The village of the ‘Queh-Queh’

A CROWD of men and women dressed in captivating and colourful traditional garb led by a happy bridegroom with flowers stuck in his hair and the creases of his clothes, danced in search of his wife as the village comes out. The village people all sing, dance and celebrate when the bride is found, and the wedding is confirmed in one of the oldest African traditions still alive today: the Queh-Queh. This and countless other traditions are kept alive and well in the community of Ithaca. From sending messages through the community by the ring of a single bell to practising traditional dances, Ithaca has preserved its history through its people, practices and rich tradition.

The people of Ithaca are welcoming, strong and proud of their heritage. The village was built and founded by eight men who bought the land now known as Ithaca. Many people of the village, particularly the older folks, know stories from the dawn of Ithaca. One of those people is Cynthia Kellman. Cynthia or Ms Kellman as she is popularly known, is one of Ithaca’s traditional historians. She said this is because she is a direct descendant of one of the village founders. Before Ithaca was the village it is known as today, it was just a plantation. The community has come far since then, which Cynthia says is because Ithaca’s people never forgot where they came from.

“The ancestors worked at plantation Balthyock,” Cynthia told the Pepperpot Magazine. Plantation Balthyock is said to have been located in Blairmont and was the home of the first people of Ithaca. “They used to work and live there at plantation Balthyock and the Minister Reverend James Roome organised them to buy this village,” she shared. Ithaca was bought by a group of eight persons who purchased the village. At that time, this was a sum of money not easily acquired, and the eight men had to work hard to pool their resources together. However, on May 16, 1842, the land was bought and the village of Ithaca was born. After gaining the land, the men divided the land among themselves. In the following years, land was given to their children, grandchildren or next of kin. As such, the village grew as time went on, becoming what Ithaca is today.

Ithaca was built on the belief that a village was being birthed, not simply a housing scheme or a place for it’s people to live, but a community that could sustain itself and withstand the test of time leaving a home and foundation for coming generations. Cynthia says the school, built in 1847, was a big step for the village. “The school was there until it was moved. That school had been there for more than a hundred years when they moved it.” Cynthia said.

The people of the time developed the village the only way they knew how, by farming. “It was coffee and coco plantation and they continued. The obstacle they had was drainage, that had a lot of flooding. Some people plant provision and they were self-employed after that,” Cynthia said. One of the most captivating aspects of Ithaca’s development is that the village’s members collaborated to form their own local governance. More than a hundred years ago, this was quite the task and quiet the accomplishment, “They organised themselves and formed their own local authority. They had made a committee who would open and close the kokar for the village,” Cynthia shared.

Keeping the tradition alive
In African cultures worldwide, practices surrounding marriage have been known to be a big part of their tradition. Ithaca, with its deep African roots, has kept the tradition of Queh-Queh alive. Cynthia talked a bit about the celebration, stating, “We are known to dance Queh-Queh. It is a pre wedding dance. We would dance it before the wedding and we would cook foods like shine rice, provision and drink mauby and ginger ale. And we would dance all night until the wedding the next day.”

A big part of the Queh-Queh celebrations is the symbolic “buying” of the bride by the groom. Cynthia explained that, “The bridegroom’s family have their own Queh-Queh, and the bride their own Queh-Queh. When it’s midnight, they would say it’s time to buy the bride. They would sing and dance coming down the road. They would break flowers and stick them in their head tie,” she explained. The celebrations are full of customs and rules that are followed. From the special songs they sing to the unique dances done, Queh-Queh and many other celebrations in Ithaca are beautiful, captivating and is being kept alive.