The Portfolio by Sheena Deany

Discovery?

Development

EDUCATION CULTURE

FOUN1101 Caribbean Civilisation Assignment #3:
The Portfolio

By: Sheena Deany
University of the West Indies
e-Tutor: Gloria Sandiford
Due: July 9th 2018

Description of Portfolio
This electronic portfolio, seeks to demonstrate the journey of learning throughout the semester of Caribbean
Civilisation. In short, a collection of student work that allows assessment by providing evidence of effort and
accomplishments in relation to specific instructional goals (Jardine, 1996).

BIOGRAPHY
Of Sheena Deany

Sheena Deany is University of the West Indies Open Campus; St. Lucia student. In recalling her registration for the
summer 2018 courses she ponders on the use of the Foundation Course; Caribbean Civilisation, wondering the need
of it in her Social Work degree program. She admits that she entered the course believing it redundant, after having
done History at Secondary School. Surprisingly a new outlook of History is what she received. It was a journey to
remember, one of learning. In efforts to relive this journey of the Caribbean she shares the learning with a portfolio
of short collections of memorable takeaways, from the discovery of the Caribbean to the reflection of the past.
This journey helped her to she noted that the past ,good or bad is who we are , the Caribbean , a melting pot of
culture not just a geographical location with politics and a lavish history. She admits that this course was an eye
opener she is no longer blind to the Caribbean history and provided her with a canvas, weaving a journey of
understanding and appreciation for the past seeing what is invisible to others, smiling at her new found knowledge.
No longer blind to the past she can now look forward to a future in Social Work.

Activity 2.1 Who discovered
the Caribbean?
Were the earliest
inhabitants of the The new world
Caribbean experienced
primitive? civilisation upon
the arrival of
Columbus?

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, discover means to make known or visible. Therefore it would be
inaccurate to say Columbus discovered the Caribbean when it was inhabited natives who he referred to as
“Indians”. Instead, he had discovered a “new world”, described as the lands in the western hemisphere and
especially North and South America thus this was a world foreign to his European world.
Proof of inhabitant before Columbus is purported by Dr Ivan Van Sertima In his book “They Came Before
Columbus”. He claims that Africans had been to the New World centuries before Columbus arrived there in 1492.
Citing–the huge Negroid-looking Olmec heads of Central Mexico and the similarities between the Aztec and
Egyptian calendars and pyramid structures. Evidence of a black presence in America was given to Columbus by the
Indians themselves: they gave concrete proof to the Spanish that they were trading with black people. “The Indians
of this Espanola said there had come to Espanola a black people who have the tops of their spears made of a metal
which they called gua-nin, of which he [Columbus] had sent samples to the Sovereigns to have them assayed,

when it was found that of 32 parts, 18 were of gold, 6 of silver and 8 of copper. The origin of the word guanin may
be tracked down in the Mande languages of West Africa, through Mandigo, Kabunga, Toronka, Kankanka,
Banbara, Mande and Vei. In Vei, we have the form of the word ka-ni which, transliterated into native phonetics,
would give us gua-nin.” p.11. This was just one of the numerous instances, cited by Professor Sertima, where the
names, cultures and rituals of the Mandigos converge with those of the ancient Americans. These citing also
confirm that there was some form of learning, cultural exchange and development for their time all indicators of
civilisation.
This disputes the saying that the earliest inhabitants of the Caribbean were primitive and that the “new world
“experienced civilisation upon the arrival of Columbus. However, Columbus was greeted on the shores of the
Caribbean by Indians. Research has proven that these Indians were neo-Indians called Tainos. These Taino people
had a chief, and skilled in farming, fishing and hunted to feed themselves. They were functional, making pottery,
baskets and other items needed for living. Noting the early inhabitant society and matching it with the Cambridge
Online Dictionary which refers to civilization as “human society with its well-developed social organisation, or the
cultural and way of life of a society or country at a particular period in time,” it would appear that for their society
and time that the Taino people with their attributes were civilised thus civilisation was present when Columbus
arrived. It is therefore fitting to state that there is no such thing, as an uncivilised group or 'primitive' people. The
demographic diversity and economy of the region were enhanced both by slavery and indentured labourers to the
Caribbean, thus many factors aided in the economy of the Caribbean.

Activity 3.3 How important was
the non sugar
Did the industry in the
introduction of creation of the
sugar cane into Caribbean economy
the Caribbean in the 17th century?
aid or hamper
Caribbean
Development?

.

Columbus’s Journey to the Caribbean has linked the sugar industry, slavery and plantation permanently, causing
social and economic impacts. Non-sugar production within which the enslaved lived and worked throughout the
Caribbean (for example, Haiti, Belize, Cuba, Barbados, Jamaica, Bahamas, and Puerto Rico) saw the emergence of
the livestock industry. Barry Higman makes a contribution to Jamaican economic history by describing the
changing functions, as well as the size, shape, land use, and field patterns, of cattle farms and ranches, known since
the seventeenth century as pens. Shepherd and Kathleen E. A. Monteith, in their attempt to examine pen keepers
and coffee farmers in Jamaica, challenged the argument that plantation societies had "limited possibilities for
internal capital accumulation" because they lacked an important domestic market. They note that Jamaican
penkeepers and coffee farmers, who were more diverse in terms of race, colour, and gender than the sugar planters,
played a significant role in the local economic and political context. The Americas 61.2 (2004) 308-310. Verene A.
note that the sugar plantation model has masked "the fact that diversification was a significant feature of Caribbean
society and economy even in the age of sugar" (p. 1). In order to draw attention to the economic and social diversity
that has defined the region since the seventeenth century, Verene A. looked at the French, Spanish and above all
British Caribbean with their attention to non-sugar agricultural production, free people of colour, and urban slavery.
The Caribbean mainly Belize focused timber extraction Bahamas; cotton production proving to be fruitful.

King sugar was instrumental in shaping the diverse political, economic, and social histories of the Caribbean since
colonial times. This was echoed by anthropologist Sidney Mintz (1985) who stated: “Being in Sugar is like
collecting Confederate currency”. This assessment is shared by many sugar industry observers, insiders, and,
increasingly, by many Caribbean officials. Once established on the Caribbean island, sugar production increased
rapidly, with Barbados experiencing an increase from 7,000 to 12,000 tons produced per year between 1655 and
1700. Even more remarkable is Guadeloupe, which increased its exports from 2,000 tons in 1674 to 10,000 tons in
the early eighteenth century, with assistance from Martinique. Matthew Edel, p. 27. Thus sugar with its increased
production in the Caribbean meant “economic boom.”
Sugar continues to aid the economy, Former sugar cane production sites have now been designated as a tourist
attraction. Some areas of former sugar production have become localised regions where buildings, gardens and
even fields of sugar cane have been preserved to become settings for hotels, restaurants, bars, museums or cultural
centres. former sugar production have become localised regions where buildings, gardens and even fields of sugar
cane have been preserved to become settings for hotels, restaurants, bars, museums or cultural centres Historical
societies sometimes refer to former sugar plantation sites as ‘heritage landscapes’, and one site with a sugar
plantation history has been designated as World Heritage Sites and used as Tourism attractions encouraging tourist
to visit, and increasing the country’s income.
Strict trade law through political interferences is an outcome of sugar. Political action has been a major driver of
change in the sugar, primarily at two levels –global and individual islands. Global actions were of obvious
importance throughout the colonial period (e.g. decisions by Spain to grow sugar in Hispaniola; French and British
actions to control all trade in their respective islands throughout the period of mercantilism; legislative action to end
the slave trade and slavery; movement towards free trade). Warfare among European and American powers (e.g.
the Seven-Years War, the American Revolution, the Spanish–American War) had profound effects on Caribbean
sugar plantations, particularly when the arena of action moved into the region. Caribbean islands that believed that
political independence would end their submission to global controls have been disappointed, as new international
institutions (e.g. the World Trade Organisation, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund)

have continued to exercise a great deal of influence on the Caribbean sugar industry and landscape. At the same
time, actions within specific islands have been important in helping to shape the sugar-cane landscape. The most
dramatic of these actions was the Haitian Revolution. Sugarcane with its influence in Slavery, mainly occurring
after the abolition of slavery, has ensured development in the Caribbean.
Once emancipation took effect, persons got a taste of freedom and required more.They, therefore, secured their
safety through self-efficiency. This encouraged agricultural diversity.The Caribbean now had other products, other
than sugar to be fruitful. It now meant that ex-slaves can find jobs other than that of the sugar plantation to be self-
efficiency learning new skills sustainable.This brought to the realisation that they can now receive formal
education, which was forbidden during slavery.

Activity 7.1
Was education in the British
Caribbean, after the abolition of
slavery, a new form of social
advancement or new form of
social control?

During slavery, there had been no formal provision of education for the slaves. The advent of the abolition of
slavery meant the removal of the controls which slavery provided, setting former slave owners in a state of panic,
fearing the destabilization of society in the Caribbean which was imminent. The ex-slaves had a new form of social
control, as education was used to effect conversion and cement denominational loyalties, and to create social
fractions. This was facilitated through the financial provision made in the Emancipation Act of 1833 for the
“religious and moral education of the Negro population to be emancipated. As Marx put it religion was “opium of
the people” and with increased findings to churches, missionary work was increased, helping to make ex-slaves
passive aggressive.
Ex-slaves also weren’t taught by “real teachers” hindered advancement and kept them socially retarded. Education,
with the use of elementary schools, also sought to keep the ex-slaves controlled through social status quo, this
meant that middle-class children’s ensure a position is filled through their studies, making them ready to replace
their parents thus minimising any social advancement.
The planters had their interest to protect; they had the support of the British Government behind them, whilst the
ex-slaves had nothing but their ambition, labour and their power to withdraw it. The ex-slave’s powerless when it
came to fighting against arbitrary taxation, anti-squatting legislation, high rentals for prime land, unavailability of
land, and low wages which remained static for close on one hundred years after Emancipation. The ex-slaves were
marginalised; their voices went unheard of and were ignored. The blacks were seen as inferiors to their "white
“counterparts, bringing about racism, partly concealed by the legal system of slavery itself, became a major force in
social control. Social control did not mean however that the ex-slave was restricted from practising or sharing their
culture, evident in cultural activities passed down through the generations past.

Origin of Jounen
Kweyol

How does it show, the
Caribbean culture is
always evolving.

\
Are other activities
subsumed for a larger
general identity during the
celebration of the festival.

The month of October, Creole Heritage Month marked by a celebration of the way of life of St. Lucians in times
past is recognized. Culminating the month-long celebration is Jounen Kweyol which translates to Creole Day,
celebrated October 28th. This day of Creole heritage is the brainchild of Bannzil Kweyol, an organisation in 1981,
aimed at promoting French Creole Languages. Public observation and celebration are on the last Sunday in
October. Getting the public to actively participate in this festival; helps meet the original goal of the organisation;
“to make St. Lucian society aware of the strength and value of the kweyol language and to assist in the
understanding and development of its rich cultural resources”
To meet this goal, the focus of the festival is not just language but also on how in tune a St. Lucian is regarding
their cultural heritage. St. Lucian display artefacts, relics, technologies, clothing, cuisine and materials used by their
ancestors. Educators of the Kweyol language, kweyol activists and others also take time to applaud, observe and
pay respect to St. Lucian's past and present who have contributed significantly toward preserving and spreading the

culture of the past be it in song, dance, theatre, and everyday life. During the celebration, though St. Lucia is
ethically and culturally diverse, the celebration seemed to be primarily African based with folk music and visible
African wear throughout the month and, of course, the day. This celebration and the main ethnic group celebrated is
proof that the past, main slavery of Africans continue to play an integral part of the island’s life as it continues to
shape the people who are appreciative of their past and embrace their inherited culture. This appreciation is ensured
through national lectures. Noting that the church plays an integral part in shaping society; the church also holds
Kweyol church service, using innovative ways to ensure society embrace its ever-evolving culture.
Jounen Kweyol has come a long way, it is not only celebrated by nationals but is used as a tourist attraction.
Evidence of Caribbean cultural globalisation is seen through patriotic St. Lucians living overseas as they would
come together to celebrate the day, just as they would if they were in their home country. The younger generation,
whilst they would dress up in ancestral wear, they would make it fashionable and current. Proving that culture
evolve with time and change with the generation as interpretations may change due to generational gaps and much
more

Work cited
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(review) The Americas,61,pp.308-310, DOI 10.1353/tam.2004.0138.Access July 6, 2018

Edel, Matthew. “The Brazilian Sugar Cycle of the Seventeenth Century and the Rise of the West Indian
Competition.” Caribbean Studies, (1969) Vol IX, no. 1, pp. 24-43.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265946364_Slavery_Without_Sugar_Diversity_in_Caribbean_Economy_
and_Society_Since_the_17th_Century_review [accessed Jul 06 2018].

Ivan Van Sertima, They Came Before Columbus:the African Presence in Ancient America,Random House, 2003,
P11

Eudell, Demetrius Lynn. "Slavery without Sugar: Diversity in Caribbean Economy and Society Since the 17th
Century (review)." Journal of Interdisciplinary History, vol. 36 no. 1, 2005, pp. 130-132. Project MUSE.
Access Jul 04 2018.

King Ruby, Education in the British Caribbean: The Legacy of the Nineteenth Century
http://www.educoas.org/Portal/bdigital/contenido/interamer/BkIACD/Interamer/Interamerhtml/Millerhtml/
mil_king.htm Access July 8, 2018

MacDonald, Scott B, and F. Joseph Demetrius, The Caribbean Sugar Crisis: Consequences and Challenge ,”Journal
of Inter-American Studies and world affairs,vol.28,no.1,1986,pp 35-58,DOI:10.2307/165735

The sugar-cane landscape of the Caribbean Islands: Resilience, adaptation and transformation of the plantation
social—ecological system. Available from:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289925325_The_sugar-
cane_landscape_of_the_Caribbean_Islands_Resilience_adaptation_and_transformation_of_the_plantation_s
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Shirley C. Gordon, “Heads of a Plan for Promoting the Education of Youth in the British West Indies, 1834,” A
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