On a June weekend in Arthur’s Town, the carpenter’s saw becomes a melody. The Rake & Scrape Festival, held each Labour Day weekend, transforms Cat Island’s town square into a stage where musicians scrape screwdrivers across saw teeth and beat goatskin goombay drums. The sound is raw, percussive, and unmistakably local. Arthur’s Town is the rake-and-scrape capital of the Bahamas, and the festival draws crowds in the low thousands to celebrate a tradition that rural island communities have passed down for generations.
Cat Island’s annual Rake & Scrape Festival turns a carpenter’s saw into a lead instrument, and the town square of Arthur’s Town into a living archive of the Bahamas’ most distinctive folk music tradition.
That phrase — living archive — is not casual. Cat Island sits 130 miles southeast of Nassau, reachable by Bahamasair, Western Air, private charter, or the Bahamian mail boat. It has the Bahamas’ highest point (Mount Alvernia at 206 feet), a hand-built stone monastery called The Hermitage, and the origins of Sir Sidney Poitier. But the island’s claim to being the cultural soul of the Bahamas rests on something more than landmarks. It rests on a deliberate, ongoing project of preservation — from the annual festival to a new book by archivist Antoinette Seymour that documents the island’s identity. This article examines that claim: what makes Cat Island the cultural soul of the Bahamas, and what it means for a community to assert that identity in the 21st century.
Cat Island’s claim as the cultural soul of the Bahamas is credible, but not because it is the only island with deep traditions. It is because the island has produced a dense concentration of distinctly Bahamian cultural forms — rake-and-scrape music, quadrille dancing, the Hermitage’s singular architecture — and because its residents have actively documented and celebrated those forms. The claim is as much about conscious preservation as it is about heritage.
Quick-reference: Cat Island’s cultural anchors
These four cultural elements form the core of Cat Island’s identity. Each has a specific location, a specific practice, and a specific connection to the island’s sense of itself.
| Cultural element | Location | Core practice | Status today | Key figure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rake & Scrape music | Arthur’s Town | Playing carpenter’s saw, goombay drum, accordion, maracas | Annual festival (June 4-6), Battle of the Bands competition | Community musicians |
| The Hermitage & Mount Alvernia | Mount Alvernia | Hand-built stone monastery, pilgrimage site | Open to visitors, maintained as historic site | Father Jerome (John Hawes) |
| Sir Sidney Poitier’s origins | Cat Island (family roots) | Birthplace of the Bahamian-American actor and cultural icon | Commemorated in local memory and Seymour’s book | Sir Sidney Poitier |
| Archival documentation | Book: “Been to Cat Island” | Oral history, cultural preservation, publishing | Published 2024, available in Bahamas and Canada | Antoinette Seymour |
These four elements are not a complete inventory. Blue holes, plantation ruins, and bonefishing flats also draw visitors. But the cultural anchors are what give Cat Island its claim to being the Bahamas’ soul.
The sound of Cat Island: rake and scrape as living tradition
Rake-and-scrape music did not begin on a festival stage. It began in rural island communities where people made instruments from whatever was at hand. A carpenter’s saw, played with a screwdriver or nail, produces a high-pitched rhythmic scrape. The goatskin goombay drum provides the bass. An accordion adds melody, and maracas keep time. The result is a sound that is percussive, syncopated, and designed for dancing.
The Rake & Scrape Festival in Arthur’s Town runs from June 4 through June 6, timed to the Bahamas’ Labour Day weekend. The festival includes breakfast and lunch in the park, dominoes and checkers games, and evening performances. Quadrille dancing — a Caribbean adaptation of European court dances — is part of the program, alongside a gospel concert and the Battle of the Rake & Scrape Bands competition. Part of the festival proceeds fund a scholarship for a local high school graduate, tying the tradition directly to the island’s future.
Breakfast and lunch are served in Arthur’s Town town square, near the airport. Dominoes and checkers games start early, often before the music begins.
Local and national artists perform live. Quadrille dancing groups demonstrate the traditional form, which combines European dance structure with Caribbean movement and rhythm.
The Battle of the Rake & Scrape Bands is the festival’s centerpiece. Bands compete on musicianship, originality, and faithfulness to the tradition. A gospel concert closes the evening.
If you attend the festival, bring a folding chair and sun protection. The events take place outdoors in the town square, and shade is limited. The dominoes tables are a good place to start conversations — Cat Islanders are generally welcoming to visitors who show genuine curiosity about the music.
One persistent outsider misconception is that rake-and-scrape is a performed tourist attraction, like a staged folk show. In reality, the tradition remains rooted in community life. The festival is organized by and for Cat Islanders, and the scholarship fund is a reminder that the music is understood as something worth investing in. The crowds in the low thousands are mostly Bahamian, not foreign.
Writing the island into history: Antoinette Seymour’s “Been to Cat Island”
In 2024, archivist Antoinette Seymour published “Been to Cat Island” with Inspire Publishing (Bahamas). The book is part of the “Been to Bahamas” series, and it does something deceptively simple: it documents Cat Island’s cultural history in a form that can be shared, debated, and passed on. Seymour, who works as an archivist at the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada, while maintaining her Bahamian roots, collected stories about the island — including anecdotes about pigs feasting on lobster and the origins of Sir Sidney Poitier — and organized them into a book that treats the island’s identity as a subject worthy of serious attention.
Seymour’s motivation is personal. “Throughout my life, I have heard fascinating stories about Cat Island and from Cat Islanders — stories that deserve safeguarding,” she has said. The book is available at Chapter One bookstore, Logos Bookstore, Cia Monet, and select museums in The Bahamas and Canada, and in paperback and eBook on Amazon. It is also a product of a specific archival philosophy: the UNESCO 1996 statement that “archivists preserve and safeguard culture, history, heritage, identity, legacy, and memory.”
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The book is available in paperback and eBook on Amazon.
Sacred ground, island stories: Mount Alvernia and the Hermitage
Cat Island’s highest point, Mount Alvernia at 206 feet, is also the Bahamas’ highest point. At the summit stands The Hermitage, a hand-built stone monastery constructed by Father Jerome (John Hawes), an Anglican-turned-Catholic priest who lived on the island in the early 20th century. The Hermitage is a small, austere building made of local stone, built by Father Jerome himself as a retreat. The path to the summit is a via crucis with Stations of the Cross, each carved from coral.
The Hermitage is not a tourist attraction in the conventional sense. There is no gift shop, no guided tour, no admission fee. It is a space that demands physical effort to reach and offers quiet in return. For Cat Islanders, it is also a symbol of the island’s ability to produce something remarkable from limited resources — a theme that runs through the rake-and-scrape tradition, the book, and the festival scholarship.
Some visitors describe The Hermitage as a “monastery” in the European sense, but it was never a functioning monastery with a community of monks. It was a personal hermitage built by one man. The distinction matters: Cat Island’s cultural sites are often reinterpreted by outsiders in ways that inflate or distort their original meaning.
Cat Island in context: how its cultural identity compares
Cat Island’s claim to be the cultural soul of the Bahamas becomes clearer when set alongside other islands. Each island in the archipelago has its own traditions, but Cat Island’s concentration of distinctly Bahamian forms — music, dance, architecture, archiving — is unusual.
| Island | Signature cultural form | Institutional support | Outsider visibility |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cat Island | Rake & Scrape music, quadrille dance, The Hermitage | Annual festival, Seymour’s book, scholarship fund | Low — primarily Bahamian audiences |
| Nassau / Paradise Island | Junkanoo, straw market, colonial architecture | Junkanoo Museum, National Art Gallery, government tourism | High — major cruise port, international marketing |
| Exuma | Swimming pigs, regatta, sandbar beaches | Exuma Regatta, tourism board promotion | High — viral social media, yacht tourism |
| Grand Bahama | Lucayan heritage, national parks, music festivals | Rand Nature Centre, Lucayan National Park | Moderate — recovering post-hurricane |
What the table reveals is that Cat Island’s cultural soul is not a marketing slogan. It is a claim rooted in practice — music that people actually play, a festival that locals actually attend, a book that documents real stories. The island does not have the infrastructure or the tourism numbers to manufacture a culture brand. It does not need to.
- Cat Island’s cultural identity is built on three pillars: rake-and-scrape music, the Hermitage and Mount Alvernia, and the archival work of Antoinette Seymour.
- The Rake & Scrape Festival is not a tourist show — it is a community event that includes a scholarship fund, quadrille dancing, and a band competition.
- The island’s claim as the cultural soul of the Bahamas is supported by the density and authenticity of its traditions, but it is also a deliberate act of preservation by people like Seymour.
- Cat Island differs from more touristed Bahamian islands in that its cultural forms are primarily consumed by Bahamians, not packaged for international visitors.
Questions readers ask about Cat Island’s cultural identity
Is Cat Island really the “cultural soul” of the Bahamas, or is that just local pride?
Both. The claim is supported by real cultural density — the rake-and-scrape tradition, the Hermitage, the archival work of Antoinette Seymour. But it is also a claim that other islands might dispute. Andros has its own strong folk traditions, and Nassau has Junkanoo. Cat Island’s case is strong, but it is not uncontested.
Can I visit Cat Island without a car?
It is difficult but possible. The island is 130 miles southeast of Nassau, and flights arrive at Arthur’s Town and New Bight. Rollezz Villas Beach Resort on Old Bight Beach offers island tours, but public transportation is limited. Most visitors rent a car or arrange private transport.
What is the best time to visit for cultural events?
The Rake & Scrape Festival in early June (Labour Day weekend) is the major cultural event. Outside of festival season, the island is quiet, and you would need to seek out local musicians or community gatherings. The Hermitage and Mount Alvernia are accessible year-round.
Is the Rake & Scrape Festival appropriate for children?
Yes. The festival includes breakfast and lunch in the park, dominoes, checkers, and daytime performances. The evening gospel concert is family-friendly. The quadrille dancing is a visual spectacle that children often enjoy. The scholarship fund also highlights the festival’s investment in young people.
How does rake-and-scrape music differ from Junkanoo?
Junkanoo is a parade-based tradition with elaborate costumes, cowbells, drums, and whistles, centered in Nassau. Rake-and-scrape is a seated or stationary music form using carpenter’s saws, goombay drums, and accordions. Junkanoo is percussive and mobile; rake-and-scrape is percussive and rhythmic but more intimate. Both are Bahamian, but they come from different regions and social contexts. Junkanoo and Beyond offers more on the festival tradition.
What it means to be a cultural soul
Cat Island’s claim to be the cultural soul of the Bahamas is not a statement of fact that can be proved or disproved. It is a statement of intent — a community saying that its music, its landmarks, its stories, and its archiving practices matter. The Rake & Scrape Festival, the Hermitage, and Antoinette Seymour’s book are all evidence of that intent. They are also fragile. The festival draws low thousands, not tens of thousands. The book is available in select stores, not chain bookshops. The Hermitage is maintained by local effort, not a national heritage fund. But fragility is not the same as insignificance. For readers who want to understand what the Bahamas looks like when it tells its own story, Cat Island is the place to start. Mystical Creatures of Bahamian Folklore explores another layer of the archipelago’s storytelling traditions.
Sources and further reading
Caribbean Journal. “Rake and Scrape Festival Returns to Cat Island.” 2026. 🔗
Magnetic Media TV. “Bahamian Archivist Antoinette Seymour Preserves Cultural Heritage with New Book ‘Been to Cat Island’.” 2025. 🔗
Related reading on IslandHopperGuides
A Taste of Tradition: Exploring the Culinary Heritage of Bahamian Cuisine — Cat Island’s food culture, from fresh seafood at Rollezz Villas to the island’s agricultural traditions.
Handcrafted Treasures: Exploring Bahamian Junkanoo Masks — The material culture of the Bahamas’ most famous festival, with connections to the craft traditions that also appear in rake-and-scrape.
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