The Salaka Feast
The village of Pembroke presented Corner Stones as their contribution to this year’s Heritage Festival. It tells the simple story about the construction and dedication of the community centre. A tale that covered twenty four years and is entirely true as the presenters said.
Held in Pembroke, the Salaka Feast is a celebration that is offered in honour of the ancestors. A quite similar harvest festival of the "first crop," called "Salaka," was celebrated in Trinidad in the areas between Guapo and Point Fortin by immigrants from Carriacou who had settled around the oilfields there.
In these celebrations all the food offered was derived from "corn" which harkens back to the ancient tradition of corn as the basic staple, as well as its philosophic symbol of self-continuity.
The Salaka Feast is a celebration that is offered in honour of the ancestors to whom just respect is due. It is these pioneers who paved the way for present day nationals. But the significance of this feast spans generations and reaches back into the past, back into Africa, back to the tribes - The Dahomey, The Ibo, Congo and Mandingo.
It is a celebration of both thanksgiving and knowledge. Knowledge of origin, of identity; for if a people does not know their roots, their history they can know nothing of their future.
It is this conflict, this ignorance of the past that provides the central theme of the presentation. It seems after 24 years of struggling to achieve the completion of the community centre the younger villagers are anxious to celebrate. In their enthusiasm they overlook a key consideration. That of Thanksgiving.
In the ensuing chaos that follows we appreciate all the intricacies of village life from the bravado of the elderly who regard the young pups as being upstarts, to the ongoing romantic rivalry between the spurned lover and the married couple, coupled with spirit manifestations. The flavour of corrupt officials and self-important people in the village only serves to enhance the realism of the presentation.
According to the village elders, this is a clear sign of dissatisfaction being expressed by the ancestors. There is only one thing to be done and that would be to communicate with the spirits and find out what has displeased them and correct it.
In the moments that follow we become aware via the voice of a spirit that has visited a village member that the disrespect shown to the elders of the community, the ancestral spirits, the malice of the individual members and other petty jealousies that the centre will have to be rededicated.
The Salaka Feast witnesses the parade of the nations, the purification of the area with libations being offered to the spirits and then the dances of celebration. The voices of the drums remind us of the power of the instrument and also of their significance as a tool to communicate with the spirit realm.
In the performance of the Salaka, we witness a healing and reunification of the community. Bonds that were weakened are now strengthened, while newer bonds are formed. This is a powerful metaphor for unity in any community and was well expressed by this collective.
People from Carriacou settled in Pembroke and were the first ones that observed and preserved the Salaka celebrations in Tobago.