Girl Tradition and Customs Quotes

Salt fish is fish that has been salted and dried to preserve it without refrigeration. It's so full of salt that you have to soak it in order to eat it. Do you think this tradition will continue to be passed on to Girl's great-great-great-grandchildren who will have all the refrigeration they could ever want?

Mom may like some traditions, but she sure doesn't approve of them all. Benna is one that she definitely doesn't want Girl to follow—especially in Sunday school. Why? What's different about this folk tradition?

Some of the customs Mom passes down don't seem to make much sense—this is how you sweep a corner, for example—but plenty are just are practical. Who wants to get bitten by fire ants, after all? (Not us. Been there, never want to do that again. Pro tip: don't step on a fire ant pile.)

We get the idea that Mom forgot once and everyone had a very itchy dinner that night. Actually, we’re pretty sure that all the advice that Mom gives Girl is from experience. That’s why even though the text is called “Girl,” we feel like we know more about Mom than Girl at the end of it. It’s sort of like she is telling Girl how to avoid all the mistakes that she made.

What kind of tradition is this? The tradition that helps a lot of poor people live in crowded communities and not kill each other. Some traditions are meant to govern relationships: they keep your neighbors happy and your lawns un-breached.

In many parts of the African diaspora (places where Africans were taken as slaves, like the USA and the West Indies), the ancestors of slaves practice a religion called Obeah. That's probably why Mom warns that the blackbird might not be a blackbird: it might be a bad spirit.

Huh. While the other foods are distinctively African-inspired West-Indian food, this delicious treat is British-inspired. So, Mom is passing on both sets of traditions. Since Antigua has a mixed heritage (we talk about this in the "Settings" section, so head over there for more) it wouldn’t make sense for Mom to teach Girl only African-derived traditions. That would put her at a serious disadvantage, because Antigua's whole official world is British. And remember, all Mom really wants is for her daughter to survive.

Doukona is kind of like a boiled cake of a potato-like tuber, classic West Indian food. Did you notice that most of the tradition Mom is teaching Girl has to do with food? We did, and we talked about it in the "Symbols" section. Check it out!

Like Mom's other Obeah-related advice, these tips are supposed to keep Girl safe—not from spies out to ruin her reputation, but from evil spirits. Tradition isn’t all yummy food and parties. A lot of times it’s old-fashioned advice on how not to die or get in trouble. Since Mom's goal seems to be to give Girl the tools she needs to survive (even if she comes across as a little harsh), it makes sense that she includes these pieces of traditional Obeah advice, too.