Tag Archive for: Afro-Sri Lankan

Ceylon African Manja perform in Colombo

Over the many generations Afro-Sri Lankans have lived on the island many aspects of African culture have been lost as they became assimilated in to Sri Lankan society. Some however remained especially in the form of music and dance. This trend remains consistent throughout the African diaspora of South Asia with all communities having their own unique music and dance that has real similarities to styles on the African continent.

The Ceylon African Manja group perform in Colombo on 21st September 2017. Copyright Luke Duggleby/The Sidi Project

In fact, not only is their music and dance totally unique in Sri Lanka but it has become a very important source of income with them, often being hired to perform around the country at events ranging from weddings to official functions.

On one such performance I followed one such group from their homes in the village of Siriambadiya to Colombo where they had been invited by the Ministry of Culture to perform at an event celebrating traditional music from around the island.

The Ceylon African Manja group perform in Colombo on 21st September 2017. Copyright Luke Duggleby/The Sidi Project

But what makes Afro-Sri Lankan music so special is that it is still sung in Sri Lankan Portuguese Creole, a language that developed only on Sri Lanka and used exclusively by African slaves, all coming from different tribes and countries, as a common language. Today this is one of the last musical groups that still know the old creole songs.

The Ceylon African Manja group perform in Colombo on 21st September 2017. Copyright Luke Duggleby/The Sidi Project

The Ceylon African Manja group perform in Colombo on 21st September 2017. Copyright Luke Duggleby/The Sidi Project

The Ceylon African Manja group perform in Colombo on 21st September 2017. Copyright Luke Duggleby/The Sidi Project

The Ceylon African Manja group perform in Colombo on 21st September 2017. Copyright Luke Duggleby/The Sidi Project

Here is a sound recording I made of one of their songs on 21st September 2017 during that Colombo performance.

Afro-Sri Lankan’s of Puttalam

For the last week I have been in Sri Lanka furthering my documentation of the Afro-Sri Lankan community living here. First brought by the Portuguese some 500 years ago, African slaves arrived in Sri Lankan over the next 300 years until the British, who were also heavily involved in the Indian Ocean slave trade, voted in Parliament to end it.

Daisy Perela, now 63, holds a photograph of her younger self close to Kalypitiya. September 2017. Original photographer unknown. Image copyright Luke Duggleby/The Sidi Project

Following the Abolition of Slavery all slaves one the island were freed and having no where to return to they remained. Many took jobs in the British administration that controlled the island until 1947 working in various professions from security guards, nurses, labourers to drivers and they gradually assimilated in to Sri Lankan society.

Today, the vast majority of Afro-Sri Lankans live in the Northwest coastal region close to the town of Puttalam and here is where I am spending the majority of my time during this trip. However, a small group made-up of around 3-4 families moved to Sri Lanka’s east coast close to the town of Trincomalee. These families went there with the British, some working as security guards for British companies and others in the POW camp that was located there during WWII.

Johnson sits in his house in Puttalam town. September 2017. Image copyright Luke Duggleby/The Sidi Project

 

Peter Louis (left) and Justin Savior with his grand daughter attending Sunday Mass. Siriambadiya, September 2017. Image copyright Luke Duggleby/The Sidi Project

After the British left these families stayed, having married local Sri Lankan Tamil people and over a few generations the population gradually shrunk to the handful of individuals that remain there today. Sadly interaction with the Afro-Sri Lankans of Puttalam has decreased over the years, hindered by the civil war that made travelling in and out of Trincomalee very difficult and also due to family feuds.

The remaining Afro-Sri Lankan’s of Trincomalee have chosen not to celebrate their African heritage like those of Puttalam who remain proud of where they came from. During a 3-day visit to the east coast town last week some were happy to meet us and tell their stories but other families weren’t. One family even saying they didn’t want their children acknowledged as Afro-Sri Lankan.

As a result it looks likely that through inter-marriage with local Tamils in one generation any remnants of their African heritage will disappear and their culture will become confined to history books.

Solomon Matthew Linton, 59, sits in a friends house. Puttalam, September 2017. Image copyright Luke Duggleby/The Sidi Project

A few years ago the respected elder of the community in Trincomalee, Mr Mersalin Alfonso, died. Alfonso was a proud Afro-Sri Lankan and with relatives, including his brother, living in Puttalam, he kept the connection alive. It seems that a large part of this small community died with Alfonso and now the Afro-Sri Lankan’s of the Puttalam area are now the only proud holders of this African heritage.

The wedding photograph of Benedict Vancis Callistis, now 62, who married a local Sinhalese lady. September 2017. Original photographer unknown. Image copyright Luke Duggleby/The Sidi Project

 

This documentary is being produced by a Reporting Fellowship awarded by the South Asian Journalist Association (www.saja.org) in the U.S.