(The following is the text of an address that I was supposed to have delivered, some weeks ago, to the young people of the Methodist Church in Anguilla. I was unable to do so because only four or five of them turned up. It occurred to me recently that I may be able to reach them via this medium, thus the reason for this shortened version of my address.)

Colville Petty Historian/Curator Heritage Collection Museum

Culture is the way of life of a people. It is a reflection of a country’s history, its political and economic struggles, and of its social practices, values and attitudes. Culture could be broken down into two broad categories: material culture and non-material culture. Material culture refers to the tangible products of a society: clothes, housing, cuisine, tools and so on; while non-material culture refers to the non-tangible elements such as behaviour patterns, beliefs, values, morals and social practices which characterise the functioning of a people. My emphasis . . . is on our non-material culture: those aspects of our culture which influence our way of life as an Anguillian people.

All of us who were born here, and who live here, have had our lives shaped or influenced by Anguillian culture. Some of its principal elements include Christian living, hard work, love for neighbour and respect for life and authority. All of these were passed down from generation to generation . . .

For reasons which will become obvious later, I want to point out that when I refer to preserving our culture, I mean our traditional culture . . .

The first element of that culture to which I draw your attention is our belief in, and practice of, the Christian way of life which has kept us in good stead throughout the ages. Our Christian teachings and practices have been foundation pillars of peace, order and stability . . . Love thy neighbour as thyself, do unto others as you would have them unto you and love and respect your parents, were all important values.

As regards parenting, Anguilla had a tradition of good parenting. Parents of yesteryear passed on values such as self-reliance, kindness, honesty and cheerfulness. They created the environment which motivated children to learn and succeed. And they created an environment which promoted good community living as well as discouraged all forms of antisocial behaviour . . .

Another element of our traditional culture was the value of hard work. Anguillians have been renowned for hard work, like working in their provisions grounds, in the salt ponds, attending their animals, pulling fish pots, sailing on local sloops and schooners and travelling to other islands, like Santo Domingo, Cuba and St Kitts to work on the sugar estates there . . . No matter how menial the job, once it provided money to help them feed their families, they did it.

Our traditional culture also emphasised the value of a good education and though opportunities for higher education were limited, parents of yesteryear ensured that their children made the best of any that came by. The building of a school in East End, in the 1800s, by the parents themselves highlighted the importance they placed on education. It also highlights the fact that we were once known for a culture of strong community spirit, a spirit of caring and sharing, born out of our harsh experiences. Indeed, a history of hardships, brought about by prolonged droughts and famines, a shallow soil and the onslaught of severe hurricanes, gave birth to a culture of interdependence, of caring and sharing – a culture of one hand washing the other.

I experienced, especially in those years when I was growing up, in the 1940s and 50s, what it was like to live in a society where a culture of caring and sharing was most dominant. The culture was such that my house was your house, and your house was my house. Your child was my child, and my child was your child. You ate out of my pot, and I ate out of yours.

Etched in my mind, with respect to those poverty-stricken days of my boyhood, was when a mother who had run out of matches often ran by a neighbour for a matchstick or two. Or she would call at her neighbour’s house for a “piece of fire” or a “stick of fire” so that she could light her own wood fire and start cooking.

“A stick of fire” culture worked wonders for the unity of Anguillian society. So too did the jollification which was one of the highest forms of expression of community caring and sharing . . . A notable aspect of the jollification was that no money changed hands. . . Our culture of caring and sharing provided a spirit of oneness and a feeling of “all arwe is family.”

I make reference to another aspect of our culture. It concerns sex before marriage. That was something that was frowned upon. For that reason, when a young girl got pregnant out of wedlock she was looked upon as having disgraced her parents and asked to leave the family home. Incidents of teenage pregnancies were rare but sad. It was like a death in the family. The womenfolk, with tears in their eyes, used to go to the girl’s parents home to express sympathy on what had befallen them. Another thing: when an unmarried female teacher got pregnant she was dismissed forthwith from the teaching service. She could no longer teach because she was regarded as having set a bad example for her students.

Anguilla’s traditional culture also abhorred people living beyond their means. We were taught to be content with little until we could do better. The fact that, today, we are experiencing so many break-ins is evidence of our young men trying to live beyond their means . . . and resorting to stealing to make quick money to live the big life.

Indeed, such practices are out of tune with our traditional culture in which one of the first priorities of Anguillian young men was to build themselves a house. Because of financial constraints, they built them in stages. They put down the foundation and kept on building as money came to hand . . . Sometimes, this took years but, for sure, the banks did not take their houses. . .

Having looked briefly at the main elements of our traditional culture, I now attempt to answer the question, why do we need to preserve it? We need to preserve it because, firstly, our culture helps us to grow socially and helps in the shaping of who we are as an Anguillian people. Secondly, our culture impacts the way we think as well as act. It shapes our ethical values. Thirdly, our culture is part of what distinguishes Anguillian people from other people. It promotes national identity and consciousness. Fourthly, our culture is the foundation of our peace and stability – an anchor in the time of storm. When our society is falling apart it is from our traditional culture that we get strength and direction. Fifthly, our culture determines how we relate to our natural, social and physical environment. Sixthly, our culture is a crucial determinant of our future.

It is regrettable that, despite the role which culture plays in our nation-building process, some of its traditional elements have been eroded. This spells disaster because it was those same elements which had contributed much to our social cohesion – to the binding together of Anguillian society.

A major contributing factor to the erosion of our cultural norms has been economic development. It has changed our focus completely. In our quest for money we have forgotten God. We have forgotten our Christian teachings which served us well in the past. Our Christian principles of love thy neighbour as thyself, and respect for parents, are virtually non-existent. We have forgotten the importance of the family as a major cornerstone of our society. In Anguilla today, the family no longer performs its role as the main provider of love, security and guidance. It is no longer the principal transmitter of positive cultural norms and values. It is no longer fulfilling, in a positive way, its role as the child’s first school.

Talking about school, it is most obvious that education is no longer a priority for many of our young people. Some of them couldn’t care less about it because they could get a job with only a birth certificate or a vaccination certificate. . .

I now make a further point that the influences of other cultures, particularly the US culture, via the television, have contributed significantly to the demise of our traditional culture. Today, Anguilla is an aping society. What we eat and drink is influenced by advertisements on US television to which we are exposed on a daily basis. Even what we wear. For example, when you see our boys wearing baggy pants below their bottoms they got that style straight from the USA. And when you see our young girls wearing skirts short enough to expose their thongs, it’s from the USA they got the style. We are indeed an aping society.

Of course, some elements of our culture will change with time because, after all, culture is not static. It is dynamic. It is in a constant state of flux and of being influenced by other cultures. But the changes that we have been experiencing here, in recent times, are for the worse – not the better. Frankly speaking, I find it very difficult to identify one positive cultural trait that we have got from other countries. And that is why it is so depressing to see our own culture being gradually replaced by a culture of violence, illegal drugs use, indiscipline and lack of respect for life and authority. As regards illegal drugs, I use this opportunity to warn our young men that when they are dealing with drugs, they are dealing with death. People in the business of drugs do not get out alive. I repeat. People in the business of drugs do not get out alive.

Anguilla is going through a period of social decay. The many social problems with which we have been confronted, in recent times, are mostly the consequence of the erosion of our cultural heritage. Societies, everywhere, sustain themselves by the exploitation of their traditional culture but we, in Anguilla, are doing that and soon we will have nothing to sustain us. For sure, when a country has lost its traditional culture it has lost its compass, its warehouse of values and its foundation of stability. It is because that foundation is no longer there that we are so easily influenced by foreign cultures and readily accept their values and norms hook, line and sinker.

It is against that backdrop that I now turn my attention to the directing of our future. I say, forthwith, that the way we influence that future is determined, to a large extent, by our culture which shapes our thinking and determines our general outlook. But we have allowed our culture to degenerate, and I stress that where there is no indigenous culture and no heritage, there is no national identity, no national pride and no self-esteem. All of these things are crucial ingredients in our nation-building process. Where they are absent, there are low levels of aspirations which make the process all the more difficult. For that reason, we have a lot of work to do in terms of reviving some of the principal elements of our traditional culture.

One of those critical elements is community participation: each one, helping one. We have to bring that back because, after all, the success of our 1967 bloodless revolution was primarily the result of community participation and of a culture of cooperation and solidarity. Similarly, our way forward calls for a culture of cooperation. We can achieve very little without it.

In directing our future, the question of where we eventually end up depends also on how much of the baggage of negative cultural influences we throw off, as well as on the level of our moral development. I must emphasise that where there are low morals the future is one of chaos. We need therefore to create a cultural environment which strengthens the moral fibre of Anguillian society.

In this regard, the role of the Church is pivotal. The Church sets our code of conduct, something that no other social institution could do better. It needs to recognise that fact and play a more active role in the setting and transmitting of morals . . .

Another institution which has a critical role to play in the transmission of our cultural values and norms, is our education system. Therefore, if we are to make a success of directing our future, a culture that is conducive to learning, as well as a culture of learning, is paramount.

In directing the future there are also critical roles for the family and good parenting, for the government and for civil society groupings. Most definitely, we need to revive our culture of good parenting. Parents of yesteryear passed on the requisite values for a peaceful and law-abiding society. But parents, today, pass on nothing but a fistful of dollars. Some young mothers even refuse to pass on mother’s milk: they refuse to breastfeed their babies because mothers do not want their breasts to hang too low.

In concluding, I put forward the view that if we are to preserve our culture we certainly cannot preserve the one we have at present because it has nothing which deserves preserving. The only culture which is worth preserving, and which could serve us well in the future, is our traditional culture which created an Anguilla of which we all were once proud, and in which our people lived in peace, safety and without fear. There is a strong case for the revival of most of its principal elements.

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