Sinterklaas arrived in the Netherlands again with his Petes

[pieter]

[pieter]

The Sinterklaas festivities traditionally begin each year in mid-November (the first Saturday after 11 November), when Sinterklaas "arrives" by a steamboat at a designated seaside town, supposedly from Spain. In the Netherlands this takes place in a different port each year, whereas in Belgium it always takes place in the city of Antwerp. The steamboat anchors, then Sinterklaas disembarks and parades through the streets on his horse, welcomed by children cheering and singing traditional Sinterklaas songs. His Pete's (Pieten) assistants throw candy and small, round, gingerbread-like cookies, either kruidnoten or pepernoten, into the crowd. The event is broadcast live on national television in the Netherlands and Belgium. In the past his Pete's were black, but due to the Black face controversies today most pete's are white, with grey strokes of the chimney on their faces.

Sinterklaas in Belgium (Antwerp)

[pieter]

We even have a Sinterklaas news show for little kids

[pieter]

The Sinterklaas song is part of the Sinterklaas celebration culture

[pieter]

The Dutch NOS News today

Sinterklaas' arrival in Staphorst this afternoon took place in a grim atmosphere.

A number of motorists who wanted to take the Staphorst exit from the A28 were met by hundreds of people who were partly painted in black. A car was bombarded with fireworks and pelted with eggs. The tire of another car was punctured.



Regional Broadcaster RTV Oost quotes eyewitnesses who say that activists from Kick Out Zwarte Piet (KOZP) were in the cars involved. RTV Oost is the regional public broadcaster and disaster channel[1] of the Dutch province of Overijssel in the eastern part of the country.

The police and mobile unit were present en masse but, as far as is known, have limited themselves to checking cars on the approach roads of the village. No one has been arrested.



Kick Out Zwarte Piet had announced a demonstration in advance because Zwarte Pieten joined the arrival in Staphorst. The municipality initially allowed this, designated a demonstration section and set up camera surveillance.

But just before the entry started at 2 p.m., mayor Jan ten Kate van Staphorst decided to ban the KOZP demonstration anyway. "Safety cannot be guaranteed in the village and on the Market Square where the party takes place," said the municipality.



It is unclear how many KOZP activists were already on their way to Staphorst when the mayor issued his ban.

The arrival of Sinterklaas with Zwarte Pieten continued. mayor Jan ten Kate van Staphorst to ban the KOZP demonstration after all. "Safety cannot be guaranteed in the village and on the Market Square where the party takes place," said the municipality.


This car is also stopped by activists dressed as Zwarte Piet

The battle over the color of Piet has divided the Netherlands for decades.

[pieter]

But still most children are very exited about Sinterklaas and what presents they will receive in their shoe under the chimney.



Zwarte Piet

Sinterklaas is assisted by Zwarte Piet ("Black Pete"), a helper dressed in Moorish attire and in blackface. Zwarte Piet first appeared in print as the nameless servant of Saint Nicholas in Sint-Nikolaas en zijn knecht ("St. Nicholas and His Servant"), published in 1850 by Amsterdam schoolteacher Jan Schenkman; however, the tradition appears to date back at least as far as the early 19th century. Zwarte Piet's colourful dress is based on 16th-century noble attire, with a ruff (lace collar) and a feathered cap. He is typically depicted carrying a bag which contains candy for the children, which he tosses around, a tradition supposedly originating in the story of Saint Nicholas saving three young girls from prostitution by tossing golden coins through their window at night to pay their dowries.

Traditionally, he would also carry a birch rod (Dutch: roe), a chimney sweep's broom made of willow branches, used to spank children who had been naughty. Some of the older Sinterklaas songs make mention of naughty children being put in Zwarte Piet's bag and being taken back to Spain. This part of the legend refers to the times that the Moors raided the European coasts, and as far as Iceland, to abduct the local people into slavery. This quality can be found in other companions of Saint Nicholas such as Krampus and Père Fouettard. In modern versions of the Sinterklaas feast, however, Zwarte Piet no longer carries the roe and children are no longer told that they will be taken back to Spain in Zwarte Piet's bag if they have been naughty.

Over the years many stories have been added, and Zwarte Piet has developed from a rather unintelligent helper into a valuable assistant to the absent-minded saint. In modern adaptations for television, Sinterklaas has developed a Zwarte Piet for every function, such as a Head Piet (Hoofdpiet), a Navigation Piet (Wegwijspiet) to navigate the steamboat from Spain to the Netherlands, a Presents Piet (Pakjespiet) to wrap all the gifts, and Acrobatic Piet to climb roofs and chimneys. Traditionally Zwarte Piet's face is said to be black because he is a Moor from Spain. Today, some children are told that his face is blackened with soot because he has to climb through chimneys to deliver gifts for Sinterklaas.

Since the 2010s, the traditions surrounding the holiday of Sinterklaas have been the subject of a growing number of editorials, debates, documentaries, protests and even violent clashes at festivals. Some large cities and television channels now only display Zwarte Piet characters with some soot smudges on the face rather than full blackface, so-called roetveegpieten ("soot-smudge Petes") or schoorsteenpieten ("chimney Petes"). In a 2013 survey, 92 per cent of the Dutch public did not perceive Zwarte Piet as racist or associate him with slavery, and 91 per cent were opposed to altering the character's appearance. In a similar survey in 2018, between 80 and 88 per cent of the Dutch public did not perceive Zwarte Piet as racist, and between 41 and 54 per cent were happy with the character's modernised appearance (a mix of roetveegpieten and blackface). A June 2020 survey saw a drop in support for leaving the character's appearance unaltered: 47 per cent of those surveyed supported the traditional appearance, compared to 71 per cent in a similar survey held in November 2019. Prime Minister Mark Rutte stated in a parliamentary debate on 5 June 2020 that he had changed his opinion on the issue and now has more understanding for people who consider the character's appearance to be racist. “Zwarte Piet” is replaced with “Piet” in some of the songs.

[pieter]

Period leading up to Saint Nicholas' Eve


Kruidnoten, small, round gingerbread-like cookies

In the weeks between his arrival and 5 December, Sinterklaas visits schools, hospitals, and shopping centers. He is said to ride his white-grey horse over the rooftops at night, delivering gifts through the chimney to the well-behaved children. Traditionally, naughty children risked being caught by Black Pete, who carried a jute bag and willow cane for that purpose.

Before going to bed, children each leave a single shoe next to the fireplace chimney of the coal-fired stove or fireplace (or in modern times close to the central heating radiator, or a door). They leave the shoe with a carrot or some hay in it and a bowl of water nearby "for Sinterklaas' horse", and the children sing a Sinterklaas song. The next day they find some candy or a small present in their shoes.


A chocolate letter, typical Sinterklaas candy in the Netherlands

Typical Sinterklaas treats traditionally include mandarin oranges, pepernoten, speculaas (sometimes filled with almond paste), banketletter (pastry filled with almond paste) or a chocolate letter (the first letter of the child's name made out of chocolate), chocolate coins, suikerbeest (animal-shaped figures made of sugary confection), and marzipan figures. Newer treats include gingerbread biscuits or and a figurine of Sinterklaas made of chocolate and wrapped in coloured aluminium foil.

Saint Nicholas' Eve and Saint Nicholas' Day



In the Netherlands, Saint Nicholas' Eve, 5 December, became the chief occasion for gift-giving during the winter holiday season. The evening is called Sinterklaasavond ("Sinterklaas evening") or Pakjesavond ("gifts evening", or literally "packages evening").

On the evening of 5 December, parents, family, friends or acquaintances pretend to act on behalf of "Sinterklaas", or his helpers, and fool the children into thinking that "Sinterklaas" has really given them presents. This may be done through a note that is "found", explaining where the presents are hidden, as though Zwarte Piet visited them and left a burlap sack of presents with them. Sometimes a neighbour will knock on the door (pretending to be a Zwarte Piet) and leave the sack outside for the children to retrieve; this varies per family. When the presents arrive, the living room is decked out with them, much as on Christmas Day in English-speaking countries. On 6 December "Sinterklaas" departs without any ado, and all festivities are over.



In the Southern Netherlands and Belgium, most children have to wait until the morning of 6 December to receive their gifts, and Sinterklaas is seen as a festivity almost exclusively for children. The shoes are filled with a poem or wish list for Sinterklaas and carrots, hay or sugar cubes for the horse on the evening of the fifth and in Belgium often a bottle of beer for Zwarte Piet and a cup of coffee for Sinterklaas are placed next to them. Also in some areas, when it is time for children to give up their pacifier, they place it into his or her shoe ("safekeeping by Sinterklaas") and it is replaced with chocolate the next morning.

The present is often creatively disguised by being packaged in a humorous, unusual or personalised way. This is called a surprise (from the French ).

Poems from Sinterklaas usually accompany gifts, bearing a personal message for the receiver. It is usually a humorous poem which often teases the recipient for well-known bad habits or other character deficiencies.

In recent years, influenced by North-American media and the Anglo-Saxon Christmas tradition, when the children reach the age where they get told "the big secret of Sinterklaas", some people will shift to Christmas Eve or Christmas Day for the present giving. Older children in Dutch families where the children are too old to believe in Sinterklaas any more, also often celebrate Christmas with presents instead of pakjesavond. Instead of such gifts being brought by Sinterklaas, family members ordinarily draw names for an event comparable to Secret Santa. Because of the popularity of his "older cousin" Sinterklaas, Santa Claus is however not commonly seen in the Netherlands and Belgium.

[karl]

Pieter

My goodness, that time of year so soon, and the arrival of Sinterklaas and his helper Piet, it matters not a witt rather he is black or white, the important thing is he is there and helping Sinterklaas.

With the matter of the activist, there is a place for them also, it is Hades, let them enjoy the season there.

Karl

[pieter]

History

Pre-Christian Europe

Jacob Grimm, Hélène Adeline Guerber and others have drawn parallels between Sinterklaas and his helpers and the Wild Hunt of Wodan or Odin, a major god among the Germanic peoples, who was worshipped in Northern and Western Europe prior to Christianization. Riding the white horse Sleipnir he flew through the air as the leader of the Wild Hunt, always accompanied by two black ravens, Huginn and Muninn. Those helpers would listen, just like Zwarte Piet, at the chimney – which was just a hole in the roof at that time – to tell Wodan about the good and bad behaviour of the mortals. Historian Rita Ghesquiere asserts that it is likely that certain pre-christian elements survived in the worship of Saint Nicholas. Indeed, it seems clear that the tradition contains a number of elements that are not ecclesiastical in origin.

Middle Ages


Sinter Claes depiction at a 16th-century house near the Dam in Amsterdam. Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of the capital of the Netherlands

The Sinterklaasfeest arose during the Middle Ages. The feast was both an occasion to help the poor, by putting money in their shoes (which evolved into putting presents in children's shoes) and a wild feast, similar to Carnival, that often led to costumes, a "topsy-turvy" overturning of daily roles, and mass public drunkenness.

In early traditions, students elected one of their classmates as "bishop" on St. Nicholas Day, who would rule until 28 December (Innocents Day), and they sometimes acted out events from the bishop's life. As the festival moved to city streets, it became more lively.

16th and 17th centuries


The Feast of Saint Nicholas, by Jan Steen, 1660s

During the Reformation in 16th- and 17th-century Europe, Protestant reformers like Martin Luther changed the Saint gift bringer to the Christ Child or Christkindl and moved the date for giving presents from 6 December to Christmas Eve. Certain Protestant municipalities and clerics forbade Saint Nicholas festivities, as the Protestants wanted to abolish the cult of saints and saint adoration, while keeping the midwinter gift-bringing feast alive.

After the successful revolt of the largely Protestant northern provinces of the Low Countries against the rule of Roman Catholic king Philip II of Spain, the new Calvinist regents, ministers and clericals prohibited celebration of Saint Nicholas. The newly independent Dutch Republic officially became a Protestant country and abolished public Catholic celebrations. Nevertheless, the Saint Nicholas feast never completely disappeared in the Netherlands. In Amsterdam, where the public Saint Nicholas festivities were very popular, main events like street markets and fairs were kept alive with persons impersonating Nicholas dressed in red clothes instead of a bishop's tabard and mitre. The Dutch government eventually tolerated private family celebrations of Saint Nicholas' Day, as can be seen on Jan Steen's painting The Feast of Saint Nicholas.


Municipal ban on Sint-Nicolaas pastry in the town of Utrecht during 1–8 December 1655 (to combat Catholic idolatry).

19th century

In the 19th century, the saint emerged from hiding and the feast became more secularised at the same time. The modern tradition of Sinterklaas as a children's feast was likely confirmed with the illustrated children's book Sint-Nicolaas en zijn knecht ('Saint Nicholas and his servant'), written in 1850 by the teacher Jan Schenkman (1806–1863). Some say he introduced the images of Sinterklaas' delivering presents by the chimney, riding over the roofs of houses on a grey horse, and arriving from Spain by steamboat, which at that time was an exciting modern invention. Perhaps building on the fact that Saint Nicholas historically is the patron saint of the sailors (many churches dedicated to him have been built near harbours), Schenkman could have been inspired by the Spanish customs and ideas about the saint when he portrayed him arriving via the water in his book. Schenkman introduced the song Zie ginds komt de stoomboot ("Look over yonder, the steamboat is arriving"), which is still popular in the Netherlands.

In Schenkman's version, the medieval figures of the mock devil, which later changed to Oriental or Moorish helpers, was portrayed for the first time as black African and called Zwarte Piet (Black Pete).

World War II

During the German occupation of the Netherlands (1940–1945) many of the traditional Sinterklaas rhymes were rewritten to reflect current events. The Royal Air Force (RAF) was often celebrated. In 1941, for instance, the RAF dropped boxes of candy over the occupied Netherlands. One classical poem turned contemporary was the following:

English

Sinterklaas, little capon,
Throw something in my little shoe,
Throw something in my little boot,
Thank you dear Sinterklaas

World War II version

R.A.F. little Capon,
throw something in my little shoe
throw [bombs] at the Krauts
but scatter [candy] in Holland!

Dutch

Sinterklaas, kapoentje,
Gooi wat in mijn schoentje,
Gooi wat in mijn laarsje,
Dank U Sinterklaasje

World War II version

R.A.F. Kapoentje,
Gooi wat in mijn schoentje,
Bij de Moffen gooien,
Maar in Holland strooien!

This is a variation of one of the best-known traditional Sinterklaas rhymes, with "RAF" replacing "Sinterklaas" in the first line (the two expressions have the same metrical characteristics in the first and second, and in the third and fourth lines). The Dutch word kapoentje (little rascal) is traditional to the rhyme, but in this case it also alludes to a capon. The second line is straight from the original rhyme, but in the third and fourth line the RAF is encouraged to drop bombs on the Moffen (slur for Germans, like "krauts" in English) and candy over the Netherlands. Many of the Sinterklaas poems of this time noted the lack of food and basic necessities, and the German occupiers having taken everything of value; others expressed admiration for the Dutch Resistance.

Originally Sinterklaas was only accompanied with one (or sometimes two) Zwarte Pieten, but just after the liberation of the Netherlands, Canadian soldiers organised a Sinterklaas party with many Zwarte Pieten, and ever since this has been the custom, each Piet normally having his own dedicated task.

[pieter]

Nov 19, 2022 9:25:01 GMT -7 karl said:

Pieter

My goodness, that time of year so soon, and the arrival of Sinterklaas and his helper Piet, it matters not a witt rather he is black or white, the important thing is he is there and helping Sinterklaas.

With the matter of the activist, there is a place for them also, it is Hades, let them enjoy the season there.

Karl

Karl,

You got an empty hole in my knowledge there, I am not so good at the old Greeks, but I searched for Hades there and found this ;



Hades (/ˈheɪdiːz/; Greek: ᾍδης, translit. Háidēs; Ἅιδης, Háidēs), in the ancient Greek religion and myth, is the god of the dead and the king of the underworld, with which his name became synonymous.[1] Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, although this also made him the last son to be regurgitated by his father.[2] He and his brothers, Zeus and Poseidon, defeated their father's generation of gods, the Titans, and claimed rulership over the cosmos. Hades received the underworld, Zeus the sky, and Poseidon the sea, with the solid earth, long the province of Gaia, available to all three concurrently. In artistic depictions, Hades is typically portrayed holding a bident and wearing his helm with Cerberus, the three-headed guard dog of the underworld, standing to his side.

The Etruscan god Aita and the Roman gods Dis Pater and Orcus were eventually taken as equivalent to Hades and merged into Pluto, a Latinisation of Plouton (Greek: Πλούτων, translit. Ploútōn), itself a euphemistic title often given to Hades.

Cheers,
Pieter

P.S.- I broke off my history teacher study to switch to Art, so I did only the First Year of a Four Year Vocational University study. So there comes my lack of knowledge of tha antics. First we had a general year with all parts of history and in the second, third and forth year we would go deeper into the Old Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Old Persians, the Etrusk civilization, the Goths, Huns and The Carolingian dynasty. I never reached that stage, but learnt a lot in the First Year.

[karl]

Pieter

It matters to no good Witt of any lack of history knowledge, you have done very well in as well as most any History professor would have accomplished. For the also before their classes, research first before teaching time. For in this matter, you also conducted the similar methodology in a very most professional manner.

I must confess to smiling with a bit of laugh, laughing with you, I must say with your very excellent and well accomplished manner of presentation of your findings of Hades, yes indeed so as you have presented, it is Greek, perhaps I should not have introduced that subject without a previous foundation of support.

With the matter of switching from history studies to art, it is of my own personal opinion you made the most correct choice, for history is simply academic, whilst art is a creative substance that is also demonstrative of our culture.

Karl

[pieter]

Muncipality meeting hindered by anti-Black Pete activist. Black Pete is racism they shout!

[pieter]

[pieter]

Racism is another important theme in Sunny Nell Rosa Bergman's (Amsterdam, 19 oktober 1972) work, including in her documentary Black as soot (2014) and her book White is also a color (2016) and the documentary of the same name from the same year.

The National Entry of Sinterklaas took place in 2014 on November 15 in Gouda. At the entry, a group of activists were on the Market when Sinterklaas arrived there. Some of them wore T-shirts with anti-Pete images. Bergman filmed the entry for the documentary Black as soot, and was arrested "camera and all". She was released the same day.

In 2014, opponents of Zwarte Piet, including Bergman and Quinsy Gario, filed a lawsuit; the Council of State ruled that the mayor had correctly issued the permit for the 2013 entry. The mayor should only consider public order and safety in the consideration.