Ins & Outs of Grenada

26  HISTORY INS& apprenticeship in 1838 brought about another profound change across the landscape when tens of thousands of formerly enslaved finally threw off the yoke of enslavement. This was the beginning of the Grenadian society that we know today, with many ex-enslaved gaining access to lands and farming on their own, establishing communities and villages. They would also grow crops like banana and spices, especially nutmeg, which dominated the economy in the 1900s. The political landscape has seen many changes, especially after 1950. In 1951 agricultural workers demanded and won basic labour rights under Eric Gairy. This period was referred to as ‘Sky Red’, as during the disturbances, many buildings were set ablaze. Grenadians also received universal adult suffrage in that year, Associate Statehood with the UK in 1962 with the demise of West Indian Federation, and finally Independence in 1974. Five years later, the island witnessed a most profound change when the New Jewel Movement led by Maurice Bishop staged a coup d’état, taking the country on a radical and new path towards economic development. There were many social and economic changes that benefited Grenadians, but political infighting resulted in the implosion of the Grenada Revolution with the executions of Prime Minister Bishop and allies on 19 October 1983 at Fort George, where the bullet holes can still be seen in the inner courtyard. The political vacuum left the door open for a massive US (and Caribbean) invasion a week later, the relics of which are still scattered across the terrain. Grenadians, however, are resilient, and have created a society fashioned from the ruins of slavery and colonialism, from their memories of ‘home’, from the dreams of their enslaved ancestors, and the hopes for their children. That society is realised in the Creole amalgam seen today, and celebrated across Grenada, in its villages and its towns, along its coasts and in its valleys, in its streets and in its parks, in its English language littered with French Creole words, in the diversity of indigenous, French and British place names, in its parliamentary democracy with the British monarch as head of state, in its carnival with masquerades like Jab-Jab, Shortknee and Veko, in its religious celebrations of All Saints Day, in its Big Drum dance in Carriacou, in the telling of Ananci Stories, or tales of malevolent spirits like Mama Glo and Sukuyant, in its foods like coucou, oil down, callaloo soup, and pelau, and in its rum punch sprinkled with nutmeg. These come together to create our Grenadian landscape and island identity, that we are so proud to share with the world. John Angus Martin is a historian, archivist and author of several works documenting Grenada’s history and culture. An executive council member of the Grenada National Trust, he authored their new cocoa table book, ‘Grenada Heritage: A pictorial journey through place and time’ with photography by Angus Thompson. A busy market day at the Market Square, St George’s, c. 1890 The Carenage, St. George’s, early 1900s