‘Twee shishi’: A remembered secular song in Carriols (Virgin Islands Dutch Creole)

Abstract

This article examines a 1980 recording of a remembered song in Carriols, or Virgin Islands Dutch Creole, the now-extinct Dutch-based creole once spoken in the former Danish West Indies and current US Virgin Islands. Recorded in St. Thomas, the song, ‘Twee Shishi’ (‘Two Sisters’), was part of an African-derived musical tradition known as bamboula, common in the Caribbean during the era of slavery. While European missionaries documented many religious songs in Carriols, little secular material produced by members of the colonized population has been preserved. This is the only known surviving audio recording of a song in Carriols from before the language died out in 1987. The article offers a brief historical overview of bamboula in the Virgin Islands and presents a linguistic analysis and discussion of ‘Twee Shishi’, situating it within the broader context of Carriols documentation. While the song aligns with 20th-century Carriols linguistically, it likely originates from before the mid-19th century.