Simply Multicultural

Something very special happens in Holland (also in; Belgium, Suriname and the Dutch Antillean countries) on December 5th, every year, without fail. Kids dress up in colourful feathered caps and silky clown type pants, sometimes they even paint themselves with black face paint, a big bearded man (better known as Sinterklaas or in English; Saint Nicholas) floats down the canals on a steam boat surrounded by his black helpers (better known in Dutch as Zwarte Pieten!) they hand out little cookies and sweets to the kids, often jumping around the streets and putting sweets into the kids hooded jackets, exuberating energy and fun. This very special holiday is similar to our Christmas (but with a lot more controversy!) and along with it come traditions dating back to the year dot (or to be more exact around 1850,well this is when it was first written about and introduced to children as this larger than life figure)

My little Marú with Sinterklaas

There are a lot of traditions surrounding this celebration; leaving your shoe out on any given night in the weeks leading up to Sinterklaas, singing special Sinterklaas songs whilst doing so, and leaving a carrot for the horse (my daughter believes strongly that the horse ate the carrot she recently left out, I’m pretty sure it was a possum, but hey, who am I to say!) There are even some fun traditions for the adults too! The older kids and parents usually exchange silly wrapped or self-made gifts accompanied by funny poems. It all sounds like harmless good fun, right? Well like most traditions, as time goes on they may not be as appropriate as they once were, and modern day life poses new opinions and prejudices that may need addressing.

I am talking about the Zwarte Pieten ( the black Peters, that help Sinteklaas  hand out presents and  sweets) This is and has been a sore point for many people in The Netherlands, and not just people of African or Surinamese decent, it’s sparking many a heated dialogue amongst Dutch people and foreigners alike!

Holland’s history of the slave trade dates back to 1621, it was important for the economy. A lot of money was earned with the slave trade itself and with the products that were grown using slaves, especially sugar and coffee. A common story with many countries, unfortunately.

I have heard a couple of different stories about black Peter; firstly I heard he wasn’t actually black, but rather dirty from sliding down the chimneys to deliver the presents to the young children. At the time that made sense to me and I wasn’t sure what all the fuss was about. Later I read that  black Peter was actually derived from making a  mockery of the darker Spanish occupiers of the Low Countries in centuries past, so a more racist twist, this I found to be upsetting.

Travelers to The Netherlands during this celebration  often feel very confronted with what seems to be a very open type of racism , Since the 1990s, there have been several attempts to introduce a new kind of Zwarte Piet to the Dutch public,  replacing traditional black makeup with various other shades of colours.  In 2006 there was an experiment, the NPS (Netherlands Programming Foundation) replaced the black Peter with rainbow-colored Peter, but within a year they reverted back to the traditional all-black makeup.

As a foreigner in another country, you try not to be too pushy about what you do or do not approve of, as you don’t want to come across as rude or un accepting of their traditions (I’m not sure how I would feel if someone told me our Christmas tradition of over eating and overindulgence wasn’t right!) So In Holland I was never quite sure what to believe or how to deal with it. On the one hand, I had married into a Dutch family, and with that comes a lot of new and fascinating traditions; three kisses every single time you see each other (and at a big family bash that was quite a feat!) Sinterklaas celebrations, a much more low key Christmas (even a white one on the odd occasion) and then there was the responsibility as a parent, to  make sure our daughter embraced these traditions as part of her heritage, and to feel that she was accepted by her fellow Dutch peers. So she did wear the feathered cap, but no black face paint.

Koosje, Marú & Benthe celebrating Sinterklaas

I never told her to much about why black Peter was black, and funnily enough she never really noticed or made a point of asking, now as I write this I am wondering if we should in fact explain it to her one day, and see what she thinks (I’ll put that one on the list!) Maybe if schools in Holland had more educational resources to explain to the kids where this tradition originated from and why it needs to change (or if they believe it needs to)

I think all countries have a history they are not proud of, I know I want to cringe when people mention what the early settlers did to our Indigenous Australians, I am so embarrassed and find it very confronting.

So, the big question is; (and I encourage comments and opinions please!) are some old traditions better left in the dark ages to make way for more appropriate traditions that are less likely to segregate and/or offend? Or should we accept these old timers and try to turn a blind eye to the actual history behind it, and fill our mouths with sweets and cookies and keep our opinions to ourselves?

Who needs a horse hey?! modern day Sint!

Related products; The Flying Dutchman ,Around The World Christmas, Recycled play mats

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