Various aspects of the cultural tradition and ways of social life in Anguilla were relived on the Whit Monday holiday this week during the Welches Fest which was put on by a number of community-minded persons.

Wringing Cassava

Located on the large Welches playground, site of the just-ended The King Is Coming Crusade held by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the fest drew many people from nearby Island Harbour and other parts of the island.

Girls grating Cassava

Adults and children rubbed shoulder to shoulder in an event of absorbing interest to them. Heavy three-legged iron pots of rice and kale and soup boiled outside the tent, potato pudding and Johnny cakes baked in other pots and tin drums under blazing fire using bundles of dried wood, and in one corner of the open area a fish fry, lent itself to the delicious odor.

Hon. Rogers and friends

Inside the tent was a flurry of activity. Some persons busily kneaded dough into Johnny cakes (a mixture of floor and cornmeal) for the waiting baking drums; others washed, peeled, grated and ringed cassava then rubbed, sifted and baked it. Unlike potato pudding, the making of cassava bread is a long and time-consuming process but the various persons involved in the work showed no exhaustion. Further, others parched corn, ground it into ‘sham’ with added sugar; and several persons skilled in making mauby, lemonade and tamarind ‘brow’ milled around the large containers.

Everything went free even if there were persons who were prepared to pay in recognition of the time and effort of those who devoted so much to the event.

Rollers, Wheels, Toys

The cultural food was not all. Young children, accustomed to modern-day toys and games, took much interest in the wooden rollers, rolling of bicycle rims and the playing of marbles and cherry-nuts of yesteryear. They were even exposed to a ‘killyban’, a wooden-made bird trap, commonly used on the island in the past.

Lady cutting up Cassava for grating

Minister of Social Development, Evans Rogers, sipped a glass of tamarind ‘brow’ as he reflected on the days when he grew up in the Tom Ground/Welches area where his grandmother lived. “I think it is a wonderful experience for the young folks who do not know anything about what we used to do in the past in order to survive,” he stated. “Anguillians always had to do things for themselves and in a way that helped them. We had to use what we had at the particular time. The way how we are baking our cakes and puddings here in the drum and pot, and the way we are using our hands to make the dough are all part of our history and something the younger folks should definitely become acquainted with. We never know what may happen as we move forward in this day and age when the price of oil is escalating daily.

“I am please to have the opportunity to explain to my young daughter who would never have been able to see this. I could only speak to her about what we used to do when I was growing up, and at least now she is having the opportunity to see how we used what we had in order to prepare food for ourselves and to be less dependent on oil and gas.”

Othlyn Vanterpool, a Special Assistant in the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Sports and one of a number of family members and friends who organised the Welches Fest, was elated over its success.

Cooking with three-legged pot

“We are trying to show the young people what the older folks had to go through and things they did to sustain themselves,” he said. “We thought it best to show them some of the things so that they could have an appreciation for them because hard times are coming and they have to be able to learn to survive.”

Questioned about the frequency and extent of the event, he replied: “We hoping to have it at least annually. We are also thinking about opening it up a bit to some of the surrounding communities. This was basically an experiment so we are going to work towards having a greater cultural mix from the island. We are calling it ‘Welches Village Fest’ and folks have responded well.”

Minister Evan Rogers added: “Even though Othlyn may be a young person it (his involvement) shows that there is a connection between today’s method of living and yesterday’s. We are products of Tom Ground, Welches and Shoal Bay, one community; we grew up in the bush picking wood, tending our animals, picking our mangoes and growing our crops. This fest is really to give an insight into the past and we want to use it as a template.

“It is Welches Festival, but the same thing took place at Blowing Point, East End and Island Harbour. It is something that our young people need to be aware of and to look at the rollers and ‘the killybans’, the toys that we used to have and there are none of the modern-day toys, games and Ipods around here. It is a good start and we will be using it as a cultural template throughout Anguilla.”

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