The Gli-Gli Carib Canoe: Final Report

Many thanks to Aragorn Dick-Read for sending the final report for the voyage of the Gli-Gli Carib Canoe of Dominica through the Greater Antilles which took place this summer. Readers can download a PDF copy of the report from:

http://www.centrelink.org/gligli_final_report_200722.pdf

(File size: 997 Kb)

Interpreting the Gli-Gli

Never adrift, but perhaps beneath the horizon of popular awareness, the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean archipelago are symbolically reunited by the sailing of the Gli-Gli, on a sea that once united more than it divided its inhabitants. If the resurgence of Caribbean indigenous peoples were to be compared to a voyage, the Gli-Gli would be singled out as one of its proudest vehicles. “Integration” is not just a matter for technocrats and politicians. The Kalinago, the artists, and the visionaries behind the Gli-Gli wrest cultural history from the hands of the wayward captains of the region. Ten years after its first momentous voyage through the Lesser Antilles and on to Guyana, the Gli-Gli sails again, reenacting history while reencountering the indigenous present. The resurgence of the identities, cultures and communities of the region's indigenous peoples is made up of many landmark events, but what is ever more apparent is that the resurgence of one community cannot proceed without the contact, exchange, and knowledge shared between communities in separate islands united by the sea. Whether it is looked at as art, or as the heightened media savvy of indigenous activists and their supporters, or as historical reinterpretation, this voyage of renewal leaves previously self-assured histories of the region foundering on the shoals of extinction.

The sailing of the Gli Gli is one of the more vivid and exciting vehicles that brings knowledge and awareness of the survival of the region's indigenous peoples to diverse shores in the Caribbean. It is through such acts that popular consciousness may be broadened to acknowledge the cultural complexity of the region, by bringing attention to a long ignored population. The project also exemplifies some of the key dimensions of the Caribbean indigenous resurgence: regional exchange and connections, a broad network of supporters, and the use of media technologies. How will the Gli Gli be received in these diverse territories? What questions will the hosts of the crew ask? What will be the impact of the voyage? We look forward to learning the answers to these questions.

Gli-Gli Press Release

PRESS RELEASE: April 16, 2007

Provided to the Caribbean Amerindian Centrelink by Aragorn Dick-Read

THE GLI GLI CARIB CANOE PROJECT’S LEEWARD ISLANDS EXPEDITION

THE CARIBS ARE COMING!

For the first time in over 300 years a Carib Indian canoe, with a crew of Kalinago Caribs from Dominica, will sail up the Leeward Islands from Antigua to the Virgin Islands. Their mission is to draw attention to the survival and resurgence of their culture and to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of Gli Gli’s creation.

Gli Gli is a traditional 35’ dug out sailing canoe. She will be crewed by 12 men and 2 women from the Kalinago Carib Territory in Dominica. On the 6th of May she will sail from Antigua to the islands of Nevis, St Kitts, St Barths, St Martin, St Maateen and Anguilla, before crossing the Anegada passage to the British Virgin Islands.

The various heritage societies of these islands will be hosting the Gli Gli’s visit. At each stop along the way the crew will be giving talks about Carib culture, performing traditional Carib music, demonstrating their unique craft-making techniques, and showing the BBC documentary, “The Quest of the Carib Canoe”, a film about Gli Gli’s historic sail from Dominica to Guyana 10 years ago, which symbolically reunited the Caribs of Dominica with their ancestral relatives in the southern Caribbean and Guyana.

Though there are no distinct Carib communities in the Leeward Islands today, the up coming journey aims to raise awareness that these islands were once the domain of a thriving indigenous culture. The Carib people and their predecessors had a closely integrated tribal society, using canoes such as the Gli Gli as their primary means of transport. The expedition will be exploring the importance of the Carib legacy and mythology in contemporary Caribbean culture.

On their arrival, the Europeans were taken aback by the resistance and fighting skills of the Caribs. Columbus famously scarred their reputation through the ages by coining the term ‘cannibal’ from the word Carib. It is this kind of negative mythology, which is still being taught in schools, that the Gli Gli project aims to dispel.

As late as the 1750’s the European planters of Antigua and St Kitts were living in fear of Caribs from Dominica raiding their coastal estates in fleets of canoes. The Leeward Islands Expedition will be the first time a Carib canoe has sailed in these waters since the subjugation of the seafaring tribe by the colonial navies. Gli Gli is named after the sparrow hawk, a totem of bravery for Carib warriors, a name chosen as a mark of respect for the ancestors.

John Francis, a Carib drummer and activist, and Aragorn Dick-Read an artist and activist from the British Virgin Islands are co-directing the project. Paulinus Frederick is the expedition spokesman as well as lead musician. The master canoe builder Mr Etiene Charles, aka “Chalo”, who built the canoe in 1996, will be sailing on board. Other members of the team include, master basket weavers, calabash carvers, drummers and a dancer. The crew is something of a family affair….with 3 father son pairs and one father daughter pair. The perpetuation of the Carib culture is the driving goal of the project.

The Gli Gli will be accompanied by a beautiful 90’ top sail schooner, “Fiddlers Green”, rigged and owned by Captain Douglas Watson of Australia. The Mother ship will be housing the expedition personnel as well as the camera crew led by Timothy Wheeler of "Documenting Life", from Los Angeles, USA, and Johnny Tattersall of the BVI.

A flotilla of support boats is anticipated, including “Genisis” of Antigua, owned by Alexis Andrews and “Rush” owned by Phil and Julie Louwrens.

The project is being partially funded by a grant from the Robinson Bequest Fund and by private donations. However the expedition will be fundraising en route with musical performances and by selling Carib craft items, T-shirts and DVDs of the BBC film.

The expedition is grateful to the following sponsors for their contributions and efforts:

LIAT Airlines, Golden Hind Chandlery, Arawak Arts, Lignum Vitae Arts, Bougainvillea clinic, Paint factory, Mr and Mrs Channey.

For further information about the Gli Gli Leeward Islands expedition see the website www.gliglicaribcanoe.com or contact Aragorn Dick-Read dreadeye@surfbvi.com
tel: 1 284 49 51849

Gli-Gli Sailing and Visit Schedule, 2007

For information on the itinerary of the Gli-Gli Carib Canoe, please see the following page at:
http://www.centrelink.org/gliglischedule.html

Gli Gli News from Aragorn Dick-Read

With reference to the 10th anniversary sailing of the Gli Gli Carib Canoe, Aragorn Dick-Read informs the CAC that his team is putting together a booklet about the Gli Gli, outlining the goals of the trip along with general information on the Carib cultural legacy in the region.

The goals of the project, aside from sailing the Gli Gli through the Leeward islands to the British Virigin Islands, are to bring, as he says, "a bit of 'Caribness' to these islands, both as a reminder to the people of the past as well as a recognition of Carib cultural survival or resurgence."

The Gli Gli crew will bring with them basket makers, canoe builders, calabash carvers, drummers, singers, flute and banjo players, and a dancer. They also plan to perform some cassava bread making in each island. The group as a whole consists of 14 people, ranging from elders to those in their early 20's, including three father-son pairs and one father-daughter pair. All of this takes placed under the intellectual leadership of Paulinus Frederick, the head drummer and spokesperson.

The team anticipates forming something of a flotilla of support as they move up the islands. They are filming the whole event as well.

The Gli-Gli Carib Canoe Sails Again

Aragorn Dick-Read, one of the co-directors of the Gli-Gli Carib Canoe Project, has notified us that the Gli-Gli is about to set sail again on the 10th anniversary of their first voyage to relink the Carib communities of the region. The current objective is to sail the Carib Canoe, “Gli Gli,” with a crew of 12 Dominican Caribs from Antigua to the Virgin Islands, via Nevis and St Kitts, St Eustatia, St Barths, St Martin and Anguilla then across the Anegada passage to Tortola. The voyage is being undertaken to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Gli Gli’s creation and to continue the mission of her 1997 expedition from Dominica to Guyana, by symbolically reuniting the Carib descendants of the Leeward Islands. The expedition intends to draw attention to the role the Caribs have played in the region's history and culture. Throughout the expedition the crew will be presenting slide and video shows about the Gli Gli Carib canoe project and presenting traditional musical performances for schools and heritage groups.

Following in the spirit of the 1997 Gli Gli expedition , which was documented in the BBC film “The Quest of the Carib Canoe”, the Leeward Island Expedition will be recorded to produce a short documentary film for regional and global TV markets. The focus will be on the adventures of Gli Gli and her crew as she sails up the island chain and an introduction to the history of the canoes and journeys of the Carib tribe. The film will be produced under the guidance of David Fanning of PBS and filmed by Mick Kollins from the Caribbean Design group and independent film maker Travis Rummel.

For more information see:
(1) The official website of the current Gli-Gli project at:
http://www.gliglicaribcanoe.com/

(2) Information on the film, "Quest of the Carib Canoe" at:
http://www.nativenetworks.si.edu/Eng/orange/
quest_of_the_carib_canoe.htm

Untold Origins -- Caribbean Indigenous Museum Exhibition

"Untold Origins," an exhibition dedicated to indigenous Caribbean heritage and identity, took place under the auspices of the Cuming Museum in Southwark, London, from October 19, 2004 to February 26, 2005.

The Cuming Museum sought to challenge several myths of Caribbean history, such as those of the cannibalistic Caribs eating their way through docile Arawak communities, or those pertaining to the often repeated notion that indigenous peoples in the Caribbean are extinct. In this vein, the organizers of the exhibition explain, "the Cuming Museum wanted to explore their survival in more depth and to discover whether there are any echoes of indigenous culture surviving in Southwark's Caribbean culture today." The Untold Origins exhibition was originally presented for Black History Month in 2004. It sought to explore "the untold history of the indigenous people of the Caribbean and their contribution to the Caribbean culture of today." An attempt was made to join reflection of Caribbean indigenous survival with contemporary ways of making sense of one's identity, and how movement and cross-cultural contact could affect the process of making one's identity.

The Cuming Museum has since decided to provide online the various photographs and information boards that were used for the exhibition, for the sake of those who could not have been present.

These materials include the following:

• The tradition of cassava production (1mb)
• Untold Origins introduction (742kb)
• The Schomburgk collection (624kb)
• History of migration from South America (165kb)
• The shared culture (152kb)
• Women’s' role in indigenous culture (1mb)
• The impact of European contact and conquest (280kb)
• Resistance and survival (280kb)
• The indigenous craft tradition (96kb)
• Indigenous contributions to Caribbean culture today (96kb)
• The continuity of Caribbean indigenous people (196kb)
• The gli-gli carib canoe project (136kb)
• Useful websites and references (1mb)

Please click here to go to the original site for the exhibition.