University of London Thesis
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
SHL ITEM BARCODE 19 1774385 9 REFERENCE ONLY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON THESIS Degree YearQ£jC^ Name of Author COPYRIGHT This is a thesis accepted for a Higher Degree of the University of London. It is an unpublished typescript and the copyright is held by the author. All persons consulting this thesis must read and abide by the Copyright Declaration below. COPYRIGHT DECLARATION I recognise that the copyright of the above-described thesis rests with the author and that no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without the prior written consent of the author. LOANS T h eses may not be lent to individuals, but the Senate H ouse Library may lend a copy to approved libraries within the United Kingdom, for consultation solely on the prem ises of th ose libraries. Application should be m ade to: Inter-Library Loans, S en ate H ouse Library, S en ate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU. REPRODUCTION University of London theses may not be reproduced without explicit written permission from the S en ate H ouse Library. Enquiries should be addressed to the T h eses Section of the Library. Regulations concerning reproduction vary according to the date of acceptance of the thesis and are listed below as guidelines. A. Before 1962. Permission granted only upon the prior written consent of the author. (The S en ate H ouse Library will provide ad d resses w here possible). B. 1962-1974. In many cases the author has agreed to permit copying upon completion of a Copyright Declaration. C. 1975-1988. Most theses may be copied upon completion of a Copyright Declaration. D. 1989 onwards. Most theses may be copied. This thesis comes within category D. This copy has been deposited in the Library of This copy has been deposited in the S en ate H ouse Library, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU. HEGEMONY, CARIB HISTORY AND HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS IN ST. VINCENT by P. Twinn A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PhD University College London 2007 I, P. Twinn, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is all my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. UMI Number: U592495 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U592495 Published by ProQuest LLC 2013. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 2 UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON ABSTRACT HEGEMONY, CARIB HISTORY AND HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS IN ST. VINCENT by P. Twinn Supervisor: Professor P. Burnham Department of Anthropology This thesis proposes that the Caribs of St. Vincent, who form a small minority in the island, have been the subject of a European discourse of alterity from the fifteenth century onwards. It further argues that the key tropes employed by this discourse were primarily reflexive and focused on emerging concepts of self and property. It is argued that, as a consequence of the hegemonic position that British culture attained in St. Vincent, the Vincentian population, both Carib and non-Carib alike, internalized these tropes. This has led most modem studies of the Caribs to present them as a marginalized population on the verge of extinction. This thesis argues that contrary to this misconception, the position of the Caribs has fundamentally altered in the period since independence and now features at the core of an essentialist discourse of national identity. Following a general introduction, the second chapter deals primarily with the construction of the traditional tropes associated with Caribness. In the third chapter the relationship of the Caribs to a developing European anthropology is examined 3 with reference to concepts of natural law. This is followed by an analysis of the insertion of the island of St. Vincent into the mercantilist world system. In chapter four the historiography of the Caribs is considered in terms of the influence of British texts, and alternative sources of information, primarily French and Dutch, are considered in terms of the development of an historical hegemony on the island Chapter five discusses the events in the latter half of the twentieth century which served to reinforce the stereotypes of the preceeding centuries and yet which, it is argued, brought about the possibility of new forms of self-identification. The following chapter deals with the role of land ownership as a catalyst for Carib self- consciousness. The antepenultimate chapter deals with modem historiography and the influences of supra-national discourses in the Caribbean, whilst the penultimate considers the role of the Caribs in modem party politics in St. Vincent. The thesis concludes with a summary of the theoretical implications of this study. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS List of figures 5 Acknowledgements 6 List of Abbreviations 8 1. Introduction Theoretical Perspective 9 Background to thesis 24 Fieldwork Location 27 Layout of thesis 55 2. Colonial strategy and Carib resistance 59 3. Surveys, Surveillance and Conquest 96 4. Historiography and Carib Ethnicity 133 5. Jack Iron: Trauma, guilt and assujettissement 164 6. Land ownership and the construction of Carib identity 187 7. Historical consciousness and political process 208 8. Hegemony and Traditional Values 252 9. Conclusion 283 Archival Sources 300 Bibliography 301 5 LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1 Map of the Lesser Antilles 27 Figure 2 Map of St. Vincent and the Grenadines 29 Figure 3 Fisherman’s Day in St. Vincent 34 Figure 4 New Sandy Bay 45 Figure 5 Chatoyer as National Hero 240 Figure 6 The pacification of Maroon Negroes 242 Figure 7 Chatoyer and his wives 246 6 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author wishes to thank all those who have helped me in writing this thesis. My Supervisor Prof. Phil Burnham deserves special mention for his perseverance and astute questioning of my many assumptions. He gave me valuable practical advice at all stages of this dissertation. I should also like to mention Dr. Allen Abramson who was of great help in the initial stages of the research when I was formulating my ideas. The number of members of staff who, over the years have supported me are too numerous to mention but for starting me on the path of historical anthropology many years ago I must thank Prof. Sally Humphreys and mention the late Amaldo Momigliano and M. G. Smith. I should also like to thank all those members of my cohort at UCL who always offered me encouragement at the most difficult times; of these Kathryn Tomlinson, Sara Skodbo and Sadie King deserve special mention. In St. Vincent I should like to thank Yulu Griffiths at the National Archives who was a fount of knowledge and without whose help I would have found the historical research even more daunting than it was. I should also like to thank the members of the Historical and Archaeological Society of St. Vincent; Vonnie Roudette, Edgar Adams, Paul Lewis, Fr Mark de Silva, Adrian Fraser and Yvette Thomas, who provided valuable insights into Vincentian history and contemporary social life. I should also like to thank Ralph Gonsalves, who, despite the burdens of leading the opposition and practicing as a barrister, found time to discuss my research. During my stay in Georgetown, Ran Henry and his wife, Cristobel and family graciously made me feel welcome and made my fieldwork such an enjoyable period as well as initiating me into many local customs. I should also like to thank all members of the Roberts family in New Grounds and Vincent and Thelma Fredericks. In Sandy Bay, Kim Child and his wife Margaret and family were not only instrumental in my finding somewhere to live but gave me valuable insights into the community. Without their help this thesis would not have been possible. 7 I must also mention my sister, Teresa Brigs tocke-Williams, whose meticulous proof-reading, general attention to detail, and unswerving support proved to be indispensable in the final stages of this dissertation. Finally, I must thank my wife, Shelley, who accompanied me to St. Vincent, where she not only gave me valuable assistance, but also cared for our three young children, Samuel, Sieglinde and Ursula, in very challenging circumstances. LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CO Colonial Office and Predecessors CSP Calender of State Papers HAMCC Het archief der Middelburgsche Commerde Compagnie NCR National Census Report St. Vincent and the Grenadines NDP New Democratic Party PRO Public Records Office, London SVLP St. Vincent Labour Party T Treasury Papers ULP Unity Labour Party WIBDECO Windward Island Banana Development Corporation 9 Chapter 1 Introduction Theoretical perspective This thesis focuses on the area between anthropology and history. It aims to demonstrate how historical themes are both contested and utilized in modem discourses of identity on a small Caribbean island. It seeks to illustrate the plasticity of both historical facts and lacunae within a specific ethnographic context. It does not, however, aim to provide a detailed ethnographic account of a "society" or "culture" in the established sense. Rather it attempts to address what is essentially an anthropological problem with reference to data located primarily in the past. But this is equally not a purely historical project, since the concerns of contemporary actors are reflected and to an extent, refracted in the analysis: reflected since these concerns are the object of this study which they pre-exist, and refracted since they are being analysed within paradigms which exist beyond the daily lives of the actors involved.