out what I’d call this segment of my blog but its the name of my Tumblr blog so I think it would work for this.
Yesterday made 39 years of Independence back in my home, the Bahamas! HAPPY INDEPENDENCE BAHAMAS!!! As promised, after listening to my parents’ radio show, “As One-on-One” I wanted to take some time and use my blog to try and educate and immerse people into what all there is to the Bahamian culture. Since its our independence I decided to write my first post on a Bahamian independence tradition called ‘tattoo’. The Bahamian tattoo is one of countless event that occur the night before independence (July 9th). No, everyone doesn’t go out on independence and get inked up in honor of the country’s freedom. Every Bahamian knows about tattoo and the turn out to this traditional event is nothing less than extraordinary. The tradition is about 300 years old and is derived from the English as the Bahamas was once a British ruled colony. The first of these celebrations took place on July 10th 1973 in the same place it is today when the Union Jack (British flag) was lowered being replaced by the Bahamian flag signifying an independent nation. It was one of the most significant days in Bahamian history and of course is still celebrated 39 years later. Time passed and the tattoo celebration began to evolve and became more of a celebratory performance that include our militia’s pageantry with marching and performing with bands, police dogs, and shows, the shooting of the canons which still stand at one of the many original landmark forts, Fort Charlotte, on Clifford Park. At the end of the night at midnight the celebration ends with a firework show and Junkanoo parade. What’s Junkanoo you ask? Stay tuned for the next ‘Bahamian Girl, Island Love’ to find out! 🙂
whitty lianne 