Is St. Maarten Losing Its Culture?

By Kristen Sorton

Many people from different nationalities and backgrounds make St. Maarten their home. Their colourful lifestyles, although individual to their own people, have blended into the lifestyles of the St. Maarten people today. Many of these lifestyles have a grasp on their traditional cultural origins, however, after seeing and living the lifestyles of the different nationalities over so many years, one may start to wonder "what" or "where is the St. Maarten culture?"

Firstly, we will have to define the term ‘culture'. According to Ms. Clara Reyes, "Culture is how we live, what we eat, what we drink, what we talk. It is our lifestyle; what happens currently," she explains. "There are many different types of cultures. There is the teen culture, and there is the business culture. Culture is always evolving, and the St. Maarten culture is a very mobile, eclectic, and very complex culture." The word ‘culture' has a particular stigma where many believe it means traditional dancing, songs, and arts. Ms. Reyes further explains why this traditional culture is not as visible in St. Maarten as it is in other countries.

St. Maarten is not homogenous. There is a lot of cultural diversity. The traditional culture of St. Maarten is rapidly disappearing, but this is because many of the old St. Maarten people who know St. Maarten's traditional culture are passing. Many of the St. Maarten people left the island for different reasons. "It's like a puzzle. It leaves a big gap to be filled. When people from the other islands came to St. Maarten, they brought their own cultures with them, and if the St. Maarten people returned from the countries they moved to, they brought the cultures along with them as well." She explains that the post-slavery culture from the 40s til the 70s still echo in the community, but you have to search for it.

One would argue that our traditional culture would be more visible if the society and the youth embraced it. Ms. Reyes says, "I embrace the culture of St. Maarten with all my heart. Many of my friends and other people embrace St. Maarten's culture, but the Traditional culture is in competition with a louder, more modern