2007
NEWS LINKS
AND DOWNLOADS
DOWNLOAD
THE FINAL REPORT:
GLI GLI Leeward Island Expedtion
[1M pdf]
CLICK
HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE
2007 EXPEDITION
Daily
reports from onboard GLI GLI
Download
the GLI GLI Booklet
News Links
from all over the Caribbean during the Expedition
The
Caribs of the Islands by Neil Whitehead
Words
of Support by Dr. Maximilian C. Forte
|
WORDS
OF SUPPORT BY DR. Maximilian C. Forte
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.
Dr. Maximilian C. Forte
Assistant Professor, Anthropology
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY, Canada
Site Photography by Alison Langley
HOME
|