As many undoubtedly know, the celebration of Sinterklaas has been the centre of a heated cultural debate in the Netherlands in the past years. It was not so much about Sinterklaas himself, but mostly about his help, Zwarte Piet – or Black Pete in English. According to some (and later many) Piet was sorely in need of an update because of racist stereotypes.

One reason for the ‘pro-Zwarte Piet’ people to stick to the blackfaced help, was because Zwarte Piet is supposedly part of an old Dutch tradition. Throughout Europe, Sinterklaas has lots of helpers, and in the Netherlands, these helpers are the Black Petes (plural). The fact that Piet has a black face would refer to his supernatural character or because he crawled through chimneys to bring the presents to the children. Some even say that the Pieten/Petes were the ravens of Wodan or Odin, since Sinterklaas is really Wodan (quod non). It is never explained why Piet would then wear an early Renaissance suit, have black frizzy hair and red lips and would wear golden earrings.

As the people who have read my earlier text about Sinterklaas himself know, I take the notion that this celebration is really old and pre-christian with a grain of salt. There is really  not much evidence that this is the case. Sure, there are non-christian, even heathen elements than can be found in the tradition. But Sinterklaas is not Odin. And Zwarte Piet is not an old demon such as Krampus– or isn’t even that old for that matter.

Note that the idea of a black (semi-)supernatural folkloric figure is indeed at least several centuries old. Several black men or black demon-like figures appear in Dutch folklore and are sometimes even called “Piet”. And in 1695 there was actually a convicted criminal called Swarte Piet. Some historians say that a black figure may even be a story by the Reformed to discredit a  Catholic saint like Sinterklaas (this wouldn’t be the only time the Reformed try do something like this). It is sometimes Sinterklaas himself who is black.

In the Netherlands, the first notion of Sinterklaas actually having a help stems from the 18^th century. From the 19^th century on there are several literary sources that refer to a black helper, but it is not really clear in what context and where this helper comes from. Some say it is indeed based on folkloric figures as described above, others say it may be based on Morish people in Italy (which may also explain the clothes Piet is wearing). Maybe it’s a bit of both as many folkloric traditions are far more eclectic than most people want to acknowledge.

In the 19^th century, folklore was a popular but still rather new field of research and was not seldom used to ‘invent’ traditions. That is, researchers wrote down what they found, interpreted it, and were often looking for a ‘pure’ or ‘true’ tradition that fitted in with contemporary morals. Something like this may have happened with Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet.

The first time we really see Sinterklaas with a black help is in the 1850 children’s book Sinterklaas en zijn Knecht (Sinterklaas and his help) of Amsterdam teacher Jan Schenkman. The helper is not yet named Piet and only gets his typical page-outfit in the third edition of the popular book. It is not known why Schenkman decided to write a black help into the Sinterklaas tradition and why Piet got his trademark outfit (apart from the possibilities already talked named above).

The black help (not yet named Piet) became popular quickly and appeared in real life Sinterklaas celebrations. In the later decennia of the 19^th century we can find that folkloric elements of the black boogeyman as described were incorporated, such as the rod for naughty children. The oldest known photo of Sinterklaas and a black (that is: blackfaced) help, stems from 1885 , see below. Note how the help is riding a donkey. He got different names in different places, and it was only at the end of the 19^th century that Piet became the most common name.

During the 20^th century Piet as a black stereotype became more overt, presumably because of American pictures of blackface and stereotypical Negroe-figures that spread into Europe. Since the late 20^th century there were more and more complaints about these stereotypes that were considered racist by a larger and larger group of people. This climaxed in the Kick Out Zwarte Piet – protests in the last years.

These protests have been heard (despite counterprotests) and in many please Piet is not black anymore but usually has smudges of soot on his (or her!) face. In some parts of the Netherlands, people keep insisting on blackface Zwarte Piet, but in the wider community this is largely considered a racist stereotype nowadays.

Sinterklaas is a popular folk tradition, and no doubt quite old. There are indeed many non-christian elements that can be found connected to the saint’s feast day. Zwarte Piet is non-christian for sure and he seems to be a Dutch invention, but that’s apparently what he is – a part of the rich history of the invention of traditions that stem from the 18^th and 19^th centuries. Traditions change and Piet was in hard need of a change.