Ethnographic work in the Bahama Islands has been carried out for
nearly a century with an early focus on folklore and a later emphasis upon
social organization. The present bibliography surveys and comments upon
this literature for those with a burgeoning interest in the Bahamian
archipelago.
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References
1.
Barratt, P.J.H.1972Grand Bahama, Harrisburg, Stackpole. A general discussion of Grand Bahama Island, which includes a few ethnographic sketches. Tends toward facile generalizations. Appendix contains a useful, ten-page list of settlements on Grand Bahama.
2.
Charters, Samuel B.1959Music of the Bahamas: recorded and edited by Samuel B. Charters, New York, Folkways Records and Service Corporation : FS3844, FS3845, and FS3846. Recordings and accompanying pamphlets. In addition to the music, there is some basic ethnographic data.
3.
Clavel, M.1904 "Items of folk-lore from Bahama Negroes," Journal of American Folk-lore17: 37-38. Discusses old women as "hags" or witches. Describes beliefs about protection from such women. Also includes a brief discussion of folk cures.
4.
Cleare, W.T.1917 "Four folk-tales from Fortune Island, Bahamas," Journal of American Folk-lore30: 228-29. A brief description of animal-oriented "old stories."
5.
Cottman, Evans W., and Wyatt Blassingame1963Out Island doctor, New York, Dutton. Autobiography of Cottman, who is an American science teacher turned physician. Informal account gives some ethnographic data on topics from fishing technology to theories of health and illness. Primarily concerned with the Abaco region.
6.
Crowley, Daniel J.1953 "American credit institutions of Yoruba type," Man53: 80. Discusses the small-scale savings and credit associations of the Yoruba type that exist in several areas of the Caribbean, including the Bahamas.
7.
1958a "Guy Fawkes Day at Fresh Creek, Andros Island, Bahamas ," Man58: 114-15. Guy Fawkes celebrations reached the Bahamas from Britain via the eighteenth-century Loyalists. Describes the use of effigies, music, and dance in one such celebration.
8.
1958b "L'heritage africaine dans les Bahamas," Présence Africaine23: 41-58. A general survey of African cultural survivals in Bahamian culture. Included are discussions of Africanisms in: religion, domestic life, voluntary associations, music, dance, and speech. Concludes with a very brief analysis of Bahamian race relations.
9.
1966 a I could talk old story good: creativity in Bahamian folktales , Berkeley, University of California Press. Data collected on New Providence Island. A structural analysis of the eleven aspects of "old stories" is followed by a discussion of regional and individual variation in style. Concludes that creativity is the rule, rather than the exception.
10.
1966 b Tradition and creativity in Bahamian folktales, unpublished doctoral dissertation, Evanston, Ill., Northwestern University. Data included in 1966 book, above.
11.
Edwards, Charles L.1889 "Folk-lore of the Bahama Negroes," American Journal of Psychology2: 519-42. Includes basic ethnographic data for Green Turtle Cay, Abaco. States that environment influences folklore. Twelve "old stories" are presented, along with several hymns and dirges.
12.
1891 "Some Tales from Bahama Folk-lore," Journal of American Folk-lore4: 47-54, 247-52. A discussion of "old stories" and "fairy stories" from Green Turtle Cay, Abaco.
13.
1942Bahama songs and stories, New York, Stechert (originally published in 1895). Description of forty songs (mostly spirituals) and thirty-eight stories (mostly animal themes), with a brief conclusion which deals with "Negro Music" as a genre. Relates folklore to environment.
14.
Finlay, H.H.1925 "Folk-lore from Eleuthera, Bahamas," Journal of American Folk-lore38: 293-99. A description of "old stories," proverbs, riddles, and toasts.
15.
Goggin, John M.1939 "An anthropological reconnaissance of Andros Island, Bahamas ," American Antiquity5: 21-26. Ethnographic and archeological survey of Andros, in search of the "Negro-Seminoles" who fled Florida in the early nineteenth century. Describes various stone tools.
16.
1946 "The Seminole Negroes of Andros Island, Bahamas," Florida Historical Quarterly24: 201-06. Discusses nineteenth-century Seminole migration from Florida and subsequent intermarriage with Bahamian Negroes. The few remaining Indian customs include: shooting fish with arrows, fish poisoning, pole houses, and dugout canoes.
17.
Higgs, Mrs. Leslie1969Bush medicine in the Bahamas, Nassau, privately published. Sixty medicinal plants are shown in drawings. The brief text discusses some of the major plants, their use, and the belief system that surrounds their use.
18.
Hurston, Zora1930 "Dance songs and tales from the Bahamas," Journal of American Folk-lore43: 294-312. Data collected in Nassau and Miami. Describes dance songs as derived from African fire dances, with a similarity to the Cuban rumba.
19.
Johnson, Doris L.1972The quiet revolution in the Bahamas, Nassau, Family Islands Press. Chronicle of the transition from White to Black leadership and the movement for Bahamian independence. Contains a wealth of information on attitudes, values, and political maneuvering. Especially useful for an understanding of the Nassauvian ambiance during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
20.
LaFlamme, Alan G.1972Green Turtle Cay: a bi-racial community in the Out Island Bahamas, unpublished doctoral dissertation, S.U.N.Y. at Buffalo. A general ethnography of an Abaconian community. Stresses sub-cultural differences between Blacks and Whites.
21.
1975 "Black and White on Green Turtle Cay," Caribbean Review7: 13-17. A discussion of the impact of national politics, tourism, and Black Power ideology upon a previously White-dominated Abaco settlement.
22.
Lefley, Harriet1969a Socio-economic survey of lower income Bahamian families , Nassau, Ministry of Labour and Welfare. Interviews with 286 low-income Nassauvians. Contains data on household size, occupational type, health care preference, income and allocation of wealth, and the like.
23.
1969 b A sociological survey of Bahamian adults: individual and family characteristics and generational changes, Nassau , Ministry of Labour and Welfare. A demographic survey of 170 middle-class residents of New Providence. Findings include decreases in family size, increases in educational level, and a high degree of broken homes.
24.
1972 "Modal personality in the Bahamas," Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology3: 135-47. A statistical study of 160 Black Bahamians on New Providence Island. Projective tests and interviews led to the conclusion that modal personality was adapted to colonial status rather than independence.
25.
McCartney, Timothy C.1971Neuroses in the sun, Nassau, Executive Ideas of the Bahamas. Survey of Bahamian mental health facilities, types of professionals, and types of treatment. Deals with such topics as: marriage, family, race, expatriates, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Special emphasis is placed upon problem areas. Entertaining and well written.
26.
Mills, T. Wesley1887 "The study of a small and isolated community in the Bahama Islands," American Naturalist21: 875-85. Ethnographic study that stresses the environment's impact upon the people of Green Turtle Cay, Abaco. Notes the stratified but harmonious nature of this biracial settlement.
27.
Mitchell, Carleton1958 "The Bahamas, isles of the blue-green sea," National Geographic113: 147-203. A pictorial history of the Bahamas, with some ethnographic data for several settlements. A useful, nontechnical survey.
28.
Moseley, Mary1926The Bahamas handbook, Nassau , Nassau Guardian. A general work, which contains many fragments of early twentieth-century ethnographic data.
29.
Otterbein, Charlotte S.1968 "Progress reaches the Out Islands," University of Delaware News35: 2-4. Deals briefly with Androsian reliance upon Nassau for wage labor opportunities. Discusses work and play activities of children. Summarizes progress on southern Andros: new road, high school, and bridges.
30.
Otterbein, Charlotte S., and Keith F. Otterbein1973 "Believers and beaters: a case study of supernatural beliefs and child rearing in the Bahama Islands ," American Anthropologist75: 1670-81. A statistical test of the relationship between fear of spirits and child training among twenty women in Congo Town, Andros. There is a direct relationship between the strength of spirit fear and the level of physical punishment of children.
31.
32.
1959 "Setting of fields: a form of Bahamian obeah," PhiladelphiaAnthropological Society Bulletin 13: 3-7. Data are included in 1965 paper, below.
33.
1963 a The family organization of the Andros Islanders: a case study of the mating system and household composition of a community in the Bahama Islands, unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Pittsburgh. Data are included in 1966 book, below.
34.
1963b "The household composition of the Andros Islanders," Social and Economic Studies12: 78-83. Combines the taxonomic method with the developmental method, in an attempt to analyze domestic group life cycles. Uses data from Long Bay Cays, Andros.
35.
1964 "A comparison of the land tenure systems of the Bahama Islands, Jamaica, and Barbados: the implications it has for the study of social systems shifting from bilateral to ambilineal descent," International Archives of Ethnography50: 31-42. Isolates the factors that cause the transformation of bilateral kindreds into ambilineal ramages. Modifies Goodenough's modification of Murdock's typology of kinship systems.
36.
1964 "Principles governing the usage of in-law terminology on Andros Island, Bahamas," Man49: 54-55. Briefly discusses in-law terminology in Androsian bilateral kinship system. Isolates two principles that govern in-law address terms: the principle of respect and the principle of the equivalence of spouses.
37.
1964 "The courtship and mating system of the Andros Islanders ," Social and Economic Studies13: 282-301. Describes courtship behavior in Long Bay Cays, Andros. Concludes that there exists a two-choice mating system, consisting of marriage and extraresidential mating.
38.
1965 "Conflict and communication: the social matrix of obeah ," Kansas Journal of Sociology1: 112-18. A description of Andros Island field protection through homeopathic magic. Discusses the application of communication theory to obeah's usefulness within the community.
39.
1966The Andros Islanders: a study of family organization in the Bahamas, Lawrence, University of Kansas Press. Focused ethnography of Long Bay Cays, Andros. Deals primarily with courtship, marriage, and household organization. States that the two-choice mating system is the main determinant of household organization.
40.
1970a "Cooper's Town Bahamas: a statistical survey," Social and Economic Studies19: 263-77. After a survey of the economic base of this Abaconian community, attention is directed toward the social system. The marriage-only mating system and the low illegitimacy rate are explained by high wages and nineteenth-century missionary influence.
41.
1970b "The developmental cycle of the Andros household, a diachronic analysis," American Anthropologist72: 1412-19. Based on 1961 and 1968 data from Long Bay Cays, Andros, this study relates changes in household organization to emigration for wage labor opportunities. The household developmental cycle is seen as more complex and less predictable than synchronic projections had allowed.
42.
1976Changing house types in Long Bay Cays: the evolution of folk housing in an Out Island Bahamian community, New Haven , HRAFlex Books, SW1-001. Traces the evolution of house types through time. Uses ethnographic data from 1959, 1961, 1968, 1973, and 1975, plus historical data.
43.
Parsons, Elsie C.1918Folk-tales of Andros Island, Bahamas, Lancaster, Pa., American Folklore Society. A collection of 115 folktales, most with animal themes, which often reinforce Bahamian virtues and behaviors.
44.
1919 "Riddles and proverbs from the Bahama Islands," Journal of American Folk-lore32: 439-41. Description of riddles from Eleuthera and Watlings Island (now San Salvador) and proverbs from Eleuthera.
45.
1928 "Spirituals and other folk-lore from the Bahamas," Journal of American Folk-lore41: 453-524. A large collection of anthems, toasts, riddles, and folktales from: Abaco, New Providence, Rum Cay, San Salvador, Long Island, and Great Inagua. States that Bahamian folklore derives from that of Carolina Negroes, with some French and Spanish influences.
46.
1930 "Proverbs from Barbados and the Bahamas," Journal of American Folk-lore43: 324-25. A small sample of proverbs from Andros and Eleuthera.
47.
Porter, Kenneth W.1945 "Notes on Seminole Negroes in the Bahamas," Florida Historical Quarterly24: 56-60. A brief survey of the issue of "Seminole Negroes" on Andros Island.
48.
Rodgers, William B.1965The wages of change: an anthropological study of the effects of economic development on some Negro communities in the Out Island Bahamas, unpublished doctoral dissertation, Stanford, Calif ., Stanford University. Controlled comparison of three communities (Crossing Rocks, Dundas Town, and Murphy Town) in Abaco. Communities differ in economic development. Household organization and value orientations are compared for the three communities.
49.
1966 "Development and specialization: a case from the Bahamas ," Ethnology5: 409-14. A controlled comparison of three Abaco settlements, which concludes that exposure to the market system increases cultural complexity, as indicated by the number of occupational specializations within the community.
50.
1967a "Changing gratification orientations: findings from the Out Island Bahamas," Human Organization26: 200-04. A controlled comparison of three Abaco settlements, which concludes that delayed gratification decreases with exposure to a wage-oriented market economy. People in developed communities, like old people, do not delay gratifications, due to the unpredictability of the future.
51.
1967b "Household atomism and change in the Out Island Bahamas ," Southwestern Journal of Anthropology23: 244-60. A controlled comparison of three Abaco settlements, which finds that economic development increases household atomism and decreases community reciprocity.
52.
1969 "Developmental exposure and changing vocational preferences in the Out Island Bahamas," Human Organization28: 270-78. A controlled comparison of two Abaco communities, which concludes that modernization alters vocational preferences in the direction of economically adaptive positions.
53.
Rodgers, William B., and Richard E. Gardner1969 "Linked changes in values and behavior in the Out Island Bahamas," American Anthropologist71: 21-35. Notes the role of economic development in the changing of values and behavior on Great Abaco Island. Concludes that wage labor increases competition and community fission, while decreasing egalitarianism and reciprocity.
54.
Rodgers, William B., and John M. Long1968 "Male models and sexual identification: a case from the Out Island Bahamas," Human Organization27: 326-31. Compares two Abaco settlements, one of which is a fishing village. Male absenteeism in the fishing village promotes female identification in boys. Severe rite of passage at puberty breaks this identification.
55.
Rodgers, William B., and Charles H. Wallace1969 "Development and changes in population distribution in the Out Island Bahamas," Anthropologica (n.s.) 11: 189-201. A controlled comparison of three differentially modernized Abaco settlements. Concludes that modernization causes a decrease in the number of children and an increase in the number of middle-aged adults within a community. The former due to cost of living increases; the latter due to decreased emigration for wage labor opportunities.
56.
Thomas, Garry L.1973Anthropological field reports from San Salvador Island , Ithaca, N.Y., College Center of the Finger Lakes. A collection of fourteen articles by undergraduate students. Runs the gamut from Africanism through family structure to birth control.
57.
1974Anthropological perspectives on Eleuthera Island, Ithaca, N.Y., College Center of the Finger Lakes. A collection of thirty articles by undergraduates. Ten deal with field experiences, twelve deal with the sociohistorical context on Eleuthera, and eight deal with the impact of tourism.
58.
Wright, Jerome W.1974Conflict resolution on Mayaguana Island, Bahamas, unpublished doctoral dissertation, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University. Offers an analysis of family organization on Mayaguana. Special emphasis is placed upon social mechanisms for adjudicating disputes.
59.
Zahl, Paul A.1952Flamingo hunt, Indianapolis, Bobbs-Merrill. The adventures of a biologist doing research on Androsian flamingos. Contains some accounts of local social life during the late 1940s. Minimally useful.
60.
Bahamas, Government of the 1901- Report on the census of the Bahama Islands, Nassau, Nassau Guardian. The basic source materials for the study of Bahamian population patterns. Editions exist for: 1901, 1911, 1921, 1931, 1943, 1953, 1963, and 1970.
61.
Bell, H.C., and D.W. Parker1926Guide to British West Indies archive materials in London and the Islands, Washington, D.C., Carnegie Institute. A comprehensive guide to the documents of the Public Record Office in London, plus a number of documents in Nassau.
62.
Craton, Michael C.1962A history of the Bahamas, London , Collins. An excellent general history. Perhaps the best secondary source available.
63.
Crowley, Daniel J.1956 "Boom and bust in the Bahamas," Caribbean9: 221-24, 230, 239-40, 253. An excellent sketch of Bahamian economic history.
64.
Dupuch, E., ed. 1975Bahamas handbook and businessman's annual, Nassau, Dupuch. This yearly guide to the Bahamas is a useful almanac for anyone interested in the islands.
65.
Kline, Harry1975Yachtsman's guide to the Bahamas, Coral Gables, Fla., Tropic Isle Publishers. A yearly guide to navigation, accommodations, and supplies. Current and comprehensive, with detailed maps.
66.
McKinnon, Daniel1804Tour through the British West Indies in the years 1802 and 1803, giving a particular account of the Bahama Islands, London, J. White for R. Taylor. Details of a Grand Tour in the nineteenth-century manner. Contains occasional bits of useful information.
67.
Peggs, Dean1959A short history of the Bahamas, Nassau , Dean Peggs Research Fund. Briefly covers all of the major historical topics. Written for high school students.
68.
Schoepf, Johann D.1911Travels in the Confederation, 1783-1784 ( translated and edited by A. J. Morrison), Philadelphia, Campbell. Another Grand Tour, with occasionally useful information.
69.
Sharer, Cyrus J.1955The population growth of the Bahama Islands, unpublished doctoral dissertation , Ann Arbor, University of Michigan . An excellent survey of Bahamian population trends.
70.
Shattuck, George B., ed. 1905The Bahama Islands , New York, Macmillan. A general volume, with articles on history, geography, biology, and the like. Perhaps the best natural history of the Bahamas.
71.
Siebert, Wilbur H.1913 "Legacy of the American Revolution in the British West Indies and Bahamas: a chapter out of the history of the American Loyalists ," OhioState University Contributions in History and Political Science 1. A standard work on Loyalists and their impact upon the Bahama Islands.
72.
1929Loyalists in East Florida, DeLand, Florida State Historical Society. Like the 1913 work, above, an excellent source on Loyalists during and after the American Revolution.
