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From:TheBahamasWeekly.com Bahamas Information Services Updates
Nassau, Bahamas - Prime Minister the Rt. Hon Perry G. Christie is pictured delivering a tribute to Cultural Warrior Maureen “Bahama Mama” Duvalier at her funeral on Sunday, January 4, 2015, at St. Agnes Anglican Church. Also shown are photos of the family, seated; and standing are government representatives from left: Prime Minister Christie, Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture the Hon. Dr. Daniel Johnson, Mrs. Portia Nottage, Minister of National Security the Hon. Dr. Bernard Nottage, and MP for Tall Pines and Chairman of Bahamas Electricity Corporation Leslie Miller. (BIS Photos/Derek Smith) Ms. Maureen Duvalier, Bahamas cultural pioneer, passed away on Friday, December 19, 2014. Ms. Duvalier was an entertainer extraordinaire. She was known as “Bahama Mama” and “Calypso Mama” and hailed as a pioneer of Junkanoo. Maureen was born on May 14, 1926 on Burial Ground Corner. Her father was the late Eustace Edward Duvalier. She was the niece of the one-time Haitian President Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier.
Maureen began her work as an entertainer with Freddie Munnings, Sr. at the Silver Slipper Night Club. Other stints followed at the Montagu Hotel, the Ardastra Gardens, the Spider Web Night Club, and the British Colonial Hotel Lounge. Her repertoire was native folk and calypso. In 1958 Maureen led 25 females, along with a group of men, down Bay Street in the Junkanoo Parade. She made history as the first woman with a Junkanoo group. In the group were such notables as Senator the Hon. Telator Strachan and the late Becky Chipman. Their group would go on to win the first place trophy. At this time her only album, “Calypso Mama” was made. Maureen has represented the Ministry of Tourism in 40 US states. She and Eloise Lewis spent many years travelling, promoting tourism all over the world. She helped to create an industry for The Bahamas. In 2004 she was invested with the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE). She was inducted into the Junkanoo Legends Circle in 2007. Formally retired from entertainment, she came out of retirement to perform two or three nights a week at the Atlantis Resort, Paradise Island. Maureen was a spiritual person, her motto was “put God first.” She believed that her many gifts were God-given; her real joy, she said, came from making others happy. May her soul rest in peace. MORE
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