By: Jhanae Winter

The Bahamian identity should represent the people’s shared ideals, ideologies, attitudes, and biases; instead it is suffocated by the colonizing clenches of tourism.

Activist Erin Greene said, “At this point in 2021, the national identity is tied to tourism, tourism defines people. It means everything to the Bahamas.”

Even after we became independent governments of the past did little to establish other industries that could alleviate the burden placed on tourism to carry the economy. As a result of this, tourism began to intermingle at the infancy stage of national identity which created a level of interdependence as the identity form.

“The government and the people separate from the government have invested so much in tourism that they are not prepared to withdraw the resources they have available to invest in the creation and establishment of other industries,” Erin said.  

This touristic culture Bahamians established and maintained, is tourist driven wherein the focus is always pointed to them to ensure their money is well spent in the country. 

An example of this is seen through some of our favorite Bahamian songs. They were written by Bahamas for Bahamians, but if you look closely a lot of them appeal to the touristic ideals of what island life is, and conforms to the tourists, essentially becoming embellished ads. 

Be it known to Bahamians or not, many of them have taken on an identity that aligns with the touristic culture that caters to tourism ensuring the industry receives the best and tourists’ needs are satisfied. 

This is demonstrated often. If the average Bahamian is asked, “what does it means to be a Bahamian”, the main elements mentioned would be: Junkanoo, tourism and food; all which mainly appeal to tourists. 

Therefore, several questions must then be asked, what does it mean to be a “true” Bahamian excluding tourism factors? How far has tourism directly and/or indirectly altered the Bahamian identity? Is the definition of the Bahamian identity accurate and comprising all aspects of society? Outside of these exotic island life ideals there is so much more to the Bahamian identity that has yet to be explored and uncovered.

Picture a Bahamas where citizens are not limited by a national identity forced upon them from colonial times, but instead accurately depicts the full scope of who a Bahamian is and can

be. If the touristic identity and the way Bahamians have branded themselves can be reconstructed this will positively affect many areas in society.

One of the main problems with an identity centered around tourism is firstly, the false paradise narrative it creates. 

Every day, thousands of Bahamians plaster on fake smiles for tourists, even bigger ones if they are white, and tell them about how much better it is in the Bahamas. 

The picture that is painted through advertisements and music screams of the easy, simple island life filled with peace and relaxation. However, when tourists leave the pristine, modern, and beautified areas, the facade fades as the myth of this tourist destination is exposed in front of their eyes.  

Another issue with a touristic identity, is that anything related to tourism has a higher rate of prosperity. 

For several reasons, Junkanoo has become the national form of artistry and given the most prestige, one of them being its touristic appeal. It has been sanitized and declawed to become a tourism commodity and is one of the most sellable aspects of Bahamian culture for outsider consumption. Many times people use Junkanoo as an easy way to share our culture. Many events use mini Junkanoo rush outs or throw together some colorful crepe paper to represent our culture. 

However, this is not the exhaustive capabilities of Bahamians creative and artistic talents or skill set, yet this is where the most attention lies. The problem comes in when other creative talents are not given as much light or attention or celebrated on a national level. These include literary works, photography, videography, films, books, documentaries and more. 

On the national scale there is Junior Junkanoo, but this is not the same for other creative or fine arts. As Patricia Glinton-Meicholas puts it in her article, Uncovering the Bahamian Self,  “if that is all we believe we are, we should not be offended when we are sidelined in the international arena.” 

Compared to other Caribbean islands that have great literary and creative sectors on a larger scale, all the Bahamas has in Junkanoo, when there is so much more that can be brought to the table.

With all the attention on tourism other aspects that could represent the Bahamian identity and culture remained underdeveloped. 

The purpose of identity is to unify a nation by having all aspects represented, because all these different pieces come together to make a whole. It should represent the family structure of society, the historical background, location, different ideologies, practices, and education; therefore, identity is multifaceted. 

Yet this is not what is shown, it is one-dimensional. 

Identity should not be dependent on one thing to categorize or understand a group of people. It also mistakenly causes that given society to only identify with that single “thing” and not anything else. However, when that “thing” is not present the people are lost and lack any sense of identification.