Normally a tranquil fishing village, Moruga bursts into an explosion of activity with its annual Christopher Columbus rediscovery enactment and Easter Sunday and Monday celebrations. Despite its rich historical background intertwined with a mixture of cultures, ethnicity and religions, however, Moruga continues to be haunted by a dark past involving obeah and witchcraft. The late Papa Nezer and Mother Corn Husk–the mere mention of these two names still strikes fear into the hearts of many. Dubbed the King and Queen of Obeah during their reign and several years after their death, Moruga was then, and to an extent still is, considered the capital of obeah. Chilling memories surfaced recently with reports of demon-possessed students at Moruga Secondary School. Eyebrows were again raised with talk about Moruga being steeped in obeah. Residents vehemently denied this during a visit to the sleepy community last Friday. In fact, they insisted the village was religious-oriented, having some 20 churches of various denominations.
"That was in the past. They die out now," residents echoed, when asked about the practice of obeah in Moruga. Former school principal, Peter Gloudon, said most of the elder heads, who were labelled obeahman/obeahwoman, had died and their legacy along with them. "The younger ones never pick it up," he said. Defending the village reputation. He believed that Papa Nezer and Mother Corn Husk were misunderstood. Describing them as bush doctors or herbalists rather than obeah people, he said they used herbs to cure people when conventional medicines failed. Saying they also possessed the ability to help people spiritually, he added: "They were scientific in the sense that they knew things that other people did not know." Gloudon, whose first wife was related to Orisha King Papa Nezer, said Papa Nezer and Mother Corn Husk used to host a big feast where they did certain rituals. But, he said: "I do not think that is an evil thing because they used to help people."
He recalled that other villagers of the Orisha faith, a man named Pallimoo and Johnny Mitchell, also held ritual feasts and offered sacrifices but they, too, died. As far as he knew that was no longer a way of life in Moruga, he said. Papa Nezer's granddaughter Leonis Roberts also insisted that her grandfather, whose real name was Ebenezer Elliot, was a herbalist, but he was stigmatised because people could not comprehend what he did. Sparrow even sang about him being an obeah man. "Anyone could be a bush doctor, you just need to know about the herbs," Roberts said. Defending the reputation of his village, Gloudon said Moruga was religious-based with countless churches–in St Mary's alone there are about seven churches. He said it was not an evil place as perceived by some. Another resident, Farrier Malchan, 70, said obeah existed all over the country, not only in Moruga. "Don't let anybody fool you, these things exist," he said, recalling instances where he witnessed exorcisms. "When it hardly had electricity up here people use to read bad books and it had La Diablesse and thing." In Moruga, he said, people seldom carried young children to funerals because spirits follow them.
'Dealing with evil spirits dangerous'
Gloudon said he did not know what to make of the "demon possession" in the school. Rumours, he said, had been circulating that an Orisha woman had an altercation with a teacher threatening revenge and that the school was built on a cemetery and religious ritual.
Preacher Moses Abraham, of Streams of Power Full Gospel Movement at La Rufine, however, said the possessions had been happening at the school since three weeks ago and escalated last week. He said demon possession took place when people dabbled with evil spirits. He explained: "You see, for demon possession to take place people have to deal with evil spirits which will possess the body of the human and they react in different ways. It is very, very dangerous."
Fishing, a way of life
Moruga has moved away from being agricultural-based to being a fishing community, said Gloudon, who added that their fishing community was one of the largest with over 160 fishing vessels.
Fisherman Albert Taylor, however, lamented that the authorities were not placing enough emphasis on the fishing industry. He said they were yet to get proper facilities. Instead of relocating the fishing depot, he suggested that they renovate the existing facility. He also called on the Government to put measures in place to control the indiscriminate fishing. He said transparent nets that scraped the sea bottom were depleting the fishing supply.
"There was a time fishermen worked Monday to Friday, now have to work every day...day and night." Gloudon said they had moved away from being an impoverished community, adding that Cepep and URP were two contributing factors. "We have a lot of people gaining employment for this." Although the state of the road has improved, certain areas remain deplorable. Gloudon, president of the Moruga 500 Committee, said the major activity in Moruga was Columbus' re-enactment, which has become a threefold celebration incorporating Emancipation Day and St Peter's Day. In addition, he said, Easter Sunday and Monday were also grand events.
Moruga's History
Giving a brief insight into the historical background of Moruga, Gloudon said Columbus' arrival was followed by people of Spanish descent who planted cocoa and coffee. Then came the French, he said. Hence the French names of places in Moruga such as Grand Chemin, Bois Jean Jean, La Retraite and La Lune.
In that era, he said, Roman Catholic was the dominant religion. When Trinidad became a British colony in 1797, he said American slaves who had supported the British during the war were given parcels of land which they named Third Company, Fifth Company and Sixth Company. He said they were responsible for introducing the Baptist faith.