In 2006, June was designated as Caribbean Heritage Month by President George W. Bush. This month, celebrate the culture and contributions of Caribbean immigrants and their descendants! Learn about important achievements in Caribbean-American history and the influence of Caribbean food, traditions, architecture, music, clothing, and much more on American culture.
This online display includes free and library resources (eBooks, DVDs, streaming videos, and links) related to Caribbean Heritage Month. It will be updated as resources become available. You are invited to email suggestions or recommendations.
Black Beauty by
Combining rich ethnographic research amongst Black British women of Caribbean heritage, with a discussion of the broader 'Black Atlantic' context, Shirley Tate offers a unique exploration of beauty, race and identity politics, revealing how Black women themselves speak about, negotiate, inhabit, work on and perform Black beauty.
The Caribbean Diaspora in Toronto by
Based on in-depth interviews and extensive observation, her study provides a richly detailed overview of the major cultural institutions in the lives of Afro-Caribbean residents of Toronto.
Creole Clay by
Beautifully illustrated with colorful photographs, this volume traces the living heritage of locally made pottery in the English-speaking Caribbean. Patricia Fay combines her own expertise in making ceramics with two decades of interviews, visits, and participant-observation in the region, providing a perspective that is technically informed and anthropologically rigorous. Describing the pottery created in Saint Lucia, Nevis, Antigua, Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad, and Guyana, Fay reveals that the traditional skills of local potters are inherited from diverse points of origin in Africa, Europe, India, and the Americas. She explores the challenges that lie ahead for this utilitarian art form as the tourist industry expands, showing how heritage ceramics exemplify the continuing Caribbean encounter between old and new, local and global, and traditional and contemporary.
Heritage Education by
This book compiles the results of a doctoral research study that sought to gain insight into how indigenous heritage is represented in the school curriculum for social studies. To this end, the questions focused on studying the relationships that are formed between individuals and the past in the school context. Taking into account teachers' perspectives on subject content and pedagogical practices can contribute to gaining a better understanding of the role of education in safeguarding heritage. Heritage is continuously under threat from natural disasters; in recent years, the Caribbean region has suffered due to the increasing effects of climate change. But cultural and natural heritage are also threatened by human activity when members of a society forget their relationship with heritage and consequently stop caring about safeguarding it. A negligent attitude toward heritage can lead to acts of vandalism and destruction. Such a scenario poses special challenges to the education sector, which is ultimately seen as a source for positive change and development in society. This study, aimed at investigating the use of heritage education in the classroom, treats this subject in the form of analyses of three country case studies: the Dominican Republic, Dominica and Saint Kitts and Nevis. Along these lines, results were drawn from an informed analysis of educational policies concerning cultural heritage as well as accounts of teachers' perspectives on subject content and pedagogical practices. This study sought to shed light on the pedagogical practices used by teachers in the context of the three countries that formed this research. This research ultimately seeks to contribute to the fields of heritage education, teacher education and Caribbean studies by understanding the role of teacher knowledge and practices in safeguarding heritage - in this particular investigation, with a focus on the indigenous heritage of the Caribbean.
Managing Our Past into the Future by
Caribbean archaeological heritage is threatened by natural impacts but also increasingly by economic developments, often resulting from the tourist industry. The continuous construction of specific projects for tourists, accompanied by illegal practices such as looting and sand mining, have major impacts on the region''s archaeological heritage. The geopolitical and cultural diversity of the Caribbean, the general lack of awareness of island histories and multiple stakeholders involved in the preservation process, have in many cases slowed down the effective enforcement of regulations and heritage legislation. The development of archaeological heritage management (AHM) in the Dutch Caribbean islands started slowly in the early years of their semi-autonomy within the Kingdom of the Netherlands from 1954 onwards. With the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles on 10 November 2010, Curaçao and St. Martin obtained a more autonomous status within the Kingdom, similar to Aruba has since 1986. Simultaneously, Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius became special overseas municipalities of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Consequently, these three islands now fall under Dutch regulations for cultural resource management. Irrespective of these geopolitical changes, AHM has been developing on the six islands over the past 25 years, partly because of the active role of localized island-specific archaeological institutions. This volume provides a background to the history of archaeological research in the Dutch Caribbean and compiles a number of compliance archaeology projects that have been carried out under and in the spirit of the Valetta Treaty. Furthermore, this volume represents a unique contribution to AHM in a wider regional perspective, with its discussion of the successful creation of localized community-based archaeological heritage associations which serve as an excellent model for all island communities in the Caribbean. Contents Introduction: the current status of archaeological heritage management (AHM) in the Dutch Caribbean Corinne L. Hofman and Jay B. Haviser A review of archaeological research in the Dutch Caribbean Jay B. Haviser and Corinne L. Hofman Achieving sustainable Archaeological Heritage Management in Aruba Raymundo A.C.F. Dijkhoff and Marlene S. Linville Heritage Management on Bonaire and Curaçao: a step towards an integral approach to heritage Richenel Ansano and Claudia T. Kraan Heritage Management and the Public Sphere: doing archaeology on Saba Ryan Espersen Skeletons in the closet: Future avenues for the curation of archaeological human skeletal remains in the Dutch Caribbean and the region as a whole. Hayley L. Mickleburgh Community Archaeology as an essential element for successful Heritage Management Jay B. Haviser Community engagement, local identity and museums: A review of past heritage initiatives and recent developments on the island of Saba Helena Boehm Amateur archaeological research on Curaçao François van der Hoeven and Fred M. Chumaceiro Archaeological assessment in compliance with the Valetta Treaty: Spanish Water, Curaçao Menno L.P. Hoogland and Corinne L. Hofman Early Valetta Treaty application at Slagbaai-Gotomeer, Bonaire Jay B. Haviser Archaeological research at Bethlehem, St. Maarten: an early Valetta Treaty project in the Dutch Windward Islands Menno L.P. Hoogland, Corinne L. Hofman and R. Grant Gilmore III "An emporium for all the world": commercial archaeology in Lower Town, St. Eustatius Ruud Stelten Three early examples of Valetta Treaty application in the Dutch Windward Islands Jay B. Haviser An archaeological assessment of Cul-de-Sac (The Farm), St. Eustatius: the Nustar project R. Grant Gilmore III, Menno L.P. Hoogland and C.L. Hofman Archaeology on St. Eustatius: heritage management of an 18th-century slave village at Schotsenhoek plantation Ruud Stelten Heritage Management on St. Eustatius: the Dutch West Indies headquarters project R. Grant Gilmore III and Louis A. Nelson Mapping sites, mapping expectancies, mapping heritage: The archaeological maps of St. Eustatius, Saba and Sint Maarten Maaike S. de Waal, Jochem Lesparre, Jay B. Haviser, Menno L.P. Hoogland, Ryan Espersen and Ruud Stelten Into the future for Archaeological Heritage Management in the Dutch Caribbean Corinne L. Hofman and Jay B. Haviser
Moving in the Shadows by
In the UK the number of people who came from a minority ethnic group grew by 53 per cent between 1991 and 2001, from 3.0 million in 1991 to 4.6 million in 2001. Whilst much has been written about the impact of these demographic changes in relation to policy issues, black and minority women and children remain under-researched. Recent publications have tended to focus on South Asian women, forced marriage and 'honour' related violence. Moving in the Shadows brings together for the first time in a single volume, an examination of violence against women and children within the diverse communities of the UK. Its strength lies in its gendered focus as well as its understanding of the need for an integrated approach to all forms of violence against women, whilst foregrounding the experiences of minority women, the communities they are part of, and the organizations which have advocated for their rights and given them voice. The chapters contained within this volume explore a set of core themes: the forms and contexts of violence minority women experience; the continuum of violence; the role of culture and faith in the control of women and girls; the types of intervention within multi-cultural and social cohesion policies; the impacts of violence on British-born and migrant women and girls; and the intersection of race, class, gender and sexuality highlighting issues of similarity and difference. Taken together, they provide a valuable resource for scholars, students, activists, social workers and policy-makers working in the field.
Protecting Heritage in the Caribbean by
Heritage preservation is a broad term that can include the protection of a wide range of human-mediated material and cultural processes ranging from specific artifacts, ancient rock art, and features of the built environment and modified landscapes. As a region of multiple independent nations and colonial territories, the Caribbean shares a common heritage at some levels, yet at the same time there are vast historical and cultural differences. Likewise, approaches to Caribbean heritage preservation are similarly diverse in range and scope. This volume addresses the problem of how Caribbean nations deal with the challenges of protecting their cultural heritages or patrimonies within the context of pressing economic development concerns. Is there formal legislation that requires cultural patrimony to be considered prior to the approval of development projects? Does legislation apply only to government-funded projects or to private ones as well? Are there levels of legislation: local, regional, national? Are heritage preservation laws enforced? For whom is the heritage protected and what public outreach is implemented to disseminate the information acquired and retained? In this volume, practitioners of heritage management on the frontline of their own islands address the current state of affairs across the Caribbean to present a comprehensive overview of Caribbean heritage preservation challenges. Considerable variability is seen in how determined and serious different nations are in approaching the responsibilities of heritage preservation. Packaging these diverse scenarios into a single volume is a critical step in raising awareness of the importance of protecting and judiciously managing an ever-diminishing fund of Caribbean heritage for all. Contributors Todd M. Ahlman / Benoît Bérard / Milton Eric Branford / Richard T. Callaghan / Kevin Farmer / R. Grant Gilmore III / Jay B. Haviser / Ainsley C. Henriques / William F. Keegan / Bruce J. Larson / Paul E. Lewis / Vel Lewis / Reg Murphy / Michael P. Pateman / Winston F. Phulgence / Esteban Prieto Vicioso / Basil A. Reid / Andrea Richards / Elizabeth Righter / Kelley Scudder-Temple / Peter E. Siegel / Christian Stouvenot / Daniel Torres Etayo
Rock Art of the Caribbean by
This compilation, by an international grouping of scholars, focuses on the nature of Caribbean rock art or rock graphics and makes clear the region's substantial and distinctive rock art tradition. Thorough and comparative, it includes data on the history of rock graphic research, the nature of the assemblages (image numbers, types, locations), and the legal, conservation, and research status of the image sites. Chapters on these topics cover research on the islands of Cuba, Haiti, Dominican Republic, the Bahamas, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guadeloupe, Aruba, and Bonaire.The prehispanic rock art and other ceremonial structures and artifacts, along with enthnohistorical accounts of the region at Contact, projected backward in time, all point to an active ritual and ceremonial life involving commoners, religious specialists, and elites in differing and interconnected roles and for diverse purposes. The selective use of common rock graphic design and physical elements can be seen in the distribution and execution of the carved and painted images. Pecked, ground, abraded, and scratched petroglyphs, along with pictographs done frequently in red, black, white, and orange hues are found on a range of rock surfaces including limestones, granites, diorites, and andesites.Caves/rock shelters and rock formations associated with water sources (water ways, pools, ocean) account for the two most common locations, followed by ball court sites, inland rock outcroppings and beach rock. In addition to specific area presentations, the work includes a review of recent advances in Caribbean rock graphic studies including dating and interpretative models; the application of a new documentation method and resulting computer manipulation advantages; a conservation project in Jamaica that has implications for the preservation and interpretation of the site; and, a proposed dating sequence for the Lesser Antillean Windward Islands.
Rupert Gray by
The Caribbean Heritage series is designed to publish new editions of historically significant works of fiction from our region. The first three volumes in the series comprise four Trinidadian novels published between 1838 and 1907. A substantial introduction and thorough annotations contextualize each of the original texts. The first volume in the series is E.L. Joseph's Warner Arundell: The Adventures of a Creole. The second volume includes two novels: Adolphus, A Tale, and Mrs Wilkins's The Slave Son. The third volume in the series presents Stephen Cobham's novel Rupert Gray, first published in 1907. Like the other novels in the series, this work also contains a strong political impetus, typical of West Indian novels, including support for the rights of all races. Together these four texts establish evidence of a much older and deeper local literary foundation than hitherto realized. This novel was written in Trinidad by a black or mixed-race teacher then law clerk, who also wrote poems and gave public lectures on literary topics. Williams, a black lawyer educated in England, who was a major figure in the Pan-African Association. The novel traces the love affair of Rupert Gray, a Negro accountant, and Gwendoline Serle, the daughter of a white businessman in Trinidad. The couple's interracial courtship is marked by parental disapproval, society's scorn and the loyalty of friends. A series of tragic events culminates in a melodramatic courtroom scene.
The Social Museum in the Caribbean by
A mosaic is the only image which can do justice to museums in the Caribbean. They are as diverse and plentiful as the many communities which form the cores of their organizations and the hearts of their missions. These profoundly social museums adopt participatory practices and embark on community engagement processes in order to embed themselves firmly in contemporary Caribbean societies. This dissertation presents a mosaic of 195 Caribbean museums and the results of a unique research project based on a mixed methods approach. It begins with a macro view of Caribbean museums and their participatory practices. This part of the study consisted of a regional museum survey in which the museum visit was approached as an event, leading to the creation of an extensive database of Caribbean museums and their participatory practices. The dissertation continues by zooming in to a micro level to explore the dynamics of community engagement processes in two case studies. The Kalinago Barana Autê in Dominica shows the ongoing process of an indigenous grassroots initiative that became a governmentally owned but locally managed museum. The Bengal to Barbados exhibition in Barbados reveals the complex dynamics of the beginnings of a co-curation project between a heterogeneous migrant community and a national museum. By giving voice to grassroots museums, this dissertation shifts the museological discussion away from the usual suspects to consider topics such as the ephemeral museum. By combining a regional museum survey with case studies, it provides both overarching and close-up views of this mosaic. From ecomuseums and object donations, to multi-vocality and participatory styles, and the need for negotiation and representativity, the study reveals a multitude of facets of the social museum in the Caribbean.This book is a unique resource for museologists around the world, especially those interested in community engagement. It is particularly valuable for those working in, with, or on museums in the Caribbean.
