Cock Fighting (Bat Kok)

Cock fighting is a social event mainly for men, but women do participate. There are some women who own and fight their own roosters, although it is mainly men who own and fight the roosters. One can purchase a fighting cock for $12 to $500 Haitian, depending on the fighting ability of the rooster. One must be careful in purchasing, because sometimes roosters of little value are sold as a high priced fighter. You know you have made a bad purchase when the rooster runs when put into the ring. The owner trims the neck feathers, rubs lime juice on their legs to toughen them up, and bathes the rooster by putting water in his mouth and spraying the water on the rooster to make them look good. One trains his fighter using sparring matches in one of two ways. First, by holding two roosters face to face, encouraging the fighting instinct, but not allowing them to come into physical contact with each other. The other way is by taping up or tying pieces of rag over the spurs so that they do not injure each other and put them into the pit for a sparring match which lasts 10 to 15 minutes or until the owner pulls them out. When a rooster is ready for a real fight, one can go to the local pit.

Each community has a pit that is free. There are private pits where one must purchase a ticket that will cost anywhere from 2 gourdes to 10 dollars in order to enter your fighter or to watch the fight. The pits get bigger and better with more money involved as one progresses up from rural, towns, and cities. Most pits have set dates and times for the fights. The bigger pits have vendors selling drinks, peanuts, candies, and fried bananas. The vendors also must buy tickets and some must pay a percentage of their sales to the owner of the pit. The pit owner must purchase a permit from the government.

The owner of a rooster must be 18 year olds in order to fight his rooster, although someone else can enter the rooster of a minor on his behalf. In order to enter a cock, one must let the referee know that he wants his rooster to fight. If that rooster wins, he may continue to fight as long as he is winning or until the owner pulls him out of a fight. There is a lot of betting involved in cock fighting. The owners of the rooster bet with one another, they bet with the fans, and the fans bet with each other. The wager can be whatever one can afford, from $1 to$10,000 or more. In the bigger pits, the referee holds the money and he gets a percentage of the wager when the fight is over. In some matches the winner takes home money plus the losing rooster, whether he is alive or dead. The fight last from 15 minutes to 2 hours or until one is dead, the referee stops the fight, or one owner pulls his fighter out. It is usually noisy with everyone yelling and talking. It is a place to see all the neighbors and find out the latest news.

Lottery is very big in Haiti. Gambling of all sorts is popular. A loser in a card or domino game may have clothespins attached on his face to show that he is losing. Soccer is the national sport. Television stations come and go, but mainly go. In the Central Plateau, if and when the local station is working, it’s programming is showing home videos from when someone went to a concert or using a movie video someone has and showing it. Very few people have televisions. There are a few individuals in the small towns who show a movie video on their television/VCR and charge for those who wish to see. Sometimes individuals who have a television and VCR will allow people to line up in the streets to watch through their window.

Music

Music is an integral part of the daily life. Singing, dancing, playing instruments is something that is almost as natural as eating or walking.

When the merchants in the street or in the open markets are selling their wares, they are singing little songs or chants to advertise their products. From the boys selling flour in wheelbarrows to the ladies who sell peanut or coconut candy, they walk along repeating their little song to attract buyers.

When a house is being built, the workers sing and tap out rhythms with their tools, feet or whatever is available as they pass materials, hammer, saw and pass buckets of concrete to pour the roof or floor. Musicians are sometimes employed to keep the music and rhythms going to make the work go smoother and faster.

Landowners employ musicians to help their field hands work longer and better. When people are working in the fields without music, they tire easier and are discouraged faster. Music is played to increase productivity.

All public transportation has music playing, either from a radio emission or a cassette. Music is used in street demonstrations/protests, funerals, and in the work place. Music is key to the possession of the voodooist during their ceremonies. Haitians of all ages love music.

It is common to find a radio in even the poorest of homes. Cassette players are common as well, however CD players are not used to a large degree in the rural areas.

Haitians tell stories in song; the traditional Haitian troubadour music style is still popular. Most traditional Haitian songs are ballads---they tell stories.

A long time ago, Haitians made many kinds of homemade instruments, such as bamboo flutes, guitars, banjos, drums, etc. Drums are still made but others are not as common. Now imported instruments such as trumpets, keyboards, guitars, and so forth are favored, even in the remotest areas. Accordions were once popular but have been diminishing in popularity. Children still create all kinds of homemade instruments. In some of the rural areas, homemade instruments are still popular; people make music/rhythms tapping two stones or two sticks together, scraping a grater, shaking dried seeds in a pod, and blowing into bamboo.

When Haitians have a problem, listening to music is a distraction that helps them forget the problem. There is no place in Haitian life that does not have music, because music encourages a person to live. They listen to all kinds of music. It is only in churches that the people are discouraged from listening to certain kinds of music.