A Tribute to Women in the Bahamas

When you think of the Bahamas, you likely think of white-sand beaches, endless rum-filled cocktails and steamy Caribbean nights complete with island music and cool breezes. But you probably don’t think about the women slaves who first came to the island, or the group of women who helped free others from the confines of their constraints.

Welcome to the Bahamas, an island originally of pro-British loyalists and enslaved Africans who set up a plantation economy in the early 1800s. When the slave trade was abolished in the British Empire in 1807, many Africans liberated from slave ships and settled in The Bahamas during the 19th century. Today, the Bahamas’s population is largely made up of descendents of these slaves and while the times have certainly changed, the history is not forgotten.

On a recent trip to the Bahamas, I took some time off the beach and set off to explore the history, culture and art of the Bahamas, thanks to the Bahamas Department of Tourism. What I discovered was a monumental tribute to the women of the island that was inspiring and powerful.

The community art in the fields and in the New Providence Community Center was a declaration of the struggles the Bahamians faced during the late 1800s and into the early 1900s. The wood-carved statues of the women are reaching for the sky , while standing close together in circles – a poetic display of the maternal instincts of women and their outreach for salvation.

Next time you’re in the Bahamas, take some time off the beach and get to know the people who inspired the proud island lifestyle.

Side trip: While you’re here, stop by the National Art Gallery (www.nagb.org.bs). The gallery is housed in the restored 1860s Villa Doyle and focuses on local Bahamian artists, but there are other artworks, including Winslow Homer landscapes. The collection includes ceramics, paintings, photography, sculpture, and textiles, mainly from the late 20th century onwards.