Monday, August 20 2012

THE EDITOR: Marion O’Callaghan’s weekly columns have been nothing short of insightful and interesting. When I read her column entitled “When Trini Caribs revolted” I found it surprisingly inaccurate. So, for the sake of all parties concerned there are several points that for justice sake need to be put right.

In the first place, I challenge O’Callaghan to tell her readers what kind of evidence she requires in order to catapult the Arena Massacre from being a ‘myth’ in her books to being an actual event. Does she know what kinds of records were available during this time, or how the records of such events were kept? Does she know how ‘developed’ Trinidad was at this time? This cursory knowledge of the Spanish era in Trinidad’s history does not stop here.

In addition, the misrepresentation of the time period in which the event took place is particularly unpardonable. O’Callaghan declared the execution of the Indians as ghastly even for the Middle Ages. The year of the massacre, 1699, actually falls into the period of the early Renaissance. This leads one to cast doubt on the veracity of that statement itself.

Secondly, her treatment of relations between Catholic clergy and Indians in Latin America which took up all of three sentences reveals a desire to generalise what cannot be generalised. To imply that Spanish-Indian relations were homogenous throughout Latin America is a gross injustice to the Spanish and to the various Indian groups.

Thirdly, to declare there were no reports of Indian violence prior to 1700 is just a shame. What about the opposition faced in the settlement of San Jose de Oruna, in 1592 and prior to that, Antonio Sedeno’s fort at Cumucurapo in 1532, which he had to flee from due to Indian resistance? We knew about this before the court case through diaries, and reports.

What this piece reveals to me is the author’s disgust at the treatment of the Indians in the aftermath of this event, which is understandable. But a horrible ending does not cast aspersions on the veracity of an event. If anything at all, it confirms it.

Isidore Gabriel

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