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Positive aspects about Caribbean Civilization Course: by Alicia Ramkaran & Ryan Charles.

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Positive aspects about Caribbean Civilization Course: by Alicia Ramkaran & Ryan Charles.

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We often heard the expression, “what’s in the past is gone” this is a new era we're dealing with but this is not true. Whilst the event has past the ripple effects it caused has not and because we are not physically present we learn about these events/experiences from others. Some events reoccur whilst others remain controversial, damaging, positive, negative, good or bad, causing some major damages to ourselves, others, their culture and so forth. And therefore, require revisiting to make necessary adjustments for whatever outcome. This makes one think, the past is not totally gone is it?
Let’s take for instance the Caribbean slave history. I can safely say because of this course we students, get to realized the past is still present with us today. According to page fifty in “Beyond Massa,” John Campbell made a point where he wrote about  Nicholas Owen a Jamaican a sugar manager's personal racist beliefs, that shaped his managerial style and this was a homogeneous ingredient that defined managerial policies across plantations back then. And that was an eighteenth slave dealer stereotyping African slaves character as being very bad. As far as he was concerned they were, drunkards, rowdy, ignorant of discipline even though they did their chores and respected their masters in the required manner, destitute of all social laws and not fit to enter civil society with the rest of mind kind. Yet they were able to breast feed the white man's children, chauffeur, and carry messages, read their Massa’s messages to take information back to their fellow slaves. In addition to overseer the household, measure ingredients and prepare a full course meals along with inheriting plantations from their husbands, crossing racial divides and so much more (Campbell, 2016). As a result Owen’s attitude and views towards Africans was share by most if not all planters across Jamaican plantations.

This is most present throughout out our course activities on our padlet page. It was also largely responsible for the Europeans eradicating a whole race of people when they first came to San Salvador, Hispaniola whilst enslaving others to do their endless bidding in whatever task they deem necessary, dehumanizing other human beings, taking away their identity, rights as a human being and dignity. Today racism is a global issue and the belief that one is better than the other because of their personal belief system still exists.  Another Positive aspect of this course is the fact that we get a deep insight into other cultures, races, customs, and belief systems and their history. The root causes behind the factors that cased slavery, the allocation and disposition of chattel slaves. The horrifying experiences the enslaved had to through on the triangular trade leg of the “middle passage.” We never knew this existed. We were emotional throughout the whole research and our padlet page goes on and on. Today we can truly say we know how we became a diverse culture that’s made up of Amerindians, Whites, Africans, Indians, Chinese, Syrians and so forth. Learning about the journey our ancestors took against their will and the suffering they endured through the Middle Passage to come to the Caribbean, this gave us an appreciation for the liberty we enjoy living in the Caribbean today because of their sacrifices.(Learning Activity 4.2 )  History being taught in schools would have us believe civilization in the Caribbean began after the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492, but this was far from the truth. This course taught us that there were a thriving civilization in the Caribbean long before the arrival of the Europeans. (Learning Activity 2:2 Group Discussion)

Reference:
Campbell, J. F., Mr. (2012). “Beyond Massa Sugar Management In The British Caribbean, 1770- 1834.” Wellesley, Massachusetts: Calaloux Publications.

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Understanding your Social and Geographical Environment.                                                                                                                                                                                                                        By: Alicia Ramkaran                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      History of The Amerindian Tribes- Carib Community today.

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Understanding your Social and Geographical Environment.                                                                                                                                                                                                                        By: Alicia Ramkaran                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      History of The Amerindian Tribes- Carib Community today.

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Group Seven- Caribbean Reflectors Alicia Rakaran and Ryan Charles (UWI) Caribbean Civilization Students, 2016.

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Group Seven- Caribbean Reflectors Alicia Rakaran and Ryan Charles (UWI) Caribbean Civilization Students, 2016.

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CHALLENGES WE'VE FACED DURING THIS COURSE AND STRATEGIES EMPLOYED TO OVERCOME THEM. Uploaded on 28 Nov, 2016.
Music by: Carl Jacobs ft. Roger George- Sugar Island/ Island mix, 2004 -Stryka.

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                           And this is where it all began!!!

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                           And this is where it all began!!!

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Midnight Robber by Ryan Charles

Photo by Abigail Hadeed

http://caribbean-beat.com/issue-107/past-masters-mas#axzz4RKkSGQDf

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In conclusion we believe that this group project was a very successful one, although challenges were faced with some members of the group dropping the course and the remaining members taking on additional responsibilities we came together and co-operated to get the job done. Communication was another hurdle to get over, finding time when both members can meet and finding a method of communication proved difficult but we were able to work past them and have a successfully overcome. The objectives of this project took us through a journey of reflection of how a first contact, a civilization's mentality and a person's decision can impact other civilizations in diverse ways. We also saw how a beautiful diversity of race, religion and cultures in the Caribbean came to being in spite of the unbecoming circumstances that let up to it. Not to mention how privileged and how lucky we all are to enjoy  the liberties we have today. Learning about the fact that the Caribbean had a thriving civilization of Neo-Indians with own culture, customs and leaders long before the arrival of Christopher Columbus on October 12th 1492. And some history books had, and would have us  believe that before the arrival  of Columbus the area was of “darkness.”
As such the Coming of the West Africans, the middle passage and how it led to Chattel Slavery in the Caribbean was a heart wrenching one, learning about the journey some of our ancestors took against there will, through the middle passage and the injustice they endured. Still leaves out hearts aching for their sorrows, pains and despondence they must have felt and this still have the ability to bring tears to your eyes. The diversity of our customs, cultures and festivals we celebrate in the social environment of the  Caribbean, the festival of carnival was started when the Europeans freed Black slaves and migrated into the celebration as we know it today as can be seen throughout out padlet page. The marvelous thing is the fact that, our beautiful music was derived out of the mixes of all cultures. Calypso especially derived out of slavery. We saw how racial divides, rape, blatant murder, segregation amongst our people, exploitation of our people both physically and mentally happened and these things are still alive today. If we as a people only truly realized the hard work, sweat and and hardship we all; blacks, whites, Indians, Chinese, it don't matter what race or color of skin you have. We were all slaves, some more so than others. but if we all truly come to realize what our generation before us had to endure so we can have the life we have today, there would be only harmony amongst culturals and cultural developmental issues would not  exist.

Alicia Rankaran and Rayan Charles.
28th November, 2016.

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Blue devil
by Ryan Charles

Photo by Abigail Hadeed

http://caribbean-beat.com/issue-107/past-masters-mas#axzz4RKkSGQDf

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Soparee Mai - Mother of Siparia    Siparia a symbol of unity.… | FlickrFlickr1024 × 852  by Jason X Photography 2011. Retrieved on 28.11.3016. 

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Soparee Mai - Mother of Siparia    Siparia a symbol of unity.… | FlickrFlickr1024 × 852  by Jason X Photography 2011. Retrieved on 28.11.3016. 

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La Divina Pastora, or the Divine Shepherdess 

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La Divina Pastora, or the Divine Shepherdess 

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The Trinidad Guardian -Online Edition Ver 2.0 498 × 373. Retrieved. 28.11.2016.
The statue of La Divina, which is believed to grant fertility, prosperity and happiness to all who pray before it, is carried during a street parade in ...

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Understanding your Social and geographical environment.                                                                 By: Alicia Ramkaran                                              

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Understanding your Social and geographical environment.                                                                 By: Alicia Ramkaran                                              

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The feast of the La Divina Pastora, or the Divine Shepherdess in Siparia, Trinidad.
By: Alicia Ramkaran.

The La Pastora Church has become a land mark in the District of Siparia. Many Devout patrons and indigenous Amerindians come out to take part in the procession. Siparia is another one of the former Mission town along with Arima that has given us two of the oldest festivals. The Santa Rosa Festival of Arima and the La Divina Pastora in Siparia.

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According to Richardson Dhalia, the feast of the La Divina Pastora, or the Divine Shepherdess,  is paid homage and this feast was introduced to the Siparia District in south Trinidad by Catholic Capuchin missionaries in the mid-18th century. Where homage is paid to the statue of La Divina Pastora by both Catholics and Hindus. Whereby the Hindus refer to the statue as Soparee Ke Mai. Many believers from both faiths engage in an annual  simultaneous pilgrimage to a shrine located inside the La Divina Pastora RC Church, Siparia. Devout Catholics claim it's similar to other statues of Mary. It is short, with long black hair, copper-colored skin, small cheeks, kindly eyes and a tiny nose. The church patrons dress and decorate the statue with gold and silver jewelry, flowers and rosaries with lit candles placed at the base of its shrine by adoring believers.The Roman Catholic feast itself is celebrated the second Sunday after Easter, but Hindu and Muslim devotees go on pilgrimage there on Holy Thursday and Good Friday (R. Dhalai ,March 3, 2013).

Richardson expressed that the World Forum on Theology and Liberation, (WFTL), claimed that the  origin of the feast dates back to the early 18th century, in Andalusia, southern Spain, where it was believed that the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Isidore of Seville in the guise of an Andalusian shepherdess. She told him that her role was to bring people into the sheepfold of her Divine Son. Isidore was a Capuchin monk, and his order brought the Holy Shepherdess devotion with them, as early as 1715, on their mission to the South American mainland. But fleeing persecution by the Amerindians, the Capuchin missionaries founded a mission in Siparia, Trinidad, in 1759, bringing with them the La Divina Pastora statue.  As a result on its feast day, the statue is carried in solemn procession through the streets of Siparia while the rosary is recited and Marian hymns are sung, followed by “merry-making” by both believers and non-believers alike who transform the streets of the rural community into a virtual festival ground, complete with food vendors selling their agricultural produce (R. Dhalai ,March 3, 2013).

Reference
Dhalai. R., March 3, 2013. Paying homage to La Divina Pastora. Retrieved on 28.11.2016 on www. newsday.co.tt/features/0,174337.html.

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Trinidad Express Newspapers: | OUR SHOTS - Express Photographers ...

Trinidad Express 605 × 465.
LA DIVINA PASTORA SIPARIA PROCESSION on 04. 29.2012.
Retrieved on 28.11.2016.

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www.guardian.co.tt 400 × 267 Image 15 Oct, 2015. amerindian festivals in trinidad. Retrieved on 28.11.2016.

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"On July 12, 2000, approval was granted for the identification and commemoration of a day of recognition of the contribution and significance of the Carib community and other Amerindian groups of Trinidad and Tobago.

Haiku Deck 551 × 395. Retrieved on 28.11.2016.

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The Indigenous Caribbean: Caribs Santa Rosa Festival.

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The Indigenous Caribbean: Caribs Santa Rosa Festival.

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Review of the Indigenous Caribbean: Caribs' Santa Rosa Festival ...

Review of the Indigenous Caribbean 320 × 200 . Retrieved, 28.11.2016.
Voices were raised in song and prayer as parishioners left the Santa Rosa Roman Catholic Church in Arima to begin a street procession.

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National Information and Communbity Technology Co. Ltd (TT), 2008-2009. ttconnect.vcom. Retrieved on 28 Nov, 2016 from  www. ttconnect. gov.tt/gortt/ portal/ttco nnect.

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The Caribs in the Santa Rosa Community today.

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The Caribs in the Santa Rosa Community today.

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"Santa Rosa de Lima supposedly appeared to a group of Carib men at a time when they were resisting conversion to Catholicism. The priests claimed that Rosa had been born in Arima and taken by her parents to Peru where she dedicated her life to helping the poor. She was the first canonized saint of the Americas, her manifestation in Trinidad led to the construction of a church in 1759 dedicated to Santa Rosa de Arima. Santa Rosa Carib Festival takes place in August - in the week leading up to Independence Day on 31st August every year and to pay tribute to the First Peoples of the New World and to expose their culture to the nation. The ceremonies include the crowning of the Carib Queen, an elder matron of their community who performs the role of focusing their heritage and traditions; a church procession and performance of some of their traditional and ritual activities - smoke ceremonies and prayer; as well as the opportunity to see the preparation of, and purchase cassava bread.  As such the  Santa Rosa church is a landmark in Arima which lies in the foothills of Trinidad’s Northern Range. There were claims of the virgin mary crying blood, whereby devout Catholics and onlookers trekked to Arima to see this every year. This includes indigenous people from around the country, the Caribbean and North America come to the Santa Rosa Roman Catholic Church who also come on the last Sunday in August to observe the feast of Santa Rosa de Lima. (ttconnect, n.d).

Santa Rosa de Parish Church.

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The Tino  Caribs believed in many Gods, especially an evil spirit called Mabouga, she was the most important Carib idol. Most boys were trained as warriors, priests or boyez. The position of boyez took years of training, fasting from meat and sacrificing fruits and cassava to to enter the Carbet. It was believed that each boyez had their own Maboya to help them perform their duties such as, overcoming evil spirits. Their Chief Shamans use to heal the sick with herbs and cast spells to keep the evil spirits away. They made sacrifices in their ceremonies and tobacco in their rituals.

Amerindian Smoke Ceremony to commemorate ancestors – Repeating Islands. Repeating Islands 369 × 500 Image. Amerindian Smoke Ceremony to commemorate ancestors. caribs S���h �[� E> Retireved, 28. 11. 2016.

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Amerindians history of the Caribs today.

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Amerindians history of the Caribs today.

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The Amerindians- Caribs/Arawaks/Tinos  were mostly wiped out  by the Spanish who enslaved them and tried to convert those who survived into Catholics. They were placed into Missions. As a result there are two mission towns one in Arima and one in Siparia.  The group of Caribs in Arima are known today as the Santa Rosa Carib Community. They were the number of Amerindian tribes that were pressed in Arima and they were mostly Nepuyo, also referred to as "Caribe" or "Indio." Arima is one of the last Mission Towns. Today a statue of  'War chief Hyarima" is based in Arima, he use to harras the Spanish settlers from his base in Arima.

Admin in Attractions & Facilities, Historical Facts

"Hyarima was born in the early 17th century in “Arauca” (Arouca). He was of the Nepuyo tribe which was a sub-tribe of the Carinepogoto people, later identified as the Caribs. Hyarima became a warrior and a great leader- Cacique (war-chief) -of the indigenous people of Trinidad. Around 1625 he escaped from slavery and took to the hills of Arima and away from the control of the Spanish. Hyarima devoted his life to protecting his people and their ancestral lands from the European colonizers and also to preserving their customs and cultures. He led many successful revolts. HYARIMA the statue, is located in the heart of Arima at Hollis Avenue, Arima. It is said that Hyarima derived his name from the settlement “Arima” as it was customary for the Araucan tribe to name their elected chieftains after their settlements or villages" (Nalis Admin, 28 May, 2013)

Chief hyarima, copyright, 2009. Retrieved from NALIS Library on 28. 11. 2016.

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Fanpop 400 × 300  Image

Retrieved on 28 Nov, 2016.

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Understanding your Social and Geographical Environment.                                                                                                                                                                                                                        By: Alicia Ramkaran                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      History of The Amerindian Tribes- Carib Community today.

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Understanding your Social and Geographical Environment.                                                                                                                                                                                                                        By: Alicia Ramkaran                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      History of The Amerindian Tribes- Carib Community today.

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Information throughout the history of the Tino- Caribs history retrieved from "Comparative Arawakan Histories: Rethinking Language Family and Culture Area"By Jonathan D. Hill, Fernando Santos-Granero.

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Wikipedia

Wikipedia 170 × 255 Search by image Carib Warrior (Mixed Media Sculpture by artist George S. Stuart). Retrieved on 28th Nov, 2016.

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They seasoned their foods with Couii and taumalin pepper sauces made with lemon juice, shadon-benny and green crab meat but did not use salt . They stayed away from the the meat that was easy to get in the West Indies and stayed away from fatty meats. They hunted iguanas, manatees, ducks and lots of fishes. They also made cassava breads and saltfish and green figs among other foods.

Caribs Myths
They believed that eating pig would give one a beady eye, eating turtle would make you stupid and eating crab meat before a long journey voyage would bring storms.

Website Logo 239 × 221 Image

Amerindian Spear Fishing

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WordPress.com 551 × 309 by image

Before colonization, the Caribs and the Arawaks · green-fig-and-saltfish. Retrieved on 28 Nov, 2016. This is still a recognized dish throughout the Caribbean today.

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Cassava | nomadic cosmopolitannomadic cosmopolitan2031 × 2106. Cassava bread in Carib territory. Retrieved on 11 Nov, 2016.

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Cassava | nomadic cosmopolitannomadic cosmopolitan2031 × 2106. Cassava bread in Carib territory. Retrieved on 11 Nov, 2016.

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Cassava

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Understanding your Social and geographical environment.                                                                 By: Alicia Ramkaran                                                                                                                                        History of The Amerindian Tribes- Carib Community today.

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Understanding your Social and geographical environment.                                                                 By: Alicia Ramkaran                                                                                                                                        History of The Amerindian Tribes- Carib Community today.

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The Carib's history can be traced back to the Colonial times.

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Punta Music                 By: Alicia Ramkaran                                           Contemporary punta arose in the last thirty years of the twentieth century in Belize, while the earliest notions of the punta dance precede the coming ...

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Punta Music                 By: Alicia Ramkaran                                           Contemporary punta arose in the last thirty years of the twentieth century in Belize, while the earliest notions of the punta dance precede the coming ...

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Extract
"Contemporary punta arose in the last thirty years of the twentieth century in Belize, while the earliest notions of the punta dance precede the coming together of the West African tribes and the Amerindian tribes of the Caribbean in the 17th century. The diaspora of Garinagu people, commonly called the "Garifuna Nation", dates back to their origins of the amalgamation of West African slaves and the Arawak and Carib Amerindians. Punta is used to re-affirm and express the struggle felt by those of the indigenous population's common heritage through cultural art forms, such as dance and music and to highlight their strong sense of endurance. Besides Belize, punta also has a following in Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Southern Mexico and the United States".
Prince.org 304 × 268S Image (http://prince.org/msg/105/419031)

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The Amerindians "the Caribs/Tinos" Music and Dance.

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The Amerindians "the Caribs/Tinos" Music and Dance.

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The Caribs used traditional music called punta music that had three beats and this is played with traditional instruments such as the merry drum, calling drum, maracas, bass drum and the gaitas. Their dance to accommodate their music were done by moving their hips in a circular motion.  Punta music is still played today using traditional instruments that was modified and electrified in the 1970's that is called the guitar today.
Culture in Pictures: Colombia Spanish Dict SpanishDict 600 × 526  image Baile de la Cumbia (Punta Instruments).

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The Amerindian Tribes and the Carib Community today

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The Amerindian Tribes and the Carib Community today

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By: Alicia Ramkaran
The Amerindians who were the first settlers in Trinidad called the island Ka-ire or Ire and Ka-ire but when Columbus arrived he call the island Trinidad after the Holy Trinity. According to Trinidadian journalist Kim Johnson, it is popular belief that Columbus viewed the Arawaks as a peaceful tribe who were settlers and willing to be converted to Christianity, whilst the Caribs were seen as warlike savages moved from island to island eating other tribes.  Queen Isabella passed a law that no native person could be enslaved, so it is believed that Columbus justified enslaving the native people who resisted the Spaniards by concocting this story.  As a result, Queen Isabella later passed another law allowing the natives to be enslaved to replace ones who were dying in the gold mines of Cuba.  However, the Arawaks were actually the Taino people, and there is no archaeological evidence proves that the Caribs were cannibals. Columbus claimed the Caribs were savage cannibals based on false evidence and a lack of understanding of their cultural rituals (K. Johnson, 2000-2009).
Columbus led to the eradication of these tribes. However, before his arrival he met a thriving community that consist of their own staples/food, religion, dress, music and dance. They also had their own social structure and arts and crafts. The Tinos/Caribs never gave up fighting the Spaniards.

Reference

Johnson. K. 200-2009. The Story of the ‘Caribs and Arawaks” part 1. Retrieved on 28 Nov, 2009 from http://www. Raceandhistory .com/Taino/

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Social Environment -Trinidad and Tobago Carnival

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Social Environment -Trinidad and Tobago Carnival

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by Ryan Charlesimage is courtesy of either NALIS or Triniview.com
http://www.tntisland.com/carnivalcharacters.html

Before i write about the social environment of

Trinidad and Tobago Carnival i would like to give a brief history about the festival.

The festival began the 18th century, when French Catholic Planters both white and free coloured along with their slaves, and free blacks. staged embellished masquerade balls at Christmas and as a farewell to the flesh before the Catholic Lenten period, with each group mirror the other in their masking and merriment. The enslaved as well as free coloureds had their own masking traditions, and held festival around the burning and harvesting of the sugar cane this was known as "Camboulay". After the enslaved were freed, camboulay became a symbol of freedom and defiance which was outlawed by the British colonial government. For each group, masks and mimicry were an fundamental part of the custom.

http://gotrinidadandtobagotourism.com/trinidad-carnival-costumes/

Carnival today is a diverse mix of race, cultures and  Socio-economic Backgrounds, people from all walks of life come together to celebrate together. many of the costumes have elements of different cultures     (African,East Indian European and Chinese ). This speaks to the diversity of the people who take part in it. Tourist from all over the world come to take part in our carnival and our version is copied all over the world. Photo by Jackie Hinksonhttp://www.jackiehinkson.com/exhibitionartcreatorsfeb06-1.html
"The Canboulay riots were riots by the descendants of freed slaves on the islands of Trinidad and Tobago against attempts by the British police to crack down on aspects of the celebration of Carnival. The riots occurred in February 1881 in Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and in the southern cities of San Fernando and Princes Town in February 1884 causing loss of life. The riots are still commemorated today and canboulay music is an important part of the music of Trinidad and Tobago notably the use of steel pans which were the descendants of percussion instruments banned in the 1880s"

The re-enactment of the Canboulay riots every year serves as a educational tool for spectators to understand why the people stood up to the The British government attempt to stop the celebration because they believed it was a  potential threat to public order. The Canboulay re-enactment is important to us because the history of the masquerade which our ancestors used as a way to  express themselves in song, dance and  innovative creation of  mas as we know it today.

Sources
http://www.discovertnt.com/articles/Trinidad/The-Birth-Evolution-of-Trinidad-Carnival/109/3/32#ixzz4RKCKq660

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canboulay_riots

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 Geographical environment historical link to colonialism

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 Geographical environment historical link to colonialism

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by Ryan Charles
Photograph by Chris Anderson

Ambard’s House was constructed in 1904 , it was designed by a French architect the materials were imported from Italy, France and Scotland. The house was built by  cocoa merchant Lucien F. Ambard  as a family residence, these types of architectural designs can be seen on the island. This is just one example of of the islands colonial history as many other types of architectural designs e.g. English and Spanish, still exist throughout the island.

Source

http://www.discovertnt.com/articles/Trinidad/touring-Trinidad-heritage#ixzz4RJn3Dsq5

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Re: Tutor Presentation-Unit 2: 1- Defining the Caribbean

by Alicia Ramkaran - Friday, 28 October 2016, 1:27 AM

Learning Activity 2:1 Reflection.

As you begin this session, here are two reflections. The first is designed to engage your thinking on the history you may have read in your past studies. Reflection two entitles “I am the sum total of my ancestors” encourages personal awareness of your past.

1. Reflect and share your thoughts on the idea that “Columbus discovered the Caribbean in 1942.” Please share your reflections on the course page in the wiki space Unit 1.

2. Comment on the reflections of at least one of your peers.

When I was a child I use to listen to “Butler” telling his audiences who usually took up residence in our back yard whenever he wasn’t rallying with his politician buddies, stories about the history of the Caribbean peoples. One story in particular was of Columbus’s travels that led him to the Caribbean in 1942.  My dad use to give a graphic description using industrial language or obscenities. To illustrate (leaving out the obscenities), he used to say, “When Columbus came tuh we Caribbean, he met the first set ah people, the Caribs and Arawak’s and they nearly wipe ah whole race clean!” “Clean ah tell yuh!”  “Imagine all them white men and them, just take over the whole region and dominate it by any means necessary.” In fact, he’d continue his narratives about the African’s plights, of how they had to fight to be free and these were stories that were handed down from generation to generations." He would go on and on until he became so angry that we’d soon hear him shouting at the top of his voice with anger, as if we were still in that era. In the midst of these stories he used to say, “ah rich culture, customs, Arts of making boats and beliefs were lost forever when the white man came and destroyed them with their nasty, ways as if life here didn’t exist, or mean anything to them and that is how little they thought of the people that were here first. Reading Mr. Campbell’s literature in Unit two about “Defining the Caribbean Civilization” he mentioned, an elder in his community who often said, “we need to know where we come from to know where we going…!” (Campbell, B. (2015).

In contrast, my father always said the exact words and he use to speak about foods that were handed down from the natives such as, making cassava bread, hunting for manicou and iguana, fishing with a rod and roasting the catch, or making flavored pepper sauce with chadon benny (a local herb), making baskets with cane straw or a special type of grass and arrow heads and so forth. All these things he spoke from memory that exist in our culture today were learnt from the Neo – Indians as Mr. Campbell called them. Mr. Campbell’s readings traced the lives of these first people from a starting point in the Caribbean in order to understand ourselves today.  According to Campbell (2015), The Europeans didn’t think our values and belief systems were as good as there’s. Also, in his writings of “The Arrival of the Earliest People into the Caribbean,” he mentioned, researchers were able to gain some insights into the lives of these Neo Indians as they’re known throughout history from the people whose aims eventually brought doom on their heads. In addition, the value they placed on the Neo Indian’s life was of insignificance, nothingness and trivial in order to commit their inhumane acts and this eventually lead to the death of Queen Anacaonda the first female leader and her chiefs, because they felt threatened by her power (Campbell, B. (2015).

As a result, the Neo – Indian’s culture, customs and beliefs were almost lost only to be pieced together by researches and archeologists who retrieved information from the Europeans writings, digging through waste pits or rubbish heaps which are called Middens,” as seen in Session 2: 1 from the very people who destroyed them in the first place (Campbell, B. 2015,para, 1). Whereby, today we are able to understand that they led well sustainable lives, build communities as any functioning society before the Europeans came (Campbell, 2015,para,3). With all this said, it’s ironic how my dad didn’t study history but was able to give verbal accounts of what happened in the pre-history or history of the lives of the early Caribbean peoples. Of stories that were passed down from his parents, who learnt it from theirs, to our ears at that time. Today we can see the similarities of shared artifacts of the stories that are being passed down to us from our Caribbean Civilization materials. My only regret is, the fact that I viewed his verbal accounts as just stories I was fed-up of hearing. Therefore, I should have paid more attention to what was being said however, the little I remembered when I was a child, remained with me today so I can pass it on with empirical help from our educational system.

References

Bolton. G Third Edition. Reflective Practice Writing & Reflective Development Model. London EC1Y 1SP: SAGE Publications Ltd, 2001.

J. B, Campbell (2015). The Caribbean, Defining the Caribbean Civilization and The Arrival of the earliest People into the Caribbean. 11th-17th Sept 2015. 28 10 2016 <http://201610.tle.courses.open.uwi.edu/pluginfile.php/22601/mod_resource/content/4/FOUN1101%20Unit%202%20Version%201%20reformatted_22Aug.pdf>.

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Activity 2:4

By Alicia Ramkaran

The Term “Circum Caribbean” has been used to describe those land masses in South and Central America surrounding the Caribbean Sea. Do you think they should be considered part of the Caribbean?

The Caribbean Sea is is a vital part of a larger part of a whole where all the oceans of the earth are connected eventhough they each exist in dirrerent parts of the Alantic Ocean or Western Hemisphere. According to World Atlas, the Caribbean, also known as the West Indies is made up of 7,000 islands surrounded by the Alantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and is part of the Antilles. The Antilles is geographically sub-divided into two, the Greater and Lesser Antilles. Central America moves west  around the Caribbean and is connected by a narrow strip of land with sea on either side, that forms two larger land masses (World Atlas, 2016). According to a publication of a hand book of South American Indians, Steward (1946-50) theory suggest that , the the first set of people settling into the Caribbean was marginal indians who developed hunterer gatherer tribes with simple social organization and religion. This was also recognized in Central part of the Andes where indians also developed pottery, agriculture, territorial forms of government that consist of chiefs, cult, idols and temples. Stewart called  this formative culture (Irving Rouse, pp 188, 220). Therefore I think they should be considered part of the Caribbean Sea. Let’s look further into this.

This formative culture spread northward into the Caribbean Sea via migration and diffusion of marginal tribes and this was known as, “The Circum Caribbean” types of cultures. The word Circum is Latin word for “around.” Julian Stewart developed the “Circim Caribbean” concept in (1947, 1948; Stewart & Faron, 1949). As such, it  is defined as a sub- region of the Western Hemisphere that encompasses Mexico, Central America, Venezula, Columbia, the United States and the Caribbean Sea (as listed above). Generally, it boarders around the coast of north America, Central America, South America, the Greater and Lesser Antilles that is collectivily know as Circum- Caribbean today. This links the Caribbean, Central and South America with the first set of  indian native groups that first settle into the Caribbean. It was also suggested in another article, that alike Central and South America each of the continential land masses consisted of groups of people who first occupied the Caribbean and Pre- Columbian people came from all three areas at one time or another. “It is also suggested that they are all linked by similar genitics, cultural characteristics, language where artifacts and remains such shells, food remains, burial sites and  radiocarbon dates that showed their migration routes throughout the basin” (J. S- Badillo (editer) UNESCO, pp, 118-133, 2003).

According to the part two of the Acheics, the course of Caribbean research led to develomental insights into Pre- Columbian historical developments and human adaptions into the environment. Also, archaeological evidence from the Caribbean islands of the Antilles that suggest two potential entry routes into the Caribbean via South and Central America. As such, archaeological records show sites and assemblages from the west to east, south to north along the island chain and this is enough to make the necessary linkages. This includes the migration of these people from north to south, from the North American continent into the Greater and Lesser Antilles” (J. S- Badillo (editer) UNESCO, pp, 118-133, 2003).

References

Rouse, I. (1953). The Circum Caribbean Theory and Archeological Test. American Anthropologist, 55(2), New series, 188-200. Retrieved on Sept 29, 2016 from http://www .jstor .org/stable/664586.

World Atlas. Last updated on Sept 19, 2016. Caribbean Description. Rertieved on 29 Sept, 2016 from http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/carib.htm.

J. S- Badillo (editer) UNESCO. Chapter 3, pp, 118-133, 2003). The first Caribbean Peoples Part II: The Archaics General History of the Caribbean, Volume 1, Autichonous Societies. Rertieved on 29 Sept, 2016 from http://www.academia. edu/8408946/The_Firs t_Caribbean_ People_ Par_II_ The_Archaics. V�Wi���

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Activity 2: 4- The term Circum Caribbean                                                                            World Atlas.com, last modified on September 19, 2016: Map / Map of the Caribbean - World Atlas 728 × 445  Image. Retrieved on 26 Nov, 2016. 

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Activity 2: 4- The term Circum Caribbean                                                                            World Atlas.com, last modified on September 19, 2016: Map / Map of the Caribbean - World Atlas 728 × 445  Image. Retrieved on 26 Nov, 2016. 

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"The Caribbean, long referred to as the West Indies, includes more than 7,000 islands; of those, 13 are independent island countries (shown in red on the map), and some are dependencies or overseas territories of other nations" (World Atlas, 2016).

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Learning activity 1: 1                                                                                       Is there Pre -history, should we even be using the term.                 

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Learning activity 1: 1                                                                                       Is there Pre -history, should we even be using the term.                 

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According to John Campbell, “all history, even if it is not recorded in the manner we know and is accustom to today is valid.” As such when looking back into the past we should not use the term Pre- history instead we should use the term “history” (Unit 1 version, p. 3)

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Learning Avtivity 1: 1  Is there “Pre- history?”: “Reflection on Pre- history” by Alicia Ramkaran.

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Learning Avtivity 1: 1  Is there “Pre- history?”: “Reflection on Pre- history” by Alicia Ramkaran.

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I.  A Civilized Society.

According to Karl Watson on demographic patterns the early man properly entered the Wisconsin glaciation some 1500 years ago during the ice age. It was even postulated that they arrived some 30, 000 years before this time. As such, these people were of Asiatic stock, were described by Columbus as well built people, with handsome bodies and fine faces. Though they showed cultural differences and signs of technological innovations they were not considered by the Europeans to be a civilized society.  According to Cambridge Dictionary- Cambridge University press, a Civilized Society can be defined as a country that has a well-developed system of government, culture and way of life and treats the people who live there fairly. I think this is based on their biasness one’s opinion above theirs.

II. An uncivilized Society.

As time passed the early man entered the Caribbean and was the first to settle in the Antilles. Assuming they came from Central America, Belize, Hispaniola/ Cuba. As such, they shared similar cultures there were common differences to tell them apart from the other. Then 4000 years after this similar people entered the Lesser Antilles which is known today as Venezuela. Though they left little signs of their existence they were hunters and gatherers who lived off the land. I certainly can’t see this as totally being uncivilized because they showed some signs of a social systems for living and surviving in their era, before moving in groups to another place. Uncivilized Society is defined as not having the kinds of social systems, technologies that are seen in most modern societies, or being like a culture that is advanced. (Merriam-Webster.com, n.d). Certainly people who hunted for food with their own man made tools, made their own Arts and Crafts at the time, shouldn’t be considered to be uncivilized. However if we are comparing them to us well then they may be but back then it was their way of life we weren’t part of.

III. A developing Society

The Awarakans speaking people dominated the four larger islands of the Greater and Lesser Antilles and their social structure show signs of having chiefs that held political status and leadership. According to Watson it was these people Columbus met when he bridged the gap between the old and new world when he happened upon the Caribbean. A voyage that later led to the demise of these unique cultures and destroyed their customs and beliefs systems. A developing society is defined as a country that is poor and whose citizens are mostly agricultural workers that wants to become advanced socially and economically. (Collins English Dictionary- Complete and Unabridged, 2014)

IV.            An advanced Society.

The term Arawakans were used to describe the group of people who were more advanced that the first set of neo- Indians that came through the glaciers. Archaeologists saw then in terms of groups and cultures that were more advances in terms of their practiced agriculture, ceramics and social organizations. An advanced society is defined as marked by commerce, highly organized, is marked by knowledge and often a written language civilization. It this is the medium then I  can safely say they had their artifacts and way of communicating back then. How else were we archaeologists able to gain insights into their lives?

References

Answers.com n.d Advanced Society. Retrieved on 26th November, 2016 from http://www .answers.com /Q/An_advanced_society_is_marked_by?#slide=2

Campbell. J. 2016, n.d Demographic Patterns by Karl Watson – Activity 1.1, Caribbean Civilization Unit 1.

Cambridge Dictionary- Cambridge University press, n.d Web. 26 Sept 2016.

Collins English Dictionary- Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition, 2014. Retrieved on Sept, 24 2016 from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Developing+countries

Merriam -Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d Web. 26 Nov. 2016. ,׌�r�\�

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European Colonization and the Cruel Fate of the Taínos - The Taínos were the people Christopher Columbus met. The  Tainos Indian From Puerto Rico on Pinterest 705 × 600  image retrieved on Nov 26, 2016.

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European Colonization and the Cruel Fate of the Taínos - The Taínos were the people Christopher Columbus met. The  Tainos Indian From Puerto Rico on Pinterest 705 × 600  image retrieved on Nov 26, 2016.

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Learning Avtivity 1: 1  Is their “Pre- history?”: “Reflection on Pre- history”

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The Coming of the West Africans (Research)

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The Coming of the West Africans (Research)

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LEARNING ACTIVITY 4.2 by Ryan Charles

http://www.afropanavision.com/the-middle-passage.html

The Middle Passage was the stage of the triangular trade in which millions of Africans[1] were shipped to the New World as part of the Atlantic slave trade. Ships departed Europe for African markets with manufactured goods, which were traded for purchased or kidnapped Africans, who were transported across the Atlantic as slaves; the slaves were then sold or traded for raw materials,which would be transported back to Europe to complete the voyage. Voyages on the Middle Passage were large financial undertakings, generally organized by companies or groups of investors rather than individuals. The "Middle Passage" was considered a time of in-betweenness for those being traded from Africa to America. The close quarters and intentional division of pre-established African communities by the ship crew motivated captive Africans to forge bonds of kinship which then created forced transatlantic communities.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Passage.

The Middle Passage refers to the part of the trade where Africans, densely packed onto ships, were transported across the Atlantic to the West Indies.  The voyage took three to four months and, during this time, the enslaved people mostly lay chained in rows on the floor of the hold or on shelves that ran around the inside of the ships' hulls.The shelves were under a meter high and often the enslaved Africans could not sit up. There could be up to more than six hundred enslaved people on each ship. Captives from different nations were mixed together, so it was more difficult for them to talk and plan rebellions. Women and children were held separately.

http://abolition.e2bn.org/slavery_44.html.

The captives were about to embark on the infamous Middle Passage, so called because it was the middle leg of a three-part voyage -- a voyage that began and ended in Europe. The first leg of the voyage carried a cargo that often included iron, cloth, brandy, firearms, and gunpowder. Upon landing on Africa's "slave coast," the cargo was exchanged for Africans. Fully loaded with its human cargo, the ship set sail for the Americas, where the slaves were exchanged for sugar, tobacco, or some other product. The final leg brought the ship back to Europe.The African slave boarding the ship had no idea what lay ahead. Africans who had made the Middle Passage to the plantations of the New World did not return to their homeland to tell what happened to those people who suddenly disappeared. Sometimes the captured Africans were told by the white men on the ships that they were to work in the fields. But this was difficult to believe, since, from the African's experience, tending crops took so little time and didn't require many hands. So what were they to believe? More than a few thought that the Europeans were cannibals. Olaudah Equiano, an African captured as a boy who later wrote an autobiography, recalled.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1p277.html

The enslaved were taken from their homes in West Africa and taken on this journey in sub human conditions and were subject to torture by their captives they were seen as property and were  bought and sold like animals and had no rights as a human being. The word chattel means an item of property.

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The Middle Passage                                                                                     The Coming of the West Africans.                                                                    The middle passage and how it led to Chattel Slavery in the Caribbean.

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The Middle Passage                                                                                     The Coming of the West Africans.                                                                    The middle passage and how it led to Chattel Slavery in the Caribbean.

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Slavery - slave ship - injustice Bound4LIFE bound4life.com Image 640 × 422 Search by image

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Learning Activity 4.2

The Coming of the West Africans, the middle passage and how it led to Chattel Slavery in the Caribbean.

According to the United States Library of Congress, the Europeans invaded the Caribbean, desecrated the natives and took over the region creating a link between West Africa and the Americas. After Columbus’s arrival in the year 1492, the extinction of the Caribbean peoples was due to the onslaught of new diseases such as, smallpox, measles, malaria, syphilis etc., which was brought by the Europeans. Columbus’s travel to the Caribbean diverted from the search for gold to the new venture of economic, geographical and agricultural value, that later led to the demise of West Africans in the Caribbean (S. Meditz &. D. Hanratty, 1987).  According to John Campbell in “Beyond Massa Sugar Management in the British Caribbean 1770- 1834”, the early fifteenth century slave merchants supplied enslaved, kidnapped Africans from the West African Coast to the to the Spanish Caribbean and its intensity led to millions of Africans from across the Atlantic sea to sugar colonies of the Americas and the Caribbean. Also, “during the seventeenth and eighteenth century the sugar industry dominated the British Caribbean” where vast shortages of labor needed to work plantation estates, resulted in strategic systems of chattel slavery (Campbell, 2012. p, 1). The US Congressional Library’s Journal stated that political and social organizations used Christianity and chattel slavery for  profit making schemes where slaves were brought from the old world, across the continent to the new world in the triangular trade by way of the notorious “Middle: Passage.”

The middle passage was the middle leg of a triangle trade in goods and slaves between Europe, Africa, the Americas and the Caribbean. As such, the captives were kept under such terrible conditions on board slave ships, whilst being transported in voyages that took three weeks or more, based on weather conditions (Paul. E Lovejoy, 2015-2007). The Abolition Project gave a description of the slaves being packed into tight spaces and was unable to move, or breathe properly. They were made to lie down on bear board planks, their elbows and wrists would get scraped and bruised every time the ship rocked from the rough motions of the seas. The captain’s total authority made him answerable to no one whereby, Africans were constantly chained, flogged, or placed in thumb screws if they resistance. And even though air holes were bored for breathing, they were closed during stormy weather. As a result, their perspiring bodies added to their bodily discretions and gave off foul smells that got some of them sick, whilst the heat suffocated some of them. This resulted in a lot of dead bodies that were thrown overboard. (East of England Broadband Network, 2009, n.d). Upon Arrival into the Caribbean the families were cleaned, separated to avoid revolt, sold as Chattel slaves where they were bartered, gifted and inherited because being chattel slaves you were considered to be just property to their owners. Those that could not be sold were left to die. The slave population increased until the end of the transatlantic slave trade in the nineteenth century because of pressure and the emancipation of the enslaved population (ushistory.org, November, 2016).

References:

Campbell, John. F. "Beyond Massa Sugar Management in the British Caribbean, 1770-1834."Calaloux Publications , 2012.

East England Broad Broadcast Network, 2009. The Abolition Project, Retrieved on 26. November, 2016 from http://abolition.e2bn.org/slavery_44.html

Lovejoy. P. E. 2015-2007. The Middle Passage: The Enforced Migration of Africans across the Atlantic. New York University, Toronto retrieved on 26 November, 2016 from http:// bernard. pitzer.edu/~ hfairchi /pdf/ Bla cks/MiddlePassage.pdf

ushistory,org. .26. November, 2016. ‘The middle Passage.” US. History online Textbook last updated on 26 November, 2016 from www.ushistory.org/us/6b.asp

Meditz.  S. W &. Hanratty. D.  M, 1987. CARIBBEAN Islands: A Country Study. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress. Retrieved on 26 November, 2016, from http://countrystudies.us/caribbean-islands/5.htm /a����DC�

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         Introduction of  Caribbean Reflectors group members                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

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         Introduction of  Caribbean Reflectors group members                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

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Alicia Ramkaran- Group Leader
I am a driven individual  from Trinidad and Tobago who is in the process of pursuing my BSc in Social Work in the online environment.I started this course this course with minimal knowledge of Caribbean Civilization. I am eager to learn about our own culture, customs and heritage and how events throughout history resulted in a diverse Caribbean.

Ryan Charles

I’m a thirty eight year old firefighter from the beautiful twin island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago pursuing an ASc in Business Management. This will allow me to improve my management skills while i advance in my career.This course was very interesting and allowed me to understand the factors which contributed to the diversity of the Caribbean.

Berlinda Francis
I am a young motivated and driven individual.I am in the first year of my  degree doing the bsc in psychology.I am also new to online learning.The lovely island of St.Lucia is my home.Being a working mom has made this course a bit more challenging,it takes a great deal of commitment.

Special Thanks

We feel that recognition must be given to out tutor Mrs. Paula Edward- Sealey for her diligent work she is doing with us thus far and our Regional Course Coordinator Mr. John Campbell for all his efforts. Together they ensure we have a Programme to follow, that we are on point with relevant assignments given. As such, they are part of a bigger team of individuals who guides us and ensure we achieve our individual and group goals, without them  our journey throughout this course would not have been possible.

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Re: Group Discussion Unit 2: 4: The Greater and Lesser Antilles                                                            by Alicia Ramkaran - Wednesday, 2 November 2016, 2:47 PM                                                                                               Hello Mrs. Sealey,                                                                                                                                                  Please see my Presentation for the Greater and Lesser Antilles.                                                                              Regards,                                                                                                                                                                                                 Alicia.                                                                                                                                                                       The Greater and Lesser Antilles.  Power Point was converted to a video presentation.                 

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Re: Group Discussion Unit 2: 4: The Greater and Lesser Antilles                                                            by Alicia Ramkaran - Wednesday, 2 November 2016, 2:47 PM                                                                                               Hello Mrs. Sealey,                                                                                                                                                  Please see my Presentation for the Greater and Lesser Antilles.                                                                              Regards,                                                                                                                                                                                                 Alicia.                                                                                                                                                                       The Greater and Lesser Antilles.  Power Point was converted to a video presentation.                 

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application/vnd.powerpoint.presentation.macro Enabled.12   (Click , then pause to read each slide).

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Activity 4:1                                                                 Examining Chattel Slavery...

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Activity 4:1                                                                 Examining Chattel Slavery...

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African-Caribbean slavery and its effects. The Prisma.co.uk 400 × 300S.

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Reflection on Prehistory                                                                          By: Ryan Charles

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Reflection on Prehistory                                                                          By: Ryan Charles

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Caribbean Civilization Learning Activity 1.1https://sta.uwi.edu/stan/article13.asp

i. A civilized society.

Early man that migrated to the Caribbean had some aspects of a civilized society like their understanding of the supernatural, from which would have evolved a religious system and cosmology. Later on when the Arawaks entered the Caribbean they brought with them a more advanced culture and practiced agriculture, produced fine ceramics and had complex social organizations. Their dominance of the four larger islands of the Greater Antilles, where their large populations had permitted the development of complex political units headed by chiefs this can be seen as a leadership structure that is part of a civilized society.

ii. An uncivilized society.

Early migrants to the Caribbean can be seen as uncivilized because of factors such as no formal religion. They were most likely hunters and gatherers which suggest they had little or no knowledge of farming. They had very simple social organizational structures. Due to their basic material culture and lack of technology they manufactured tools from flint, stones and shells.

iii. A developing society.

Compared to the first migration of man to the Caribbean later migrants developed agriculture and farming, better tools for farming and hunting, developed a more complex social structure which helped grow their numbers and aided in further migration and the development of a system of  governance with political groups lead by chiefs.

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Learning Activity 4.1 Examining Chattel Slavery

by Alicia Ramkaran - Tuesday, 15 November 2016, 12:58 AM

Good night Mrs. Sealey,

Posting on behalf of Group seven (7) Members:
FOUN 1101- Caribbean Civilization

Activity: 1:4 “Examining Chattel Slavery”

Tutor: Mrs. Paula Edwards- Sealey

Course Coordinator: Dr. John Campbell

Group 7 Members:

Ø  Alicia Ramkaran

Ø  Wayne Beckles

Ø  Berlinder Francis

Ø  Ryan Charles

Ø  Adam Shelly

Understanding the issues surrounding the creation of Caribbean Chattel slavery and the role of the West Africans at that time by reviewing the Mighty Sparrow’s Calypso, “the Slave.”

1.      How does the Mighty Sparrow portray the conditions of enslavement?

As seen throughout the Calypso, the “Mighty Sparrow” portrays the conditions of enslavement as harsh, punitive and oppressive forms of treatment towards Africans who were taken from their home land (Sparrow, 1964).  As such, they were unequivocally turned into slaves, mistreated and advantaged daily whilst having to work without any compensation, “...And den he make we wuk. / And den ah wuk. / Good lord no pay” (line 11-13). In addition, even though they wanted to be free, great fear was instilled into them when they saw the slave master standing over them with a gun, ”Many times I want to run. / But de slavemaster standing dey wit de gun” (21-22). In addition, this also made them recalled past experiences of being chased like dogs and by dogs when he sang, “But everytime ah tink about de whip an’dem dogs. / Meh body does start tuh shake” (28-29).   Also, shot or whipped if they ran but they kept hoping that one day they’d get a chance to escape for example, “So ah stay, stay and ah pray. / But ah planning still. / I study night and day how to break away” (26-27).  In light of this, they had no choice but to stay even though they kept plotting to be free until their dreams were finally realized. In the last verse he mentioned that slave ended up in a worst predicament without any means of survival such as food, clothing, education and shelter when the slaves were eventually freed and this was due to the white man making the slaves totally dependent on them and so forth in order to survive.

2.      How Does the Mighty Sparrow describe the beginnings of the Calypso in the Caribbean?

The Mighty Sparrow describes the beginnings of the Calypso in the Caribbean as the point where the Africans were first captured, then relentlessly whipped whilst, constantly on their knees throughout the journey, that took weeks to cross the sea to reach the West Indies and then turned into a slave when he sang, “I’m a slave from a land so far. / I was caught and I was brought here from Africa...” (1-3).

3.      Do you find his description interesting? Justify your perspective.

We find Sparrow’s description interesting because the calypso gave insights of the woes the African slaves had to endure throughout slavery, the conditions which they were made to work under in addition to living in great fear. In essence these were human beings, regardless of their race or colour. As such, they had a right as humans to be free but that right was taken away by people who believed they were superior to them. A race of people, who taught little of other lives, hence the way the Africans were bartered, dehumanized and forced to do hard labour as property to be bought or sold at their need. Last was the fact that Calypso derived out of slavery as it was a form of expression or ‘medicine” as Sparrow sang, “In my heart, there was so much to say.../ We had to chant and sing to express ourselves. / To that wicked and cruel man. / That was the only medicine to make he listen. / And is so calypso began” (41, 45-48). As a result, by chanting, singing to vent and express themselves, calypso was used as inventive tactful way to make their white slave master listen to their groaning and plights.

4. Identify in your national Library or your national museum any primary and secondary sources of historical information related to Caribbean enslavement and discuss the role of the artefact in the furtherance of your knowledge of West Africans and their contribution other than music, dance and economic forms in the Caribbean.

According to Gerard A. Besson on African Cultural influences in the Caribbean in Trinidad and Tobago’s National Library and Information Systems Authority (NALIS) Caribbean History Achieves, West Africans made many forms of contributions that made the Caribbean a multi- racial Society, mixed culture, or “Caribbean Diversity” as Mr. J. Campbell (Sept 24, 2016) called it in the one of our BBC sessions. As such, the mixed culture we see today was because Jamaica (Greater Antilles) had a British colonization similar to Haiti, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto to name a few (they were all Spanish colonies). In addition to also having a multiracial mixture between the European and blacks, their different languages, and behaviors was because of the racial mixes. Together with many ethnic groups, they brought different types of customs and religious beliefs because of a migration of culture and the embracing of Catholicism when the British colonized and dominated the Caribbean. As a matter of fact, this extended across the Caribbean region. (Gerard A. Besson December 23, 2011). As such, let’s look at other contributions by the West Africans other than music, dance and economic forms in the Caribbean.

Another published report of a lecture given at the Port of Spain Library by Dr. Warner Lewis (2007) on African Heritage in the Caribbean. Of a four part series put on by the University of the West Indies, that honored the literary works of Dr. Warner from 1991 to 2003, provided historical data linking several African retentions in the Caribbean with documented existence of African connection and survivals on the African continent”  (TrinidadView.com March 13, 2007).  In this report, Dr. Warner posits that the activities during slavery such as, agricultural work and plantation, farming and raring animals, growing sugar cane preparing the land, , the processing of sugar cane, distillery of rum, tobacco produced in some territories such as Cuba and Tobago (which derived from the word Tobacco), Cocoa, coffee and many others. Together with clearing land, felling forests trees, rock breaking, road construction, bridges, forts, aqueducts, windmills, lighthouses, and the reclamation of land to build wharves and so forth, all contributed to the infrastructural developments of the Caribbean (TrinidadView.com March 13, 2007).

Mentioned was made of Warner- Lewis explanation of, “Africans who contributed to the growth of a black middle class in the 19th Century traders and artisans. A group that consisted of newspaper owners, editors, pharmacist and teachers such, female nurses, teachers, postmistresses and other professions” (TrinidadView.com March 13, 2007).  She further explained, that African enslaves were allowed to grow their own Gardens next to their little plots on the plantations, then sell the produce in the market on Sundays. This tradition was seen throughout the Caribbean and made its way into today’s customs.

On the other hand Besson (2007) mentioned the African’s traditional Sunday lunch that consisted of a variety of foods like callaloo, peas, and rice.  Professor Warner (2007) spoke of foods like Salffish and Akee in addition to heritage produce such as yams, dasheen, plantain and eddoes. Their tradition included storytelling, which encompassed many tales of Anansi, the spider God of the Ashanti People. At the same time in Accra, Lagos and the northern regions of Nigeria people know Anansi as a small and weak spider who uses trickery to outwit his opponents and of jumbies who lurked about in the night. Some of us can remember all too well the “West Indian Reader” which taught these folk tales in local schools, or sitting with your family as they recall the many tales that was passed down from generation to generations. There were also clothes like the Dashiki and special African wrapped garments for women using diverse wrapped materials in different styles for head wear as well. (Gerard A. Besson December 23, 2011).  These can be seen all over the Caribbean today.

Besson also spoke of Professor Phillip who told stories of a highly competitive game played in School yards throughout the Caribbean by way of pitching a marble, that usually ends up in a fight and we certainly can identify.  Another was “Wari” found in Nigeria Delta, board game similar to Backgammon. In this case men would sit with a board game that’s played with small stones between them. In addition, naming children after the days of the week they were born. To illustrate using Ashanti words, “if one was born on a Sunday the name would be Quashie, Monday means Cudjoe, Quaco for Wednesday and Cuffie for Friday and so forth” (Gerard A. Besson December 23, 2011).

The African’s language is still used throughout the Caribbean today Professor Warner- Lewis mentioned usage of words such as, “door mouth which indicates the entrance of the door. Then there’s “day clean” which simply means the first light of day.  Next is “Susu,” a Yoruba word which expresses a pool of money collected at intervals and given to each person at an agreed upon time. Another is, “you all” or ‘all yuh” an expression derived from the West of Africa, then there’s ‘mamu”, which means dumb or stupid whereby,” Jumbie” which means a ghost or an entity that returned from the dead” and  “he sick or “he late and so forth without regard for proper subject, verb tense, or agreement (TrinidadView.com March 13, 2007).

She also stated that after the islands were emancipated from the British rule, the African population settled into many of the islands in the Greater and Lesser Antilles whereby, many of them came from protestant and catholic colonization and this is where the Caribbean islands has seen different Baptist faiths such as, Orisha and Afro- Centric religions, then Rastafarian was an African based philosophy in opposition to Eurocentric values and this is where a variety of different festivals were derived (TrinidadView.com March 13, 2007).

As a result, the African’s “blood, sweat and hard work” as are an old saying amongst the Caribbean people. Another can be said as they, “worked their fingers to the bone” and despite these horrendous conditions, enslaved Africans found many ways to keep their humanity and dignity thus, making many contributions as described above and many more that enabled them to share their Stories, Religion and culture within a culture of resistance to their dehumanization that coincidentally impacted the Caribbean in an enormous way. As a result, this can be realized when ever one look around the Caribbean Region today.

References

Besson, G. A. (2011, December 11). The CAribbean History Achives by Paria Publishing Co. ltd. African Cultural Influences. Retrieved on 2016, August 11,  from http://caribbeanhistoryachives.blogshot.com/2011/african-cultural-influences.html.

Reporters, T. (2007, March 13). African Heritage in the Caribbean.TriniView.com " Maureen Warner-Lewis Speaks." Retrieved on 2016, August 11, from: http://www.triniview.com/special_events/130307.html

Sealey, P. E. (2016, October 08). Learning Activity 4.1 Examining Chattel Slavery. Retrieved on 2016, August 11,  from University of the West Indies (U.W.I) " Slave" The Mighty Sparrow's Calypso.

The Mighty Sparrow, “The Slave.” True Life Stories Of Passion, People & Politics. Mace Records, 1964. You Tube via the University of the West Indies online Retrieved on 2016, August 11.

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Caribbean Civilization Learning Activity 5.2
by Ryan Charles,

1. List as many cultural groups as you can from viewing the video.Caribbean Students Association: Multiculturalism Source: https://youtu.be/8I2-PtwpIug

a. African

b. East Indian

c. Spanish

d. French

e. Dutch

2. From your list seek to pull out those groups that came as workers into the region. In
this new list briefly state what crop/the reason why, they came into the Caribbean

a. Africans- came to the Caribbean as slave labor to cultivate mainly sugarcane as no group of people were physically capable of the task.

b. East Indians- after the abolition of slavery and the former enslaved refused to continue working for their former slave masters East Indians were brought to the Caribbean as indentured laborers  to cultivate mainly sugarcane.

3. Choose two groups of immigrants and comment on the contributions they have made to the development of the contemporary Caribbean.

a. Africans- made many contributions to the development of the contemporary Caribbean. One of the most important is the hundreds of years of unpaid labor which set the foundation for the development of the Caribbean as we know it today. Food is another big contribution this contributes to development by bringing tourist from all over the world to sample the cuisine. Caribbean musical instruments are also influenced by their African Heritage,the development of a steel pan can be directly linked to the “Tambu” which can be traced Ghana.  Afro-Caribbean Religions  such as,  Voodoo,Rastafarianism, Shango and Santeria  combined beliefs and practices initially brought to the Caribbean by African slaves with other religious beliefs and practices native to the islands. Carnival was developed from African traditions  masquerades, Kambule and Moko jumbies trace their roots to Africa.

b. East Indians-  made many contributions to the development of the contemporary Caribbean. food is a major contribution as East Indian food and variations is a major part of the diet of many Caribbean islands. Religion is another contribution mainly Hinduism which is practiced by many East Indians in the Caribbean

Source

Professor Maureen Warner-Lewis giving her lecture
‘African Heritage in the Caribbean’ in pictures: March 09, 2007
www.triniview.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=163824

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Activity 1: 4 Pre- History and Pre -literate. Should we be saying such a thing?

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Activity 1: 4 Pre- History and Pre -literate. Should we be saying such a thing?

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Re: Learning Activity 1.4

by Alicia Ramkaran - Thursday, 15 September 2016, 2:31 PM

Hello everyone,

According to the Merriam Webster Online Dictionary and Dictionary .com, “pre-history and “pre-literate” refers to the time before written words. Also, its human’s history before recorded events known mainly through recorded archaeological discoveries”. The Emergence of Diverse Caribbean Civilization’s reading postulated, “it’s before later developments of human civilization until these societies started settling down to work and live of the land”. I think the author used “pre literate” instead of “prehistory” because he wants one to grasp the “nomadic lifestyle” humankind lived back then as per the reading. Also, to describe these societies as one that moved primitively, around where the food was whilst, carrying their homes on their backs wherever they roamed. Whereby, “pre-history” can include the transformation or phenomenons that occurred after that period of society’s developments during and what would deem humankind as civilized, as we know it to be today.

Donald Ryan in one of his website scripts wrote about the existence of human methods of language and communication, before discovering and recording history. Ryan claimed that “the event of writing seems to coincide with the transition from hunter –gatherer (palaeolithic as mentioned in the writing) societies to a permanent era of counting one’s property, land, animals and grains in order to pass it on to other individuals (further advancement). Therefore, who can safely say that the pictographs, drawings on many stones, or walls and artifacts before the “neolithic’ communities as Mrs. Edwards-Sealey refered to these now settled societies, “writing” didn’t tell stories of man before their era. After all, it was a form of language of, between, or among societies back then. Maybe, so those who lived there until the “food” or “game” ran out, were meant to share their history with each other. Also, others who ventured there after they’ve moved on, can know who the people who once lived there once were. I most certainly feel as we who live in the twenty first century shouldn’t be saying pre-literate but history alone, as we weren’t there and can only draw assumptions on all the discoveries that were made after the fact. It is all a part of history and I think looking back at the early stages of humankind’s existence, based on relevant findings and literature produced by many writers, ‘primitive history” should be used instead, or all should be referred as just “history”

References:

Dictionary.com. Prehistory. (n.d). 14 Sept 2016 <http://www.dictionary.com/browse/prehistory>. Marriam Webster. Pre-history. Since 1888. 14 Sept 2016 <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prehistory>. Ryan, Donald. The History of writing. (n.d). 14 Sept 2016 <http://www.historian.net/hxwrite.htm>."The concept of Caribbean Civilization." Learning Activity 1.4 - Reading: The Emergence of Diverse Caribbean Civilisation. FOUN1101 Caribbean Civilisation Unit 1 Version 1, 14 Sept 2016.

Alicia.

Show parent | Reply

Re: Learning Activity 1.4by Paula Edwards-Sealey - Thursday, 15 September 2016, 3:10 PM Hi Alicia, You introduced a valid point.Cave drawings etc are all evidence of human workmanship and perhaps can be seen as a form of communication that occurred during the pre-literate era. Therefore, we both agree in principal, that history existed whether or not written language existed. The issue being raised here, is which term is perhaps most suitable given the context of the piece. As such, your point  that all past events should be simply be termed 'history' rather than distinguishing between pre-literate and prehistory, is well taken. Regards,Paula Show parent | Reply

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Research the terms “Leeward” and“Windward” islands.
Caribbean Civilization Learning Activity 2.4 by Ryan Charles,

The Eastern Caribbean is divided roughly into two sets of islands: those that receive the Trade Winds first, that is, the Windward Islands, and those that are a bit to the west, the Leeward Islands.
The name of this island group, Leeward Islands, dates from previous centuries, when sailing ships were the sole form of transportation across the Atlantic Ocean. In the West Indies, the prevailing winds, known as the trade winds, blow from the northeast to the southwest. The early Spanish colonizers called Puerto Rico and the islands to the west Sotavento, meaning leeward.
Leeward Islands are comprised of the Puerto Rican Virgin Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Saint Martin, Saint-Barthélemy (Fr.) Saba, Sint Eustatius, Saint Kitts, Nevis, Barbuda, Antigua, Redonda, Montserrat, Guadeloupe, la Désirade, Îles des Saintes, Marie-Galante and Dominica.
The Windward Islands include the southeastern islands of the Caribbean. They're called the Windward Islands because they are exposed to the wind ("windward") of the northeast trade winds (the ​north-easterlies) from the Atlantic Ocean.  Within the Windward Islands is a chain that includes many of the smaller islands in this group. This is often called the Windward Chain
Windward Islands are comprised of Dominica, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent Grenada, the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados.
Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LeewardIslands

http://geology.com/world/windward-islands-leeward-islands.shtml

https://www.britannica.com/place/Windward-Islands

vhttps://www.reference.com/geography/islands-make-up-leeward-islands-af79da15161499b3

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Re: Group Discussion Unit 2: 2

by Alicia Ramkaran - Friday, 28 October 2016, 6:36 PM

Contribution on behalf of Group 7 for Learning Activity 2:2 Group Discussion Wiki

Collaborate in your group to discuss the statement below.

Before the arrival  of Columbus the area was of “darkness.” Do you agree or disagree with this statement” Provide (3) reasons in support of your view.

According to a Macro history and World timeline article posted online, Columbus’s travel that was funded by Queen Isabella Castile led him to a functioning and sustainable Caribbean region that was already developed in their in own right in the year 1492. Therefore we do not agree with this statement. Whilst in search of gold coins and precious metals that had replaced battering in Europe, Columbus happened upon an island in the Caribbean Sea that was inhabited by the Guanahanians, known as Tinos and called it San Salvador. As such they were Indigenous- Indians also of the Arawak’s tribe that resided across some of the Caribbean islands. Three months after he met a larger island called Hispaniola with its forested mountains, river valleys and found them to be very friendly, manipulative and fitting to be servants. It was then he noticed their accessories were made of gold. Upon realizing their lack of value of their assets, “he took some of the gold and other items such as species of birds, plants and some natives back to Spain” (Frank E. Smitha, 2000-2015).  In addition, with reference to literature in a book called “Shores of Knowledge,” Joyce Appleby and Professor Emelda of History (UCLA), “described additional items brought back to Spain such as, butterflies and animal fossils, new food such as, “Chiles, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, corn and Tobacco. As a result, “Columbus’s voyage brought the awareness of new people, cultures and the settler’s way of life stimulated new ideas amongst the Europeans” (Frank E. Smitha, 2000-2015).

At the same time, “The Arrival of the Earliest People into the Caribbean spoke of, “the recovery of information from Spanish records of the earliest native culture of people that was both ethnocentric and androcentric. Ethnocentric (Mariam Webster Dictionary) as using one’s culture to judge another’s and ethnocentric (Psychology Dictionary) as a form of predominantly masculine perspective in minimizing or excluding the female’s experience and perspectives from the equation, to justify their inhumane actions towards the Neo- Indians as they were called” (Campbell B, 2015, para, 2). Campbell (2015) further explained that the recovery of this information revealed that Neo – Indians ways was that of sustainability and what seems to be a healthy level of functioning before Columbus’s arrival in 1942.  For example they had their cultural beliefs, their customs, military system and structured development. Accordingly, “their villages consists of houses and they approximately three to five hundred residents with fully functioning societies of trade, religion, politics, forms of communication and the first female leader “Queen Anaconda” and her chiefs (Campbell, 2015, para. 3). As a result, Columbus arrivals into the Caribbean brought chaos, diseases and an influx of the European’s culture, customs and religious beliefs to the earliest people which brought them to the edge of distinction.

In addition to this, ‘The Indigenous Caribbean Settles- the First Peoples” was described as having three types of Indigenous groups. Such as, the Paleo- Indians, Meso Indians and the Neo- Indians who all had similar patterns of living, shared their own culture such as music, food, customs, diverse Arts,  diets and ways of hunting to satisfy and sustain their ways of life or civilization. As a result Columbus visits brought diseases the Tinos or Indian- indigenous peoples had no protection against. Whereby, he destroyed a rich culture based on the Europeans superiority complex of believing they were better than these natives, regardless of the fact that they weren’t in any form of darkness. One of the main reasons Columbus was sent back to the Caribbean by the Queen was based on instructions to convert the natives to Christianity, export gold, other items and fund his voyage with the ten percent that was promised to him from his many spoils. In conclusion, “Appleby and Professor Emelda described the impact of Columbus’s voyage as unrelated to his intentions,” and after his failure to baptize and convert the navies into Christianity he was jailed because he was only interested in selling slaves, abusing his status, power and mismanaging the colony (Frank E. Smitha, 2000-2015). Following this in 1502, the Caribbean felt the effects of the governance of Nicholas de Ovando, who was sent to bring order in the colony and it was he according to Mr. Campbell, who hung the first female leader ‘Queen Anaconda” and burnt her chiefs alive in the year 1503” (Campbell, 2015).

Therefore one can indeed realize that before Columbus happened upon the Caribbean region, it was a fully a functioning civilized society and nothing near any kind of darkness thus, the Caribbean civilization were judged based on his subjective beliefs in comparison to the development of the European culture, which was only different from that of their own.

References

J. B, Campbell (2015). Unit 2 Course reading, The Caribbean, Defining the Caribbean Civilization and The Arrival of the earlist People into the Caribbean. 11th-17th Sept 2015. 28 10 2016 <http://201610.tle.courses.open.uwi.edu/pluginfile.php/22601/mod_resource/content/4/FOUN1101%20Unit%202%20Version%201%20reformatted_22Aug.pdf>.Smitha., Frank E. Columbus to the Caribbean, Micro History and World Timeline. Copyright © 2000-2015 . 28 10 2016 <http://www.fsmitha.com/h3/h17-am.html>.

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Activity 4: 1 Examined Caribbean Chattel Slavery where we as a group posted our responses:

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Album : The Mighty Sparrow Sings True Life Stories Of Passion, People & Politics. 1964

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Christopher Columbus reaching the New World, by D. K. Bonatti (fl. 17201780). Hispaniola ...(c. 1451- 1506)- World History in Context Gale 1975x149 image. Retrieved on (2016. 11. 25)

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. Map of the Caribbean Sea showing all the Caribbean islands.                                                                                    

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. Map of the Caribbean Sea showing all the Caribbean islands.                                                                                    

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In the year 1492 Christopher happened upon the Caribbean Sea, he came to  the island of San Salvador, Hispaniola as can be seen on the map. This voyage was one that  started a chain of events in history that largely  impacted the natives and link the Caribbean to other cultures. This resulted in how we know it to be today.

Caribbean map retrieved on 2016. November. 24. from Spanish flashplayer bet365 (n.d) sixe 2189X1796.

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According to Campbell (2010) in one of our September 24th BBc Course Session, there were three sets of indigenous Caribbean settlers- the first set of peoples such as, the Paleo- Indians, Meso Indians and Neo – Indians. It’s amazing how a civilization that meant nothing to others can mean so much to its generations to come and because of historical retrievals from many historiographers, authors, researchers, sugar cane planters, African survivors and so forth we are privilege to all the information on our Caribbean history. Our Group Caribbean Reflectors, will take you on our Caribbean academic learning journey of our Caribbean history. First we have an introduction of our group members followed by a video presentation of a our first knowledge of Caribbean history and a comparison based on what we are learning throughout Foun1501 Caribbean Civilization Course to understanding our social environment. Including a video of challenges we are facing and strategies we've employed to overcome them. Throughout this page, you will see how we moved from individual "self" to group activities where we looked inside the lives of West African's experiences as chattel slaves. Altogether you will see relevant artifacts and relics throughout our padlet page that will support what we are learning, some positive aspects of this course followed by a conclusion.