Protecting Heritage in the Caribbean (review)

Abstract

995 BOOK REVIEW Philip W. Scher University of Oregon Peter E. Siegel and Elizabeth Righter, eds. Protecting Heritage in the Caribbean. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2011. 232 pp. Early on in their timely and well-organized volume, Peter E. Siegel and Elizabeth Righter bring up what may be the key issue in Caribbean heritage preservation: that is, the idea of what kind of heritage is “valuable ” to local constituencies. In the Caribbean, historic preservationists have often faced a difficult situation-namely that the buildings they have sought to preserve are often looked upon with hostility by the public. In the post-independence era, especially in former British colonies, colonial buildings were seen as unwanted reminders of a deeply oppressive past. The promise of independence carried with it the promise of a modernity free of colonial baggage. In that regard, the kind of heritage that was most actively pursued was what we would now call “intangible cultural heritage.” The legacy of songs, stories, crafts, festivals, folk medicines , native architecture, and the like were elevated in such government programs as Eric Williams’ Best Village competition in Trinidad and Tobago. This event continues to this day with communities nominating themselves each January to be judged in categories such as: Traditions of Carnival; Handicraft; Food and Folk Fair; Village Olympics; Village Chat—Short Stories, Poetry; Folk Theatre/Folk Presentation. The preservation of historic buildings was generally left to private sector organizations run by either expatriate or elite local whites. In the postindependence era many of these organizations whose focus was somewhat narrow to begin with, became even more marginalized. However, the climate for heritage and preservation has changed in recent years. Increasingly, all aspects of heritage in the Caribbean are gaining greater support at the governmental level as well as in the private sector. This is still a rather slow and imperfect process, as many of the essays in this Anthropological Quarterly, Vol. 85, No. 3, p. 995–999, ISSN 0003-5491. © 2012 by the Institute for Ethnographic Research (IFER) a part of the George Washington University. All rights reserved. AQ_v85#3_p973-1000_BKRV_5Reviews.indd 995 7/25/12 11:51 PM Peter E. Siegel and Elizabeth Righter, eds. | Protecting Heritage in the Caribbean 996 volume attest. Public indifference, insufficient penalties for destroying heritage sites, lack of enforcement, and pressures from developers and other interested parties, as well as sometimes limited forms of legislation still exist as challenges to protecting heritage in the region. The reasons for the increase in interest in heritage as well as the difficulties in defining it are primarily addressed in the volume’s final two chapters; however, many of the other authors address these significant issues briefly in their contributions. The chief strength of the collection is in presenting the overall issues and problems that face heritage scholars from a pragmatic point of view on a country by country basis. For that alone, the authors must be commended. Contained in one volume, researchers may find excellent, brief histories of the preservation and cultural heritage management efforts of the major Caribbean islands. This is no small contribution as there are a dizzying array of organizations and entities with greater or lesser power throughout the region that are meant to be responsible for historic buildings, archaeological sites, monuments, intangible cultural heritage practices, etc. For the most part, these articles are written by archaeologists and museum officials and, as such, they focus primarily on the built and natural environments. The book is organized into 18 chapters with a preface. Each chapter is written by well-known and experienced individuals in the fields of archaeology and heritage studies. With the exception of the preface and final two contributions, the book deals with individual nations or groups of collectively administered islands from the major colonial language groups: English, French, Spanish, and Dutch. They include The Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, the US Virgin Islands, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and others. The most obvious omission in the collection is Haiti, which is ironic given the rich heritage of the island and its lack of resources. However, the editors dutifully lament and explain its absence (x). Although...