Sinterklaas comes to town
Traditionally, in mid-November, two weeks before his celebrated Feast Day, Sinterklaas arrives in the Netherlands by boat from his home in Spain. Editor Natasha Gunn finds out what this tradition is all about.
Waiting for Sint’s boat (Breda)
Accompanied by his white horse and his helpers, the Zwarte Pieten (Black Petes), Sinterklaas or Sint Niklaas (Saint Nicholas) arrives in the Netherlands to signify the start of the holiday season. This event is broadcast live, and each year Sinterklaas arrives in a different city – last year in Middelburg, Zeeland and this year he arrived in Kampen on 17 November.
This official arrival, on a Saturday, is followed on Sunday by Sinta’s arrival in Amsterdam and he arrives, unofficially, anyhow in most towns and cities across the Netherlands and may still be on his way to you.
Alkmaar 2007:
Sint falls of his horse.
Photo by Peter Kerkhoven.
This year Saint Nicholas’s horse got stressed-out in Alkmaar and shook Sint off his back by sitting down, an event captured on video by a contributor to website Skoeps.
If you’ve got young children and have missed out on his arrival, don’t despair, you’ll see his tall (usually it’s a Dutchman in the costume) bishop-like figure everywhere, in shopping malls, in schools, and gracing parties across the Netherlands. Plus, Children can start participating from now by putting out their shoe at night and a carrot for the horse and a glass of milk (or wine) for Sinterklaas and his helpers. During the two weeks before his ‘birthday’, Sinterklaas ‘rides across rooftops at night on his white horse, listening through chimneys for good children and leaving them treats and sweeties in their shoes. The build up is to the eve before his Feast Day (Sinterklaasavond), when Sinterklaas delivers gifts to good children and coal to children who have been naughty.
On Sinterklaasavond (5 December), children anxiously wait for Sinterklaas to knock on their door. Although Sint will usually have flown by the time they answer, a sack full of gifts will await them on their doorstep. Following Sinterklaas’ visit, each member of the family takes turns handing out presents and unwrapping them. Names are printed on each gift, and almost every present is accompanied by a humorous poem about the gift’s recipient. Check out our Sinterklaas Survival guide for more details and a link to a Sinterklaas poem generator.
Families celebrate Sinterklaas’ Feast by singing songs and indulging in a feast of their own, which consists mainly of sweets like marzipan, chocolate initials, pepernoten (ginger biscuits) and hot chocolate with whipped cream.
Sinterklaas rides
through town.
Who was Sint Niklaas?
The original Saint Nicholas was a Bishop of Myra in Asia Minor in the first half of the fourth century. By the late middle ages, his death – or birth into heaven – on 6 December, was commemorated annually. St Nicholas came back to earth bearing gifts for all deserving children and punished the rest through leaving birch switches behind for parental use.
Now, St Nicholas arrives in Flanders and the Netherlands in November from Spain – It is widely believed that Spanish sailors brought the legend of Saint Nicholas to the Netherlands – to get ready for the special celebrations on 6 December. While the Dutch celebrate on 5 December, in Flanders celebrations take place on the day (6 December) with more focus on the children than the whole family.
St Nicholas and his white horse have also been associated with the pagan legend of the Germanic god Wodon (Danish god Odin), an all-powerful deity who was believed to fly through the air on a magic horse each December on the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year.
The image
The traditional image of Sinterklaas is one of a bishop, clothed in a white garment and wrapped in a red cloak. He wears a tall red and gold hop’smiter (head dress) that covers his long white curly hair. He usually wears white gloves, and in one hand carries a long metal staff and in the other hand the book of names. Like the North American concept of Santa Claus, he has a long white beard, however, unlike his North American cousin; he’s austere and elegant rather than fat and jolly.
Sint Niklaas’s companions, Black Pieten, have long been the cause of controversy
Zwarte Piet
By Irma Uiterw
Zwarte Piet
The origin of the Zwarte Piet character is uncertain. Some speculate that Zwarte Piet is a symbol of the medieval Christian idea of evil, which is associated with darkness; hence the symbolically blacked out face. Others believe it is more probable that Zwarte Piet is Saint Nicholas’ Moorish servant.
As reported in an academic paper by Alison Blakely, ‘Blacks in the Dutch World: The Evolution of Racial Imagery in a Modern Society’: “The inimitable, enduring figure of Zwarte Piet may be the best representation of all of the composite image of blacks which has come down through the centuries. He is based on a Christian religious tradition going all the way back to the Classical period of Western civilisation.”
Wikipedia’s definition supports the theory that in fact Zwarte Piet originally represented the ‘Devil’ and their definition of Zwarte Piet leads you into the ongoing debate in the Netherlands as to the political correctness of continuing with this tradition. Evidently attempts to introduce multicoloured Pieten over the last decade of the 20th Century have proved unsuccessful and this year the Netherlands has reverted to the ‘black’ Peter.
Handing out pepernoten
(Dierenpark, Amersfoort)
However, after having trawled through some forums I glean from people who have grown up with this tradition that it is no longer a racist thing, and that the message they were given as a child and the message they pass down to their children is that Zwarte Piet’s face is blackened with soot due to his entering houses via the chimney.
- Annual Zwarte Piet debate
- Sinterklaas survival guide
- Dutch Sinterklaas tradition at threat
- Fewer people, money for Sinterklaas
- Seasonal politics: Sinterklaas vs Santa Claus
The image
Zwarte Pieten wear colourful costumes usually comprising puffed pantaloons and the ruffles of a Renaissance European page. They are adorned with gold earrings and hats with feathers and assist Sinterklaas by performing various holiday tasks, like delivering presents down chimneys (and through central heating systems) and recording names of naughty and nice children in Sinterklaas’ book of names.
(For those of you with young children, don’t forget to fill the shoe tonight.)
from: http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=6&story_id=46162
