Protecting our duppies

Glenda Simms, Contributor

In the November 14-20, 2010 edition of The Sunday Herald, attorney-at-law Stokeley Marshall argued that there could be a possible legal link between whipping, obeah and duppy tourism.

He was commenting on the suggestion of Diana McIntyre-Pike that it is time for Jamaica's tourism interests to consider the viability of 'duppy tourism' as a potential moneymaker in the push for the enhancement of the community-tourism sector.

Mr Marshall made the point that for duppy tourism to be viable, the Obeah Act, which is still on the books, should be revisited. This perspective is based on the fact that "under Section 2 of the Obeah Act, a person who practises obeah is liable to imprisonment for up to 12 months and, in addition or in lieu of imprisonment, to whipping in accordance with the Flogging Regulation Act."

When the idea of duppy tourism was first raised by McIntyre-Pike, I personally dismissed this as another 'moment of crackpotism' in our beloved country. I have since revised my initial response because I have come to know that desperate men and women will pursue any activity that will put money in the pockets of them, their families and their friends.

With this new perspective, I made a concerted effort to raise the issue of duppy tourism with the usual after-six, ganja-smoking and rum-drinking old-timers who frequent the veranda of the one-stop shop in my favourite district in the Santa Cruz Mountains of St Elizabeth.

Christmas time

The Christmas season is always an opportune time to discuss duppies. In 2010, the December evenings were very chilly and the young men and women, along with the old-timers, huddled together in order to keep warm. With their heads covered, faces hidden and their baggy pants bulging, they could pass for a band of the Christmas duppies that reputedly roamed the community when I was a child.

Of course, I had to keep my thoughts to myself. In other words, an atmosphere of mutual anthropological trust had to be established before the issue of duppies is raised in such traditional community gatherings.

Maas Joe, the oldest male in the district, raised his greying eyebrows when he heard the term duppy tourism. He quickly remarked that this sounded like another attempt to continue the history of exploitation through which backra massa and his slave drivers stole and appropriated every material asset and spiritual resource that belonged to ordinary Jamaican folk.

"Now dem want wi duppy! Not ova mi dead body!" exclaimed the old man.

It was at this juncture that Maas Joe proceeded to give the younger generation a lecture on the importance of retaining and protecting the little bit of our heritage and the unique connection to our ancestral spirits which is still alive and well in the district.

He reminded everyone on the veranda that the strongest aspect of our heritage lay in our secret knowledge of all the duppies that roam at nights and in the early mornings of the Christmas and Easter seasons.

He shared with his audience a practice that should still be maintained by every self-respecting schoolchild. Back in his school days, Maas Joe said every boy and girl knew duppies resided in every household they passed on their way from the one-room Anglican school in the district.

That is why children picked up three small stones after passing a neighbour's gate. They would then proceed to throw two of the stones behind them without looking back.

The third stone would be concealed in the right palm. The household duppy would pick up the two stones and spend the rest of the night trying to find the third one. This was the established and scientific method for preventing duppies from following and playing with our children.

Another old-timer joined in the 'duppy debate' and announced that most of the cotton trees that housed duppies were killed by the fires set at their roots by greedy farmers. It is rumoured that these homeless duppies are hiding in potholes on the roadway at nights. It is reported in hushed tones that many of the young men returning from 'girl bush' late at nights have seen some of these duppies jumping out of potholes.

After a few shots of white rum, Miss Mattie, the oldest female resident of the district, reminded all her friends on the veranda that duppies are very common in the district because so many of the established families who left the district in their effort to find prosperity and fame consistently take back their dead relatives to 'rest in peace' in the Anglican cemetery, which is very close to many of the homes that still remain in the district.

Miss Mattie argued that such funeral processions through the community offer unique opportunities for the citizens to see duppies. There are two tried and true methods that she has experimented with during her lifetime. One is to put the accumulated 'matter' in the corner of a dog's eyes into the corner of your eye. This will help you to see the duppy sitting on top of the coffin.

Infuriated duppies

Alternatively, if one is repulsed by the thought of 'dog matter' in one's eyes, the individual can bend over and put his or her head between the legs and get a glimpse of the new duppy. The only problem with this second method is that such individuals run the risk of not being able to straighten up again if the duppy sees him or her in that position.

Duppies do not like to be seen!

On this occasion, young girl Hottie Hottie had come to a deciding moment in her life.

The year 2010 was a disastrous time for her. She lost both her peanut and red peas crops because of the heavy rains that accompanied Tropical Storm Nicole. She tried to rebound by planting cabbage and tomatoes, but her yield was not marketable because all the other bad-minded people had planted the same crops and the higglers wanted everything for 'little and nutten'. What a disaster!

The only aspects of Hottie Hottie's life that she had any real control over was the protection of her virginity and the colour of her wig.

The former she guarantees by spreading the rumour that she carries around a weapon designed to fix any of the testosterone-driven robots who believe that they have a right to any and every young girl in the district.

The latter she can change by moving from her usual straight blonde wig to a two-toned one.

A half-black and half-white one will allow her to be in the same line of at least one other important person in the society.

It is within this frame of musings that Hottie Hottie started to contemplate making a lot of money in the duppy tourism sector.

She imagined her stalls, draped in black, displaying duppy pumpkins; duppy soursop, aka noni; duppy callaloo; and duppy slimy pears. In between these exotic and highly sought-after products, she would display pods of 'stinking toe' from the one ancient tree that harbours at least 10 mad duppies at night.

The stalls would be opened for business during the day, and at night they would become duppy-catching sites. Hottie Hottie's family is legendary for their duppy-catching sessions. These are usually carried out in secret after midnight. Early in the morning, the smell of sulphur is the only clue to the happenings in certain homes. Hottie Hottie is always very self-conscious of the whisperings in the district.

Everyone calls her family obeah workers. However, Hottie cannot see the difference between her duppy-catching relatives and the esteemed parsons and priests who carry out rituals of exorcism to cast out spirits and demons from individuals and haunted houses.

Aha! The Obeah Act was designed by the coloniser to rob people of African origins of their ancestral powers.

Maas Joe and Miss Mattie realised that Hottie Hottie was in one of her scheming moods when her mouth was closed. They suspected that she must have been thinking deeply about making money out of duppy tourism.

It was, therefore, not surprising that in unison they gave the young girl a dirty look and warned her about any intention she might have about selling out the district's duppies and the long tradition of managing the ancestral spirits. Miss Mattie shouted:

Dem tief wi land.

Dem rob us of our languages.

Dem rape our women.

Dem psychologically castrate di man dem.

NOW DEM WANT WI DUPPY!

NO DAMN WAY !

"AMEN!" responded all those gathered on the veranda.

Dr Glenda P. Simms is a gender expert and consultant. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.