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I'm sitting on the porch overlooking a tropical garden, the hammock hung
from the breadfruit trees, the garden gate opening directly onto the
beach, reggae music drifting, washing blowing on the line. Far away. Far
away from Glastonbury, far away from like-minded souls. In the Caribbean
- on the island of Dominica, between Guadeloupe and Martinique in the
West Indies.
Wait'ti Kubuli is it's original name, the name given to it by the Caribs
who were here before Columbus, before the present population descendants
of slaves brought here to tend the sugar cane plantations. Before the
Caribs were the Arawak Indians, who, like the Caribs, are believed to
have made their way here from the Orinoco River in South America in some
distant past. The Caribs, however,with their light bronze skin,
straight black hair and flat faces far more resemble a Malaysian
type. The story goes that the Caribs overcame and butchered the peaceful
Arawak. Now they live peacefully in their own Carib Territory, 3,782
acres of beach, forest and mountain on the east side of the island.
Whatever it was that these early inhabitants knew and understood about
the sacred nature of this island is not common knowledge today. I am
still waiting to see the Carib chief and fire him with questions. One
myth that I do know of from the Carib Indians is about the 'snake's
staircase' known as L'escalier Tete du Chien. This geological formation
resembles a gigantic petrified serpent with a dog shaped head that
scales the hillside from the ocean where it apparently extends some way
under the water. They say Great Spirit created the serpent to watch over
the people.
In the meantime, as I said, I sit in this garden and try to feel for
myself what is happening here. My sense that this is sacred territory
emanates from the power and beauty of the landscape and is emphasized in
the name Wai'ti Kubuli which translates as 'How tall is her body'. This
is a body of land, lapped by the gentle waters of the Caribbean on the
east coast and the strong movements of the Atlantic to the West. It's
interior is a mountainous landscape, a volcanic chain with peaks of over
4000 feet forming part of the Caribbean Ring of Fire. There are 365
rivers, a Boiling Lake approached through The Valley of Desolation,
sulphur springs, fumaroles, tumbling waterfalls,volcanic craters and
five different types of verdant forest. The topography is also
characterized by a large number of ridges and deep, narrow river
valleys. There are sunken volcanoes and steep drop-offs under the sea,
as well as active hot springs along the sea shore in a place named
Champagne Beach. There you can swim amongst the warm bubbles floating to
the surface. In the valley behind Soufriere you can watch the bubbling
mud as sulphur gasses escape from the volcanic interior. There is little
industry or development and the total population of this island of 29
miles long by 16 miles wide is 71,000 comprising principally Afro-West
Indian and about 3,000 Carib Indians.
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