On the Passing of Rose Janniere, Former Mayor of Arima, Friend of the Carib Community of Trinidad

Rose Janneire, at Balisier House, on Republic Day 1998.
Photo © Maximilian C. Forte.

I was sadly surprised to learn of the passing of former Arima Mayor, Rose Janniere, from reading the Trinidad news this morning. She passed away on Thursday, 14 July, 2011. I first met Rose Janniere about 16 years ago, in 1995, at the Carib Community Centre, when she was then Mayor of Arima and closely associated with the Santa Rosa Carib Community. Janniere was the first, and only, woman to have become Mayor of Arima. In the years that I did my research with the Caribs (1995, 1998-1999, 2001-2003, 2006) I would meet her very often, especially as my research expanded to include the Arima Borough Council where she sat as an Alderman next to Ricardo Bharath Hernandez, head of the Carib Community. She was for a long time a staunch promoter of the Carib Community. Like Ricardo, and most members of the Carib Community, she was also a loyal supporter of the People's National Movement and, if I recall correctly, had at one time been the secretary to Dr. Eric Williams, and later was the Public Relations Officer for the PNM. Thanks to her, I was able to attend and document the PNM's celebration of Republic Day in 1998, where I saw how Trinidad's Caribs were prominently featured (in part due to the work of Rose Janniere), and where I also met Patrick Manning, then Opposition Leader. Later Rose Janniere also became active in the National Association for the Empowerment of African People (NAEAP), which today has also written its condolences:

The National Association for the Empowerment of African People (NAEAP) joins the nation in recognizing the many services Ms. Janneire rendered to the nation. Ms. Janneire joined NAEAP in 2000, two years after it was founded, and worked arduously with the organization to transform the landscape of African people in this country. She served as a trustee in the organization and for many years controlled the finances of the organization.

For most of her eleven years in NAEAP she was the chairman of NAEAP’s Annual Emancipation Dinner and made sure she found the finances to run NAEAP’s day school. She served conscientiously in these roles and gave of herself unstintingly to make NAEAP a better organization. That is why NAEAP members such Oscar Gooding, Marcia Toney, Marion Simmons and Annette Valdez took care of Ms. Janneire in the final days of her life while her daughter lived in Barbados and her son served as a priest in New Jersey.

NAEAP regards her as faithful servant who worked hard to advance the cause of African people in Trinidad and Tobago. We thank her for such services on behalf of the black community. Selwyn R. Cudjoe, President of NAEAP says of Ms. Janneire, “She was a good and faithful servant who served her nation well. We will all miss her as an organization.” NAEAP will not hold its annual Emancipation dinner this year in respect for the life that Ms. Janneire’s lived. We will use the time to reflect on the many contributions that she made to her country.

Even via NAEAP, Rose Janniere continued to support the Carib Community, and once again it was thanks to her that I met Dr. Selwyn Cudjoe who came and advised at various community planning meetings in the Carib Centre. Rose Janniere became a Senator, and from that point I do not think I saw her again. While we certainly had our differences, I must say that Rose always showed herself to be very gracious and kind in my regards. I am certain that her loss is felt not just by her family, but also by many people in the Carib Community, not least of whom is the current Carib chief.

Rose welcoming the Caribs as they enter the Church for the Santa Rosa Festival

Rose dancing with Cristo Adonis of the Carib Community

Rose and the author of this post, at the Carib Centre in August of 1998

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Rose Janniere dies from pancreatic cancer

First published in the Trinidad Express

Story by Anna Ramdass

Jul 16, 2011

Former mayor of Arima and member of the People's National Movement (PNM) Rose Janniere is dead.

Janniere died on Thursday at the Port of Spain General Hospital from pancreatic cancer.

Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley, in a statement yesterday, described Janniere as a "servant to the people of Trinidad and Tobago".

"As a member of the PNM, Ms Janniere served in the constituency of Arima as Deputy Mayor from 1983 to 1987 and as Mayor from 1992 to 1996. She was actively involved with the Carib community and also served on the management team of Arima United Sports Club," stated Rowley.

He further noted that Janniere gave yeoman service to the PNM as assistant general secretary, public relations officer and a member of the Women's League.

"Her public career saw her act as a senator between 2002 and 2007. She also served as a director of the Port Authority and, up to 2010, was employed at the Airports Authority of Trinidad and Tobago," stated Rowley.

He added, "Rose Janniere was a tried and true servant of the People's National Movement and, by extension, the people of Trinidad and Tobago. On behalf of the PNM family, it is with a great sense of loss and sadness that I extend sincere condolences to the family and friends of Ms Janniere. May she rest in peace."

PNM general secretary Ashton Ford told the Express he had known Janniere for a very long time and praised her for her service to party and people.

"I worked with her when I was a member of Parliament. She became a councillor and moved on to be the first female mayor of Arima. She was well loved and served the party at all levels," said Ford.

He added that Janniere was a people's person who was actively involved with the sporting community and loved Carnival and playing mas.

He also pointed out that Janniere was instrumental in having the statue of Calypso King "Lord Kitchener" erected in the country.

Arima Mayor Alderman Ghassan Youseph also expressed sympathies to Janniere's family, adding that a condolence book will be opened at Arima Town Hall for all Arimians who wish to pay their respects.

He said the Council will be in contact with the family to determine what role the Council can play in the funeral arrangements.

"On behalf of the Council and staff of the Arima Corporation, and all Arimians, and on my own behalf, I extend condolences to the family of the late Rose Janniere, especially her mom Ms Rose Hilibrand and children Mrs Natasha Lashley and Fr Nigel Mohammed," Youseph said in a press release.

He pointed out that Janniere, who came from a well-known Arima family, served Trinidad and Tobago and the Arimians, as Mayor of Arima, for almost four years, between 1992 and 1996.

"Ms Janniere's passing is a sad loss for the borough of Arima and all of Trinidad and Tobago," he added.

News about Trinidad's Caribs and the State

In an article in Trinidad and Tobago's Newsday, "Carib leader snubs COP" (by Irene Medina, Wednesday, June 13, 2007), the following extract is worthy of note. It concerns the work of a government-appointed Amerindian Projects Committee, which was formally (re)instituted in September of 2006:

a Cabinet-appointed committee to look into issues affecting indigenous people, submitted its first draft report to the Minister of Community Development, Culture and Gender Affair Joan Yuille-Williams for Cabinet’s consideration. The Committee, which is being chaired by Museum Curator Val Lewis is also looking into the issues of a public holiday for the Carib community next year and the issuance of a parcel of land. Lewis told Newsday: “We have made a number of recommendations that would improve the Carib communities generally throughout the country. Some of these include documenting the story of the Amerindians, immediate steps to protect archaeological sites and protection of medicinal herbs.” Lewis said talks have already been held with the Central Statistical Office (CSO) to identify the Caribs by name in the next census and that concerns were raised about the use of the Carib name as a product brand. He said three members of the Carib Community were on this committee and some major developments may be coming for the group.

Several elements of this story are noteworthy, some of which I have underlined in the passage above. The first has to do with the fact that the government appointed a museum curator to head the committee, which reflects the usual positioning of indigenous issues in Trinidad within the framework of history, archaeology, and the display of relics of a folk culture. This is not-so-subtle way for the government to suggest that indigeneity in Trinidad is shrouded in pastness, is not part of contemporary experience, and is to be managed by non-indigenous experts of the distant Amerindian past. The good news is that this is an orthodox position: for readers who may not be familiar with the writings of French sociologist, Pierre Bourdieu, orthodox views are articulated in defense of a position, precisely because that position is under question and open to contestation. In the absence of questioning, where domination proceeds unchallenged, there is no need to convert everyday assumptions into hardened ideology. That the existence of this orthodoxy--Caribs are relics of the past--has come into being reveals an unsteady state, and what is typical of unsteady states is moments of confusion and contradiction in official positions.

Thus, as if to contradict relegating Caribs to the dusty covers of history books, the article above tells us that now the Central Statistical Office may be planning to include a "Carib" category on the next census, something that seems to follow on the heels of an article published in this blog before the news above was made public (see: "Does Trinidad Recognize its Indigenous People?"). This is good news, and the effect of this inclusion may help to revolutionize the ways that Trinidadians self-identify.

What might seem more problematic is the notion presented in the article above that the government would improve the position of "Carib communities...throught the country": Who will do the identifying? What are the criteria they will use for indentifying these communities as "Carib communities"? What do they mean by community? What if persons who self-identify as Carib are not members of any kind of formal, identifiable structure that could be called a community? Indeed, it is arguable that were it not for the Mission, and the Santa Rosa Festival, there might not have been a Carib community in Arima itself, which is quite far from saying that, therefore, no self-identifying Caribs would have existed in Arima.

Also surprising is the news that a "public holiday" may now be established for the Caribs, something they have not requested. They have requested land, for decades now, and much further in the past as well, and there really is little excuse for not having granted any. What makes the ongoing stalling of a land grant all the more remarkable is that the head of the Carib Community, Ricardo Bharath Hernandez, is a devoted member of the ruling People's National Movement, which has been in power for most of Trinidad's history since Independence (coincidentally, to be commemorated on today's date). The article from which the extract above was taken is in fact primarily about Bharath refusing to attend a "heritage dinner" for indigenous people hosted by the opposition Congress of the People. As stated in the article:

“I would have gone in the interest of indigenous people but I felt it was inappropriate to attend that particular function in this, an election year. I did not want anyone to be unsure about where my allegiance is,” he said. Bharath-Hernandez added he was all for the development and upliftment of the indigenous people, but being a member of the PNM, felt attending wouldhave been a conflict of interest. He said he had written the COP declining the invitation.

One doubts that anyone will question Bharath's allegiance to the PNM. The question is whether the ruling party has shown sufficient reciprocal allegiance to the Caribs.

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