HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1973-05-24, Page 18PAGE 4A--OODERICH SIGNAL-S7i.R, THURSDAY, MAY 24, 1973
Travel feature
Montserrat - poor but stable
This is the second of a travel
series by Signal Star Photo -
Journalist Ron Shaw. Last
week we looked at the island of
Antigua and this week begins
the first of several stories about
the island paradise of Mont-
serrat.
Montserrat is basically van
Agricultural .country, it always
has been and probably always
will be. Their economy though
is not' self sustaining and is
heavily subsidized by grants
from the British government
and foreign aid mostly from
Canada
Canadian aid covers many
areas of the .island life but the
most outstanding is the com-
plete water service which has
been installed by. paid for and
operated by Canada.
Earlier 1 referred to the
native peoples. To do• so, in
that context, is not entirely
correct and should be further
explained.
In the earlier days of its
history, long before Columbus
first set foot on North America
or any of the Caribbean
Islands, islands like Mont-
serrat were populated by the
Carib Indians.
Even that statement needs
clarifying because the Carib's
are said to have been a tran-
sient race, moving from one
island to the other in canoes
hut never staying long. in one
place. Their life was nomadic
and they were not
agriculturally inclined, so many
of the islands would exist for
generations without seeing
humans. Then a wandering
tribe of Caribs would stop for a
time hut eventually move on.
The Carib Indians were not
dtmrk skinned as the present
Montserrat native, tg.it were in
fact, more like the Polynesians.
As the islands were colonized
by agriculturally inclined races
after 1532 the Carib Indians
withdrew to the mainland of
South America and today only
a ver'v few small tribes of this
race still exist.
Sugar, Cotton and similar
products requiring a great deal
of labor. were found very well
suited to the islands like Mont-
serrat and as a result the slave
trade brought to those islands a
new race of people. Negroes
from Africa.
The present natives of Mont-
serrat are therefore relative
newcomers to the islands being
descendants of slaves first im-
ported to the islands during the
early 1600s.
Although later England
chose to free its slaves their
ride from Africa to Montserrat
had been on a one way ticket
and a whole new generation
had grown up on the island so
they stayed.
Living conditions for - these
people. first appear to. theNorth.
American extremely primitive
if not reminiscent of
photographs on CARE' posters.
However a closer examination
showx,..-.Like in so many societies
around the world, Montserrat
should not be judged on our'
standards.
W. J. Denomme
FLOWER
SHOP
Phone
524-8132
DAY
° `�� OR
NIGHT
At the peril of falling into
those gastly cliches about
"happy natives" I must point
out that life in Montserrat goes
along with a song on everyone's
lips.
Life moves slowly, with none
of the North American
pressures grinding down on day
to day living, and as a result
the people of Montserrat are a
relatively, contented lot.
This does not mean there are
not social problems that should
be corrected. Doubtless there
are but in two weeks of talking
with natives on just this sub-
ject, and working with them as
I compiled these articles, not
once did I ever hear a com-
plaint about one single
problem.
Those houses which to us
might seem little more than
one room shacks, are regarded
as quite sufficient.
Each day the women' go
down to the village tank to
bring back buckets of water on
their head but no one seems tot
mind the laCk of indoor plum-
bing.
Men and women, work the
fields all day in• 80 degree plus
temperatures but the evenings
are long and cool and no one
seems to regard the work a har-
,`dship.
What can one say? Life looks
so hard, so demeaning and so
bare but the people living it
laugh and sing and never com-
plain, so how can one judge'?
Village life takes place
around one of two things. For
the women its the village tank I
mentioned and for the men ifs
a street lamp outside the rum
shop.
The tank is a stone or cement
water tank equipped with
several taps from which the
people can draw their wate?
The tank is kept 'filled from a
reservoir atop the mountains
and a pumping system, all in-
stalled by the Canadian' gover-
nment.
At these tanks women gather
to gossip as they fetch water or
wash their clothes, their
children or anything else that
might need washing. Anyone
selling soap in Montserrat must
do very well indeed because
cleanliness is most important.
Meanwhile, with the days
work complete, the men gather
outside. a_ rum shop to sprawl
on' the pavement in the glow of
a street lamp and play either
dominoes or an island -game
that makes use of dice and a
board with holes along which..
the player advances stones.
One evening I ,had ' the
misfortune of topping a hill in
our jeep a little_ too fast thus
almost wiping out half the male
population of Harris village as
they played under a street lamp
just down the slope. The men
were most indignant --about the
whole.... -affair since _ apparently
any fool should have known
there would be a game in
progress under that lamp.
And so the social life of the
local population goes on, c+en-
tred for the- most part in the
local villages and often within
almost a -family or tribal circle.
There are surprisingly few
family names on the island
with perhaps half the island
population sharing four or five
common surnames. The reason
for this being that Montserrat
claims what must be one of the
highest illegitimate birth rates
in the world.
Asking a father about his
family and how many children
he has will often bring a reply
like, "Well I have six At home
and I guess eight outside."
The "outside" refers to
'children born to women other
than his wife Eby him.
This should not draw any
conclusions about the lack of
church activity on Montserrat.
In even the smallest village
Wel.- are at least two or three
churches, but despite the efforts
Agent for 24 -hr.
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of the local pastors, and birth
control pills provided virtually
free, there are still a large num-
ber of children born "outside."
As a entioned earlier much of
a
Montserratians life is spent
in the village. of his or her
birth. In one case when Peg
and 1 took two girls from
Hai ris village to a movie in
Plymouth, 12 miles away,. it
,represented one, of only a few
times when one of the girls had
ever been to the city. The same
girl had never been to the most
northerly village on the island
which would only have been
about 20 miles away.
Etrrlier I referred to the
native peoples. To do so, in
that context, is not entirely
correct and should be further
explained.
In the earlier days of its
history, long before Columbus
first set foot on North America
or any -cif the Caribbean
Islands, islands like Mont-
serrat were populated by the
Carib Indians,
Even Eller statement needs
clarifying because the Caribs
are said to have been a tran-
sient race, moving 'from one
island to' the other in canoes
but never staying long in one
place. Their li was nomadic
and they were not
agriculturally inclined, so
many of the islands would exist
for generations without seeing
humans. Then a wandering
tribe of Caribs would stop for a
time but eventually move on.
The Carib Indians were not
dark skinned as' the present
Monserrat native, but were in
fact more like the- Polynesians.
As the islands were colonized
by agriculturally inclined
races after 1632' the Carib In-
dians withdrew to the
ainland of South America
and today only a very few small
tribes of this race still exist.
Sugar, cotton and similar
products requiring a great deal
of labor were found veru well
suited to the islands like Mont-
serrat and as a result the slave
trade brought to those islands a
new race of people. Negros from
Africa.
The present natives of Mon-
serrat are therefore relative
newcomers to the islands being
descendants of slaves first im-
ported to the islands during the
early 1600's.
Although later England
chose to free its slaves their
ride from Africa to Montserrat
had been on a one way ticket
and a whole new generation
had grown up on the island so
they stayed.
Living conditions tor these
people first appear to the North
American extremely primitive
if not reminiscent of
photographs on CARE posters.
However a closer examination
shows,- like in so many societies
around the world,. Montserrat
should not be judged on our
standards.
At the peril of ,falling into
those ghastly cliches about
"happy natives" I must point
out that life in Monserrat goes
along with a song on everyone's
lips.
Life moves slowly, with none
of the North American
pressures grinding down on day
to day living, and as a result
the people of Montserrat are a
relatively contented lot.
This does not mean there are
not social problems that should
be corrected. Doubtless there
are but in two weeks of talking
Aitnough agriculture remains as the centre of Montserrats
economy no-one living there' Is ever very far from the sea
and that facto Is reflected in a fairly active if backward
fishing Industry. This young man prepares a home made
spear gun before wading Into the surf In search of lobster
and a fish known as the Red Snapper. (photo by Ron
Shaw)
with natives on just this sub-
ject, and working with them as
1 compiled these articles, not
once did I ever hear a com-
plaint about one single
problem. .
Those houses, which to us
might seem little more than
one room shacks, are regarded
as quite sufficient.
Each day the women go
down to the village tank to
bring back buckets of water :,on
their head but no one seems to
mind the lack of indoor plum-
bing.
Men and women work the
fields all day in 80 degree plus
temperatures but the evenings
are long and cool and no one
seems to regard the work a har-
dship.
What can one say? Life, looks
so hard, so demeaning and so
bare but the people living it
laugh and sing and never com-
lain, so how can one judge?
Montserrat is basically an
Agricultural country, it always
has been and probably always
will be. Their economy though,
is not self sustaining and .is
heavily subsidized by grants
from the British government
and foriegn aid mostly from
Canada.
Canadian aid covers many
areas of the island life but the
most outstanding is the com-
plete water service which has
been installed by, paid for and
operated by Canada.
Village life takes place
around one of two things. For
the women its the vi)lage tank I
mentioned and for the men its
a street lamp outside the rum
shop.
The tank is a stone or cement
water tank equipped with
several taps from which the
people cap draw their water.
The tank is kept filled from a
reservoir, atop the mountains
and a pumping system, all in -
(Continued on page 10A)
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