[3:16 PM, 8/12/2024] Pete Ninvalle: Wikipedia describes the Roseau Valley in Saint Lucia as home to the island’s largest banana plantation.
It goes on to say that “the Roseau River runs through the valley and enters the sea at Roseau Bay and that the Roseau Reservoir is a major source of drinking water.”
Elsewhere on the internet, one can find stories about the Roseau Valley Distillery tours and the vast banana plantations but little of the stigmatization that the community once endured.
With the launch of a new publication, it is the hope of those involved that not only will this stigmatization of “Jan Wozo” be eradicated but that the real stories of the community will now be passed on through generations to come.
“Stories of Roseau Valley” was launched on Saturday, August 10, 2024.
“Today is absolutely a joyous occasion,” declared Stanislas Albert, who delivered the welcome remarks.
Albert, who contributed to the publication, went on: ” As this story begins to unfold to the world, I feel very much elated. I feel that I have arrived, telling the story about Jan Wozo. I am a proud product of the Roseau Valley.”
According to Albert, for many years he and others were badly treated simply because their address was Roseau.
He disclosed that the book, which had been eight years in the making, is an unfinished project and that there is a lot more to be written about the Roseau Valley.
Also speaking at the launch was veteran Saint Lucian Journalist Earl Bosquet.
“What the world doesn’t know and we are telling them today is that a people, a community who has been written and spoken about historically, eventually decided to tell their own story,” Bosquet said.
According to Bosquet, the publication comprises different stories of the same community, coming from the mouths of the people looking into the mirror and sharing with us the history that has been orally embedded in their heads.
Sir Calixte George, who wrote the book’s foreword, described the publication’s launch as unique during Emancipation celebrations.
In his foreword, George wrote, “When one considers that jan wozo were widely considered to be the most ignorant, uncivilized, illiterate and backward people of Saint Lucia, this bold attempt by the present generation of the people of the area, led by Primus Hutchinson, to document their history for posterity, should be considered admirable and must be graciously complimented and applauded by all of us.”
One of the authors and the main researcher for “Stories of Roseau Valley” Hutchinson stated that the stigma of “jan wozo” once followed him everywhere.
“At times I felt like giving up and moving to the hills,” he said.
However, Hutchinson told the book launch ceremony that he endured because of Jerry George and Mathew Roberts, who ushered him into the field of broadcasting during his formative years.
According to Hutchinson, the idea for the book formed after Jacmel hosted Jounen Kweyol in 2016 and the recollection that Roseau had also hosted in 1997.
Both communities had won the “La Wen Kweyol” title.
Hutchinson disclosed that the book recounts the early history of the Roseau Valley: the settlers, farming, mercantilism, and the sugar cane era.
It also captures stories of the first extra-strong rum, “Denros,” and the experiences of those who toiled on the estates.
In addition, the publication chronicles Roseau’s rich history, varying lifestyles, supernatural stories of “la diabless”, and “garjay,” the early years of music and dancing in the community, and much more.
The book launch occurred on the compound of Saint Lucia Distillers, a place within the community rich in history.
Stories of Roseau Valley’s writers are Primus J. Hutchinson, Francis S. Leonce, Patrish Lionel, Stanislas Albert, Magarete Lubrin Aoki, Fr. Lambert St. Rose, and Bryan Auguste.
It was published by Roseau Valley Press & Jako Books and is currently available on Amazon and jakoproductions.com
PHOTO: Primus Hutchinson speaks at book launch
