Gombeys are magical. An overtly Pan-African phenomenon that stands tall on Bermuda’s cultural landscape. Electric, eclectic, soulful, and spiritual all at once, a Bermuda Gombey performance is by far our favourite way to wrap up any meaningful cultural celebration.
We all have a gombey memory – whether it be following the gombeys as they ignited the streets on Boxing Day, or running from the sound of the drums and scary masks because you were just too young to love them yet. Veteran educator and top local comedienne Gina ‘Love’ Davis recalls a treasured childhood memory about the gombeys, and shares why she will always be moved by the beat of THAT drum:
“It’s something about that beat, that no matter where you are, or how old you are…it strikes to your core, and you can’t help but move. Your heart feels it first, sha-dank-dank, sha-dank-dank, and then it moves – your hands get to tapping, your head bops, your feet start tapping to the right, to the left, a hand pops upside down akimbo to your shoulder, and before you know it…the call of the gombey has you moving and hunting for that sound.
“The whistle is loud (Skweee! Skweee!), all of the neighbourhood children start running and screaming. The gombeys! The gombeys!
“I ran out behind the crowd, one of the smaller children, tears rolling down my face, the costumes, covered faces, tall hats, shiny mirrors, and multi-coloured outfits scaring me – but my feet would not stop! And behind the gombeys, I danced to that irresistible beat, that, even today, will move me toward the crowd.”
Gombey stories are inexhaustible, but the official history of the Bermuda Gombey is still not as complete as we’d like to think.
The half that’s never been told absolutely includes the comprehensive story of the Bermuda Gombey. From Malian warriors to Junkanoo dancers throughout the Caribbean, the story of the Bermuda Gombey most certainly did NOT start on this small mid-Atlantic rock. Dr David ‘Living Roots’ Chapman reminds us that the gombey is an ancient and powerful purveyor of our African heritage:
“It is vital that we understand that what we know as the Bermuda Gombey is not a masquerade phenomenon with its origin story in Bermuda. Rather, it is an African tradition that is found not just in Bermuda, but in many different locales in the Afro-Caribbean diaspora.
“This should not be seen as a slight on our Bermuda Gombey, but rather a highlight of the importance of the tradition as one of the very, very rare direct evidential links Bermudians of African descent have to their African ancestral path.
“With this in mind, the Bermuda Gombey must be protected at all costs, particularly from the erosive nature of commercialization and tokenism that threatens most traditional practices of times long gone around the world. Importantly, this job of cultural preservation falls not in the hand of governments or some other organization, but rest squarely on the shoulders of the peoples whom the ancestors left it too.”
We MUST preserve the gombey tradition – it is a culturally vital institution that provides deep and rich wells of pride and identity to Bermudians of all creeds. The gombey is an integral part of the collective Bermudian soul.
Celebrated Bermudian artist, and former gombey dancer, Mitchell ‘Live Wires’ Trott knows the importance of keeping the story of the Bermuda Gombey alive. Not only is he the creator of the anthemic ‘Gombey Warrior’ reggae hit, but he is also a veteran dancer, having suited up for his grandfather, ‘Pickles’ Spence’s Gombey Troupe when he was a child. He beams with pride when he recounts his own family’s role in maintaining Bermuda Gombey traditions:
“My grandfather’s name was John ‘Pickles’ Spence, and he had the ‘Pickles’ Spence Carnival Gombey Troupe. So, he wasn’t part of introducing the gombey to Bermuda, but he was definitely part of making them popular, because he had his own style. He came up with the Carnival Gombey Troupe. His Carnival Gombeys were unique – they didn’t even have masks, and they had innovative headdress styles that seemed similar to the Dogon tribe in Mali – they had the tall headdress, and they did some similar dances.”
In 1970s Bermuda, a strong connection to Africa became more and more important to locals of African descent, and the Bermuda Gombey was a magnificent expression of that vital cultural link. Young black males, especially, were able to unabashedly embrace the natural rhythms that the African diaspora had blessed us with; while also infusing uniquely Bermudian elements within the cultural matrix. The Bermuda Day Parade was a tailormade stage to showcase this burgeoning expression.
Wires continues, “I was in the first Bermuda Day Parade with My grandfather’s troupe. Participating in my grandfather’s Carnival Gombey Troupe was pretty amazing for me. In his troupe, he had people like Troy ‘Blacka’ Burgess, Troy Darrell, ‘Bumbler’ Bell, Clarence Hill – like, all these people from out of what we would call ‘de ghetto,’ and they would go on to prove that the cream of the crop come from ‘de ghetto.’ These are the people that were in my grandfather’s gombey troupe – the people I danced with.
“For me, it was a magical experience dancing with my grandfather’s troupe. We danced in parades, at weddings, in hotels, and I have a lot of great memories of those days, because I danced with my cousins Toriano Trott and Jahmal Samuels, and the experience gave me so much. I gained a strong sense of self, and pride in my culture and heritage, that informs a lot of my creativity to this day.”
The Bermuda Gombey is a keeper of culture, tradition, and the mystical artistry of a lost continent. We all love the gombeys – loving the gombeys is hard-wired into our DNA. They are, after-all, a reflection of us. Mostly African, with hints of Native American, dashes of European, and Pan-Atlantic sensibilities informed by an often-brutal history, and a truly indomitable spirit. Yup … Bermudian in a nutshell.
So, the parade is at an end – all that’s left to do, is to follow the gombeys.
