DOMINICA (click here for images)
Physical Properties
Topography
Rainfall
Geology & Soils
Vegetation & Land use
Nature Sites
Demographics
The populace is made up of the following mix: blacks (slave
descendants and mixed persons), Carib (Kalinago) Indians,
serians, and recenlty, caucasians and
asians (largely taiwanese). The main language spoken is English. The majority of the
population however speak a french-based creole or patois, which is a dialect composed of
words from different languages,
but with varying phonetical emphasis.
Daily Routines and Religion
The average Dominican starts his day at 8 am every morning for work or school. Lunch is the main meal and is taken usually at 1-2 pm. Work is continued until 4 (civil servants) or 5 (private establishments). Most schools formally end at 1 pm, but students may be asked to return for afternoon classes. On retiring from work, most people engage in hobbies or other leisure activities.
On Saturday, the adults,mainly women, start at 5 am. They go to the local market to by agricultural products. Those who maintain gardens usually tend to them later on that day, while others clean their homes. The afternoon is usually then spent at the beach, river, visiting friends or doing other leisure activities. In the evening, some opt to go to church while others flock the local discos.
On Sundays, most persons go to church. The denominations found within dominica are; Roman Catholics, Methodists, Anglicans, Protestants (Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah Witnesses, and others), and perhaps Buddhists (due to the influx of taiwanese). After church many have a huge Sunday lunch or visit relatives for brunch. The rest of the afternoon is spent leisurely.
Politics and Culture
Politics and Religion are closely tied within Dominican culture. Most holiday celebrations are either political or religious feasts. The list of hoildays and their dates are found below:
Christmas Day - December 25th
Boxing Day - December 26th
New Year's Day - January 1st
Carnival - falls within the pre-lental season and culminates in two days of street parades
on the Monday and Tuesday before
Ash Wednesday.
Easter - Good Friday and Easter Monday are honoured.
August Monday - First Monday in August
Creole Day (Journée Creole) - last Friday in October
World Creole Music Festival - last weekend in October
Independence Day - November 3rd
Politics
All Dominicans keep abreast with political events either through the media or by attending political meetings (most common at times of an approaching election). These meetings are held regularly outdoors, at night. The common locations for the meetings are the playing fields (community parks) or streets of the town where some sort of "podium" is located, example a large stairway such as the Piper Stairs (photo to come).
Elections are held every five years. The island is divided into 21 constituencies, and persons of 18 years and over, must vote for a representative for their constituency. The representaives are elected from the contesting parties. A party who achieves the majority votes, minimum of eleven, assumes "power" ( what the people will allow) over the country. The party with the second highest number of representatives forms the opposition. These 21 representatives, plus nine senators appointed by the ruling party, form the Cabinet. The Cabinet is monitored by an appointed President. The Cabinet debates issues, Bills and Acts in the House of Assembly, with the Speaker of the House, Permanet Secretaries and media present. This is collectively referred to as Parliament.
Culture
Dominican culture is derived from its days of colonialization
by the French, English and for a short period the Spanish. This is all mixed with
African culture brought in by the slaves. There are traditional folk dances and songs from
French and African influence. In addition, storytelling about various evil
spirits, moral stories and religion were common, but have died down to be
told only at Carnival time, if it still occurs. In my opinion they have been replaced by
political gossip.
On Carnival days, revellers take to the street in costumes with music and drink. The
origins of Carnival go back to the days of slavery when the French plantation owners and
their slaves held dances in the plantation grounds. This was brought out to the streets by
the freed slaves when slavery was abolished. Creole day recognizes the creole
language, national wear and national dish. All radio programmes and communication on that
day is done in Creole. Also, around this time is the honouring of civil servants and
persons who have served the community at a National Rally and another ceremony (at the
cenotaph) which remembers those who fought in WWI and WWII. The heads of state preside
over these occasions. The World Creole Musical Festival, is a recent show. It
celebrates the diversity in creole music - local and international stars perform over a
weekend. On Independence Day, celebrations are held in the street and elsewhere in
recognition of Indepedence Day. The religious holidays, which are public, are spent in
prayer or family gatherings.
Architecture (adapted from the SHAPE Draft on
Dominican Architecture
The architecture of Dominica is not elaborate or grand since it was never a wealthy or stable colony. Vernacular architecture, in the form of townhouses, predominates. These date back to English and French settlement periods. Most buildings are symmetrical, with intricate fretwork on projecting balconies, louvered verandahs, jalousie openings and large shutters. The grand buildings, normally the churches and forts, were built of cut stone. There are some cases where brick used as ship ballast in the 18th and 19th centuries is used for the ground and external walls. In the French Quarter, near the old market, a cobble-stoned lane is still in existence from the 1720's when the French settled here.
Living occurred in the outdoors as much as the indoors. This
can be seen especially in the rural area where the house (bedrooms) were separated from
the kitchen and the bathroom (an out-house). These three buildings were centralized around
a space which served as an outdoor living room for story telling, doing chores or
entertaining. The plantation houses on the island were never as grand as in other
colonies, few are are still in existence. The models usually followed the same
arrangement- the main house on the hill with the slaves' quarters at the base, or
they were separated by a large yard.
Today, construction is usually in concrete. Wood is sometimes used but is less
resistant to hurricane-strong winds and heavy
rain. Steel is used mainly for factory and large industrial warehouses. Recently, with the
new focus on architecture, ornamentation on buildings has increased in an effort to
avoid "dull " surroundings and continue the vernacular tradition.