Origin and use
The bakoua, from its Latin name Pandanus Sanderi, of the pandanaceae family , " is a fast-growing tropical tree that measures 5 to 10 meters in height at maturity. It was introduced to Martinique at the very beginning of the 19th century. Its dried leaves provide textile fibers used in basketry. It was introduced in Martinique at the very beginning of the existence of the Botanical Garden, an establishment created by the decree of 30 pluviôse year XI 19 February 1804. It was part of the rich collection of plants that two administrators from India had sent to Martinique. (Reisser, Historique du Jardin-des-plantes de Saint-Pierre Martinique, 1846). It grows in the hot regions of Asia, Africa and Oceania. In his Dictionary of Natural Sciences, Frederic Cuvier (1773-1838), naturalist, classifies it in the family of pandanaceae and gives a description under its vernacular name baquois. The learned name of pandanus was given to him by a naturalist of the XVIIth century, who was called Ramphius. Still according to Cuvier, it takes its Baquois name and its origin from the species found in Isle de France (Mauritius) and has been used to designate all species of pandanus .
The baquois is "a genus of plant composed of five species of shrubs from Africa and India"
The use of bakoua developed as soon as it was introduced in Martinique at the beginning of the 19th century. In 1857, Charles Belanger, director of the botanical garden of Saint-Pierre, listed the pandanus or vaquois among the thirty-eight species of "industrial plants" that made up the collection of the plant garden of Saint-Pierre, in his report to the director of the interior of Martinique (In Revue coloniale, March 1857, "Martinique. Botanical garden of Saint-Pierre").
The development of basketry in bakoua during the colonial period
Although basketry is an art inherited from the Kalinagos, they did not pass on the art and technique of bakwa, as the pandanus or bakoua tree was unknown to them
The female tree produces flowers that give a fruit resembling a large green pine cone, which can turn yellow and the seeds that fall are yellow and green. The male tree gives long flower stalks that are very honeyed. The leaves have thorny edges, they can reach up to 1.50 m in length. In Martinique the dried leaves of the male and female bakoua are used for basketry work. The traditional hat made of bakoua leaves is called bakwa in Creole. Braided mats can be sewn together to make baskets, bags, belts and even earrings. Other lesser known achievements are possible with the fruit of this tree. It is used as a vegetable, we can make flour, also very good jams, or use it in pastry, but according to Mr. Marie-Rose, we do not have the tree in our house whose fruits and leaves can be used to make the pale green and yellowish green dye or perfume. Once the trunk is cut and dried, this plant, which becomes soft, could be used as a mattress or as a partition wall
The fruit is a kind of seed carrier since it is composed of a multitude of seeds that envelop the flesh. They are placed on the core that we eat. The seeds which are all around are not edible however their fermentation in water can give slightly sour cider or also vinegar.
From the core that supports the seeds, a flesh is extracted which, like a vegetable, can be eaten raw or cooked and from which a flour can be extracted with which to make fritters, cakes, gratins, bread, etc.
The root of the bakoua fights fever and malaria...
Memories of a craftsman-hatter
"Mr. Jean-Louis Marie-Rose, a self-taught craftsman-hatter who lives in the commune of Lamentin in the Morne Piault district, passes on his "know-how" acquired from his uncles who were themselves hatters. He specifies that his aptitude he owes it especially to the fruit of his own experience, because his uncles who acted taught him his trade without explaining it to him. He explains to us how, for more than twenty years, the tree called bakoua, and the leaves of the same name are practically an intrinsic part of his person. Mr. Marie-Rose, who is also an artist-painter in his spare time, and a social worker, reveals to us that in his earliest childhood, from the age of 12, the bakoua technique interested him . He already liked to reproduce identically the weaving that his father and uncles used to do. After their day's work, these men made hats that they bartered or sold to improve their daily lives, ranging from the conical hat of the fisherman to protect him from the sun, to the hat with a wider brim worn by the farmer in his garden, without forgetting those with wide brim and very elaborate braids, worn by women. Nowadays, the fashion of imported hats, such as panamas, colonial helmets, felt hats, melons or other galurins and berets have come to dethrone the bakoua hats as if with a hint of denigration. But the indispensable bakoua hat seems to be screwed on the heads of politicians, as well as certain bourgeois, all of this seems to have the unavowed objective, obviously, of making people, because this hat has remained very popular all the same
The work of the bakoua
According to our hatter, you have to look for the tree, pick up the ripe leaves to prevent them from being bitten by moths. Recognize them as a "transformable" object to prevent them from crumbling. Dry them, remove the thorns along the leaves, soften them with a knife, treat them, let them rest and then cut them into strips to make the strands that will be braided before assembling them into a hat. There are several types of braiding according to the number of strands that will be taken. The man takes into consideration the balance of the hat, its shape, its transformation, its sewing ... The originality of Mr. Marie-Rose is that he has evolved the tradition. He produces custom-made unique pieces. He has a very fine and expert tactile sensation and knows how to feel the quality, the flexibility of the leaf. This feeling is even recognized with his eyes closed, he says. He also explains that the leaves of the female tree, are more easily worked in braiding
Hats off to Mr. Marie-Rose!
A gigantic activity of repetition of the same gesture is undertaken from dawn to late night, which certainly requires extreme patience at all times. The bakoua hat of today benefits from a know-how at the service of modernity and Mr. Marie-Rose knew how to make it a hat that attracts a new type of customer: those who appreciate luxury hats, but the disillusioned man does not want to hear anything more. He gave up and went to make a museum to show the marvels that can be obtained with a simple sheet of bakoua
Today, without rejecting the tradition, the bakoua hat is reborn in a different way in various forms. The practice of an ancestral know-how still exerts its power on this material and continues to highlight a heritage that we must keep alive.
