The Historical Development of Carnival on St. Maarten.
While some may have placed little importance on what have happened over the years with our Carnival, they obviously saw no need to document anything except for news paper clippings found in the Library. That was evident when there were no documents stored or archived to examine, for those researching the history of Carnival. A daughter of the soil Carla Evelyn Vlaun, saw it fit not only to research the history of the development of the cultural event, but used the occasion to present her findings in the form of a report as her proposition in fulfilment of the requirement for her Master’s Degree. Carla’s area of study in International Affairs dealt more with how people understand themselves; how much they understand the division between state and society, and how they comprehend the difference.
Ms. Carla Vlaun who is from St. Maarten, has written this book on the Historical Development of Carnival on St. Maarten with Specific emphasis on the oral history of Carnival, available to her in the absence of documented history. She managed to have spoken to some of the starters of the organizers of Carnival from back in the early years when it all started. The names of all those with whom she have consulted are written in the book. Carla submitted her work in fulfilment of her requirement for her Master’s Degree in International affairs at the Graduate Institute of International Development Studies where she graduated in 2017.
With some of the discrepancies existing over the actual length of time that Carnival have existed and the original concept of why we celebrate Carnival, Carla’s work will be something the future generations can look forward to as support material when looking into the history of St. Maarten’s Carnival. The information she has gathered from Interviews held, took her back to the inception of the Oranje Committee to the now St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation, (SCDF) makes for good reading for all carnival enthusiasts and researchers.
In her acknowledgements, she credited her family and support base for being able to put this book together which in essence was her thesis for graduating with her Master’s Degree in International Affairs. The book is titled “Tis We Ting, All Ah We”
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