Initiated by the “Point d’Interrogation” group a few years ago, the Mas Maten Kongo-Karayib has become during these past five years a huge parade with several hundred participants. Once again this year, revelers started from the town of Les Abymes, to cross downtown Pointe-à-Pitre and reach the Bas-du-Fort beach in Le Gosier. Young and not so young walked for several kilometers in a “déboulé” or “rather fast parade”, singing and dancing to the rhythm of drums and other traditional instruments. This cultural event symbolizes the meeting of the Amerindians who lived in the Guadeloupe archipelago and other Caribbean islands with the Africans deported to these New World lands to work as slaves… The first part of the parade represented the Africans covered with “gwo siwo”, while the second part was the Amerindians coated with achiote. As usual, participants were imaginative in their costumes, make-up and hairstyles. Note the participation of a delegation from the Dominican Republic in the parade.
