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Local culture and language
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In typical Caribbean fashion, the heart and soul of St Lucian
culture
is a syncretic amalgamation of the customs, languages, religions and societal norms of the island's French and British colonizers, and of the Africans that they brought with them. Today's population of 158,000 is of predominantly African origin, and some ninety percent of St Lucians are Roman Catholic, with the remainder made up of Protestant, Anglican and a small number of Rastafarian believers. However, though Christian hymns are sung lustily enough to raise the church roofs each Sunday, St Lucia is also a society in which esoteric African traditions of magic and spiritualism survive. Carnival is the best example of this fusion of Christianity and ancient belief: one of the stock characters of costume parades is the moko jumbie, a wildly attired figure on stilts representing the spirit world.
Language
is another aspect of St Lucian culture that shows African influence. Though African languages were suppressed as soon as slaves arrived on the island, French planters still needed to communicate with their workers, and gradually, the common language of
St Lucian Creole
(
Kweyol
) - also called Patois, although this is seen as somewhat derogatory - evolved, heavily laced with French as well as African and English grammar and vocabulary. Though St Lucia's official language is
English
, Creole is spoken widely throughout the island, on the radio, in parliament, and despite the fact that it has only recently appeared in written form, there is already a St Lucian Creole translation of the Bible. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Saint Lucia,
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