The song Panama Mwen Tonbe tells of an event that occurred in 1896. President Louis Mondestin Florvil Hyppolite headed to Jacmel to secure the city from forces led by Merisier Jeannis, a Kako leader. While riding his horse to battle, Hyppolite had a heart attack and fell to his death. The song recounts the tragic incident, but uses a metaphor – the Panama hat falling- to describe the demise of the president. Ever since, the song has been used to signal to politicians that one day they too will fall from power. The melody of the song was adapted from Tabatyè Mwen Tonbe.
During the 19th and 20th century, hats were commonly worn and Panama hats were fashionable. Such hats were fitting apparel for a distinguished politician like President Hyppolite. In the U.S., President Theodore Roosevelt helped to further popularize the Panama hat by wearing one himself on a trip from Panama. It is because the Panama hat was deemed suitable for dignitaries that it is spoken about in this song about President Hyppolite.
Panama hats were first mass produced in Ecuador and then sent to Panama. From there, they were shipped all over the globe. These hats got their name not from the country from which they were made but rather from their point of distribution, Panama. France started constructing the Panama Canal in 1882. Nearly all the initial 20,000 workers came from the Caribbean and a significant portion came from Haiti. These workers wore Panama hats for sun protection. Traffic between Haiti and Panama in the 1880’s may have enhanced the popularity of the hat in Haiti.
The fallen Panama hat signals Hyppolite’s voyage to peyi san chapo, meaning to the life hereafter. Although President Hyppolite did not make it to Jacmel and died in Port-au-Prince, the song takes artistic liberty and imposes a religious dimension to the historical event. It has the hat falling at the Benin Crossroad*.
Benin was an important West African Kingdom known for its metal sculptures and President Hyppolite became associated with metal works after the building of the Mache an Fè. Crossroads are symbolic of where the world of the living intersect with that of the Ancestors. This is why this song sets President Hyppolite’s fallen hat at the Ancestral Crossroad, the Benin Crossroad. To achieve this, the song has the President travelling to Lavale Jacmel, a region near the city of Jacmel. President Hyppolite was unable to read the writing on the wall and left his hat, or his unfinished task, to be picked up by whoever was behind him as he departed to peyi san chapo.
In another song reported by Harold Courlander, Hyppolite fails to recognize his fallen hat is an omen and presses on in his pursuit of Merisier Jeannis. In doing so, he incurred his death. President Hyppolite’s trip to peyi san chapo is the focus of the song. This is why Panama mwen tonbe is repeated multiple times, usually 3 times. It is the main theme of the song.
President Hyppolite ascended to the Presidency through service in the military. Under his Presidency, his powerful army provided Haiti 7 years of stability. President Hyppolite lived the life of a warrior and died a warrior’s death. For this reason, in countless songs, President Hyppolite is revered as Ogou Panama. He is known as a Lwa in honor of his great accomplishments. His administration introduced the telephone to Haiti, linked Haiti to the world using oceanic cables, and constructed the famous Metal Market in Port-au-Prince, the Mache an Fè. In remembrance of President Hyppolite, the country sings Panama Mwen Tonbe.
References:
Largey, Michael D. Recombinant Mythology and the Alchemy of Memory: Occide Jeanty, Ogou, and Jean-Jacques Dessalines in Haiti. Journal of American Folklore - Volume 118, Number 469, Summer 2005, pp. 327-353
Hyppolite’s Service to Haiti: The death of a good president prevents another war. New York Times, March 31, 1896
The history of the panama hat: www.thehatsite.com/panama.html. Visited in 2008
Jennie M Smith. Singing Back: The Chan Pwen of Haiti. Ethnomusicology, Vol 48, No 1 (Winter 2004), pp. 105-126
Jean Fouchard. La meringue : danse nationale d'Haiti / Jean Fouchardes Merengues D’Haiti
*Benin is variably pronounced and written as Benen or Bainet.