Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet

Last night millions of Dutch children put their shoes (sometimes of the wooden variety) at the front door, filled with hay and carrots.  The hay and carrots are for Sinterklaas' horse.  The children then wait for the arrival of Sinterklaas as he travels on rooftops through the Netherlands, peeking down chimneys to check on the good (or bad) boys and girls.  On the night of December 5, Sinterklaas goes to each house and leaves either gifts or coal for the children in the home depending on their level of goodness throughout the year.  A very nice tradition that brings families together.  The Dutch celebrate with a big family meal on December 5th as well.

In the weeks leading up to December 5, Sinterklaas decorations are everywhere.  You'll also see him in shopping malls and the like, just like Santa in the States.  However, instead of elves as helpers, Sinterklaas has Zwarte Pieten, or Black Petes.  You heard me right.  This is probably a big culture shock moment for non-Dutch folk who weren't forewarned.  Aside from the name, which in itself might have you on edge, the Zwarte Pieten also dress in black face.  From my observations in Eindhoven, Zwarte Piet actually seems to be more popular as a character than Sinterklaas himself.  Plenty of our neighbors have little pictures of Zwarte Piet hanging in their windows.  Now, please allow me to present you this YouTube video to show you some Zwarte Pieten in action:

Interesting, right?  And controversial.  And part of a tradition that goes back to 1850.  Most Dutch are strongly in support of keeping Sinterklaas' helpers in black face, since they are supposed to be from Spain and dressed in Spanish moorish costumes (they used to carry burlap sacs in which to transport the bad children back to Spain).  Some Dutch will explain that their faces are black because they go down the chimneys to deliver the gifts and get all sorts of sooty up in there.  The wikipedia article on the subject does a pretty good job of explaining the history.  And the Holland Sentinel (ahem, Holland, MI for those of you who aren't from West MI) actually has a couple of good reads on the topic here and here.

It will certainly be interesting to see what happens with this tradition in the years to come. In the meantime, I'm sure the Dutch will continue to honor their traditions and I'm sure the rest of the world will be thinking, "Huh?".