Adults Throw Spanners Into The Works
-by Toon Janssen
DWT Amsterdam Correspondent
Every year November, children in The Netherlands get anxious. Then Sinterklaas (corruption for Saint Nicholas) will visit their country. The Holy Man always sails by steamboat, all the way from Spain. After that he makes a parade through town and country, riding his gray horse. Pieten (Dutch for Petes) run with them doing crazy antics while scattering sweets. This year he arrived in the old town of Vleuten on November 17, where the mayor welcomed him.
The disguised Bishop is stately and old, how old exactly is unknown. But his beard and hair are long. Yet he is a passionate children’s friend. Their patron saint! So he brings bags with presents, intended for Pakjesavond December 5, when his ‘birthday’ is celebrated. The gifts are packaged as surprises, and come with songs and poems that rhyme. Great fun! Had the children been good last year? Yes? Then they will be rewarded. If not? Oh, the rod of discipline might follow.
Real exciting weeks precede this. Each night before sleep children sing, “My heart beats with anticipation” and then put their shoe by the chimney. They always add carrots as well, for at night Sinterklaas rides his hungry horse over housetop roofs. Then his servants already throw small gifts down the flue. These serve as warm-ups for bigger gifts on Pakjesavond, when the unique old-Dutch family party finally peaks.
However, survival of the event as fantasy experience for the smallest children, has in recent years been threatened. Not so much the party itself, but by the way it has been implemented. Adults literally threw spanners in the works. They demanded a ‘more inclusive’ celebration, with an adjusted Piet. Let’s get to the bottom of this.
The Sinterklaas character is based on Greek Bishop Nikolaos, who lived in Myra during the third to 4th century AD transition, in the capital of current Turkish Lycia, at that time a Roman province. There he headed a small community of Christians, who suffered greatly from Roman persecution. He came from a wealthy family and was already loved and known by many during his life. One night, in an apparition of Jesus Christ, it was said he was given the Bible, which probably meant God’s word. He then devoted his days altruistically to others, especially to children and the poor. With the Holy Book as guideline he adopted a discipline of fasting and prayer to broaden his faith.
A cult gradually developed, encapsulated in series of stories and legends, in which Nikolaos performed good deeds and miracles. For example, it was said he protected Myra’s population against demons with incantation prayers and multiplied grain bags to help them escape famine. He was also said to have brought deceased children back to life, when once found in a brine barrel. He might have saved other children from being burned in a bath as well. Very persistent was the story of the man with three daughters, who were doomed to prostitution because he could not pay their dowry. Until at some point he found gold ducats in his house, in the shoes of his daughters and worth more than enough. The man investigated, to discover the Bishop had thrown the gold through his window. There were many such stories about him.
The day Nikolaos probably died, according to Greek tradition his name day, was set for December 6. Every year on that very day he was, and still is, remembered by his followers. Veneration grew stronger when in 550 AD Greek Orthodox Church canonized him. From that moment the Bishop was known as Saint and Myra became a famous place of pilgrimage. The ruins of the basilica that was then built for his honor still lie just outside the old city.
Initially he was honored in Greece and Russia only. But that changed when Venetian merchants transferred his bones to Bari in present-day Italy. They took the relics for fear of destruction by Seljuk Muslim nomads who roamed the steppes of Central Asia. Saint Nikolaos’ following increased exceedingly from the moment, in addition to being Patron Saint of children, he was granted the same honor for sailors as well. His ‘star’ rose then, spreading from Italian cities now also in West European coastal nations.
Today, however, the geographical origin of Dutch Sinterklaas is no longer Asia Minor or Bari. That became ‘colloquially’ Spain. Perhaps the explanation for this might be Bari then was part of the Kingdom of Aragon on the Iberian Peninsula. Perhaps also, Spanish rule over The Netherlands contributed to this. In 1556 Philip II inherited the Habsburg Netherlands from his father, Emperor Charles V.
As the years passed, the figure of Nikolaos changed. From being Bishop he turned into Patron Saint, as mentioned, and after being dressed up as bogeyman and heavy-handed pedagogue, he then caused stirs as acclaimed folkloric philanthropist supplying gifts. The darker part of his character he passed on to someone else. Let me unravel this for you next.
The transition from Patron Saint to bogeyman had to do with a Protestant ban on portraying Catholic saints. In the 16th century, while Reformation was raging, in certain parts of the Republiek der zeven Verenigde Nederlanden (Dutch Republic) preachers tried to abolish Sinterklaas’ adoration. It was considered superstition and worship of a Papist idol. At some point German theologian Martin Luther wanted the celebration to be shifted to Christmas. But it turned out to be virtually impossible, because it had already been deeply ingrained in society. The character continued to be used persistently, to teach children virtues and diligence. The Saint actually became Zwarte Klaas at some point, with zwart (black) meaning ‘devilish’.
This changed at the end of the 18th century, when the figure shifted to a more child-friendly educational version. The idea behind this was educators would achieve better adjustments that way. The mythical Bishop from before the Reformation was reinvented and turned white again. In his wake the page (servant) had gone dark instead, to be named Zwarte Piet (blackface Pete) from then on. He took over the task of enforcing good behavior in children as well, sometimes with a rod.
The celebration then literally got ‘wind in its sails’. Under influence of education and media, and boosted by strong commercialization, it quite quickly developed into a huge popular festival. Highly celebrated entrances into the cities with colorful parades and floats became standard.
Of course the gullible small children did not see through the folkloric masquerade, presented as fantasy world that makes for joy, kind of like Kamala Harris’ campaign. The children were too crazy about presents, scattered gingerbread nuts and chocolate for that. “Sinterklaas, please come in with your servant”, they would then sing. With just a bit of luck he even could come into their houses. Then a white Holy Man would enter, wearing a red cloak and miter, with a signet ring over white gloves, and even a real gold plated staff to lean on. Of course he then would be accompanied by some Pieten with gifts. Exciting!
Let’s now focus on the use of black as a color nuance in the story. At the time in Bari, slightly dark-skinned North African Moors already were around as the Bishop’s assistants. They were depicted in old Venetian paintings as well, dressed in traditional costume with beret and feather. Later in Spain, it became customary for Moor pages to provide services to noble families as squire, servant or courier. Once Spain ruled over The Netherlands, from 1556 till 1713, they were also introduced here. Later still from the 17th century those pages— but now clearly from more tropical African origin and darker— became popular among wealthy circles of the Dutch Republic. They were often depicted on paintings of nobles that lived in stately canal houses, pleasure resorts and mansions. Despite their low prestige, being often exchanged as ‘gifts’ within the elite, they were assigned slightly better jobs as gardener, horse groomer or musician. Mind you, the Republic experienced in those days its Golden Age. The transition to a darker type page-servant cannot be seen apart from this.
There was a major role played by ships of West East India Company (WIC), part of the Dutch fleet. Their participation turned out to be decisive in the transition of how the Sinterklaas celebration turn into today’s ‘more inclusive’ variant.
In the 17th century The Dutch Republic was one of the most powerful and richest countries in the world. Its Golden Age saw an enormous economic and cultural boom in many sectors of society. Around 1600 already, trade between Dutch coastal cities and countries from the Baltic Sea region provided investment capital. Loads of valuable products entered the country, including wood to enable advanced saw-mill and ship construction. Baltic trade that way strongly promoted the Dutch Republic’s position in international shipping.
As early as 1600, the Amsterdamsche Wisselbank (money exchange bank) was founded. Only 11 years later, the world’s oldest stock exchange market was introduced, the Amsterdamsche Beurs. No wonder the Dutch capital city became staple market for all kinds of products, to be delivered, stored or resold. The power of the Republic was already growing when, in 1602, Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC, Dutch East Indian Company) was established. At the time it was the first public company with freely tradable shares. Helped by its own currency, an army and a state-monopolized trading network in the Asian regions, it grew into a large and unique multinational. The growth of Dutch economy however had negative aspects. The moment overseas local native groups did not see eye to eye with the VOC representatives, entire tribes were sometimes exterminated. Furthermore VOC used slaves, most of them Asians. Apparently this was considered quite normal at the time.
In 1621 the geographical counterpart of VOC, de West Indische Companie (WIC), was established to become active in ‘the West’. The private law company with public tasks, was accountable to the Staten-Generaal van Nederland (States General) and owed monopoly on trade with Africa south of Tropic of Cancer and America, as well as islands along Americas’ coasts. WIC had a side job of robbing Spaniards the Dutch were at war with, but focused much more on providing slaves for plantations than the VOC ever did.
WIC traded slaves between areas bordering the Atlantic Ocean. Shrewd agents bought them at auction from slave markets in Africa and sold them to plantation owners, in the West Indies and certain parts of South America. Since native Indians turned out not to be very suitable working there, being susceptible to European diseases, Africans were a much better deal. WIC business was almost triangular. Dutch ships brought merchandise like guns, ammunition and alcohol to Africa. These goods were then traded for slaves, who were loaded onto ships, imprisoned in overcrowded holds, where they were lying in their own feces. Many of them died and were dumped into the sea. But once arrived they were branded and sold at auction. The empty ships were then filled with products the WIC acquired— cane sugar, coffee, cacao and cotton— to be shipped back to The Netherlands. Historians claim that way, in a period of just two centuries, the WIC traded around 610,000 Africans, from a 12.5 million total of all European countries together.
It did not come as a surprise some decades ago, that serious objections to the introduction of Zwarte Piet in the Sinterklaas folklore surfaced. Especially the aspect of being both a dark ogre scaring small children as well as being subject slave, was experienced as frustrating by many. Despite his colorful attire, the ‘African with frizzy hair’ was portrayed as servile, stupid, as well as frightening, and clearly inferior to the snow-white Saint. Although in newer versions he was brightened up in some ways and behaved more like acrobatic joker, Zwarte Piet’s image stayed darkish.
The earliest known depictions of this character already appeared in old-Dutch picture books. “Sint Nicolaas en zijn knecht” (Saint Nicholas and his servant) was one of the oldest, written by Amsterdam schoolteacher Jan Schenkman wrote it in 1850, when there were few colored people living in The Netherlands. He started his book with a Moor named Piet, but in later editions he introduced Zwarte Piet, as theatrically polished blackface. Schenkman’s books contributed greatly to the popularity of the image, helped by black shoe polish and soot from chimneys.
Association with the Dutch colonial past was obvious. Especially once the country developed into a multicultural society. Today people from no fewer than 190 different countries live here. The independence of former colonies— Indonesia after World War II and Suriname in 1975— contributed greatly to this. Also the active recruitment in the 1960s of Turkish and North African gastarbeiders (guest workers) made a major impact. As a result people with other religions and customs ‘colored’ Dutch society, literally. That was one root of the above objection.
While less than two centuries ago Schenkman blamed the darkness of his Zwarte Piet on chimney climbing if not to Moors, this is no longer sustainable today. While colonialism raged, people from tropical countries who lived in The Netherlands are now sometimes staged as actors. But generally it was dressed up and painted white people who did the work. Emotions surrounding the stereotype became heated and culminated annually in so-called Zwartepietendebatten. These public debates received a lot of attention from Dutch media. Of course, right around time Sinterklaas showed up.
Opponents argued that the blackened servant figure would be stereotypical and racist, and therefore educationally unsuitable. Clothing, behavior, attitudes and statements were experienced as offensive and top-down from saint to servant. That was why in 2014 action groups Kick Out Zwarte Piet (KOZP) and Zwarte Piet is Racism were established. They showed up at every happening possible, armed with slogans and protest signs. Preferably during parades that were then covered by media.
Their proponents on the other hand, claimed black Pete was child-friendly and a folkloric figure only. “There’s nothing wrong with him,” ad hoc association Nederland Vecht Terug (The Netherlands Fights Back) once announced. “The character emerged from old-Dutch traditions and is therefore Cultural Heritage,” was then emphasized. They pinned down their opponents as “cowardly foreign wimps,” (woke) and the requested adjustments as simply “rewards for intimidation and violence.”
It did not stop by just debating with words only. A flood of public confrontations followed. During parades lots of rotten eggs, spoiled donuts and smelly fish were thrown back and forth. Hostile fireworks were shot to upset parades, without compassion for kids. Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet were publicly threatened and molested, as if it were a people’s court. Social media was inundated with hate mail. Cities and country came across as considerably divided. Lawsuits, emergency regulations, reporting points and demonstrations were the result. No wonder the police were forced to work overtime. National media, including popular Jeugdjournaal (youth news), was frantically getting involved. The youngest gullible children, the Holy Man’s target group, had no say and were sidelined.
Most controversial at one point was the demonstration of 34 so-called ‘blokkeerfriezen’ (roadblock Frisians) who fervently supported the traditional Sinterklaas version. Some busses with supporters of KOZP were blocked by them on highway A7 so they were unable to reach Dokkum, the Frisian town where the national arrival took place that year. Not only KOZP travelers were affected; thousands of others as well, including proponents. It generated an enormous amount of publicity, with questions asked in Tweede Kamer (House of Representatives). A lawsuit followed, which KOZP lost because “they played their own judge.” Foreign media picked up the ‘hot’ news item and that subsequently led to involvement of United Nations. Consultant Verene Shepherd asked for reconsideration and expressly demanded adjustments: “Staging Zwarte Piet must be understood as clear return to slavery.”
So with victory as goal, supporters and opponents competed for the hardest and spared each other in no way. It became very complicated to determine from this what the ratios really were. You may also wonder, whether there were signs that pointed to bridging the differences. If we assume that measuring generally increases knowledge, then recent results of a comparative study by Dutch I&O Research Agency might be interesting. It showed that fewer and fewer Dutch people think the Bishop’s partner should in all cases remain zwart. When in 2016 still 65 percent of respondents had that opinion, it quickly fell down to a 33 low this year. It is generally suggested that this must be credited to mainly KOZP activism.
No doubt a large number of features disappeared. Roetpieten (soot Petes) were now being spotted in major city parades, with just a few smears on the face. Song book texts were adjusted, advertising and illustrations in it as well. Stories got censored and were rewritten. But it certainly didn’t stop there. Gold earrings, thick lips and frizzy hair also were banned. Some retailers removed any reference to any Piet from their storefronts altogether. Others neutralized their packaging materials. Of course different Piet versions appeared on stage, rainbow Petes, bright colored, white or noble ones. Especially at school and in government as well as public media, they performed their act in any such variation.
However, despite all renovations there was commotion around December 5 this year again. One recent message about a photo accompanying an advertisement in the local Vianen newspaper was striking. The business association of the small town where the steamboat arrived this November 17 was upset. A Zwarte Piet appeared on their photo! They had the following apology written down: “We deeply regret it. It was an unconscious human error by an inattentive employee. From now on there will only be soot Petes” It didn’t come as surprise KOZP instantly jumped on that: “We want any association with slavery and racism banned, even the slightest possible references, including red lipstick, earrings or whatever smear of paint.”
This simple example meticulously clarifies the ways groups in Dutch society nowadays relate to each other, down to its smallest local fibers. Each year Piet’s appearance and all the commotion surrounding it, provides a good interpreter of that fragile balance.
In short, while Greek Bishop Nikolaos gradually transformed into a philanthropist over the years, the Moor on his turn evolved into a color neutral actor. Despite all criticism however, they still work well together as ‘gift stars’ in the commercialized spectacle little kids love. Meanwhile however, Santa Claus, as relatively neutral character surrounded by reindeer only, lurks in the background to take over. That, late Martin Luther would have pleased at least a bit.
Comments