The hunted telling their stories

THERE WAS SOME excitement around August 11 when there was the ‘symbolic’ launching of the first volume of a History of SVG, sponsored by the government and co-authored by four local historians. Persons had been expecting the launching of the actual book, hoping to buy copies. The writing of a book of such magnitude takes a long time and we were affected by the passage of Beryl and the eruption of the volcano which limited what we could have done.

I seek here to revisit my involvement which came from an invitation to be part of the panel of Scott, Dennie and Thomas. I immediately responded positively to my participation because I had for some time dedicated myself to researching the history of my country. My two favourite subjects at school were Literature (English), and history. In my early years I wrote short stories and in Lower Six of the Grammar School secured second place in a regional short story competition that was won by Barbadian, Timothy Calendar, who became a recognised author and poet. My short story was WAITING ON FLORA, done a year after the passage of that hurricane.

After two years of teaching at the Grammar School I was awarded a scholarship to do a degree in English at the University of Western Ontario in Canada. I was somewhat surprised to have seen in the University’s library the number of historical pieces about St.Vincent that were largely theses or articles written for academic journals. I noted then that these would not have been available to ‘ordinary’ Vincentians, and vowed then to dedicate myself to providing information on our past, about ordinary Vincentians and for ‘ordinary’ Vincentians. At the Grammar School I studied English and European history and had to deal with kings and queens and the nobility that held no interest for me. I switched at University to a combined English and History degree then later, did straight history.

Following completion of my degree, my sight was set on research about the Vincentian peasantry, and I was awarded a fellowship to go to Johns Hopkins University in the USA, but was told by the authorities at home that there was no need for anyone with a master’s degree. I therefore came home, and a year after, got a UWI Open Scholarship to go to Cave Hill in Barbados, to work on the peasantry with Professor Woodville Marshall. After almost two years in Barbados, I returned, having completed my internal work but not having done my thesis. I became involved with the then St. Vincent Union of Teachers but resigned from teaching to take up a job at the Glebe in Barrouallie on a project organised by the Caribbean Conference of Churches (CADEC) and the St. Vincent Christian Council.

After encountering political obstacles that interfered with my work, I decided not to renew my contract and to continue my studies. I had then completed my thesis “The development of a Peasantry 1846-1912”.

I was accepted to do a PhD at my former University in Canada. My topic then was “Peasants and Agricultural Labourers in St. Vincent 1899-1951”. On completion, I was fortunate to get employment with a regional NGO, CARIPEDA. I said fortunate because it meant being able to remain in SVG. Through lectures and radio appearances and as a columnist first with the NEWS and later, SEARCHLIGHT, I began to provide information on the history of our country and its peoples.

In 1991 I applied and was accepted to be Resident Tutor at what later became the Open Campus. While there for the period 19931996 I was able through a Radio programme on NBC, FROM WHENCE WE CAME to deal with aspects of the history of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. I was quite aware that many persons were turned off from history because it never dealt with them. So, my focus was on dealing with ordinary people and the issues which they had to confront, from the time of the Kalinagos (Yellow Caribs) and Garifuna (Black Caribs) up to the time of Adult Suffrage in 1951. My involvement in advocacy for Chatoyer to be named the first National Hero and for our country to become an independent country also allowed me to use information from my historical research.

I was first aware that FROM WHENCE WE CAME was getting to the people I wanted to target when, having dinner at a restaurant one evening, I was told that the Cook wanted to speak to me. She informed me that the name of someone whom I had mentioned in one of my programmes was one of her ancestors. Parents had also told me that they ensured that their school children listened to the programme.

Over 750 programmes were done between 1993 and 1996 and then based on popular demand part of the series ran from 2007-2008.

Added to these, were books, articles and lectures done over the years. I had always been guided by the African Proverb, “Until the lions have their historians tales of hunting will always glorify the hunters”.

My co-authors of the first volume of the history of St. Vincent and the Grenadines share that same sentiment and what we will eventually bring to the public will be testimony to that.

_ Dr Adrian Fraser is a social commentator and historian