Navel String Custom

A ya me barn

A ya me navel string bury

So no come cut no style pan me

Over dey dem plant me coconut tree

A de sweetest water in a de world really

Gel a de pride and joy o de family

Me spirit tek to you

So lets have a drink and be merry my dear Sue

Before sun go down

And bus stop running fu town.

My recollection of where my navel string (umbilical cord) was buried is vague, because it was overshadowed by my eldest brother’s dwarf coconut tree. I can still see the small orange coconuts. The house is on the edge of a hill and the coconut tree is planted below it. Marse Sam always bragged about the day he planted the coconut tree and how he chopped a crapaud (frog) in two and buried it with the navel string. He would say Sal that is why the coconut water so sweet.

It was recorded that “the navel was first used in popular English literature sometime before 1892.” The burying of the navel string is a custom in the Caribbean; it is a symbol of our cultural heritage and it signals an unbreakable connection to the place where we were born. I read an excerpt of  Death and Regeneration of life by Maurice Bloch and Jonathan Parry. Well, needless to say some other cultures take this navel string burying to a whole different level. The Melanesian’s account of this is so eerie I will stop right there. However, I should mention that they believe that the navel string is our connection to the earth.

The real question is how many of us pine away to return to where or navel string was buried/home?

It would also be fascinating to know if the young mothers or fathers are steeped in tradition or they are not concerned about these things. I must confess that I am still perplexed about where to plant my daughter’s navel string. For me burying the navel string has a huge significance; as burying the navel string is pleasantly reminiscent of old times.

a site about Death and Regeneration