The Caribs of Dominica

Since we have read a few of his essays on the Dominica Caribs elsewhere, we thought Douglas Taylor's The Caribs of Dominica. Though very short, it seems to be based on fieldwork in the Carib Reserve in the 1930s. It certainly reflects that older era in which Western scholars openly expressed racist and condescending views of their ethnographic subjects. Nonetheless, the material focus of this brief study highlighted how the Caribs of Dominica, even after generations of Christianization and intermarriage with the black population, retained some distinct practices of canoe-making, fishing, basketry, and traditions that give some insights into the nature of precolonial indigenous social practices. For our purposes, however, it would likely be more fruitful to revisit and read Rochefort, Labat, and Breton, especially the bilingual dictionary from the 17th century that would shed even more light on the nature of an indigenous Caribbean people. 

Richard Hill in Haiti

Richard Hill

Although we have read snippets of Richard Hill's letters about his travels in Haiti in 1830-1831, reading the published letters in toto shed much light on Haiti in the Boyer years. Published in Haïti, ou, Renseignemens authentiques sur l'abolition de l'esclavage et ses résultats a Saint-Domingue et a la Guadeloupe, : avec des détails sur l'état actuel d'Haiti et des noirs émancipés qui forment sa population. Traduit de l'anglais by Zachary Macaulay, Hill's letters touch upon a number of important themes: African American immigration, rural conditions, labor on the estates and former plantations, the peculiarities of the hateros and Spanish-speaking part of the island, the negative impact of the indemnity to France and Haiti's economic fortunes. Since Hill was a Jamaican of mixed-race ancestry and traveled to Haiti on the behalf of abolitionism, one must keep in mind how this bias shaped his perceptions of Haiti.

For instance, nearly everywhere he went, Hill was full of praise for the respectful attitudes of cultivateurs, he praised the state of their gardens, and even praised the houses then under construction in Port-au-Prince, after the disastrous fire of 1822 which destroyed a large part of the capital. One must keep these biases in mind when comparing Hill to Charles Mackenzie, an earlier British traveler whose longer report on Haiti represented a more negative or pessimistic view of the Black Republic. Indeed, when one considers the contradictions of Mackenzie's Notes and his misleading portrayal of Haiti, Hill, despite his fulsome praise for the conditions of the island, seems more reliable. Of course, the truth was likely somewhere in the middle, with some of the negative traits of Haitian political and economic life outlined by Mackenzie being fair or more accurate than Hill's portrayal. One also truly wonders if the few prosperous estates in the Cul-de-Sac plain, such as that owned by Lacombe or Lerebours or Nau, really were as modern or efficient as the sugarcane plantations one could have seen in Jamaica. Similarly, the persistence of superstitions among the population, something not clearly understood by Hill yet witnessed by him, was presented as something which Catholic clergy sought to Christianize or redirect but surely was used by other foreigners to portray the Haitian population regression. 

That said, Hill's letters about his travels across Haiti's West and North provinces (and part of today's Dominican Republic) paint an interesting portrait of the island. African American immigrants, for instance, were referenced in various parts of the island, usually in rural areas. The most successful ones were those who pooled their resources together, such as those living near Arcahaie, to become comfortable farmer. Sadly, the common complaint of the African Americans was the lack of schools for their children, but Hill's testimony does suggest that some of them were able to become landowners and relatively prosperous. Those in the urban areas, however, did not fare so well due to the lack of work. Unfortunately, Hill did not name any of these African Americans, but one wonders if these were among the ones who stayed permanently rather than returning to the US. We also lack information on relations between the African American farmers and their Haitian neighbors, a topic which could help us understand the impact of African Americans in the Haitian economy. Certainly, the introduction of smallpox and other diseases by the American immigrants may have soured relations between them and Haitians, although that One also wonders if some of these American immigrants were involved with Haiti's timber and dyewood industry, a sector of the economy that included many laborers and merchants who purchased trees from peasants and landholders from the center of the island for export from the ports like Gonaives. 

Surprisingly, Hill also noted Amerindian or indigenous traits and influences in the island. These were, when noted, only present among the "Espagnols" or those from what was once the Spanish colony. The physical traits most obvious to Hill were their olive skin tone and straight, black hair. While these features could have also come about through the racial fusion of Spaniards and Africans over centuries, Hill also saw Indian traits in the pottery and utensils of the hateros. These Spanish-speaking rustics, whose customs differed from those from the Haitian part of the island, were more European in some regards. That said, Hill frequently noted the presence of "Indian" blood among what would be today considered Dominicans (or Haitians from the Centre Department areas like Hinche, Saint Michel de L' Atalaye and Lascahobas). Haitians, on the other hand, are either noirs or mulattoes, most falling in the former category (though Hill did note that marabous, sacatras and other dark-skinned people of mixed-race origin were common in Haiti). Despite some of the problematic assumptions on his part, and the large-scale movement of Haitians into the area of the former colonial border already evident by 1830, this indigenous legacy was still noticeable to Hill and was also observed by subsequent writers. Perhaps it was this feature of Haiti's central plateau and what is now the Dominican Republic that has led to some Haitians finding indigenous ancestry through DNA testing. 

Juan Garrido, Black Conquistador

Ricardo Alegria's brief study of Juan Garrido, a prominent black conquistador who participated in various expeditions and conquests in Puerto Rico, Florida, Mexico and Baja California, is a worthwhile read. It helps one to understand the connections between the early conquests of the Taino chiefdoms in the Antilles through the career of a free black. Sadly, his early life is unknown, but his probanza and references to him in Spanish sources tell us that he came to Hispaniola as a free man. Later, he joined Ponce de Leon in the pacification of Puerto Rico and then participated in Ponce de Leon's second Florida expedition. In between these two campaigns, Garrido also fought against the "Caribs" in Dominica and Guadeloupe before ending up in Mexico via Cuba. 

Alegria then follows Garrido's career to Michoacan, Baja California and his final days in Mexico City, where Garrido probably died in the 1540s. Despite his role in the fall of Tenochtitlan in 1521, in the conquest of Puerto Rico and his being the first to sow wheat in New Spain, Garrido, his wife (possibly an Indian woman) and three sons lived in poverty. His granjeria and the sweat of his labor provided a low subsistence while newcomers received encomiendas or more favors from the Spanish Crown. In addition, the fall of Cortes from leadership in the colony may have also made it harder for Garrido and other old allies of Cortes to access land and Indian labor. That said, Garrido did briefly endeavor to mine gold in Michoacan with slave labor, although he indebted himself for slaves and tools.

While Garrido's career indicates the relatively high position accessible to free blacks in early colonial Mexico, and his skin color may have even played a role in the conquest due to its novelty to Indians, Garrido never received the full compensation for his labor that he deserved. That said, his relatively high status among the conquistadors is an interesting case study of how non-Spaniards contributed to the success of the Spanish conquest. Indeed, there was even a Taino cacique from Cuba who also came to Mexico to participate in the conquest, bringing about 40 of his subjects with him (Diego de Valbuena). We are curious about the role of Taino and Africans in Spanish conquests in the mainland, as well as possible instances in which Indians from the Antilles, like some of the enslaved Africans, chose to rebel. Indeed, Mexico City witnessed a slave conspiracy along those lines in which black slaves and Indians eager to get rid of the Spanish, planned to revolt. 

Peter Martyr d'Anghiano

Our ongoing obsession with the Taino led to our rereading of De Orbe Novo by Peter Martyr d'Anghiano. Although the author never personally traveled to the Antilles, he received the testimony and met with Columbus and various other Spaniards who crossed the Atlantic. Indeed, he even saw some of the curiosities, plants, and objects brought to Europe by those who did indeed travel. In addition, according to Bernardo Vega, our author was also one of those who recorded the details of a detailed map and description of the island of Hispaniola by Andres Morales. Furthermore, he even had access to the report of a certain friar, one of the most important sources on the religion and mythology of Hispaniola's indigenous population. 

De Orbe Novo is also full of rich information and details on the Caribbean and circum-Caribbean region's peoples. For instance, an early description of Guadeloupe's population mentioned numerous villages of 20-30 houses and a public square, used for games. This useful information on Guadeloupe provides modern scholars with some rough estimate of the population of indigenous villages in Guadeloupe and other parts of the Antilles in the late precolonial period. An early reference to Puerto Rico, or Borinquen, likewise alludes to Indian informants telling Columbus that the entirety of the island was under the rule of a single king (Agueybana or the cacicazgo of Agueybana?). Supposedly these Puerto Rico natives were able to communicate with the Spaniards via interpreters from Columbus's first voyage. Even so, one wonders if Puerto Rico truly was under the dominion of a single cacicazgo. 

This same source is similarly important for piecing together the intricacies of inter-cacique conflict and alliances in Hispaniola, or Haiti. Guacanagaric, the cacique in the north who first welcomed Columbus, blamed the massacre and destruction of the men left by Columbus at La Navidad on two more powerful caciques. And another cacique in the northern part of the island was described at living in a spacious house surrounded by 30 ordinary houses, perhaps another indication of a Taino village size. Martyr d'Anghiera's description of Haiti's indigenous people even included mention of trade with other islands for plates, seats (duhos), and articles manufactured with black wood (guayacan?). We also learn from this same source that the cacique Guarionex married his sister to Diego, the interpreter of Columbus. This was surely a great attempt to seal an alliance with the Spanish via a familiar other (Diego) who understood the Spanish, an entirely new type of other who threatened the political equilibrium of the island. Yet Guarionex would later resist the Spanish after the defeat of Caonabo and his brother (who allegedly raised 5000 troops against the Spanish only to be defeated by their cavalry). The fact that Guarionex taught an areyto to Mayobanex was so significant that the latter stood by Guarionex against the Spanish, even as his supporters allegedly abandoned him.

Jamaica's Indians were described as living in a fertile land and skilled in mechanical arts, perhaps indicating an exchange of goods between Jamaica and Haiti in the precolonial past. Cuba, on the other island, presents a number of interesting questions on the nature of indigenous Caribbean mobility and connections to other parts of the Antilles. One early Spaniard on the island reported seeing Indians wearing white tunics but a subsequent search failed to locate them. Furthermore, Spanish reported hearing of a powerful king in the interior of the island who wore clothes. Yet, this very same source also describes the Indians of Cuba as never leaving their territory and taking little notice of their neighbors. This is interesting since there may have been a presence of Yucatan Maya or other mainland populations (the Indians wearing clothes) in Cuba. While the later presence a Indian woman from Jamaica at Cozumel was noted by the Spanish, perhaps contacts between the Yucatan and Cuba were also in existence prior to the Spanish arrival. 

Last, but certainly not least, some intriguing details about the Indians of the northern coast of South America are worthy of mention. The Paria natives, described as wearing gold and pearl collars or bracelets, claimed their gold came from a mountainous country. The caciques of their region also used duhos made of black wood, like the caciques of the Antilles. The Curiana Indians also were said to possess pearls, rich game, yucca, and used guanin. The Curiana traded pearls for gold from from the Cauchieta, a people said to have worn trousers of cotton. There was even a district of the Paria coast, Haraia, which contained rich salines, whose salt was traded to foreigners. In addition, the Paria peoples preserved the bodies of their chiefs. This is all suggestive and points to the long-standing trade links across northern South America. The reference to guanin, which we know was also used by the Taino in the Antilles, points to trade with the mainland. However, if it is true about some of the Indians preserved the bodies of their chiefs, it brings to mind the Incas and Andean civilizations. One begins to wonder about possible long-distance trade connecting to the other coast of South America. 

Dugu Song

Although we remain quite ignorant of the history and culture of the Garifuna peoples, it is astonishing and intriguing how this "Canto Dugu" resembles our Haitian ritual music and chanting. Rhythmically less complex, one can see, perhaps, the "Carib" or Indian influences in Garifuna music and tradition. That said, Garifuna Dugu undoubtedly has African features that unite it, at least somewhat, with the better-known Vodou, Santeria and other Afro-Caribbean traditions.