Times of the Islands Spring 2021

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astrolabe newsletter of the Turks & Caicos National Museum This is one of James Dean’s boats in Blue Hills, Providenciales. James notes that his grandfather, father, uncles and brothers were all boat builders, a skill that has been passed down to his sons and nephews. People of the Islands Telling “A Caicos Sloop Story.” Story and Photos By Michael P. Pateman, Ph.D. and Vanessa A. Forbes-Pateman In the Summer 2019 Astrolabe, we introduced “People of the Islands.” This project seeks to tell the story of “Islanders” through a first-person narrative. The various interview topics include boat building, food/ cooking, bush medicine, island migration, cultural traditions, music, dance, story-telling and much more. After many delays, including the COVID-19 pandemic and a new job, we are excited to launch the first video documentary for People of the Islands, A Caicos Sloop Story. This article is our narrative of the experience and reactions from filming the interviews on traditional boat building in the Turks & Caicos Islands. We will switch the first-person narrative between Michael and Vanessa, as our personal experience is vital to telling the story. 58 www.timespub.tc
astrolabe newsletter of the Turks & Caicos National Museum When Michael first arrived in the Turks & Caicos as director of the national museum, he was amazed with how similar but different the cultural traditions of the Turks & Caicos Islands are compared to The Bahamas. One of his main goals as director was to explore and experience these cultural traditions so that the museum can do a better job of presenting them to residents and visitors to the Islands. One of these traditions is the building of native Caicos sloops. This journey started on February 16, 2019 at the annual Valentine’s Cup, hosted by the Middle Caicos Co-op on Bambarra Beach, Middle Caicos. The Valentine’s Cup is a regatta using model Caicos sloops enjoyed by locals and visitors of all ages. While waiting for the event to begin, I walked around to interview attendees. Fortunately, the first people I met are both members of different TCI boat building families, Wing Dean and Brodie Forbes. They both spoke with fondness of childhood memories of building model boats out of gum elemi trees with their friends. Historically, children would gather logs from the gum elemi tree and carve smaller versions of Caicos sloops, complete with sails and rigging, and race them in sheltered waters. That evening I called Vanessa excited about the information I had gathered that day. I expressed shock that we didn’t have something similar in The Bahamas. However, Vanessa was surprised as she thought it was a common childhood practice. While both of us are from The Bahamas, we had different childhood experiences. Similar to most Bahamian families, we can trace our familiar history to various family islands, Michael (Cat Island and Berry Islands) and Vanessa (Andros and Exuma). However, multiple generations of Michael’s family were born on New Providence whereas Vanessa’s parents were both born on Andros.This is similar in that many children who grow up in Providenciales do not have the same cultural experiences as those from the other islands. Vanessa recounts stories similar to Wing and Brodie’s. She recalls, “The most exciting part of getting my own model boat was choosing the tree it would be sculpted from. I excitedly watched and helped my uncle, knowing upon completion the best part of the summer is the model boat regatta and I always wanted to win—which child doesn’t? Model boat regatta day was the highlight, nobody slept the night before and you kept your eye on your boat in case one of the cousins tried to sabotage Top: Pastor “Gold” Williams sails his model sloop. Above: “Wing” Dean (left) and Brodie Forbes speak with fondness of childhood memories of building model boats. you. We barely ate breakfast since we were so excited to get down to the bay to race our boats. There’s nothing quite like seeing the wind catch your sails and your boat take off; you couldn’t hear much from all the excitement, sound, colour, smell of the food and the sea. The buildup to the regatta made summering on the family islands the best part of getting sent there from the capital of Nassau.” Times of the Islands Spring 2021 59
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