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Chapter 1:Representations of Dominican Identity through MusicPalo’s significance in reflecting the Dominican identity can be seen by the currentperceptions of Dominican identity, as well as the promotion of other musics within the country.Popular musics have gained most academic attention for representing the complex, syncreticidentity of the Dominican people. Ethnomusicologists have referred to merengue as a musicpromoted from topdown; from the government to the people. Bachata, on the other hand, hasbeen referenced as the epitome of bottomup music; a genre that has been promoted from thelowest classes of the country, eventually giving it significance and reaching the elite. Palo,although largely unexplored, represents a part of Dominican identity that merengue and bachataleave out. Palo represents the persecuted, and often disregarded, historical past of the DominicanRepublic and its people. This chapter gives a brief history of the Dominican Republic tohighlight current perceptions of Dominican identity. Furthermore, I introduce discussionssurrounding merengue and bachata to explore the contrast between these popular forms of music,often depicted as Dominican emblems, and a traditional, AfroDominican music, often ignoredor persecuted as unpatriotic.Identity in the Dominican RepublicDominican identity can be described differently by each different person in each differentregion of the Dominican Republic. It is neither static, definitive, nor clear. Nevertheless, anunderstanding of Dominican history clarifies certain aspects of Dominican identity that are5
consistent. Understanding the fights for freedom and independence within Dominican bordersclarifies the inconsistencies between Dominican selfidentification and their ancestry: althoughthere is a large historical presence of Africans, and early extermination of “natives,” a largepercentage of Dominicans deny their African roots and claim an indian heritage.Hispaniola, or “Little Spain”, was the name Christopher Columbus used to refer toQuisqueya, or “Mother of All Lands.” Before the Spanish invasion, or “discovery,” of the islandin 1492, it was inhabited by people known as Tainos, a term which is currently synonymous withindio. Soon after Columbus’ arrival, Tainos were nearly exterminated due to disease, murder,and suicide. In 1697, the Treaty of Ryswick divided the island in two; the Eastern hemisphere,controlled by France, was named Saint Domingue and the Western, kept by the Spanish, wasnamed Santo Domingo. Beginning with slave revolts in 1791 and ending with a massacre of theFrench in 1804, former slaves gained control of Saint Domingue and renamed it Haiti, or “Landof High Mountains.” In December of 1821, the newly created Haiti helped slaves in SantoDomingo gain their independence from Spain through the War of Restoration. Conflictcontinued on the island, however, when Haiti annexed Santo Domingo in 1822. Over the next 22years, the influence of the annexation began blurring the lines between Haitian and Dominicanidentity; French was taught in schools and taxes were imposed on Catholic churches. The finalclaim of independence, and creation of the Dominican Republic, came through the War of1Independence which ended February 27, 1844.Due to this history, the Dominican Republic began as a nation with two enemies; Haitiand Spain. Given Haiti’s proximity, there is a long history of tensions between these two1Eric Paul Roorda, Historical Dictionary of the Dominican Republic (2016)6
Page 1 and 2: Dominicans Forgotten by History:Pal
Page 3 and 4: “PerryCastañeda Library Map Co
Page 5 and 6: still however been fairly disregard
Page 7: The research for this piece draws h
Page 11 and 12: Merengue in the Dominican RepublicT
Page 13 and 14: broadcasted on television and radio
Page 15 and 16: In addition to its movement into hi
Page 17 and 18: 39throughout the country.” Given
Page 19 and 20: Chapter 2: Palo Yesterday:Palo’s
Page 21 and 22: these deities were transported to t
Page 23 and 24: the animal go to waste. While the m
Page 25 and 26: were palo’s fight for survival, w
Page 27 and 28: create a “pure” Dominican ident
Page 29 and 30: protest. Although scholars have dis
Page 31 and 32: attendance was always high; when my
Page 33 and 34: by dictatorial propaganda. During a
Page 35 and 36: in Haiti, she explained that their
Page 37 and 38: palo: fiestas de palo continu
Page 39 and 40: Church’s recent acceptance of pal
Page 41 and 42: 94comunidad.” Jesus, as well a
Page 43 and 44: ConclusionFrom churches to birthday
Page 45 and 46: continuum between Vodú and Catholi
Page 47: Roorda, Eric Paul. Historical Di

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