How the Bahamas Keeps Its Oral History Alive Through Song

On Cat Island, a musician scrapes a carpenter’s saw with a metal rod while another pounds a drum made from a pork barrel. No written music, no setlist — just a rhythm that carries generations of plantation-era memory, European quadrille steps, and African call-and-response. This is rake and scrape, one of several Bahamian musical forms that have served as living archives for centuries. But how exactly does a melody store the story of a people? This article unpacks the distinct ways Bahamians have used song to transmit history, genealogy, and social values — and what happens when those oral traditions meet modern recordings and tourism.

How did these forms evolve, and what specific histories do they carry? Let’s start with the earliest indigenous sound.

Goombay: The Drum That Carries Ancestral Rhythms

The word “Goombay” itself is a linguistic artifact — it is thought to derive from the Gambian word “gumbay,” meaning a large drum. This connection points directly to the transatlantic slave trade and the forced movement of West African peoples to the Bahamas. Goombay music, which emerged from the Afro-descendant population, is characterized by a drumbeat rhythm that mimics the pulse of community life. From the 1920s to the mid-1970s, rake and scrape bands modified with piano, horns, guitars, and sometimes banjos formed what became known as Goombay bands. This adaptation shows how oral tradition absorbs new materials without losing its core function: preserving and transmitting collective memory.

Prominent Goombay musicians include Blind Blake (Blake Alphonso Higgs), widely regarded as the father of Bahamian music; George Symonette; and Eloise Lewis. Their songs often narrated daily life, love, and historical events, serving as oral newspapers before mass media. Blind Blake’s work, available through records and YouTube, remains a reference point for understanding mid-20th-century Bahamian identity.

Goombay also influenced religious music outside established Anglican and Roman Catholic denominations. Baptist church anthems developed from hymns “lined off” by a leader to the chorus — a call-and-response structure that allows for improvisation and local storytelling. This leads us to the rhyming spiritual, a distinct oral history genre.

Rake and Scrape: Music from the Tools of Labor

Rake and scrape originated on Cat Island in the 1800s as a hybrid form blending European and African music. The name is onomatopoeic: “rake” refers to the scraping motion on a carpenter’s saw, and “scrape” to the sound produced. The instruments themselves tell a story of resourcefulness — Africans in the Bahamas used available materials: a carpenter’s saw, pork barrels with goat or sheep skin for drums, and an accordion or concertina for melody. This is music born of scarcity, where every tool served double duty (labor instrument and musical instrument).

Rake and scrape accompanies quadrille (a European court dance) and maypole traditions, as well as other folk dance forms. This pairing of European dance steps with African-derived rhythms and instruments is itself an oral testament to the creolization process that defined Bahamian culture. According to the Grand Bahama Museum, rake and scrape requires a saw and drums to be authentic — a key point for any visitor wanting to understand its boundaries.

Today, the form is preserved mainly through the Cat Island Rake N Scrape Festival and a few elder musicians like Ophie Webb, who has demonstrated the style for documentary purposes. It remains a contested space: some purists argue that adding modern instruments dilutes its oral history role, while younger musicians see fusion as necessary for survival.

Junkanoo: The Loudest Archive

Junkanoo is now the most predominant musical form in the Bahamas. It features a parade of brightly costumed Bahamians dancing and “rushing” to the music of cowbells, drums, horns, and whistles producing a distinctive “Kalik, Kalikin’ kalik” sound. The origins of Junkanoo are still debated — some scholars trace it to West African yam festivals, others to Christmas celebrations or slave resistance gatherings where enslaved people paraded in masks to mock plantation owners. The debate itself is an oral history: different communities claim different origin stories.

Junkanoo functions as a living archive of social commentary. Because the parade is a competitive group event, each group (or “shack”) creates new costumes and music annually, often responding to political developments, natural disasters, or community milestones. This makes Junkanoo perhaps the most dynamic oral history form in the Bahamas — it updates constantly.

The Rhyming Spiritual: Church as Storyhouse

Outside the parade grounds, another vibrant oral tradition thrives in Baptist churches across the islands. The rhyming spiritual is sung in three parts, led by a rhymer (who improvises the story), a bass (providing a rhythmic foundation), and an alto (harmonizing). Songs are “lined off” — the leader sings a line, the congregation echoes it. This structure, rooted in the West African call-and-response, allows for spontaneous addition of local names, places, and recent events, making each performance unique.

Singing is integral to religious shouting meetings, wakes, and concerts where particular songs are performed during rallies. These events are not merely worship; they are community memory banks where genealogies, significant births and deaths, and miraculous events are woven into hymns. For outsiders, attending such a service can be deeply moving, but it’s essential to understand that this is not a performance — it is a participatory act of remembrance.

Context & Comparison: How Different Forms Handle History

Each form processes history differently. The table below highlights key distinctions in how they transmit oral memory.

Questions Readers Ask

How do lyrics in Bahamian traditional songs preserve specific historical events?

Lyrics often name individuals, dates, and locations. For example, songs about hurricanes or political changes serve as community records. The rhyming spiritual incorporates local news into biblical allegory. Documented instances from the Smithsonian Folkways illustrate this.

Is rake and scrape still practiced outside tourism?

Yes, but mostly on Cat Island and smaller Out Islands. The Cat Island Rake N Scrape Festival is the main annual event. Younger Bahamians often learn from elders; the form is not taught in schools systematically. Some worry it may become a “museum piece” without active transmission.

What role do women play in these oral music traditions?

Women feature prominently as choir members and rhymers in the rhyming spiritual tradition. In Junkanoo, women participate equally in groups, though historically male-dominated. Eloise Lewis is named as a Goombay composer, and many women lead church singing. The research doesn’t provide exhaustive data, but it’s an area where more oral history collection is needed.

Can visitors participate in a rhyming spiritual service?

Visitors are generally welcome in Baptist churches, but should not interfere with the service. Sit quietly, listen, and if invited, join in the chorus. Do not record without permission, as these are worship events, not performances.

How did Blind Blake get his name and why is he considered the father of Bahamian music?

Blake Alphonso Higgs lost his sight in childhood. He became a celebrated Goombay musician and toured internationally, composing hundreds of songs that chronicled Bahamian life. His recordings are foundational.

Songs as Living Archives: What These Traditions Reveal

These musical forms do not merely preserve a static past; they actively reshape it with each performance. Goombay, rake and scrape, Junkanoo, and the rhyming spiritual each offer a different lens on Bahamian history — one that insists on participation, improvisation, and community ownership. For the curious traveler or scholar, engaging with these songs means recognizing that oral history is not a book on a shelf but a conversation still unfolding. To understand how these rhythms intersect with everyday island life, explore our deep dive on Rake-n-Scrape Rhythms: The Untold Story of Bahamian Music’s Roots.

Sources and further reading

Cordell Thompson (Grand Bahama Museum). “Music Traditions of the Bahamas.” 🔗

Smithsonian Folkways. “Island Song: The Bahamas.” 🔗

Related reading on IslandHopperGuides

Bahamian Reggae: The Heartbeat of Island Culture — Explores how reggae influences intersect with indigenous forms.

Shell Shocked: Deciphering the Conch’s Cultural Significance in the Bahamas — Another lens on Bahamian identity through material culture.

Decoding Junkanoo: A Vibrant Dive into the Soul of Bahamian Culture — Detailed guide to participating in Junkanoo respectfully.