![]() On the Cuban sugar plantations, slave owners beat their slaves with a coco macaque stick. It stated, “He could only find a few thousand pounds to seize, though he sent an army to make the levy: an army strongly armed with superdread-nought cocomacaque sticks.”Īitken is likely informed by many of these interpretations of the coco macaque stick, but perhaps none as much as the one in his own country which saw the coco macaque stick as a weapon associated with slavery. ![]() The Daily Gleaner on Mawrote of a coco macaque stick when reporting on a corrupt Haitian dictator who stole money from the country’s coffers. According to one article, the “Cocomacaco was the main weapon of the notorious tonton macutes, his the personal body guards.” During the regime of Papa Doc in Haiti, the coco macaque stick became a symbol associated with the “guaperia,” or his military. The coco macaque stick was used in Cuba and Haiti as a weapon and became a part of the cultural vernacular after it was used by the dictatorial regimes in Cuba and Haiti against political activists. ![]() In Haiti, the coco macaque stick was called “the Haitian Peace Keeper.” In Cuba, where Laurel Aitken was born, it was called “the Cuban Death Club.” And in New Orleans, the coco macaque stick is called “the Zombie Staff” or “Spirit Stick.” The Arawaks used the coco macaque, a heavy solid strong stick or club, as a tool, but they also used it to bludgeon their victims or enemies in combat. They were still a Stone Age people whose tools were primitive and they were an agricultural and fishing people. They came to the islands of the Caribbean from Guyana or perhaps from other islands in the Greater Antilles and the Bahamas. The Arawak, or Taino Indians as they were sometimes called, were one of the native people of the Caribbean. It was first used by the Arawaks in battle, even though they were largely a peaceful people. The cukumaka stick is actually a coco macaque stick. What the heck is a cukumaka stick? I decided I’d find out. I’ve belted out these lyrics so many times I don’t hear them anymore, but my son’s fresh ears pick up on perhaps the silliest words to ever grace a ska song–yes, the cukumaka stick. In these situations where appropriate we can ask ourselves “When I’m on my deathbed, will this matter?” So the person driving too slowly in front of you.So I love me some Laurel Aitken, and I’m singing along in my car to Sally Brown driving down the highway and my son starts laughing. Well this is common to feel some emotion, but if you find this emotion is intense and this is impacting on you and your life, well we can reflect. How to let go of the small stuff, the irritations in life.ĭo you find that small things like someone driving slowly, eating a certain way, someone not doing what you want, not being able to find your keys, your house being untidy for example feel like big things and therefore fuelling intense irritation, anger, frustration, stress?
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