Sinterklaasfeest!

Now that the spirit of Christmas is in the air, and Santa Claus and his elves are showing up everywhere, one might wonder about the holidays celebrated in the Netherlands. 

Well, you just opened a door to a strange little mythology that is ancient, preposterous, and maybe slightly offensive to some, but no more strange than a man living at the North Pole, with flying reindeer and midgets. 

Sinterklaas is based on St. Nicolas, a patron saint of children, and sailors. He was a bishop in Greek controlled Turkey, and was known for a number of miracles, including resurrecting children killed by an evil butcher, and ending the storm that threatened the pilgrimage ship he was on. His most famous story is one of him donating gold to a poor man with no dowry for his many daughters (who would have been sold into slavery if they could not find husbands). He did this by throwing sacks of gold through the window of the poor family's home, and the gold landed in the shoes and stockings by the fire. (Sound familiar?)

St. Nicolas' feast day is December 6th, but Sinterklaasfeest is celebrated the evening before. 

The mythology in the Netherlands is a little different than the traditional saint story. At some point St. Nicolas moved to Spain, and it is from there that he travels to the Netherlands on a Sunday in Mid-November. 

On November 14th, Sinterklaas arrived in Purmerend, and every other city in Holland

Sinterklaas arriving in Purmerend

He arrives by steam ship(remember his connection to sailors?), from Spain. 

And waves at all the kids waiting at the canal side, many of whom are dressed up for the occasion, and are yelling his name. 

Sinterklaas doesn't have a sleigh or reindeer. Once he gets off the steam ship, he gets onto his grey dapple or white horse, Amerigo. 

Dutch children put their shoes next to the fireplace, and put a carrot in them, and maybe some hay for Amerigo. 

On Sinterklaas Avond, the family gathers for snacks and singing of Sinterklaas songs. Suddenly there is a knock at the door! And there is Sinterklaas and his helper, carrying a sack of goodies! Or maybe, (if the parents don't want to hire a Sinterklaas-for-rent) just a knock at the door, a handful of cookies tossed in the door, and the sack of presents waiting outside. Boy that Sinterklaas is fast!

Now like Santa, Sinterklaas watches children and keeps track of naughty or nice children in his big book. There are no "Mall Sinterklaas'", the kids tell their parents or write a letter and give it to their parents, who will tell Sinterklaas themselves.

 But what are the repercussions for naughty children? This is where it gets interesting... and for that we have to discuss the sensitive subject of Sinterklass' helpers, called Zwarte Piets. 

Sinterklas arrives with many many Piets in tow. Some of them have roles, like Staff Piet, Navigator Piet, Sack Piet, Book Piet and Present Piet. There are marching bands of all Piets. There are Piets on rollerblades. There are Piets playing guitars. And most of them have sacks full of little cookies called Pepernoten, which taste a little like ginger snaps, and they pass these out to the kids. They act silly, do acrobatics, make all the kids smile and laugh, and generally act goofy. 

Zwarte Piet isn't just the jolly figure that he presents. Rather than just getting coal in your stocking if you are a naughty child, Zwarte Piet can come and beat you with a switch. Really! And if you are really really naughty, Zwarte Piet will stuff you into Sinterklaas' sack of gifts and take you back to Spain. 

This is an often repeated threat by Dutch parents to their kids: "If you don't behave, Zwarte Piet will take you to Spain!"

Now, Zwarte Piet wasn't always the innocent guy with his face black because of the soot from the chimney (yes, Piet is the one that delivers the presents down the chimney). He was originally Sinterklaas' slave. And stuffing naughty kids in the sack was a way to get more slaves for Sinterklaas. How awful! How did this beat down and evil slave become the festive chimney sweep that we see today? 

Zwarte Piet isn't just at the parades, he is in every Sinterklaas decoration, mural, or advertisement for gift shopping. In many places, I saw more of Zwarte Piet graphics than Sinterklaas ones. There is even a very very popular tv show starring a bunch of Zwarte Piets, including "Cool Piet Diego" and an Elvis Piet. 

Ok, no offence to any of my Duchie friends, but Zwarte Piet really shocked me. In the US, a white person dressing up in black face, with red lips, is so incredibly taboo. Worse than using the N-word. It hearkens back to the minstrel shows, and a time when black people were considered a lesser race. So you can understand my surprise.  

But after watching the shows, and seeing how the kids love Zwarte Piet, I know there isn't anything offensive behind it. Yes, Zwarte Piet may have an offensive background, but I don't think the sentiment of racism is still around. There were kids at the parade with dark skin, dressed up like Zwarte Piet and calling his name just as loudly. They even had black paint on their faces, because after all " Piet is black because he climbs down chimneys and gets soot all over him, not because he is a certain race" .  That is a bit of revisionist mythology I think, but it makes sense if they want to keep the tradition.

Now, I am not Dutch, but I am surprised that Zwarte Piet has maintained his look, despite all the immigration, expats, and general sensitivity about racism in western society.  For one of the most open and accepting cultures on the planet, I find it rather interesting that such a throw back to imperialist times is still so popular.

But it really is lots of fun. You dig through the "sac van cadeautjes"and pass them out one by one. There are hand written poems to tease your loved ones. You always get your first initial in chocolate. 

There are songs to sing and traditions to follow. And there aren't many long term traditions that don't have some kind of dark past (just look into Grimm's Fairy Tales and poems like Ring Around the Rosey). So I can't say that I can ever fully accept Zwarte Piet and his look, but I can accept that the kids love him, it is rather innocent, and maybe I am being too sensitive anyway. 

For my first Sinterklaas, we spent the evening at G's mother's home, who had prepared a sack of presents. All were nicely wrapped, and we spent a good hour opening gifts, and reading poems written by his mom, and eating chocolate. Then, we went and got Chinese Take-away (how is it that every Chinese food restaurant looks the same, no matter what country you are in?). I got an A in chocolate, and said "dank u Sinterklaas" after every gift. Het was leuk!

Vrolijk Sinterklaasfeest!