On Sunday, April 27, at 6 a.m., around a hundred people gathered in the Galisbay parking lot to prepare for the launch of the first Mas Maten – Lokono Kongo, supported by the Swali-KA association.
Created 35 years ago, Kongo Karayib, the most famous Mas Maten, brings together more than 10 people in Guadeloupe each year.
But this year, for the first time, the Swali-KA association is relocating it to Saint-Martin. Usually held on Shrove Saturday, this gathering of individuals who walk to commune with their ancestors through a series of rituals is this time being held during the Sint Maarten carnival.
To enter the Mas, ethnic makeup and gwo siwo (a mixture of cane sugar, flour, oil, and paint) application stalls welcomed participants at dawn before the big departure. Against the backdrop of gwoup a po, a lively music based, among other things, on percussion and conch shells, the women and men prepared to revive the spirit of the Mas, rooted in the history of slavery.
"Through this symbolic event, I hope we move towards less racism and more unity. Because it still exists, whether between different ethnic groups, between Europeans, or between Black people," says Clerence Kenny, the project leader.
The whippers, responsible for announcing the arrival of the convoy, opened the Mas towards the center of Marigot, Concordia, Sandy Ground, Bellevue before returning to Galisbay to close this event which will remain in the memories.
Source: Faxinfo https://faxinfo.fr/en/culture-lesprit-du-mas-deploye-a-saint-martin/
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