Repeating Islands

Elections were held last Wednesday in the Carib territory of Dominica to choose a Chief for a new 4-year term of office and a new representative to Dominica’s Parliament. Garnett Joseph won the election over a wide margin over incumbent Charles Williams.

Dominica is home to about 3,000 Caribs or ethnic Kalinagos, the last such community remaining in the Caribbean. They live in rural communities in Dominica’s northeast, where they have collective property rights over their territory. The newly elected Chief says he has high hopes for Dominica’s dwindling indigenous population. ”I feel very elated, and I’m confident that the Kalinago people can achieve anything once they put their minds to it,” said Joseph, who previously served as the Carib’s leader from 1999 to 2004. Joseph said his first order of business will be to establish a credit union on the 3,800-acre (1,538-hectare) Carib territory. He has also pledged to bring more development to the communities, where Caribs live in greater poverty than the rest of the country, relying mostly on banana and citrus farming for income.

Photo: Garnett Joseph pictured with Gurudeva from the Kauai Hindu Monastery during a visit to the Carib territory in 2000.