Anne-Marie Danet
(JH, SH, C-U)
Editor's note: The following is one of two articles presented in this volume having to do with the cultural history of the French of the Virgin Islands. As we point out elsewhere, there is a substantial difference in the tone of ethnic self-assertion expressed by French Virgin Islanders when compared with that of Puerto Ricans, persons from the Eastern Caribbean islands and others. While the latter groups tend to present a case for an unconditional franchise, the French appear to be more interested in preserving a distinct cultural past. It is perhaps useful to explore models that work with East Indians and Arabs in the Caribbean when analyzing ethnicity and identity among French Virgin Islanders.
Some writers have enshrouded in mystery the French settlements at the Carenage and on the Northside of St. Thomas, claiming that there has never been any authentic information on the origins of the French migrants to St. Thomas, nor on the reason for their migration.
We propose to remove the shroud and lift the veil of mystery.
The history of the French immigrants on St. Thomas has been well documented in the government archives and in the various parish registers on Saint-Barthelemy, Guadeloupe, France and on St. Thomas. The reason for their migration has also been documented.
During the years of Swedish rule, when the economy of Saint-Barthelemy began to decline and life was at its most harsh, many young men of Saint-Barthelemy began to seek their livelihood on other islands. Some also joined the French Navy or the French Merchant Marines.
Others moved to more prosperous islands, to France and even to Canada. Those who came to settle on St. Thomas were very poor and most, though not all, were illiterate. Their ancestors came, not only from Brittany and Normandy but from many other provinces in France; they came from many different towns and cities. From the East to West and from North to South, from all across France, those ancestors came.
They had origins in Aquitaine, Flanders, Poitou, Burgandy, Provence, Saintonge and from the Province of Berry. They came from the towns and cities of La Rochelle, Bordeaux, Chateau-Chinon, Rouen, Nantes, Marseille, Sainte-Arnoult, Sansais, Toulon, Nice, Lille, Agen, Saint-Brieuc and Bastia in Corsica. These are the origins of the French migrants from Saint-Barthelemy.
They did not forsake their culture nor their language of their ancestors. The French settlers of St. Thomas continued to speak the dialects which the original migrants from France had brought to the islands of the Antilles. The settlers on the Northside of St. Thomas spoke a Creole dialect, while those who settled at the Carenage spoke a patois, others spoke Old French.
The women wore a distinctive type of dress which also had come from the countryside of their regions. It was a shirt-waisted, long-sleeved dress with a high color, a tight band around the waist, a long skirt, gathered at the waist reached tot he ankles, almost hiding the bare feet. An apron was worn at the front of the skirt, this apron was used even for Sunday services. Their heads were covered by a white sunbonnet which draped down to the shoulders. Some women wore a high-crowned straw hat with a wide, turn-down brim.
Every young man hoping to get married built his own little cabin. In fact, when a young man asked for a girl in marriage the first thing her father asked was whether the young man had built his own home. Home-building was a community affair with friends and relatives helping with the building. The communities were close-knit for most of the settlers were related to each other.
We must not leave the impression that all immigrants were fishermen or husbandmen, for some were boat-builders, stone masons and barbers. There were talented musicians, singers and players of the accordion who were all very much in demand at weddings, baptisms and other festivities. There are yet in Frenchtown and on the Northside talented musicians of the original French immigrants.
DISCUSSION of the specimens: First, review the Watlington, Vanderpool and Guirty specimens. Next, review the Felix Pitterson interview. Then, study the current article by Danet. The above is done with a view to identifying common conditions that fueled flight from one's home island.
How did these conditions affect cooperative and mutual aid linkages in the anglophone, hispanophone and francophone communities?
Do you believe, at the community level closer links existed between the several ethnic groups at an earlier period? (See Olwig's monograph relative to historic ethnic conflicts in Denmark in the 18th and 19th centuries.)