Dominica – Part One of Who Knows?

There have been a lot changes for everyone over the last couple of years. One of them in our family was that my parents moved to Barbados to take care of my Nan. We were all gutted to be separating, mainly because Dan’s family live in Ireland and my family now live in Barbs as Dan likes to call it to annoy me! So we are the only ones left in the fine country of Wales

It has been two years since I have seen them which has been hard and Mama assisted me in tasks I can no longer do. Mainly I just love and miss them.

Well the good news is that we are going to see them soon. the rain comes down heavily (Although it’s 18 degrees it’s a change fromm the last few days), I am planning a big adventure with Daniel to visit my parents in Barbados and I can’t wait!!! We are also going to visit Dominica where Mama was born. It is the first time for Pops, Me and Dan.

So since to my shame I know nothing about Dominica I thought I would do a bit of a fact finding mission and bring you along for the journey. It will be a multi-parter tied in with Barbados updates.

Just to let you know, though you may already be aware, Dominica gets confused a lot with the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic is connected to Haiti. Dominica is its own island close to Antigua and Guadeloupe. I explain that a lot when I tell people that’s where Mama was born.

So let us begin with a bit about the people of the island…

1. The people of Dominica are called Dominicans pronounced Duh-min-nee-can
2. Although it is one of the larger islands in the Caribbean, Dominica has a population of just under 72,000 people
3. The indigenous people of the Caribbean (the Greater and Lesser Antilles) still live on the island today. They were the first inhabitants of the island and now known as the Kalinago people. They named Dominica Wait’tukubuli, meaning “Tall is her body.” I have always known that my beautiful Mama is of these amazing people which means I am too. And I look forward to learning more about them myself.
4. There are about 3,000 of the Kalinago people living on the island, which is the largest population in the Caribbean.
5. You can visit the Kalinago Territory where the majority of the indiginous people live. There is a model village called Kalinago Barana Aute where you can purchase handmade crafts and observe traditional festivals and dances.
6. Dominicans speak English as their National language though many speak Creole also

Links

https://discoverdominica.com/