Sinterklaas is the Dutch iteration of the classic Saint Nicholas legend, often called the “De Sint.” Unlike his American counterpart, Sinterklaas wears a more traditional bishop garb and delivers gifts to children on St. Nicholas Eve or Sinterklaas Eve. On top of that, the biggest difference is that Sinterklaas originates from Spain. Gifts are traditionally given on the 5th of December, St. Nicholas Eve, with the feast on Dec. 6, St. Nicholas Day.
The holiday has recently come under scrutiny, as Sinterklaas is assisted by Zwarte Piet or “Black Pete,” a character first appearing in 1850. Still, some suggest the tradition might be from earlier in the 19th century. Originally, Zwarte Piet served more as a Krampus as he would take the naughty kids back to Spain.
His appearance has come under a lot of criticism as being incredibly racist, given the context that Zwarte Piet is a Northern African Muslim. Storytellers recently dropped that part of the songs and stories as Zwarte Piet now brings a bag filled with candy to give to children. However, the tradition is still insanely offensive, as typically white Dutch people adorn blackface and Noble clothes to depict Zwarte Piet during Holiday parades. This issue isn’t isolated to just Sinterklaas Day festivities, as blackface seems to be a huge issue in Europe. Even more recently, Zwarte Piet is depicted as a white Spaniard who has soot smudges on their face when going through a chimney.
The Tradition of Zwarte Piet seemed to be largely fading when I was growing up, celebrating Sinterklaas Day. My parents never told me about Zwarte Piet, so I was largely confused by him when I grew up and heard about him for the first time. Most Dutch kids will never hear about him, as support for the racist character is fading fast as ever. Year support for having Zwarte Piet be included is decreasing significantly, and given enough time we will see the removal of these racist and xenophobic depictions.
The modern celebration of the holiday, or at least how my family celebrates it, is by leaving your shoes out for Sinterklaas on Dec. 4 so he can give you gifts. I was largely impatient as a child, so this early December holiday helped me be content until Christmas. My family never did the Sinterklaas Day feast, but it is a tradition that I am bringing with me to start here at the University of Maine.
This year, with my roommates, we celebrated the holiday by leaving our shoes out by the front door, but it is more traditionally done by leaving them out by the fireplace. On the night of the 4th, Sinterklaas visited us and left us with pfeffernusse and chocolates. Traditionally, a chocolate letter of the person’s first name is left, along with pepernoten speculaas, a spice mini cookie. We used pfeffernusse as a close alternative to the more traditional treat. Having an 8 a.m class the morning of Dec. 5, I woke up all of my roommates bright and early, alerting them that Sinterklaas had visited us, and we all took the treats out of our shoes.
Sinterklaas Day is a fun tradition you can pick up as a college student. You can celebrate the winter season with friends at school before heading home for the holidays and finals. With gift giving and baking sweets, it helps relieve some of the stress and tension before finals week. There are plenty of fun winter holidays from around the world. If Sinterklaas isn’t for you, I highly suggest looking into other traditions to celebrate the winter season with friends.
