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MASKS OF PUERTO RICO
Festivals in honor of Saint James the Apostle
in Loiza Aldea
by Myriam Vargas
Translation by Ann Shevlin
(c) CopyRight - Prohibido copiar, reproducir
* Lea este artículo en Español 
 CCORDING TO FERNANDO ORTÍZ, the festivals of Saint James the Apostle
in Loíza are born of a religious fusion (the
joining of indigenous and
Christian elements).
In his essay, the Cuban
anthropologist sets
out to identify the African
influence in
these festivals.
According to him, the Knight,
the Vejigante,
and the horse races are
of Spanish origin.
The Knight and the Vejigante
are the equivalent
of the dances of Moors
and Christians in
Latin America. He does
not find any great
African influence in the
music, the dances,
and the choreography, since
the Bomba and
the Plena, as well as the
instruments of
the bomba, bongos, tambourines,
maracas,
guicharos, palillos and
guitars, according
to Ortiz, are not unique
to these festivals
but rather are included
because they form
a part of Puerto Rican
folklore. They are
played because they are
Puerto Rican, not
because they are African.
Even the ‘Little Devils’
do not appear to
have exclusively African
influence, because
they also existed in Europe
and Asia. In
some masks, according to
Fernando Ortiz,
there remain features similar
to the masks
produced in Guinea; they
are the most grotesque
and terrifying ones which,
in addition to
horns, have dehumanized
faces with the mouths
and eyes exaggerated by
the use of the color
white in painting them.
White is used for
the dead in the funeral
rituals of African
Blacks and in their secret
societies.
To Fernando Ortiz, the devils of Loiza refer,
beyond their meaning in
the Catholic religion,
to pantomime representations
of their ancestors,
who return from the other
world to share
the traditional tribal
festivals with their
descendants, especially
those ceremonies
dedicated to fertility
-both agricultural
and human.(1)
Photo: Reinaldo Rodríguez, maskmaker from
Mayagüez.
He also proposes that the
scarcity of fundamentally
Black features in the festivals
of Loiza
"makes us think that
it was due to one
of those curious transculturation
phenomena
which happen, by reason
of premeditated defensive
camouflage, when a people,
oppressed by the
contrast between their
exotic culture and
the present and dominant
one, wish to reduce
the constant depressive
friction in the hostile
environment to which they
must adjust, and
try to extensively deny
their past in exchange
for retaining, under new
forms, the ashes
of their deepest traditions.
Beneath this
de-Africanization, something
of a Black ethnicity
can be observed in the
process of fusion.
"St. James is the
camouflaged representation
of the war god of the Afro-Antillians,
Ogon
of the Yorubas and Dahometanos,
Zarabanda
of the Congos".
There is influence of African tradition in
the three celebrations
in honor of St. James:
one for men, one for children,
and one for
women. To Fernando Ortiz,
this seems to be
a means of conserving the
ancestral Black
tradition of social groupings
according to
age and sex, each with
separation of functions.
Santiagos: el de los hombres,
el de los niños
y el de las mujeres. Para
Fernando Ortiz,
esto parece ser un modo
de conservar la manera
ancestral del negro de
sus agrupamientos
sociales por edad y sexo,
con separación
de funciones. "These divisions
and groupings
of people by each tribe
by sex and age is
very characteristic of
West Africa".(2)
Photo: gourd mask.
There is African influence
also in the manner
in which the saint is carried
in the procession
and in the greetings when
they meet up with
the others. There is a
sort of animation;
the person carrying the
saint does not want
it to be merely a static,
lifeless symbol,
and so he moves it and
balances it to give
more realism and dynamism
to this being who
is going to intercede before
God on their
behalf. The "Madwomen"
of the fiestas
in honor of St. James also
seem to be of
African influence, since
they appear to want
to clean house with their
brooms, sweeping
out the evil spirits. In
many African villages
a ceremony or ritual is
carried out in which,
at the stroke of midnight
on the last night
of each year, people sweep
out their houses
to frighten away bad luck,
lust, or any other
entity which might cause
them harm.(3)
According to Ricardo Alegría, The cult of
Saint James the Apostle
came to Puerto Rico
with the conquistadors
and became the battle
cry of the Spanish against
the Indians, as
it had been against the
Moors in Spain. While
the origin of the festivals
of Saint James
that are celebrated in
Loíza each year in
the month of July has not
been determined,
Don Ricardo maintains that
the economic importance
(mining at first, and later
agricultural)
that this town had in the
early years of
the conquest, the continuous
attacks by pirates
and other Caribbean Indians,
and its mostly
Black population, were
elements that contributed
to the celebration of the
cult of this saint
who is always identified
with war and thunder.(4)
Photo upper right: mask maker Raúl Ayala.
Don Ricardo proposes the thesis of a religious
fusion that happens precisely
because in
Loíza the previously mentioned
conditions
prevailed and promoted
the devotion to this
saint. The African slaves,
as well as the
free Blacks in the region
joined the Spaniards
in the defense of land
and lives. It is very
probable that from this
arose the identification
of the African gods with
the European saint.
En the Yoruba religion,
Ogón and Shangó are
gods that represent strength,
war, thunder,
power, and bravery. Shangó
is shown in sculptures
as a warrior on horseback.
Photo left: gourd mask.
In "The Tradition
Masks of the Feasts
of Saint James the Apostle
in Loíza",
Doctor Alegría states that
one of the most
interesting aspects of
these festivals are
the mask: the mask of the
knights (St. James),
the Vejigantes, the Old
Men, and the Mad
Women. Each of these characters
had its function
in the festival. The principal
mask in these
festivals is that of the
knight. There is
an effort to imitate the
costume of Spanish
knights of the past who
fought to expel the
Arabs from the country,
According to the
participants, these masks
represent good
over evil, Christians against
non-Christians.
The wearers of this mask use a costume that
is made up of torn-off
short pants or long
pants, and a top, both
of two or three colors:
yellow, red and green,
mainly. A short cape
decorated with tiny mirrors,
sequins and
colored ribbons is also
worn. Over the face
is worn a mask made of
metal screening on
which has been painted
the features of European
knights. They also wear
a hat made of the
same material as the costume
and decorated
with mirrors, bells, colored
ribbons and
paper flowers. Photo: gourd mask.
The Vejigantes represent evil, the devil,
and the Moors. The costumes
consist of a
wide shirt with ample sleeves
that are attached
to the body of the suit
and which resemble
a bat or the devil when
the arms are extended.
These suits are made of
inexpensive fabric
in brilliant colors and
some multicolored
patches. The mask is made
of coconut shell,
cardboard, or brass. The
most popular is
the brass mask. All have
horns and their
features are grotesque.
The people who are
disguised as Vegigantes
run through the streets
of the town on foot, jumping,
shouting, and
doing cartwheels. They
usually carry an inflated
cow's bladder which they
use to hit children,
chasing after them to frighten
them. Often
the Vejigantes sing out
verses that are answered
by the people attending
the festival. Photo: a Vejigante.
The so-called "Old
Men" are local
men of limited means, who
cannot afford the
cost of the masks and the
costumes, and therefore
dress in rags and make
their masks out of
paper bags and cardboard
boxes, to look like
persons of advanced age.
These masks do not
have horns. Some times
these old men are
popular musicians who go
through the streets
and neighborhoods playing
music and begging
for money.
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These same costumed characters called Old
Men or Grandfathers
are seen in the Feast
of the Bulls of Señor
Gerón that are celebrated
in the province of
Azuay in Ecuador. "According
to tradition, they
represent the ancestors.
These "Old Men" speak
in a falsetto
voice, wear very
old clothes, a large, patched
hat, and a mask made
of cloth or wire…".
(5) The old men play
picaresque tricks on
everyone at the festival,
especially the
women and children."
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"Indispensable"
litografía
Adquiérala aquí |
SOURCES:
(1) Ortiz, Fernando. Los
diablitos negros
de Puerto Rico. Prólogo
de la fiesta de Santiago
Apóstol en Loíza Aldea;
p. 12.
(2) Ibid. p. 17.
(3) Ibid. p. 20.
(4) Alegría, Ricardo. La
fiesta de Santiago
Apóstol en Loíza Aldea;
p. 21-26.
(5) González de Vega, Susana.
Elementos de
la fiesta popular tradicional;
p. 63.
* La autora, Myriam Vargas,
es especialista
en Artes Populares del
Instituto de Cultura
Puertorriqueña.
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