Hurricane Maria is helping Amerindians return to their roots

IN LOUISETTE Auguiste’s garden, tents still surround the plywood shell where the house used to stand, but the castor bean plants are flourishing.

She harvests the seeds to roast, before pounding them into a mulch for oil, which she will then bottle and sell.

Here, in the heart of Dominica’s Kalinago Territory, homespun castor oil is used to ease headaches and birthing difficulties, and is just one of a number of time-honoured traditions passed down through generations of Amerindians.

When Hurricane Maria stormed across the island last September, it marked the worst natural disaster in Dominica’s history. It snuffed out dozens of lives and wrecked thousands of homes and livelihoods.

Just over 3,000 Amerindians currently occupy the communally-owned 3,700-acre territory on the east coast, officially established by Britain in 1903.

They comprise the only community of pre-columbus natives in the East Caribbean, after surviving brutal early colonists and today face discrimination from the majority Afro-dominicans.

Amerindians have long had a profound connection with the environment says Prosper Paris, a cultural officer. “More people are getting back into herbal medicine,” he says.

“Maria reminded us of the value of our culture. We were taking things like pharmaceutical products for granted, but when the disaster happened we had to go back to what we knew, like using young guava leaves for bellyache and lemongrass for chills.

“You have to ask the tree’s permission before taking its leaves. Talking to nature creates a link between the environment and our spiritual being.”

Louisette’s neighbour, Matthew, is picking patchouli leaves to make tea. The herb is said to soothe irritated skin, tension and colds.

The closest medical clinic is overstretched, operating from a private home and can mean lengthy queues. Matthew’s first priority after the storm was constructing a shelter; second was to restore his garden which serves as a homeopathic dispensary.

Mr Prosper adds: “Now we’re rethinking what our fathers told us and we ignored. We’ve always known how to survive fuel and electricity shortages.

“People are getting back into old ways of preserving food, like smoking their meat and fish.”