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Sinterklaas (also called Sint-Nicolaas or De Goedheiligman in Dutch [ It is also celebrated in the traditionally Germanic parts of France (North, Alsace, Lorraine), as well as in Luxembourg, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Poland, Hungary, Croatia, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and in the town of Trieste and in Eastern Friuli in Italy. Additionally, many Roman Catholics of Alsatian and Lotharingian descent in Cincinnati, Ohio, celebrate "Saint Nicholas Day" on the morning of December 6. The traditions differ from country to country, even between Belgium and the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, Saint Nicholas' Eve (December 5) is the chief occasion for gift-giving. The evening is called "sinterklaasavond" or "pakjesavond" ("presents evening"). In the Netherlands, children receive their presents on this evening whereas in Belgium, children put their shoe in front of the fireplace on the evening of December 5, then go to bed, and find the presents around the shoes on the morning of the 6th. Sinterklaas is the basis for the North American figure of Santa Claus. It is often claimed that during the American War of Independence the inhabitants of New York City, a former Dutch colonial town (New Amsterdam) which had been swapped by the Dutch for Suriname, reinvented their Sinterklaas tradition, as Saint Nicholas was a symbol of the city's non-English past.[1] The name Santa Claus supposedly derived from older Dutch Sinte Klaas. However, the Saint Nicholas Society was not founded until 1835, almost half a century after the end of the American War of Independence.[2] A study of the "children's books, periodicals and journals" of New Amsterdam by Charles Jones revealed no references to Saint Nicholas or Sinterklaas.[3] However, not all scholars agree with Jones's findings, which he reiterated in a booklength study in 1978;[4] Howard G. Hageman, of New Brunswick Theological Seminary, maintains that the tradition of celebrating Sinterklaas in New York existed in the early settlement of the Hudson Valley, although he agrees that "there can be no question that by the time the revival of St. Nicholas came with Washington Irving, the traditional New Netherlands observance had completely disappeared."[5] The Saint Nicholas Society of New York still has a feast on December 6 to this day.
[edit] HistoryThe Sinterklaas feast celebrates the name day, December 6, of Saint Nicholas (280–342), patron saint of children and sailors. Saint Nicholas was a bishop of Myra in present-day Turkey. In the eleventh century, his relics were moved to Italy making it a Church holiday. This was paving the way for the folk feast. At first, there was a childbishop. A child who was dressed up as a bishop on Saint Nicolas' eve and perform the mass the following day. This folk tradition was a provocation of the Church. Also, instead of incense, shoes were burned producing a very strong stench. Certain rhymes contain swear words such as 'kapoentje' (castrated hen) or have a negative meaning. These rhymes were often made up by elder children who in the beginning of the tradition did not receive presents unlike the younger children. In the modern tradition, the pejorative meanings in the songs are lost. In earlier times, the feast was both an occasion to help the poor by putting some money in their shoes (which evolved into putting presents in children's shoes) and a wild feast, similar to Carnival, that often led to mass public drunkenness. After the Netherlands became a largely Protestant country, many Calvinists argued that the feast of Sinterklaas was too 'paaps' (a slang term for Catholic) and should be abolished. However, the feast was so popular, even among the Protestant population, that these efforts were largely unsuccessful. The modern tradition of Sinterklaas as a children’s feast probably originates from the illustrated children's book ‘Sint Nicolaas en zijn knecht’ (Saint Nicholas and his helper) written in 1850 by teacher Jan Schenkman (1806–1863). This book introduced the concept of Sinterklaas delivering presents through the chimney, riding the roofs of houses on a white horse and arriving from Spain by steamboat. It also introduced the song ‘Zie ginds komt de stoomboot’ (See, there comes the steamboat) which remains one of the most well known Sinterklaas songs in the Netherlands. [edit] Sinterklaas during World War IIIn the lean times of the German occupation of the Netherlands, 1940–1945, Sinterklaas nonetheless came to cheer everyone, not just children. Many of the traditional Sinterklaas rhymes written during those times[6] contain references to current events, and many celebrate the Royal Air Force: in 1941, for instance, the RAF actually dropped little boxes of candy over the occupied Netherlands. One of the accompanying rhymes:
The rhyme is a variation on one of the best-known traditional Sinterklaas rhymes, with "R.A.F." replacing "Sinterklaas" in the first line (fortuitously, the two expressions have the same metrical characteristics), and in the third and fourth urging Sinterklaas to drop bombs on the "Moffen" (slur for "Germans", like "krauts" in English) and candy over the Netherlands. Many of the rhymes bewail the lack of food and basic necessities, and the fact that the German occupiers had taken everything of value; others express admiration for the Dutch resistance.[7] [edit] SinterklaasSinterklaas has a long red cape, wears a white bishop's dress and red mitre (bishop's hat), and holds a crosier, a long gold coloured staff with a fancy curled top. He carries a big book that tells whether each individual child has been good or naughty in the past year. He traditionally rides a white horse. [edit] Zwarte Piet"Zwarte Piet," Sinterklaas's helping hand Black Pete, has his origin in the bishop's legendary past. Three small Moorish boys were sentenced to death for a crime they did not commit. The bishop intervened and they were saved. To show their gratitude, the boys stayed with Sinterklaas to help him, tumbling and jumping on rooftops on Sinterklaas night to deliver presents. Their black skin may refer either to their Moorish background, or to the job of chimneysweep, an option is corroborated by their clothes, reminiscent of an Italian chimneysweep's costume and Pete's rooftop occupation. Another background story for Pete is that he is the devil who was enslaved by Sinterklaas. Nowadays, children in the Netherlands are told that the Pieten work for Sinterklaas voluntarily and that there is a special school in Spain where they learn their trade. Sinterklaas originally had only one Zwarte Piet. The concept of multiple Pieten was introduced by the Canadians when they helped organising the first post-WWII Sinterklaas celebration. Most traditional Sinterklaas songs still mention only one Zwarte Piet. Sinterklaas and his Black Petes usually carry a bag, which contains candy for nice children and a "roe," a bunch of willow branches used to spank naughty children; in actuality a chimneysweep's broom. Some of the older Sinterklaas songs make mention of naughty children being put in the bag and being taken back to Spain. The Zwarte Pieten toss candy around, a tradition supposedly originating in Sint Nicolaas' story of saving three young girls from prostitution by tossing golden coins through their window at night to pay their father's debts. [edit] Arrival Sinterklaas traditionally arrives each year in mid-November (usually on a Saturday) by steamboat from Spain (even though the bishop was originally from Asia Minor). Some suggest that gifts associated with the holy man such as Mandarin oranges led to the misconception that he must have been from Spain. He is then paraded through the streets, welcomed by cheering and singing children.[8] This event is broadcasted live on national television in the Netherlands and Belgium. His Zwarte Piet assistants throw candy and small, round, ginger bread-like cookies, either "kruidnoten" or "pepernoten," into the crowd. The children welcome him by singing traditional Sinterklaas songs. Sinterklaas also visits schools, hospitals and shopping centers. After this arrival all towns with a dock have their own "intocht van Sinterklaas" (arrival of Sinterklaas). Local arrivals usually take place later on the same Saturday of the national arrival, the next Sunday (the day after he arrives in the Netherlands or Belgium), or one weekend after the national arrival. In places a boat cannot reach, Sinterklaas arrives by train, bus, horse, or even carriage. [edit] PresentsTraditionally, in the weeks between his arrival and December 5, before going to bed, children put their shoes next to the fireplace chimney of the coal fired stove or fireplace, or, in modern times, next to the central heating. The shoe is to have a carrot or some hay in it and a bowl of water "for Sinterklaas' horse," and the children sing a Sinterklaas song; the next day they will find some candy or a small present in their shoes. When a house has no chimney, Sinterklaas or Black Pete is said to enter using his special key that fits on every door in the Netherlands. Typical Sinterklaas candy traditionally includes: hot chocolate, mandarin oranges, pepernoten, letter-shaped pastry filled with almond paste or chocolate letter (the first letter of the child's name made out of chocolate), speculaas (sometimes filled with almond paste), chocolate coins and marzipan figures. Newer candy includes kruidnoten (a type of shortcrust biscuit or gingerbread-biscuits) and a figurine of Sinterklaas made out of chocolate and wrapped in painted aluminum foil. Children are told that Black Pete enters the house through the chimney, which also explains his black face and hands, and will leave a bundle of sticks ("roe") or a small bag of salt in the shoe instead of candy if the child has been bad. If they have been really bad, Black Pete may take them back to Spain in his sack, a tradition now frowned upon under the influence of modern child psychology. Traditionally Saint Nicholas brings his gifts at night, and many Belgian and Dutch children still find their presents on the morning of December 6. Later in The Netherlands adults started to give each other presents on the evening of the 5th; then older children were included, and today many young children also get their presents on Saint Nicholas' eve. Poems can still accompany bigger gifts as well, though instead of being brought by Sinterklaas, people will draw names for an event comparable to Secret Santa. Gifts are to be creatively disguised (for which the Dutch use the French word "surprise"), and are usually accompanied by a humorous poem which often teases the recipient for well-known bad habits or other character deficiencies. When there are small children in the household, often a neighbor or family member is tasked with dressing up like Pete or Sinterklaas, sometimes even professional actors are employed. The actor will then sneak around the house, bang on a door or window loudly and throw candy into the house. Adults are expected to play along, and will usually do so with much vigour, pretending to be surprised and in awe of Pete and/or Sinterklaas. A bag of gifts is then often left at the door, where the children have to go and get it, to drag it into the house. Sometimes poorer family members are surprised with bags of gifts left at their house in this fashion by better-off relatives. [edit] ControversyIn more recent times controversy has surrounded the traditional holiday; black citizens of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (mostly from the former colonies) feel slighted by what they perceive as a depiction of slavery as a jolly affair, Pete being seen as a caricature of a black slave. (US) Americans are uncomfortably reminded of old "blackface" imagery. Most recently Muslim and other non-Christian groups in the Netherlands have protested the Christian symbolism represented in, amongst others, the cross on Sinterklaas' headdress. Some cities, like Amsterdam, have opted to either omit the cross or replace it with something neutral. In the past there were schools in predominantly non-white areas who experimented with multi-hued 'petes'. This in turn led to protests by some who felt this to be an affront to their traditions. They argue, amongst others, that since Sinterklaas is supposedly based on the Christian Saint Nicolas, Christian symbolism is valid. Others argue that the holiday was based on earlier pagan traditions. Historical evidence of either theory is scant, and contested amongst historians. The issue flares up occasionally and leads to emotional and heated debate. On the whole, however, the tradition is common amongst most of Dutch society, Christian and non-Christian alike. In the former colonies the tradition is upheld as well, and it is not uncommon to find a black Sinterklaas with Petes with black paint over non-white skin. In the colonies the emphasis is often also placed more on the black Petes, as the bringers of toys while the white Sinterklaas is seen as an authority figure who keeps the book of who has been naughty and nice, in effect a role-reversal to suit the perceptions of the mostly non-white children in those areas. [edit] Notes
[edit] See also
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