THE PROCESS OF SOCIAL FORMATION ON THE ISLAND OF RODRIGUES (INDIAN OCEAN) Alexis Maria-Angela Gardella Submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements of the PhD in the Department of Social Anthropology London School of Economics and Political Science UMI Number: U484164 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 U484164 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. 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 F 7 6 6 3 8 9 9 8 5 s ABSTRACT The Process of Social Formation on the Island of Rodrigues, Indian Ocean Rodrigues is a small island, 5^2 by 13 miles, lying 400 miles to the east of Mauritius in the western Indian Ocean. First settled in the early 19th century by French colonists and their East African, Malagasy and East Indian slaves, it was initially controlled by the French, then taken over by the British, finally becoming a dependency of Mauritius in the mid-twentieth century. Rodrigues’ recent settlement, isolation and small-scale in conditions of relative autonomy from the metropolitan centers of control, allows a situation which requires a consideration of the very processes of social and cultural creation. Rodriguans view their society as socially and culturally divided into two groups, Montagnard and Creole. This division purportedly reflects the society’s initial social configuration, with Creoles the descendants of the early European settlers, white and free, and with the Montagnards the descendants of black slaves. While this social separation is neither as straightforward nor as unambiguous as Rodriguans would have it, it does reflect what is fundamentally a difference in sociopolitical stance vis-a-vis both the metropole and each other. The thesis explores the social implications of these two sociopolitical stances through the description and analysis of the quotidian social organization of the two groups and an explication of their respective key ceremonial events. Both stances evidence a resistance to, and a differential reworking of, metropolitan modes of domination, equally economic, political, social and religious, and directed at the establishment of autonomous spheres of social action. This sociocultural marronage was in the past and is still intrinsic to the actual social structure of the society, beyond what is manifest in ceremonial occasions and in the rhetoric of political discourse. The process of social formation on the island of Rodrigues illustrates a particular people’s expression of survival and resistance and the manner in which power — its perception and the attempts to control it — is integral to not only the most mundane aspects of society, but also to its very creation. 2 Table of Contents Abstract 2 List of Figures and Charts 4 Acknowledgements 5 Orthographic Note 6 Preface 7 I Introduction: Rodriguais, Creole, Montagnard A Methodological Note 13 Creole and Montagnard 16 II The Island and Its History 30 Discovery and Early History 32 The First Permanent Settlers 34 Emancipation and the Apprenticeship Period 38 Land and Agriculture 48 Fishing, Trading and Cattle 58 The Modem Era 73 Contemporary Political Relations 80 A Full Circle 88 HI The Quotidian Social Topography 91 A Montagnard Community: Montvue 93 Households 94 The Domestic Group 103 Relations Among Men 108 Relations Among Women 131 Marriage or Union 137 A Creole Community: Creovista 144 IV The Celebrated 174 Montagnard Celebrations 175 A Montagnard Wedding 175 Birth and Death 181 F£r Lanne 187 Creole Celebrations 200 A Creole Wedding 201 V Savages and Mudmen 209 VI Context and Conclusions 215 Notes 241 References 258 3 LIST OF FIGURES AND CHARTS Map of Rodrigues and Indian Ocean 12 Map of Rodrigues: Population Centers and Roads 27 Map of Rodrigues: Elevation 28 Map of Rodrigues: Rainfall 29 Census of 1804 36 Apprentices in Rodrigues in 1838 39 Map of Rodrigues: Showing Original Land Concessions, 1881 52 Duncan’s Plan of Port Mathurin, 1864 53 Rodriguan Exports 1877 56 Rodriguan Exports 1966-1970 57 Cattle Population 1969-1977 69 Map of Rodrigues: Cattlewalk Areas 70 Government Employment in Rodrigues, 1977 75 Montvue Households 105 Montvue Households: Map 106 Creovista Households 148 Creovista Households: Map 149 Tobacco Production 1895-1900 243 Population by place of birth, 1878-1944 245 Population by Sex, 1851-1944 251 Creole Parishes, 1972 252 Population Origins, Martinique: 1640-60 & 1670-1700 254 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The fieldwork for this dissertation was undertaken between February 1978 and June 1979 and was supported by a Grant-in-Aid from the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, Inc., New York, an E.R.A. grant (RCP 441) from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (C.N.R.S.) in La Reunion, and a Radcliffe-Brown Memorial Fund Award from the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain. The initial writing-up period was supported by another grant from the Wenner-Gren Foundation, followed by a two year pre-doctoral research fellowship at the Carter G. Woodson Institute for Afro-American and African Studies of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. The writing and completion of this dissertation has been a very long process partly due to my uneasiness with what so often seemed the arrogance necessary to portray another entire society and culture. The frustrations and dissatisfactions in trying to get it “right” were interrupted in 1984 when I was drawn to Haiti where I have lived and worked since. In Haiti I have constantly encountered the same indomitable spirit and innate dignity of a people which I first experienced in Rodrigues. Finishing this dissertation, trying to convey the social implications of what that spirit and dignity mean in today’s world, is my small tribute to Rodriguans, and those countless others in Haiti and elsewhere, who have wrought this spirit from a hostile and brutal world. Many people have not only tolerated my long preoccupation with Rodrigues and the writing of the dissertation, but have also managed with infinite patience to steadfastly encourage me to finish: Frances Pine, Rubie Watson, Vivienne Vidal and especially Margaret Stott from my days at the LSE; Nicole and George Treadwell, who never let me forget my unfinished task. I am especially grateful to Maurice Bloch, my teacher and my mentor, who rekindled my engagement with anthropology in the 1970s at a time when I was ready to put it aside forever — a decision I have never regretted, and then for his forbearance, consistent support and understanding for a student who must have been one of his most frustrating. My children, Owen Michael and Alena Lowenthal, have grown up with the specter of this dissertation over our family life. I cannot repay them the time they lost with me, but from that I have the simple hope that they always remember that the world is wide and that all people, each in their own way and according to their circumstances, embody an essential part of the human spirit. Neither can I thank enough my parents, LeRoy and Anna Gardella, who not only stood behind me and never questioned my undertaking, but who also provided me with an upbringing rich in cultural diversity and the opportunity to experience it directly. No thanks, no words, could ever be adequate to Ira Lowenthal, my husband, my companion of the heart and mind. Although I have tried through this dissertation to express something of my appreciation and admiration for the people of Rodrigues, that is just part of the debt I owe them. No people could have been more hospitable and open to a complete stranger arriving unannounced on their shores, nor more tolerant of what must have seemed aberrant and willful behaviour. Although I came alone and was far from anything familiar, I never felt bereft nor alienated. More than any others, the LaMoque and Cyril Clair families and Venning Perrine especially, took me in hand and treated me as their own. To them and all the Rodriguans I was privileged to encounter, I can never repay my debt of gratitude for sharing their lives with me. They should know that they profoundly changed my life and opened new worlds to me. They will forever remain in my heart. 5 Orthographic Note Written materials in the many French Creoles of the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean use a variety of different phonemic orthographies. These phonemic orthographies closely reflect the actual, spoken sounds of the Creole. The variant selected here comes from that used by Valdman et al (1981) both because of its simplicity and ease of presentation. The chart of orthographic equivalents to Creole phonemes is provided below. The sounds, as represented in the International phonetic alphabet, are in square brackets, while the letter or combination of letters used to represent them follow the arrows. 1. Consonants: [b] — > b [1] — > 1 [Z] — > z [J] — > ch [m] — > m ffl — > y [d] — > d [n] — > n [atJ] — > ang [f] — > f [p] — > P K j] — > eng [g] — > g [r] — > r fttj] — > ing [h] — > h [s] — > s iorj\ — > ong [3] — > j [t] — > t [fl — > y [k] — > k [v] — > V 2. Vowels: [a] — > a [0], [e] — > e [0] — > [a] — > an [ce], [e] — > £ [b] — > [y], [i], m — > i W — > en [u], [8] — > ou [ 0 ] — > 0 3. Semi-Vowels: [w] — > w [j] - > y 4. Special Cases: [H] — > u as in uit [y] — > ou when alternating with [u] in words like touye, souse Acute accents are used on e and o and a grave accent on a only when necessary to indicate that these letters are not to be interpreted as nasal vowels, that is to say, when an n follows which is in turn followed by a consonant, the semi-vowels y or w, or a word boundary.