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University Microfilms 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 A X erox Education Com pany I 7 2 -27,046 LANDMAN, B ette Emeline, 1937- HOUSEHOLD AND COMMUNITY IN CANOUAN, BRITISH WEST INDIES. The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1972 Anthropology University Microfilms, A XEROX Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan © Copyright by Bette Emeline Landman 1972 THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN' MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED HOUSEHOLD AND COMMUNITY IN C&NOUAN, BRITISH WEST INDIES DISSERTATION nted in Fartial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the ree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By B ette Emeline Landman, B.S. in E due.» M.A, ******* The Ohio State Unii*ersity 1972 Approved hy PLEASE NOTE: Some pages may have indistinct print. Filmed as received. University Microfilms, A Xerox Education Company ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation-~concerning social relationships on the West Indian island of Canouan--is -the result of a preliminary field trip to St, Vincent and Grenada in the summer o f 1964 and f i e l d work on Canouan and St, V in cen t from September 1S65 to May 1966, The latter work was sup ported by a grant (#1920) from the Wanner-Gran Foundation for Anthropological Research. Both during the field work and during the writing of this dissertation, I was patiently guided by Dr. Erika E. Bourguignon. 1 am especially indebted to Dr. Bourguignon, for without her kind understanding and urging, this dissertation would not have been completed. It is difficult to acknowledge all of those to whom on acquires an intellectual debt—teachers, colleagues, friends—but I have tried to credit these in the text of the dissertation, Eoth in the United States and on St. Vincent, people were exceedingly generous in offering suggestions and aid for this research. Most of all, 1 extend my deepest gratitude to the people of Canouan, without whose openess, generosity, and kindness this research could not have been accomplished. VITA J u ly 18 1937 Born—Piqua, Ohio 1959 B.S. in Education, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio 1957-60 Fifth Grade Teacher, Worthington Public Schools, Worthington, Ohio 1960-61 Graduate Fellow, The Ohio State Univer sity, Columbus, Ohio 1961 M.A., The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1961-63 Cooperative Graduate Follow, National Science Foundation, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio Summer, 1963 Research Assistant, Cross-Cultural Study of Disoociational States, Dr. Erika Eourguignon, Director. The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, 1963-65 Instructor, Springfield College, Springfield, Massachusetts 1965-66 F ie ld Work, Canouan, B r itis h '.vest In d ies, Fellow, Wermor-Gren Foundation for Anthro p o lo g ic a l r ea earch 1966-67 Assistant Professor, Springfield College, S pr in g f i e1d , Ma s sa chusa 11s 1967-71 Instructor, Temple University, Philadel phia, Pennsylvania 1971- Assistant Professor, Beaver College, G1anside, P enn sy1van ia i i i VITA—-c o n tin u e d FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Anthropology studies in Cultural Anthropology. Professor Erika E. Eourguignon Studies in Physical Anthropology. Professors Leo A. Estel and Louanna Psttay Studies in Anatomy. Professor Linden..F, Edwards i v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................... i i VITA . ................................................................................ , . i i l LIST OF TABLES ............................................ ....... « . v i LIST OF MAPS ........................................................... ...... v i i Chapter I . INTRODUCTION....................................................................... 1 II. THE SETTING.......................................................................................24 The Grenadines Canouan P op ulation H istory Economics and Livelihood G eneral Comments and C onclusions I I I . THE COMMUNITY .................................................................. 75 P r in c ip le s K inship Color Occupation and Income Education R elig io n Sodalities/Voluntary Associations Social Prestige Sex, Age, and Origin IV. THE HOUSEHOLD AND THE FA M ILY ............................... 200 Mating Household Compos i t ion Household and Family Relationships V. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS .......................... 248 APPENDIXES . .......................... 260 BIBLIOGRAPHY . ........................ 295 V LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Population of Canouan by Age and Sex, February 1, 1966 ................................. 43 2 , Population of Canouan by Age Categories and Sex, February 1, 1966 ....... 44 3. Grenadines and Canouan Population at Available Censuses, 1371-1960 ..... 47 4. Major Crops on Canouan and Their Harvest P eriod s ..................... ........... 52 5. Adult Male Occupations by Age and Origin, Canouan, 1966 . ................................... 71-72 6. Comparison of Role Foci for Canouan Males and Females, and "Outsiders" . , . -r , 199 7. Distribution of Population by Sex, Age, and Conjugal Condition: Canouan, 1966 , 203 8. Origin of Spouses and Birth Status of Live- Eorn Children by Women Ever Married: Canouan, 1966 . » , . ......................................... 212 9. Aclult Women by Age Group and M ating S ta tu s 214 10. Composition of Households Classified by Relationship to Head ..............................220-221 11. Distribution of Different Types of Residential Units 224 v i L IST OF MAPS Map Page I. The Leaser Antilles ........... 25 II. The Grenadines .................................. 28 III. Canouan ......... .............................. 30 IV. Land Utilization Map of Canouan ..... 37 v ii chapter I INTRODUCTION Despite the already rather voluminous literature on West Indian domestic organization, this study presents another variant on what has emerged as a relatively prevalent West Indian lower class creole (Afro-American) domest 1,0 !Dv ittern. This variant is found on the small island of Canouan in the southern Caribbean, This presentation, however, w ill not be devoted to domestic ox'ganization alone, I argue that the West Indian domestic unit cannot be fully understood unless we see how it articulates with the larger society, both at the level of wider contemporary society and, most important, within the island community itself. Last, because the rules of a social system are frequently best derived from observations of tho factors that impinge upon encuicurative processes, we shall examine how both the domestic u n it' and the ccr.vr.un-ity inter- act to provide a framework within which children are reared. It. is my thesis that variations in child-rearing practices and family/hcusahold relations are not only a function of different parental macing patterns (see M, G. Smith, esp, 1962a, 1962b) but; also of d.iffsrontial parental participation, 1 and its social evaluation, within the community in general. To reiterate, then, this study w ill focus on three aspects of Canouan society: first, it w ill examine the informal and formal groupings or social relations that act to integrate and define community on Canouan; second, it w ill examine the nature of Canouan domestic organisation, testing the relation ship and applicability to Canouan itself of some current hypotheses and generalisations about the West Indian family and household; and third, it will describe Canouan child rearing practices and parent-child relationships and attempt to relate these to the previously examined social units of community and family. Certain aspects of Canouan culture and society raake the island a desirable location for an examination of this sort. .First, Canouan incorporates several features of West Indian society that are currently being explored