By Felician Medino Abraham
Felician Medino Abraham is from Moruca. A Jesuit, he holds a Master’s degree in Society and Frontiers from the Federal University of Roraima, Brazil.
Last Monday 9th August 2021 was World Indigenous People day. I am a Lokono – Arawak from Moruca. Over the years I have been engaged in social and humanitarian outreach work with a Jesuit organization, working with marginalized groups that include vulnerable and poor people, Indigenous people and refugees in different places. I have never visited Haiti but in 2004, I worked with Haitians in Jamaica, and in 2018 I encountered another group of Haitians while studying and working in Brazil. My encounter with these fellow Caribbeans offered me wonderful experiences ‘beyond frontiers,’ where I came to understand their difficulties, successes and rich history. As I developed a relationship with those I interacted with who were teachers, linguists and other professions, we shared and learned about each other and our respective countries. My Haitian friends knew quite a bit about my country and its socioeconomic and political situation, that it is ranked the second poorest nation behind theirs in the Caribbean and Latin America. They also knew that Guyana is rich in natural resources but remains underdeveloped because of the political quagmire that has over the years obstructed the country’s advancement.
As I interacted with my Haitian brethren and sistren, they shared their dreams for their beloved country; they informed me that Ayiti is a Taino word which means mountainous lands and that prior to Columbus’ disastrous arrival on the island there was an established Taino-Arawak Indigenous civilization. They further pointed out that important aspects of Indigenous culture and customs continued to be practiced, for example in contemporary culinary culture in Haitian society and in other Caribbean countries.
The history of attempted genocide of Tainos and the enslavement of African people in Haiti and other countries in the Caribbean underlines just how much is shared by Indigenous and African people when we stop to consider the history of imperialism and colonialism in the Americas. Haiti in particular has suffered in the years following the penalties it has faced from imperial powers for its successful revolution and declaration of independence at the turn of the nineteenth century. The Haitians I have encountered emphasised the importance of learning about how African peoples resisted their oppression, giving the example of the Maroons in Jamaica; I learnt of instances of Amerindian and African exchanges and mutual learning, even though in different situations and at times – as in during the Berbice Rebellion of 1763, they also fought against each other, in a divide and rule game orchestrated by colonial powers. It is important to recognize the collaborative efforts of Indigenous and African peoples in earlier times, who supported each other from colonial oppression for the common good; their relentless struggle against the system made them protagonists for justice and human dignity which most are still fighting for in the Caribbean today.
This solidarity is paramount to maintain in modern Caribbean societies, where most times political leaders promote hate and division of – and among sectors of – the poor and vulnerable. We see this so clearly with the current Haitian crisis. We see it in the negative treatment meted out to Haitians – especially those who do not have the protection of class and status – by some or most Caribbean governments introducing visa travel requirements for example to enter Guyana and other CARICOM nations. We see it in the experiences of some Haitians as narrated to me, exploited by racketeers and other conmen who sometimes promise them the moon and the stars to save all their earnings, only to end up serving time in jail. We see it in the ways that migration authorities label most of the travel movements of Haitians as trafficking in persons (TIP), regardless of circumstance, which reinforces a negative image of Haitians in the public eye. Indigenous, African, Indian and other groups in the Caribbean must be vigilant in the face of such injustices faced by Haitians and other neighbours who are vulnerable today in our world.
In conversation with my Haitian friends, we came up with some practical suggestions that would hopefully lead us out of these dark clouds of arrogance, hate and contempt for the poor and vulnerable, and towards Love, Justice and Solidarity for Haitians and others in the Caribbean: to approach the Caribbean Court of Justice to establish Haitians’ rights under CARICOM’s Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas for Free Movement of Persons; to start a campaign for Caribbean governments to crack down on racketeers who con Haitians out of their scarce resources, instead of criminalizing Haitians. There is urgent need for a strong collective voice by all concerned that if some Haitians are indeed really victims of trafficking as the Governments contend, they should be granted the care and protection of the State, and not be further victimized by being mistreated as criminals, harassed, persecuted, jailed and deported. There is also the need to organize public service announcement campaigns in Haiti informing Haitians of their rights and responsibilities, and how to travel legally.
I am grateful for my conversation with Haitians and learning from them, particularly during these uncertain times that this majority Black nation is experiencing, a time where they are being perceived negatively by most of the Caribbean Community as refugees and illegal migrants. Their situation requires a fundamental shift in perception by Caribbean people to not only perceive Haitians as modern day instances of the ‘wretched of the earth` but as a people and nation who should be saluted for their wealth of history and culture. It was my Haitian friends who showed me that their country was the first nation to be liberated from slavery in 1804 and is considered the first black Republic to defeat Napoleon’s army some two centuries ago, and that it was the Haitian revolution that partly inspired Simon Bolivar’s campaign for Venezuelan independence in the early nineteenth century.
Conversations with my Haitian friends also highlighted Haitian and African traditions in the Caribbean. They taught me about tontine which we in Guyana know as ‘box hand,’ a system of saving money in which each member of a group contributes a fixed amount once within a given period and each member has a turn in collecting the entire pool. According to Guyanese scholar Professor Kimani Nehusi,“there is a variation of traditions carried on in enslaved and post-emancipation societies in most of the Caribbean nations for example in Haiti; one of such is called tontine. This practice is termed differently in other Caribbean countries; in Bahamas it is called vasu(e) syndicate in (Belize), meeting in (Barbados), pardner in (Jamaica) to name a few; which are all forms of grassroot community micro financing that originated in Afrika”.
Other activities I learnt from my experience with my Haitian friends include their wonderful traditions of music and art and spirituality; all of these can be found in the religious practice of Vodun (Vodoo) that incorporates a mixture of Christianity and African traditions and that gives the Haitian people a unique and proud identity, similar to Jamaican Rastafarianism and Cuban Santeria. These forms of spirituality, using customs from the ancestors, are also practiced by some Indigenous groups in Guyana and elsewhere in the Americas; practices that are paramount for oppressed peoples in the Caribbean to replenish our energies to be a resilient people in a globalized inhumane world. These traditions of art and music and especially religious practices which were learnt from my experience with Haitians have so much to offer the Caribbean. Hence, the need for further collaboration and networking among us despite the individualism and disunity that may exist; it is only a united voice that will ensure that leaders in the Caribbean will serve all people with equity no matter their nationality, and especially if they are facing crises, like Haitians are at present. The earthquake of Saturday, the most recent tragedy to visit this island, only underlines the urgency of our need to reach out to Haitians with compassion and solidarity as our neighbours.
