"And
two such men I clearly see. The one shall gather what remains of all my
people under his protecting arms here in this place where I was the Chief,
and through his love and pity and by favours shown shall gently lead them
on to reconcilement and assuage the pain of being conquered. The other
coming next shall rescue all my people from a dark oblivion. And he by
gracious acts of courtesy and Love and sympathy for a fallen and a broken
race shall then create an interest in my unhappy people not felt before,
a people who were always here, and met Columbus when he landed on their
hospitable and friendly shores".
-----Chief
Hyarima, in Hyarima and the Saints
| In
this Issue: |
| Dear
Subscribers, after an extended absence of issues for mid-2001, following
three very large issues, we are happy to present the final issue of this
newsletter for 2001. As always, we welcome submissions, announcements and
guest articles.
(1)
FEATURED
WEBSITES:
"The
Fire This Time" (Black Indians, Indians in Jamaica)
NY
Boricua (Tainos of Puerto Rico/Boriquen)
Détsjing
Foundation (Amerindians of Surinam)
Mundo
Indígena de Nuestra América (Websites of/for Indigenous
Peoples of South America and the Caribbean)
(2)
NEW
PUBLICATIONS
(3)
ARTICLES
ONLINE
(4)
GARNETTE
JOSEPH, CHIEF OF THE DOMINICA CARIB TERRITORY: Profile and Interview
|
| (1)
FEATURED WEBSITES: |
"The
Fire this Time" is an intriguing Website that is not so much
devoted to Amerindians of the Caribbean--although it contains an interesting
page on Amerindian cultural survivals in Jamaican Maroon communities, and,
in the other direction, the spread of Jamaican Reggae to American Indian
reservations--as it is devoted to challenging the often racialized construal
of a cultural and biological divide between "indigenous" and "black" populations
in the Americas. Jamaica, like Haiti, is perhaps one of the Caribbean countries
to be usually described as being one of the most African nations in the
region--the authors of this Website, on their page titled "Supai
Reservation", instead note: "...after the Pequot English war in New
England, many aboriginal prisoners were enslaved and sold in the West Indies.
From 1670 onwards the British in South Carolina regularly engaged in the
slave trade, sending tens of thousands of aboriginal people to the West
Indies and other markets. It had been documented that in 1674 a group of
Cherokees was sent to Jamaica and in 1693 a Cherokee delegation at Charleston
unsuccessfully requested the return of their relatives who had been taken
to Jamaica". This type of information has gradually come to light over
the years, and, indeed, the noted historian of the region, David Lowenthal,
wrote in his 1972 book, West Indian Societies, "the Indians were
not all local, however; aborigines captured in North America were sent
to the West Indies as slaves in exchange for Caribs and Negroes--for settlers
in both places sought to discourage Indian tribal reprisals" (p.32). The
Website's authors stress that "the lack of knowledge about their aboriginal
heritage has affected people's perception of themselves in countries like
Jamaica where people will tend to think of their identity in terms of only
their African ancestry instead of being looking at the real possibility
that they have a Blakk [sic] Indian heritage".
This site is also intriguing on other accounts. The first is its name.
Anyone familiar with recent Carnivals in Trinidad might recall a song by
the group 3Canal, "The Fire Next Time", also significant as they
cast themselves in the "Black Indian" tradition of local Carnival. More
than that, the Website's authors insisted on total anonymity in an e-mail
to myself, not even indicating their location except to say that the site
is not European or North American and "is launched from indigenous territory
". The author(s) of the site appear to have traveled widely in Latin America
and the Caribbean, and the ease with which he/she/they make references
to a wide body of literature suggests more than the usual secondary school
education.
In addition to history, travel accounts ranging from Jamaica to Bolivia,
this site also features a heavy mass of mp3's, with a focus on Dub music,
thereby combining history, politics and popular culture in a somewhat seductive
fashion. While it is now being reconstructed, the site usually features
a heavy artistic element in terms of design. Moreover, whilst still new,
and forced to relocate (like the CAC) given the recent shutdown of NBCi,
this site may well be one that gains popularity, especially as individuals
alienated from membership in indigenous organizations on racial grounds
find the need for new associations that cultivate different understandings
of what it is to "be indigenous".
NY
Boricua (which might be translated as New York Puerto Ricans)
is a site that is obviously proud and keen to emphasize the Taino heritage
of Puerto Rico. Like many such sites, it is laden with graphics and music
in one very long page that takes quite some time to load on slow (i.e.
regular) connections. It is, however, a visually appealing attempt to educate
a readership, with a focus on archaeology, history, and even physical anthropology,
on the survival of Taino heritage in Puerto Rico, with a wide range of
articles by noted specialists, supplemented by a carefully selected array
of supporting links and links to recommended books. This site also features
a myriad of excellent photos focused on museums and archaeological sites
in Puerto Rico, i.e., Tumba del Indio and Piedra Tallada. While much of
the information presented is by no means unique to NY Boricua alone, where
the site does excel is in concentrating in one place some of the best,
or at least most interesting, Taino-related material currently available
on the Web. What is less clear is the logic motivating the selection of
particular materials and articles, and one may well get the impression
that the site's authors are labouring the notion of an almost uninterrupted
continuity of Taino culture in Puerto Rico, which, if it were the case,
would probably obviate the need for such sites to start with. However,
this is not meant to take away from the appeal and content value of the
site.
The Détsjing
Foundation has produced a Website that focuses on the Amerindians
of Surinam, who are largely invisible on the Internet especially when compared
with the number of U.S.-based Taino Websites such as NY Boricua above (see
the Surinam page
of the Caribbean Amerindian Centrelink). The foundation, established in
2000 in Amsterdam, sets out its primary goal in these terms: "preservation
of Surinamese indigenous knowledge and culture by collecting, analyzing
and transferring it and communicating it to all people who are interested
(the Surinamese/Dutch population in particular)". The Website itself was
launched only within the last three months. The Website is itself one of
the foundation's leading projects, designed with the intent to "create
a digital meeting place for indigenous people in Surinam and the Netherlands",
and, "create an opportunity for the indigenous people of Surinam to use
the internet ". Media promotion, documentation, and a poverty survey are
other key aims of the foundation. The site also provides a good map of
the intricacies of diverse geographically situated Amerindian groupings
in Surinam. What is left unclear is the degree to which the foundation
may or may not be formally tied to any Amerindian bodies in Surinam, or
whether it is simply a sympathetic brokering body. There is also very little
in the way of an explicit history of the foundation, explaining why it
came into being, who its founders are, and what their long range objectives
may be. Nonetheless, as one of only a handful of sites on Surinam's indigenous
population, this site is worth the visit. The site itself is well designed,
easy to navigate, fairly informative, and is also bilingual Dutch/English.
Finally, and only briefly, another useful centrelink-type of site that
features a range of Websites by and about indigenous peoples of Latin America
is that of Mundo
Indígena de Nuestra América, originating from
the University of Chile. This provides a useful starting point for Internet
based research into these various peoples and organizations.
Return
to Contents |
| (2)
NEW PUBLICATIONS: |
Let me thank Roberto Mucaro Borrero, President of the United Confederation
of Taino People for this message of 27 October, 2001, where he announces
the re-release of a book discussed in a previous issue of this newsletter
(Issue 6,
July 2000):
"Taino
Revival: Critical Perspectives on Puerto Rican Identity and Cultural Politics
Edited
by Dr. Gabriel Haslip Viera
Markus
Wiener Publishers 2001
ISBN
1-55876-259-0 (162 pages)
A
reprinting of the 1999 edition, this volume adds a reedited introduction
by Gabriel Haslip-Viera as well as additional photographs by Holger Thoss.
The cover art features the work of Joe Doc Sunshine Leon.
This
collection is a scholarly examination of the Taino Revival Movement. While
the academics take a harshly critical look at State-sponsored institutions
and the grassroots movement, the essays provide interesting historical
data.
Roberto
Mucaro Borrero's precedent-setting response to the critical assessment
made by the scholars is also included in this stimulating and historic
volume".
Return
to Contents
 |
| (3)
ARTICLES AVAILABLE ONLINE: |
Readers may be interested in the following articles available online.
The first is a 1993 featured address by Dr. Joseph Palacio at the Second
Gathering of Caribbean Indigenous Peoples in Arima, Trinidad, held to commemorate
the United Nations' International Year of the World's Indigenous People,
available
by clicking here. Joseph Palacio was the founder and first chairman
of the Caribbean Organization of Indigenous Peoples (COIP). Dr. Palacio,
an anthropologist, is currently a resident tutor at the University of the
West Indies branch in Belize. The main thrust of his address at this historic
gathering concerns the issues of situating Caribbean indigenous identity
and seeking reparation.
Desrey Fox is a Guyanese Amerindian activist and resident in the Amerindian
Studies Unit at the University of Guyana. In the early 1990s, when Amerindians
in the Caribbean began to receive new attention and recognition, especially
with the events surrounding the 500th anniversary of Columbus' arrival
in the Caribbean, media organizations such as the Trinidadian television
production and video documentation firm, Banyan, conducted interviews with
leading spokespersons such as Fox. Fortunately, we now have a complete
transcript of the interview, available
by clicking here. In this interview Fox describes her experiences growing
up as Amerindian in Guyana, coming to a consciousness of herself as Amerindian,
and the regionalized and internationalized revival of indigenous consciousness.
What I personally found striking, from this first hand testimony, is that
even in Guyana, long considered as a bastion of "traditional" Amerindian
culture by Carib leaders in places such as Dominica, St. Vincent and Trinidad,
there has been a recent revival of assertions of Amerindian identity and
their associated traditions, and that the wider international context also
plays a significant role in encouraging and perhaps even endorsing such
identification.
Also focused on Guyana, Cultural Survival presents two articles online,
"Guyana
Government Grants 5.1 Million Acre Mining Concession on Indigenous Lands",
and, "Indigenous
Peoples in Guyana Seek Recognition and Enforcement of their Land Right
in an Historic Lawsuit".
Finally, Aims McGuinness, a lecturer in the Department of History at Michigan
State University, has produced, with content generated by his students,
a
"Annotated Guide
to Internet Resources related to Caribbean History". Most notable amongst
the collection of reviews are those of Lauren Gratz who reviews
"A
Virtual Dominica: Caribs in Dominica" by Kevin Menhinick; Jessamyn Ressler-Maerlender's
review of "Taino Indian Fascinating Secrets" by Antonio Blasini; Gordon
Greenaway's review of "A Note on Tainos: Wither Progress?" by José
Barreiro; and, a few additional reviews of works dealing with Christopher
Columbus and Bartolome de las Casas.
Return
to Contents |
| (4)
GARNETTE JOSEPH, CHIEF OF THE DOMINICA CARIB TERRITORY: |
As some of you may know, Garnette Joseph was elected as the new Chief of
the Carib Council of Dominica's Carib Reserve in 1999. Joseph, a graduate
of Canada's Saskatchewan Federated Indian College, also holding a Certificate
in Management from the University of the West Indies, led the Karifuna
Cultural Group in Dominica, an organization that seeks to cultivate youth
interest in dance and music in the Carib Reserve (or Territory as Dominica
Carib leaders prefer to call it). He also headed the Waitukubuli Development
Agency, named after the Carib name for Dominica. A profile of Joseph was
produced by the Saskatchewan Federated Indian College and is available
by clicking here.
In addition, an interview with Garnette Joseph is also available online,
held in February 2000, and is accessible
by clicking here. In this interview Joseph describes the role and powers
of the Carib Chief in Dominica today, challenges facing the development
of the Carib Territory, as well as the issue of "racial mixing", one that
is controversial in the Reserve as some challenge limited lands being parceled
out amongst mixed African-Carib families. Indeed, in an interview with
myself in 1998, former Chief Hilary Frederick expressed his view that numerous
Afro-Dominicans were claiming rights in the Reserve as a means of "getting
a slice of the economic pie especially now as foreign tourism is picking
up in the Territory", which further underscores the racial divisions between
certain Carib leaders and the wider population of the island.
The interview with Garnette Joseph was conducted by a member of Kalinago
e.V., a German foundation that was established with the aim of promoting
and preserving Carib culture in Dominica. The Website of this foundation
can be found at: http://www.kalinago.org/.
Return
to Contents |
(The
opening quotation is from Hyarima and the Saints, a play written
by F. E. M. Hosein, a Mayor of Arima, Trinidad, in the 1920s; the cover
art was produced by Maximilian C. Forte.)
Editor
for this Issue:
Maximilian
C. Forte,
Caribbean
Amerindian Centrelink
Copyright:
2001
mcforte@centrelink.org
|
| CARBET-L: |
| CARBET-LIST,
DISCUSSION LIST ON INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF THE CARIBBEAN:
Sponsored
by the CARIBBEAN AMERINDIAN CENTRELINK
http://www.centrelink.org/
Carbet.html
You
are invited to subscribe to this new discussion list, bringing together
scholars and activists interested in the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean.
This
message is being sent to all current subscribers to The CAC Review: The
Newsletter of the Caribbean Amerindian Centrelink, as well as a wide array
of scholars and activists with interests in the history, sociology, literature,
and anthropology of the Caribbean region.
Indigenous
Peoples of the Caribbean, past and present, are at the focus of this discussion
list. A considerable amount of archaeological research has been conducted
on the pre-colonial societies of the Caribbean and this list particularly
welcomes archaeologists as well as those with an interest in the colonial
history of indigenous populations of the Caribbean. Moreover, contemporary
indigenous populations, which have long been neglected in the social science
literature on the Caribbean, have been attracting the
interest
of scholars especially over the past ten to twenty years. A significant
number of activists identifying with an indigenous Caribbean heritage have
also made their presence felt on the Internet over the past decade, another
example of the ongoing revival and revitalization of Caribbean indigenous
identities and communities.
This
is the only list of its kind that offers a central forum for bringing all
these interests together in discussion with one another. The scope of CARBET-LIST
includes populations that are now commonly referred to as Taino, Carib,
Arawak, and Garifuna, stretching from Belize, through Cuba, Puerto Rico
and the Dominican Republic, down to Dominica, St. Vincent, Trinidad and
Tobago, and the Guyanas.
CARBET-LIST
seeks to fulfill the aims of the Caribbean Amerindian Centrelink in not
just organizing and providing online content, but in also building a community
with common discussion interests.
Click
on the link above for detailed instructions on how to join.
For
those already subscribed to Carbet-L, thank you for joining. |
|
COMING
SOON TO THE CAC:
|
| As
the copyrights on certain rare and increasingly antiquated texts begin
or continue to expire, the CAC will endeavour to digitize and make these
books available online. This is especially important in the case of limited
edition texts that were published and distributed locally within select
Caribbean territories.
Thus,
within a short time, CAC visitors will be able to download and read HYARIMA
AND THE SAINTS, an excerpt of which was used to open this issue of the
newsletter. The play itself has played a critical role in fostering consciousness
of the Amerindian history of Arima, whilst also inspiring certain contemporary
Carib leaders who routinely quote from the play in their public speeches.
The
play itself is relatively short. The CAC also hopes to digitize and present
at least relevant selections of older historical and travel accounts of
Trinidad and other parts of the Caribbean with the passage of time.
If
any reader has any "antique" books that they would like to suggest for
inclusion, and/or volunteer a copy to be digitized, please contact the
editor at the e-mail address provided at the bottom of this newsletter. |
New visitor traffic statistics for the CAC for
2001 are available by clicking
here. The CAC is seen in 1,881 cities spread out over six continents.
COMING SOON TO KACIKE:
Kacike will soon be publishing
the complete doctoral dissertation of Lynne Guitar (Ph.D., History,
Vanderbilt University, 1998), titled:
CULTURAL GENESIS:
RELATIONSHIPS AMONG INDIANS,
AFRICANS, AND SPANIARDS IN RURAL HISPANIOLA, FIRST HALF OF THE SIXTEENTH
CENTURY
|
