Bahamas Independence Day
Bahamas Independence Day: July 10, 2010 – Today is the Bahamas Independence Day.
The country gained independence from Great Britain in 1973. Nassau, on New Providence Island, is the capital and largest city. An island country in the Atlantic Ocean east of Florida and Cuba comprising some 700 islands and islets and numerous cays.
Bahamas Independence Day History: The islands were inhabited by Lucayan Tainos when Christopher Columbus sighted them on October 12, 1492. The Spanish did not attempt to settle, but did carry out slave raids that depopulated the islands; when English settlers arrived in 1648 from Bermuda, the islands were uninhabited.
They became a favorite haunt of pirates and buccaneers, and few of the subsequent settlements prospered. The islands enjoyed some prosperity after the American Revolution, when loyalists fled the US and established cotton plantations there. The islands were a center for blockade runners during the American Civil War. It was not until the development of tourism after World War II that permanent economic prosperity arrived. The Bahamas was granted internal self-government in 1964 and became independent in 1973. Bahamian Independence Day Traditions and Activities On the less developed islands, crafts include basketry made from palm fronds. This material, commonly called “straw”, is braided into hats and bags which are popular tourist items on this day. Another use is for so-called “voodoo dolls”, even though such dolls are the figment of the American imagination and not based on historical fact.
Obeah, a religion of folk magic, sorcery, and religious practices derived from Central African and West African origins, is practiced on some of the Family Islands (outer islands) of the Bahamas. Junkanoo is a street parade of music, dance, and art that takes place in many cities in the Bahamas.
Boat races are important social events in many family island settlements. They usually feature one or more days of sailing on vintage workboats, as well as a festival ashore. Some settlements have festivals associated with the harvest or traditional food of that area, such as the “Pineapple Fest” in Gregory Town.