Trinidad and Tobago: Especially at Carnival time, a Rich Cultural Stew

At a recent Summit of the Americas, heads of state from thirty-four countries jockeyed for position throughout the Hyatt Regency in Port of Spain, Trinidad, with some reaching out and some more antagonistic.  Overlooked was a lesson in personal diplomacy that the entire world might take from the host country, Trinidad and Tobago.  The two islands, quite different from each other, form a single nation, and have the Caribbean's most intriguing culture.  People who are often at loggerheads elsewhere in the world get along just fine here, thank you very much.

The historical layers that created Trinidad and Tobago have created one of the most splendid melting pots in the world, with a remarkable degree of affability between the diverse groups that built the nation.  Understanding those layers is key to appreciating the country's many grand offerings to visitors.

Like many other Caribbean islands, the original population was Arawak and Carib Indians, after the latter came to the islands and conquered the former.  Columbus landed on Trinidad in 1498 during his third voyage, during which he again missed India but discovered South America, thinking it part of Asia.  In keeping with their usual pattern, the Spanish wiped out most of the Indian population, and assimilated the survivors.  Trinidad was a magnet for French, free blacks and other non-Spaniards, but Spain ruled it until the British captured it in 1797.

Tobago was much more in play.  French, Dutch and British forces perpetually contested possession.  During colonial times, the island changed hands twenty-two times, setting the record for West Indies turnovers.  In 1803, the British took final possession.

African slaves formed a majority of the population, but after emancipation in 1838, the melting pot became much more interesting.  The Europeans needed to fill a labor shortage, so in 1845 they begin bringing in both Muslims and Hindus from India as indentured servants in order to work the large sugar and cocoa plantations.

Meanwhile, Chinese started finding their way to the islands.  A couple of hundred came in 1806, on the ship Fortitude, part of an experiment in setting up a settlement of farmers and laborers, in anticipation of the eventual ending of slavery.  It was a  disaster, and the several dozen who remained started shops,  did carpentry, or worked as gardeners.  A second wave came in the mid-1800's after slavery ended, mostly from Macao, Hong Kong and Canton, as indentured laborers.  A third wave came after 1911 and the Chinese revolution of that year.  The pace picked up between the 1920's and 1940's, most of the new arrivals being families and friends of immigrants who'd arrived earlier.  Instead of working on estates, they adapted to roles as peddlers, traders, shopkeepers and merchants.

Additionally, many Chinese from elsewhere in the Caribbean came to Trinidad after they'd finished their indentureship on other islands.  When China started opening up to the outside world in the late 1970's, a fourth wave of migration began.  In 1960, Sir Solomon Hochoy was knighted by the Queen of England and became the only nonwhite British governor of Trinidad and Tobago, becoming Governor-General when the country became independent in 1962.

People from these divergent backgrounds have blended their heritages, and often their families.  Although the number of unmixed Chinese Trinidadians, or Sino-Trinidadians, probably peaked in 1960 at eight and a half thousand, many more islanders have some Chinese in their ancestry.  Among the much larger Indian population, it isn't unusual for Muslims to marry Hindus, with a marriage in each religion to please the families.  The families then just double down on the religious holidays.  The racial and religious tensions found in much of the world's regions are hard to find here.  It's a very refreshing experience.