Volume No. 2 Issue No. 33 - Wednesday March 26, 2008
Dominica Carib Uniqueness
In 1997, Caribs boarded a 35-foot dugout canoe, on its journey from Dominica south through the island chain to Guyana.
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Our explorations into the Caribs of Dominica has been truly fascinating, more so because they are still in existence carrying on with ancient traditions and crafts, as well as modern day governing and economics. They do indeed have strength of character, and are very friendly and accommodating of their guests.
First meeting - The Carib (Kallinago) Territory Guesthouse, owned and operated by the Carib Chief Charles Williams and his wife Margaret. Anyone passing up on viewing the above link is sorely missing out on an adventure.
Chief Williams was kind enough to explain to us that there are no poisonous snakes, scorpions or spiders, or other creatures to scare anyone away from the forest. That was a huge relief to me, I live with those in my backyard and always have, but thick jungle forests I always heard were loaded with scary creatures! I really, really love thick forests, have since I was a child. They've always been my secret fantasy worlds to escape the abuse at home. I could have so much fun here, but I don't know if fairies and goblins live here or not?
We were then introduced to an amazing feat that recently took place. A local artist and others crafted a Carib canoe in the same fashion as the ancients did, and set sail across the sea to visit other Caribs on their islands. This is simply an amazing tale, and web site explaining how they made the canoe, where they traveled to, and how their visits went. There are multiple pages to this site, it takes a bit of digging to find all of the pages of info and pictures, but well worth the exploration: The Carib Canoe Project.
One of the Carib artists, if memory serves me correctly, worked on the canoe project or was the visionary for it, and is also an artist with Carib baskets - which are waterproof that served the Carib people. Carib handicrafts are unique because the designs have been handed down from one generation to the next since long before the time of Columbus.
The designs originated in the rainforests of the River Basin. Today similar designs using the same materials as those of the Island Caribs are still made by the Amerindian tribes along the banks of the Orinoco. This is fascinating considering that there has been no interaction for over five hundred years and yet the material and styles survive independently. This makes the possession of a Carib basket more than just the souvenir of a visit but gives a tangible link with the Caribbean before 1492.
Normally I keep my research information fairly organized, but this time things are scattered around. I think because that's the case on most of the web sites also. There's so much to Dominica, past and present, that truly is currently intertwined, that it is difficult not to talk about one without including the other. I've not run across anything quite like this so far in our travels. Hawaii perhaps, in that there are still native blood lines there, and Hawaii has a movement within it to revert Hawaii back to an independent country, but they are not as a current society as friendly and cooperative as everyone here in Dominica. Dominica could teach Hawaii a few things at the moment. Dominicans are not in denial of their native heritage, Hawaiians are.
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