Reinterpreting A Black Past: Historical archaeology in St. Vincent and the Grenadines

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• Dr Peggy Brunache
• Tuesday 22 October 2024, 13:00-14:00
• Seminar Room, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Jimena Lobo Guerrero Arenas.

Archaeological research into the Black experience during St Vincent and the Grenadines’ colonial and postcolonial eras is still an unexplored landscape. This presentation briefly details my burgeoning work on the Wallibou sugar estate (colloquially known as “Lashum”) located in the foothills of the active volcano, La Soufrière, in the North Leeward region of St. Vincent island. Unknown to most Vincentians, the Wallibou sugar estate was a nexus of some of St. Vincent’s most notable social and environmental events articulated through Black and Indigenous political and environmental struggle. Preliminary historical and archaeological studies of Wallibou demonstrates a strong potential for revealing new understandings of Black lifestyles of resilience and resistance during and after the slavery era, whilst negotiating an existence under constant environmental/ecological threats in a region classified as the highest volcanic hazard zone, haz_4 and highest risk rating of 10. Due to the general lack of historical knowledge or public memory that highlight the dynamic experiences of enslaved and free Africans and their descendants, the ‘Wallibou/Lashum Heritage Project’ is conceived as a community of practice between archaeologists and stakeholders that includes the St. Vincent and the Grenadines National Trust (SVGNT), interested local residents, and other Vincentians to critically elaborate on the ways of knowing and interpreting their own past.

This talk is part of the Americas Archaeology Group series.

This talk is included in these lists:

• Americas Archaeology Group
• Seminar Room, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research

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