Journal of the University College of the Cayman Islands 2017 by Cayman Island Government Information Services

Journal of the

University College of the Cayman Islands

Volume 7

2017 August 2011

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Journal of the

University College of the Cayman Islands

Published by The University College of the Cayman Islands

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Published by the University College of the Cayman Islands P.O. Box 702 Grand Cayman KY1-1107 Cayman Islands Tel: (345) 949-9580 www.ucci.edu.ky

Â© 2017 University College of the Cayman Islands All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.

ISSN: 0799-2262 Annual Subscription Rates Individual: US$40 Institution: US$65 Editor: Livingston Smith, PhD Guest Editor: Jennifer Williams, PhD Designed by: Government Information Services, Cayman Islands Journal of the University College of the Cayman Islands (JUCCI) is published once a year.

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CONTENTS

Aims and Scope .........................................................................................................7 Editorial Board ...........................................................................................................8 Foreword, from the Minister of Education.................................................................9 Editorial: Caymanian Landscape, Livingston Smith, PhD....................................... 11 A Survey of Cayman Islands Art History.................................................................13. NATALIE URQUAHART Batabano: A Case Study of the Role of Language in Shaping Ideas of ‘Authentic’ Caymanian and Caribbean Culture........................................................30 AMBER BOTHWELL Bringing the Legitmacy of Carnival and the Carnivalesque to bear on Caymanian Culture: The Case of Carnival Batabano...............................................52. CHRISTOPHER A. WILLIAMS Teaching Cayman Literature in the Cayman Classroom..........................................62. STEPHANIE FULLERTON-COOPER Africans and Pedro St. James....................................................................................76. ONEIL HALL “Manumised, Enfranchised and Forever Set Free”: The story of Elizabeth Jane Trusty, a Black Woman of the Island of Grand Cayman..................89. ROY MURRY Looking Back to Examine the Future.....................................................................106. CHRISTOPHER ROSE The History, Meaning and Importance of Judicial Independence: A Caribbean Perspective.........................................................................................123. HON. ANTHONY SMELLIE

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CONTENTS (continued) Rebranding the Cayman Islands.............................................................................144 WALID HEJAZI, ZORAN GRABOVAC AND J.D. MOSLEY-MATCHETT The Challenges of Sustainable Economic Growth.................................................177 THOMAS F. PHILLIPS AND ASAF ZOHAR Sport Business and Brand Destination: A Cayman Islands Analysis......................191 DALTON WATLER-LYONS Public Sector Workers, Collaboration and Reflective Practice in the Cayman Islands.............................................................................................214 ALLAN YOUNG AND MARK MINOTT Economic Value of Coral Reefs and Mangroves....................................................227 ANTHONY J. HUSEMANN AND MELISA BENT-HAMILTON Notes on Contributors.............................................................................................260 Guidelines for Contributors....................................................................................266

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AIMS AND SCOPE The Journal of the University College of the Cayman Islands (JUCCI) seeks to create a voice for the faculty, staff, and students of the University College of the Cayman Islands, as well as the wider community, in such a way as to express and catalyse the views, emotions, and values that represent and strengthen the environment. It is our aim to reinforce and reflect the images that represent the society, its roots, and its relationships with the wider Caribbean and the world in ways that encourage excellence in research, analysis, creativity, and discourse. JUCCI will be a multidisciplinary journal covering a broad spectrum of topics and perspectives. Being eclectic in nature, the journal will publish ambitious works that reflect a wide range of critical and analytical approaches. Under the supervision of an editorial board, manuscripts of exceptional academic merit on a variety of subjects are published.

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EDITORIAL BOARD Livingston Smith, PhD (Chair) Department of Social Sciences, UCCI and Director, Research and Publications, UCCI

Brian Meeks, PhD (Chair) Africana Studies, Brown University Paul Miller, PhD, Professor

Educational Leadership, Brunel University

Anne-Maria Bankay, PhD Senior Lecturer, Modern Language Education, University of the West Indies

Mark Minott, EdD Formerly, Associate Professor, UCCI

Tom Bisschoff, DEd Senior Lecturer, School of Education, University of Birmingham

Gertrude Shotte, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Education, Middlesex University

Roy Bodden, President UCCI

Racquel Warner Campus Program Coordinator, International Foundation Program and MA TESOL Program, Middlesex University, Dubai

Christopher Williams, PhD Department of the Social Sciences Assistant Professor, UCCI Stephanie Fullerton-Cooper, PhD Assistant Professor, Arts and Humanities, UCCI Erica Gordon, (Chair) Arts and Humanities, UCCI

Allan Young, PhD Professor and former Academic Dean, UCCI Dr. Lincon Edwards, President

Northern Caribbean University

Donna Hope, PhD Institute of Caribbean Studies, University of the West Indies, Mona

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FOREWORD Specially-themed Issue of the Journal of the University College of the Cayman Islands Honourable Tara Rivers, JP, MLA Minister of Education, Employment and Gender Affairs Welcome to this specially-themed issue of the Journal of the University College of the

Cayman Islands. Over the past nine years, the journal has sought to provide a space for faculty, staff, students and the wider community to express their varying perspectives on a broad range of topics. This Special Issue brings together interesting discussions on issues relevant to the past, present and future of the Cayman Islands. I would like to acknowledge UCCI for its contribution to the encouragement of excellence in research, analysis, creativity, and discourse. Much has been written about the importance of history in the shaping of a people’s sense of self. It is also said that to understand the present one must be cognisant of and understand the past, and that to better plan for the future one must understand the present. In this issue, a number of papers touch on matters of historical importance to the Cayman Islands. There are papers on the history of the Cayman Islands, on its art, on the role of language in shaping ideas of ‘authentic Cayman’ and the historical significance of Pedro, St. James. The distinctiveness of slavery in the Caymanian context is touched upon in the reconstruction of the life of Elizabeth Jane Trusty, a slave of Elizabeth Thomson, who paid her owner five pounds to secure her manumission. The past is further linked to the present with a paper that interrogates the history, meaning and importance of judicial independence. These papers, together with others in this issue, provide a context for the exploration of “The Caymanian Landscape”, the theme of this issue. The Ministry of Education, Employment and Gender Affairs continues to seek partnerships and collaborative ways to address the development of our people and the employment of Caymanians in the labour force. A number of partnerships have been developed and launched during the past 2 years, and a number of development projects are in various stages of implementation to support this agenda. Given the relationship between economic growth and employment, the paper on the challenges of sustainable economic growth may therefore be considered to be both timely and very relevant.

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Even as we seek to understand the present in order to look to the future, we may find ourselves grappling with conflict as we consider alternative courses of action. The desire for the preservation of our natural resources and environment versus the need for development in order to fuel economic growth has been a source of much debate in our society. Concern about the future is articulated in a paper that looks at the protection of the islandsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; coral reefs and mangroves. I hope that you enjoy this Special Issue of the Journal of the University College of the Cayman Islands and that the various papers, including those not mentioned above, bring to life the Caymanian landscape and its people.

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EDITORIAL The Caymanian Landscape Livingston Smith, PhD Chair, Department of Social Sciences, UCCI and Director, Research and Publications, UCCI The Cayman Islands, like all spaces occupied by humans, is complex in multiple ways. In attempting to map its landscape, one has to consider its history and culture, government and economy, its physical environment and social structures. This issue of the Journal of the University College of the Cayman Islands (JUCCI) is a limited but valiant attempt to do so. The issues raised and covered range from Caymanian art and other cultural practices – which attempt at reconstructing and deconstructing elements of Cayman’s history – to considerations of its economic development, judicial independence, rebranding, sports issues, Cayman’s coral reefs, and the reflective practices of public sector workers. Natalie Urquhart, Director and Chief Curator at the Cayman National Gallery, is uniquely placed to put in historical perspective the beginnings and evolution of art in the Cayman Islands. Art forms, her analysis contends, like culture – of which it is an iconic part – are shaped by individuals reacting and responding to historical, environmental, socioeconomic and historical forces. Two insightful and penetrating analyses of Carnival Batobano are presented by Christopher Williams and Amber Bothwell respectively. For Williams, Carnival Batobano in the Caymanian context is best understood as responding to the push and pull of local and global forces. Bothwell serves us an appetizing example of how to deconstruct a phenomenon and in doing so demonstrates how a mythology develops and how culture is not only reported but, in the process, also created. The academic analysis of these two writers, read together, is a powerful education about cultural products and their changing environments The relative absence of Caymanian Literature from the island’s secondary and tertiary educational space is addressed by Stephanie Cooper. She finds that there is little awareness that such a vibrant Literature actually exists. She also provides ideas as to how to address this situation. Issues in Caymanian history are explored in the papers of Oneil Hall, Roy Mur-

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ray and Christopher Rose. Hall focuses on the historical significance and varieties of meanings of Pedro St. James. He especially identifies in Pedro, St. James, a memorialization of the African presence and contribution. Murray gives us a thoroughly interesting and absorbing reconstruction of the life and experiences of former Caymanian slave Elizabeth Jane Trusty. In constructing and reconstructing this story, Murray takes us through the tantalizing complexities of slavery as an institution. Rose, on the other hand, summarizes basic Caymanian history to say that the Cayman Islands have always had to contend with uncertainties and multiple changes, and that now it must take on the complexities of the modern, globalized world. The Honourable Anthony Smellie, Chief Justice of the Cayman Islands, reminds us of the importance of an independent court system to safeguard human rights and the best principles of a democratic society. The authors of the paper on â&#x20AC;&#x2DC; Rebranding the Cayman Islandsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, Walid Hajazi et al, give a step by step model of how to help the islands totally shake off its lingering tax haven status. Phillips and Zohar make a strong case for the transformation of social institutions, particularly education, as vital to achieving long-term sustainable economic growth. Dalton Watler in his paper has developed the thesis that the Cayman Islands, by harnessing its advantages, can develop itself as a viable sports destination. Mark Minott and Allan Young take the concept of reflective learning from the educational setting to the public sector workplace. They argue the viability and potential of this activity to improve public sector performance. The final paper in this issue is written by Anthony Husemann et al. They delve into the importance of coral reefs and the need to invest in the protection of the islandsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; ecosystem. Each article has focused on some aspect of the Caymanian situation and my hope is that readers will find this issue stimulating, challenging and informative.

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A SURVEY OF CAYMAN ISLANDS ART HISTORY Natalie Urquhart Director/Chief Curator, National Gallery of the Cayman Islands

Abstract In 2013, the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands mounted the first fully comprehensive survey exhibition of Cayman Islandsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; art history. Drawn from public and private collections, the 75 works of art selected were mounted chronologically, spanning a fifty year period. Together they provided a broad insight into the history and creative vision of a people, realised through a wide variety of mediums and disciplines: painting, works on paper, collage and mixed media assemblage, ceramics, sculpture, thatch craft, textiles and photography. This paper is drawn from my curatorial lecture that accompanied the exhibition, which subsequently formed the introductory essay for the NGCIâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first formal Collections Guide (Scala Arts Publishers, Inc. 2016). It is only a brief survey of our art history thus far, much of which has been drawn from interviews and other primary sources supplemented by local media articles, historical archives, and exhibition catalogues. Due to spatial constraints, many of our distinguished practicing artists are not represented, nor does it attempt to include the rich traditions of music, woodwork and craft forms that have been prevalent in the Cayman Islands for far longer than the brief period of fine art history discussed here. It is intended as a chance to reflect on this important area of Caymanian cultural heritage and as a starting point for further scholarship and discourse.

Keywords: Fine art, art history, visual art, Caymanian culture, national identity. Email: Director@nationalgallery.org.ky

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INTRODUCTION The history of art1 in the Cayman Islands, in its formal sense, is comparatively short in relation to our 513-year known past. Given our isolated geographical location and relatively late permanent settlement, there is little evidence of the pre-Colombian cultures which so dramatically influenced the development of the fine arts in our neighbouring islands. Instead, early Caymanian identity was created by a series of factors: the primarily European and African cultures of our early settlers and the historical legacy of British colonialism2; the absence of large-scale plantocracies found in other Caribbean islands; limited natural resources; and reliance on the sea for sustenance and industry. Indeed, the people of these islands existed for many years as a hardworking, conservative maritime society with strong Christian values, who carved out an existence from seafaring, turtling and other related activities. Caymanians were known as some of the greatest shipbuilders in the region and their vessels and thatch goods were highly sought after. Much of the male workforce was away for long periods turtling, and later as merchant mariners, and their remittances provided the mainstay of the local economy3. With men away at sea for most of the year, women played a central role both in running the home and cultivating the land. To aid their labours, and with the limited resources available, they created baskets out of the ubiquitous Silver Thatch for “backing sand” and other heavy goods. Functional crafts such as basket weaving and roofing, embroidery, appliqué, smocking, and quilting (along with fiddle music, traditional Caymanian songs – primarily narrative ballads and launching songs – quadrille dance, architectural fretwork, and shell and wood carving) were the primary forms of cultural expression during this period, as the tough physical and economic climate rarely afforded residents the luxury of spare time to dedicate to creating art for art’s sake4. These craft forms, however, were creative, skillful, and highly individualised, as is still evident in their present-day counterparts5. With the growing affluence generated during the Southwell Years 6, along with growth in the financial services and tourism industries from the 1960s, came a transformation in Caymanian society. Substantial investment at this period, and in subsequent decades, opened the door to globalisation and transformed the social, political, and cultural profile of the islands. Increased economic opportunities in turn led to more time for general leisure activities, rapid social development and improved standards of living in a relatively short time. At the same juncture, increased migration brought people with new skills to the island, including those with formal 14

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fine art training. Many of these new residents made distinct contributions to the early development of fine art, including pioneer art teachers Ed and Barbara Olivier and Maureen Andersen Berry, and artists such as Janet Walker, Joanne Sibley, Charles Long and Debbie van der Bol.

Figure 1 – Ms Annalee Ebanks creating Silver Thatch work at Art@Governors (2009). Courtesy of Better Angle Photography.

The late Ed Oliver, or “Mr. Ed”, as he was affectionately known, arrived in the Cayman Islands in the late 1960s, after leaving his occupation in advertising and industrial design in the United States. He started out as a manager for the Caymanian Weekly newspaper, but soon set up his own design business, and later pioneered the postcard industry in the Cayman Islands. It was Mr Ed’s love of art and teaching, however, that carved him a place in Cayman’s art history. He started his first art classes in 1969 and taught for 37 years, alongside his wife Barbara. It was at these classes that hundreds of students received fine-art training, including a young artist who would go on to become one of Cayman’s greatest talents – Bendel Hydes. At the start of the 1970s few opportunities existed for artists to introduce and sell their work outside of the annual Agricultural Fair and craft days, and informally at local hotels. In 1970, Ed and Barbara Oliver held the inaugural Art Talent Competition, an annual event that provided one of the first opportunities specifically for local artists to exhibit their work in public. It was here that Bendel Hydes first exhibited as a young student before leaving to study at Liverpool College of Art, UK. These annual events, along with Mr. Ed’s store, ARTVentures, were the “complete face of art in Cayman during the 1960s and early 70s,” remembers Hydes7. A Survey of Cayman Islands Art History

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The first significant solo exhibition by a Caymanian artist was Bendel Hydes’ 1974 exhibition at the Royal Palms Hotel. It was at this same venue in 1978 that Hydes, along with actors and playwrights Geoff Cresswell, Frank McField, Anita Ebanks and others, started the Inn Theatre Company, which would eventually evolve into the National Theatre Company and ultimately the Cayman National Cultural Foundation (CNCF). Bendel, recently returned from the UK, had been greatly influenced by his experience living in a post-industrial society, which was a world apart from his unspoiled, idyllic island home. His work of this period was figurative, with echoes of Dadaism and Pop Art, and with a nod to environmental concerns that would become a central theme in his later work.

Figure 2 – Mr Miller and his Ting by Charles Long (1973). NGCI Collection. Gift of Mitch Miller.

By the mid-70s a group of artists, including Margaret Barwick, Eolin Lufthouse, and Meg Paterson, had begun painting together informally, and in 1976 they mounted an exhibition at the Holiday Inn Hotel that was met with significant critical acclaim and some commercial success. The following year the group formalised into the Islands’ first official art organisation – the Visual Arts Society (VAS)8. Some of Cayman’s most talented resident and visiting artists taught classes for VAS, supporting the organisation’s strong commitment to encourage young artists and to instil an appreciation of the visual arts as an integral part of society, which continues to this day. VAS held annual art fairs throughout the late 70s and 80s, and these became the centre of the growing art scene. Stylistically, this period was dominated by realist painters who sought to capture the picturesque local environment, and used oil and watercolour as their primary media. Few artists would experiment with different genres (or subjects) until the following decade. This was driven as much by the strong demand amongst collectors for representational art9 as by a genuine desire to capture the remarkable light and colours of our natural landscape. 16

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The 1980s opened with a major event in the development of Caymanian art when the Cayman Islands sent a contingent of artists, led by Margaret Barwick, to participate in Carifesta IV in Barbados. The Caribbean Festival of the Arts offered the first real chance for our artists to promote their work regionally, and exposed them to new techniques and ideas, which they brought back home. Support for the arts community also gained momentum during this period with the emergence of the first government-funded arts institutions, national festivals10, and commercial galleries – including Pure Art, and the short-lived McField Square Gallery, which was opened by Frank McField and Bendel Hydes in Mary Street, George Town. The National Children’s Festival of the Arts began in 1982 to showcase young talent and the CNCF was established in 1984. For the first time, there was a national organisation specifically tasked with stimulating, facilitating and preserving cultural and artistic expression. In addition to providing visual arts workshops by local and visiting Caribbean artists, the Young at Art youth initiative and other cultural programmes, CNCF’s Cayfest (the Cayman Islands Festival of the Arts, established in 1995) offered the chance for artists to exhibit at a national level. The festival emphasised an eclectic mix of local arts and culture, including visual arts, music, theatre, dance, fashion design, and cultural discussions, showcasing the finest local talent. One of CNCF’s most important contributions to the history of Caymanian visual art was artistic director Henry Muttoo’s early recognition and support of Gladwyn K. “Miss Lassie” Bush, who began painting at the age of 62, after what she described as a “visionary experience.” Miss Lassie’s “markings” have since become legendary and, in the years up until her death in 2003, she created a prolific body of work on the walls, windows and furnishings of her home, and later on canvas. Strong Christian themes run through her paintings, which are executed in her unique, intuitive style. Due to CNCF’s promotion of her work, Miss Lassie is now considered be a serious intuitive artist within the Caribbean region, along with the likes of Guyana’s Philip Moore and Jamaica’s ‘Kapo.’ Her home, which was recognised on the 2012 World Heritage Watch List, has subsequently been described as “an oasis for folk and visionary art lovers worldwide” by Rebecca Hoffberger11, Founder and Director of the American Visionary Arts Museum. This recognition has also paved the way for the emergence of other intuitive artists in Cayman, including Harvey Ebanks, Edrid Banks Jr. and Luelan Bodden. Now the trustee of her estate, CNCF continues to conserve her home and body of work for future generations. Aside from Miss Lassie’s intuitive markings, Bendel Hydes’ style was the exception to the representational work still being practiced by the majority of artists in the early A Survey of Cayman Islands Art History

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1980s. Hydes had begun to move away from figurative work and toward abstraction and, in 1981, he held a solo exhibition, Elements in a Free Space, at the Government Assembly Building. The series of abstract paintings exhibited was a breakthrough stylistically, but it was not a commercial success. Disenchanted, he left Cayman for New York a year later. This move would prove to be of critical importance to Hydes’ career, as, soon after, he participated in two international exhibitions: New Paintings at The Commonwealth Institute in London, UK, and Caribbean Art/African Currents at the Museum of Contemporary Hispanic Art, New York. These were the first of several major exhibitions for Hydes over the coming decade.

Figure 3 - Yellow Leaves by Bendel Hydes (1988). Courtesy of the Cayman Islands National Museum.

The 1990s saw an unprecedented number of new initiatives and opportunities for local artists. At the start of the decade, the Cayman Islands National Museum (CINM) was formed to collect historical, natural and scientific objects of interest12. Importantly, CINM became the first public organisation to strategically collect fine art. Each year, the Museum’s founding Director, Anita Ebanks, secured the strongest works from VAS exhibitions, along with other artworks that depicted scenes of Caymanian history and society, in keeping with the organisation’s mission. This fledgling collection was the beginning of what would become the Cayman Islands’ National Art Collection, which is now housed by CINM, CNCF and the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands (NGCI). 18

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Cayman’s participation in Carib Art: Contemporary Art of the Caribbean in 1993-1994 – a UNESCO-funded Caribbean-wide travelling exhibition – played a significant role in raising the profile of Caymanian art overseas. Bendel Hydes, John Broad (who provided the catalogue cover illustration), David Bridgeman, Joanne Sibley, Teresa Grimes, and Gladwyn Bush were featured among the 137 Caribbean

Figure 4 - Riding High by Miguel Powery (2007). NGCI Collection. Gift of Truman Bodden.

artists whose work travelled to North America, Europe and the Caribbean, including the Cayman Islands, over an 18-month period. CNCF hosted Carib Art at the Harquail Theatre showcasing Caymanian art alongside works from 32 countries. At the same juncture, Bendel Hydes was featured in several high-profile international Caribbean exhibitions, including 500 Years After: Caribbean and Central American Painting at the Art Museum of the Americas, Washington, DC; Caribbean Visions: Contemporary Painting and Sculpture, a North American travelling exhibition; and the International Biennial de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. The increased visibility of Caymanian art regionally led to a newly acquired confidence at home. A Survey of Cayman Islands Art History

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Meanwhile, during the early 1990s, a new generation of artists was coming to the forefront. Young Caymanians, such as Wray Banker, Paul Jordison and Nasaria Suckoo, were returning home from the US with degrees in graphic design, fine art, and the dramatic arts while, simultaneously, an increasing number of self-taught artists, such as Al Ebanks, Horacio Esteban, and Miguel Powery, were gaining popularity.

Figure 5 - “3 a Lick, No Taws”- Ode to Milo series by Wray Banker (1998). NGCI Collection.

There was a mobilisation towards a new home-grown discourse that challenged the persistent dominance of landscape painting, and which culminated in the creation of the Native Sons collective in 1996. While stylistically individual, the Native Sons’13 uniting principle was the promotion of a uniquely Caymanian aesthetic inspired by their heritage and sociocultural experiences, including references to Afro-Caribbean heritage, which had 20

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been relatively removed from artistic content until this period. Initially, most drew heavily on archival images of bygone Cayman, found at the Cayman Islands National Archives (CINA) and in family collections. Some did so literally, as in the work of Miguel Powery, Gordon Solomon and Chris Christian, while others, like Al Ebanks and Nickola McCoy, explored these histories through a purely abstract language. Later, the group diversified into more personal themes. Today, Wray Banker uses installation and often humorous pop art-inspired graphic sketches to comment on traditional Caymanian heritage; strong female figures are a recurring theme in Nasaria Suckoo’s work, which combine traditional Caymanian crafts techniques with contemporary fine art materials; while Randy Chollette’s large scale vibrantly coloured “stained glass paintings” are heavily informed by his Rastafarian faith. Several new commercial galleries were established in this period, along with new display opportunities in traditional retail establishments. In addition to the longrunning Pure Art Gallery, which had been opened by artist Debbie van der Bol in the 1980s, the island now boasted Kennedy Gallery; Frames, Trains & Things; and Island Art and Framing, which greatly increased exhibition and sales opportunities for local artists. With the establishment of the National Gallery in 1997 the visual arts were formally recognised as a critical component of Caymanian cultural expression. It was the first national institution devoted entirely to the promotion, appreciation and practice of the visual arts and it heralded a growing professionalism in visual arts administration and curatorial practice. Even before a temporary facility was found for the fledging organisation, Chairwoman Carol Owen and Founding Director Leslie Bigelman launched the NGCI via an island-wide education initiative aimed at raising awareness of the visual arts within the school system. This wide-reaching programme was soon followed by a series of exhibitions designed to highlight the diverse genres of art that were being practiced within Cayman and, internationally, with the aim of challenging the traditional notion of what art could be. Works on display included everything from traditional crafts, painting, photography, ceramics, and assemblage, to the first installation and video art pieces to be exhibited in the Cayman Islands. NGCI also worked to bring art outside the gallery space into the wider environment via the first island-wide public art project, where artists carved giant Styrofoam sculptures in various districts, along with Gordon Solomon’s travelling “art car,” and other activities14. With the start of the new millennium, came a new wave of opportunities for the art community which helped the scene flourish further. The National Gallery’s Art@ Governors opened for the first time in 2000 with over 7015 featured artists and craft A Survey of Cayman Islands Art History

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persons demonstrating their work. Visitors had a chance to view the diverse visual art forms being produced in the Cayman Islands, and the family-friendly, festival atmosphere helped widen the audience for fine art by attracting 3,000 visitors annually. The following year saw launch of The McCoy Prize, co-administrated by CINM and NGCI and funded by The McCoy family of North Side. The prize was designed to encourage and reward excellence in Caymanian art. The inaugural exhibition opened the following year and featured 25 artists. The following year saw the opening of Kensington Lott Fine Arts (KLFA), a contemporary gallery founded and run by artist and ‘Native Son’ Paul Jordison, who represented many of Cayman’s emerging contemporary artists, and the gallery became known for hosting fresh, innovative exhibitions and events. It was at KLFA that Randy Chollette first received recognition. While the gallery was short-lived, it made a long-lasting contribution to the art scene, most importantly by encouraging several large private firms to begin collecting original, contemporary Caymanian art rather than featuring prints in their corporate offices. This in turn led to more sales opportunities for local artists and helped instigate the development of several large corporate art collections. By the mid-2000s commercial opportunities for local artists had increased dramatically, fuelled by the growing demand of collectors. Several new commercial art galleries opened, including The Morgan Gallery, Arteccentrix, Bodden Town Art Gallery, and Sandon Feat Gallery, while hotels and cafes incorporated mini galleries into their premises. The year 2003 marked 500 years since the discovery of the Cayman Islands by Christopher Columbus, and a year-long celebration ensued under the direction of the Quincentennial Celebrations Committee. The visual arts community played a significant part in the celebrations through a series of important exhibitions, including Bendel Hydes’ retrospective Soundings (curated by Nancy Barnard) and the VAS 25 Year Retrospective (curated by the author), as well as community art festivals and district heritage displays. Several important commemorative public sculptures were also created to mark the anniversary, such as The Wall of History by John Broad in Hero’s Square. This period also saw more exhibition opportunities for local artists overseas via NGCI initiatives, including: a Caymanian contingent at the Dominican Republic Biennale (2002); the NGCI’s Dos Visiones exhibition in Cuba and London, UK (2003); and group exhibitions in the UK and US (2005). As the decade drew to a close, NGCI partnered with CNCF to send the largest Caymanian art exhibition to travel abroad (curated by the author), to Carifesta X in Guyana (2008). 22

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While much was happening locally, artists also took more opportunities to train and to promote their work abroad, many through grants provided by CNCF’s Grants for the Arts and the NGCI’s Artists Away programme. In addition, the CI Government began to award fine art scholarships for Caymanian students. Several opted to further their studies not only in fine art but also in the fields of arts administration, museum management, and curating, which in turn led to a growing professionalism within the arts sector.

Figure 6 - Artist Away: (back row L-R) Wray Banker and Miguel Powery (front row L-R) and Patrick Broderick, Gordon Solomon and Hermes Solomon Hydes head to Cuba to study printmaking. Courtesy of NGCI.

The professionalization of curatorial practice became increasingly prevalent during this decade16 as NGCI exhibitions developed around a central critical premise rather than as surveys, retrospectives or ‘open-call’ group shows. Exhibitions like Arekkly (2006, curated by David Bridgeman), and Persistence of Memory (2011, curated by the author) provided challenging platforms through which artists could experiment and create work that addressed socio-political issues more directly. The global financial crisis that marked the beginning of 2010 affected the Cayman Islands’ economy, and in turn the arts community, and art sales – both the corporate sector and private collectors – suffered significantly. Several commercial galleries closed, while partially Government-funded organisations were forced to downsize or dissolve grant programmes due to budget cuts. Still, artists showed remarkable A Survey of Cayman Islands Art History

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resilience to these challenges, finding new venues in which to display their work and new ways to connect directly with potential collectors. At the same time, arts organisations streamlined programming and sought to create new public/private partnerships through which to support the continuation of art education, programmes and exhibitions. Despite such setbacks, 2012 was a very important year in Cayman’s art history, with the completion of the purpose-built National Gallery facility, which included the first permanent gallery for the National Art Collection, temporary exhibition areas and a multi-purpose education centre, funded 7 - Blue Meridian: 80º West, Old Isaac’s by Davin primarily through corporate and private Figure Ebanks (2010). NGCI Collection. sector donations. Meanwhile, CNCF’s advocacy efforts to gain international recognition for Miss Lassie succeeded when her cottage was placed on the World Heritage Watch List that year. Both of these achievements illustrated a growing maturity in the development of Caymanian art as well as increasing interest from local and overseas audiences. Approximately 20,000 people visited the National Gallery in 2012-2013, a 100% increase from previous years, and footfall has remained consistent in the years since. This growing interest in the visual arts parallels the increasing number of artists currently practicing in the Cayman Islands, which exceeds that of any time in our past. While many artists still choose to create primarily representational work, often for commercial ends, others are seeking to articulate a uniquely Caymanian experience and striving to express their location within twenty-first century Caymanian society. Contemporary art forms such as installation, photography, and assemblage have become as common as more traditional media, such as painting and sculpture, and are being executed with increased clarity and confidence: Wray Banker appropriates popular commercial graphics and humour in his work to draw attention to more serious concerns such as the erosion of our cultural heritage; London-based British Caymanian artist Pippa Ridley uses mythology and symbolism to explore her position as a first generation Caymanian; Kaitlyn Elphinstone’s work addresses her environmental concerns by meticulously ‘wrapping’ seed pods and other found 24

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natural objects; David Bridgeman uses collage and mixed media to create works that explore themes of cultural identity, nationality and transformation in an increasingly globalised environment; Greg Lipton’s recent installations reflect the social isolation that can be driven by technology; while Davin Ebanks’ glass sculptures comment on his maritime heritage in a wholly contemporary format. These are but a few examples of the vibrant output currently produced both in Cayman, and by Caymanian diaspora artists living abroad. As of 2016, the Cayman Islands arts community has never been more exciting; yet, for our arts to mature and thrive, much still needs to be addressed. One of the primary impediments to the development of the visual arts has been the lack of tertiary-level arts education. This is clearly apparent when compared to our close regional neighbours Jamaica, the Bahamas and Cuba, all of which have had associatedegree level or degree art programmes for decades and whose artists are celebrated in

\Figure 8 - Bendel Hydes’ Circumnavigating the Globe exhibition opened the new NGCI facility in February 2012. Courtesy of NGCI.

the global arena. There also needs to be more encouragement for young Caymanians to pursue the creative industries as a viable career option as these industries begin to develop in Cayman. More resources are needed to grow the National Art Collection and to support related scholarship. Simultaneously, Caymanian artists and curators must create a critical environment through which to view our art at home, if they are to begin seriously engaging in regional artistic discourse. Finally, there needs to be a set of policies and procedures for fine arts development that make up part of a wider framework for national cultural development that is directed by an informed National A Survey of Cayman Islands Art History

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Cultural Policy, one which ensures the integration of arts and culture into the wider process of nation building17. These challenges are not unique to the Cayman Islands, but they need urgent attention and support by both the public and private sectors in order to ensure a vibrant future for Caymanian visual arts.

Acknowledgements I would like to extend my thanks to the many private collectors, as well as the Cayman National Cultural Foundation (CNCF) and Cayman Islands National Museum (CINM), who generously loaned works to supplement the National Gallery’s Permanent Collection for the exhibition at which the curatorial lecture which informs this paper was presented. In addition, thanks are noted to CINM Collections Manager Debra Barnes-Tabora for her suggestions on traditional thatch objects within the CINM collection and works pre-dating the 1960s. Indeed, given the historical lack of data or archival material relating to this subject, most of the content of this paper has been drawn from primary resources (interviews and letters) and supplemented by local media articles, historical archives, CNCF publications, and National Gallery exhibition catalogues.

References Coleman, N. (2006). ‘A Distinctly Caymanian Experience’ - Cultural Tourism and Identity Politics in the Cayman Islands. MA dissertation thesis (unpublished). Coleman, N. (2003). Twenty Five Years On – The History of the Visual Arts Society. Quincentennial Celebrations Exhibition Catalogue. Craton, M. (2003). Founded upon the Seas. A History of the Cayman Islands and Their People. Kingston, Miami: Ian Randle publishers. Ebanks, C. (2003) The Southwell Years, Recollections of Caymanian Seamen and Those Who Served at Home. Cayman National Cultural Foundation. Eckmeyer, R. and Elstak, F. (1993). Carib Art: Contemporary Art of the Caribbean. UNESCO. Macdonald, S (2003) ‘Museums, National, Postnational and Transcultural Identities’ Museum and Society, 1 (2003) pp: 1-16. Muttoo, H. (2003). My Markings – the Art of Gladwyn K. Bush. CNCF. Walmsley, A. and Greaves, S. (2010). Art in the Caribbean. New Beacon Books.

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Weblinks www.artscayman.org Cayman National Cultural Foundation www.museum.ky Cayman Islands National Museum www.nationalgallery.org.ky National Gallery of the Cayman Islands www.piratesweekfestival.com Pirates Week Office www.gov.ky Cayman Islands Government Notes 1. For the purposes of this survey, I use the definition of fine art to encompass works of art (painting, sculpture, drawing, printmaking, photography, video, filmmaking) created to be appreciated primarily or solely for their imaginative, aesthetic, or intellectual content, rather than as functional items. For the remainder of this essay, the terms ‘fine art’ and ‘art’ will be used interchangeably. 2. The traditions of the colonising country had a direct effect on the cultural developments of the colonised as settlers brought with them the religious and cultural norms of their home countries. For example, many of the early fine art commissions in the region were for religious paintings in churches and public buildings, and these were predominantly found in the Catholic, French or Spanish colonies. In islands colonised by the British and Dutch, whose protestant faith focused more on text than religious iconography, there was less incentive for the local production of fine art at that period [Walmsley, Anne and Greaves, Stanley, Art in the Caribbean. New Beacon Books, 2010]. Religion also informed the African traditions brought to the region during the Middle Passage as evidenced in dance, music, stories, and practices relating to Eshu and to Obeah found across the region. 3. As late as the 1950s government annual reports listed ‘seamen’ as the main ‘export’ of the islands (www.gov.ky). 4. An exception to this was Mr Jervis Jackson, who has been called the first Caymanian artist. Mr Jackson was a house painter who created artwork as a hobby (CINA interview with Deborah Barnes – Tabora, Collection Manager of the National Museum, 10 November 1998). Other artworks and drawings that may have been created during this early period have either succumbed to the tough climatic conditions or not made their way into public collections. 5. NGCI has only a small collection of traditional crafts as the mandate to collect heritage arts falls to the Cayman Islands National Museum (CINM). NGCI’s samples are also generally more experimental in their execution than earlier works would have been. We are grateful to CINM for loaning traditional items for A Survey of Cayman Islands Art History

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display in the NGCI Collection gallery which help put the islands’ formal visual art history into context. 6. The period known as ‘The Southwell Years’ refers to the period from the late 1940s–mid 1980s when Caymanian seamen worked on supertankers, sending their money home, and helping to lay the foundations for the modern Caymanian economy. Merill G. Southwell was the National Bulk Carrier recruiting officer who hired hundreds of Caymanians to work on NBC ships [Ebanks, Consuelo, The Southwell Years, Recollections of Caymanian Seamen and Those Who Served at Home, CNCF, 2003]. 7. Urquhart, N. Interview Bendel Hydes, September 28th, 2013. 8. The first official VAS meeting was called in 1977, and the first committee was elected on September 20th of the following year consisting of Betty Wise, Meg Paterson, Jane Porter (president), Nina Tiessen (secretary), Lady Frances Jenkinson (treasurer), Dr. Joe Jackman, and Tony Virtue (vice-president). 9. The growth of the tourism industry, and with it the increased opportunity to sell artwork to tourists, influenced the subject and style of artwork created at this period. Artists inevitably produced work that catered to visitors’ expectations of the “exotic island paradise”, which was promoted in tourism literature and marketing. For a wider discussion into this subject see: Coleman, Natalie, ‘A Distinctly Caymanian Experience’ – Cultural Tourism and Identity Politics in the Cayman Islands. MA dissertation, 2006. 10. The influence that Pirates Week and later Batabano had on the development of fine art, and vice versa, as vehicles for creative expression, warrants further discussion but it is outside the remit of this current publication. 11. http://www.artscayman.org/mind-s-eye 12. The museum was formally opened in 1990 but the origins of their collection can be traced to the 1930s when Ira Thompson began collecting Caymanian artifacts. In 1979 the government purchase Thompson’s collection which was later entrusted to the Museum. 13. Original members included Wray Banker, Al Ebanks, Miguel Powery, and Anthony Ramoon but the group soon grew to include Pearl Parker, Paul Jordison, Nasaria Suckoo, Randy Chollette, Chris Christian, Nickola McCoy and Horacio Esteban. 14. The NGCI’s second director, Nancy Barnard, continued this strong commitment to education, growing the NGCI’s programming schedule to 25 education and outreach initiatives per month by 2006. 15. This number was 100+ by 2005.

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16. The first full-time, formal curator’s position at NGCI was created in 2004. 17. It is widely acknowledged that a nation’s artists (used in the widest sense) are

its primary storytellers, capturing its histories for future generations, and as Handler has argued, national culture “is a mark of self-confidence.” (Handler in Macdonald, S, ‘Museums, National, Postnational and Transcultural Identities’ Museum and Society, 1 (2003) pp: 1-16.2003:2).

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BATABANO: A CASE STUDY OF THE ROLE OF LANGUAGE IN SHAPING IDEAS OF ‘AUTHENTIC’ CAYMANIAN AND CARIBBEAN CULTURE Amber Bothwell

Abstract A variety of print and electronic texts are forming a popular discourse about Batabano Cayman Carnival, freely borrowing meaning and wording from each other. This discourse uses language to create the impression that the festival is ‘authentically’ Caymanian. The word ‘batabano’ has evolved to include a usage which the discourse erroneously implies is Caymanian dialect. The literature simultaneously suggests that the festival is ‘authentically’ Caribbean in nature, linking it closely to Carnival and exposing a tension between national and regional cultural identity. The popular discourse entirely omits the Caymanian practice of Jonkanoo from its ‘history’ of Batabano.

Email: amber01@candw.ky

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INTRODUCTION The year 2013 marks the thirtieth anniversary of Batabano. The festival has grown tremendously from its early days; it is longer and larger, with ever-increasing numbers of participants and spectators. Yet it remains incredibly controversial in the society of the Cayman Islands, having become a focal point in the debate over culture: what is culture and how is it defined? At what point does an annual event become a tradition and who decides what practices and values get labelled as ‘our’ culture? Batabano, at its simplest, is an annual street parade held in the Cayman Islands. Bands of marchers dance down the streets in bright costumes, masks and body glitter while soca music pumps up the crowd. Thousands of people, local residents and tourists alike, line the streets of the capital, George Town, to watch them pass. In recent years, a Junior Carnival for children has been added and there are food vendors, a street dance and other activities. Such a large local event with three decades of history, and which is a major tourist attraction, has naturally had considerable coverage in local media. There is a body of magazine and newspaper articles, websites, and other sources which function, as we shall see, with considerable homogeneity and cohesiveness. An accepted discourse on the festival has grown up, one which is, despite the festival’s detractors, gradually becoming a significant mythos, interweaving fact, fancy and value statements. This paper will discuss some of the ways in which Batabano (also known as Cayman Carnival Batabano) is represented in the media. The focus will not be on the festival itself, but rather on its representation in the print and electronic media as an ‘authentic’ Caymanian and Caribbean cultural event. In these representations, there are some claims which are repeated, often verbatim, in a range of local articles but available for both local and international consumption. The repetition of these assertions can be found in international media also but this paper will focus primarily on media emanating locally or, in the case of some websites, which appear to be emanating locally, as Caymanian texts would be expected to have a better understanding of Caymanian culture, than texts emanating from overseas. These claims centre on establishing Batabano as both authentically Caymanian and authentically Caribbean in its nature. We will explore how language is used and adapted to give this idea of authenticity, even when they are describing phenomena which are essentially ‘artificial’, and consider some of the ramifications of such language use. The words ‘authentic’ and ‘artificial’ are, of course, problematic. It is usually

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debatable what is ‘authentic’ and what is not; the term is a subjective one. The literature which is here placed under the microscope, however, is at pains to argue that the festival has cultural and historical validity. While the articles do not use the terms ‘authentic’ or ‘authenticity’, we will see reference to ‘heritage’, ‘culture’, ‘religion’, ‘truth’ and other terms which suggest that the writers themselves argue for the inherent authenticity of Batabano. There are two unique but interlinked aspects of this, which will be dealt with separately: authenticity as a Caymanian cultural practice and authenticity as a Caribbean cultural experience. Rather than searching for a satisfying definition of the term ‘authentic’ at this point, each section will show how the popular discourse itself tries to claim authenticity for its understanding of Batabano. It may be helpful at the outset to contrast the discourse surrounding Batabano with another Caymanian event: Pirates’ Week. This other major festival celebrated in the Cayman Islands was begun only a few years earlier than Batabano and shares some similarities. It is somewhat different from Batabano in that the focus of its parade is the floats, rather than the mas’ bands, and from its inception it has been a multi-day event with a ‘Heritage Day’ in each district throughout the week after the parade. The Heritage Days are an integral part of the festival, so much so that the week is also called ‘Heritage Week’. As such, while Batabano has been promoted as a ‘Caribbean’ event (as we shall see), Pirates’ Week has been developed and marketed as a ‘national’ event; its subtitle is in fact ‘Cayman’s National Festival’ (Pirates Week Official Website, 2013). While Pirates’ Week is open to as much controversy as Batabano and has the potential for as much academic inquiry, the scope of this chapter does not allow us to analyse the concepts of ‘national’ and (another word associated with the festival) ‘cultural’, as used with reference to this other annual activity. Batabano’s unique history and discourse, rather, allow us to take a look at the representation of Caribbean culture in popular print and electronic media. The texts in question, all mainstream, popular media, many of them web-based, are significant for several reasons. Look up ‘Cayman’ and ‘Batabano’ and/or ‘carnival’ in an internet search engine and the story outlined in this chapter is what will come up. There is almost no variation in the information that will be generated. This story about Batabano has become accepted truth, whether it is for a potential tourist planning a holiday or a Caymanian school child writing a report on his or her own history and heritage – or the authors themselves, innocently basing a new article on the old ones. The language in these texts does not merely report culture, however, it also creates it, generating a mythology about Caymanian and Caribbean life which is simultaneously pervasive and misleading. 32

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ASSERTIONS THAT BATABANO IS AN ‘AUTHENTIC’ EXPRESSION OF CAYMANIAN CULTURE The first recurring aspect to explore is an attempt to establish Batabano as an authentic expression of Caymanian culture. This concept is a highly controversial one (see for example, Williams, 2010). For the purposes of this section, we will take it that the literature itself defines ‘authentic’ as having a historical precedence, or being rooted in historical fact. Take the following, for example: While the festival itself is a relatively new event, many of its cultural strands go deep into Cayman’s past. Some people say the word Batabano is linked to Cayman’s history of catching turtles, and used to describe the distinctive tracks left by turtles in the sand as they look for a place to nest. (Tobutt, 2010) The first thing to lift out is the admission that the festival is ‘a relatively new event’ – actually about twenty-seven years old at the time the article was published. It is interesting that the writer identifies this time period, which is, in essence, a generation, as ‘new’. It is this newness, of course, that necessitates the rest of the above quotation. As something new, the logic goes, Batabano needs some precedence from further back in time in order for it to be ‘authentic’. Hence the writer’s claim that ‘many of its cultural strands go deep into Cayman’s past’. The writer only goes on to mention one strand – the name ‘Batabano’ – rather than the ‘many’ that are promised. The claim that the name alone represents ‘many’ aspects of Batabano that go ‘deep into Cayman’s past’ or, in other words, are authentic to Cayman, is often repeated. Notice that no source or research is cited other than ‘some people say’ (and other articles do not even go that far). Neither does it say where or in what context ‘batabano’ is used to mean ‘turtle tracks’. It is clearly not common parlance as it needs to be explained but no other information is forthcoming. Is it Caymanian dialect? Archaic English? Spanish? An African word? Scientific jargon? Its placement so close after ‘Cayman’s history of catching turtles’ implies that it is a Caymanian word but, to reiterate, no evidence of this is given. The word ‘and’ could suggest either that ‘the word Batabano is linked to Cayman’s history of catching turtles, and’ this is because it is ‘used to describe the distinctive tracks left by turtles in the sand’ or that ‘the word Batabano is linked to Cayman’s history of catching turtles, and’ is simultaneously but for different reasons ‘used to describe the distinctive tracks left by turtles in the sand’. Faced with this ambiguity, juxtaposed as it is with the claim for deep Caymanian Batabano: A Case Study of the Role of Language

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roots, most readers will probably infer the cause and effect relationship between the two clauses. This suggests that we look into Cayman’s turtling heritage for the origin and definition of the word ‘batabano’. In preparing this paper, a very informal survey was conducted, asking Caymanians of different ages, from different districts and both genders, and none has thus far confirmed actually knowing of turtle tracks being called ‘batabano’. In fact, most have suggested that they have never before heard about this claim, finding it mystifying, amusing or irritating. One lady I spoke to called this the ‘best kept secret’ in Cayman Cayman (Banker, M., personal communication, 24th February, 2012). This means that using ‘batabano’ to mean ‘turtle tracks’ has not been part of Caymanian dialect, at least in living memory. There is some connection of the word to Cayman’s past, and even its turtling heritage, as ‘Batabano’ is a place name in the district of West Bay on Grand Cayman and the name seems to be quite old, certainly predating the festival by many long years. Having said that, the section of West Bay known as Batabano is only pronounced that way by outsiders; West Bayers call it ‘Botnyoo’ or even ‘Bopmyoo’ or, if they are being ‘proper’ as ‘Botabanyoo’. West Bay has traditional ties to Cuba, with many persons from that district (and other parts of the country) settling in places like Isle of Pines [Isla de Juventud], located near Batabanó, and vice versa. Interestingly, the area of West Bay named Batabano does not have any beach to speak of whereon turtles might leave tracks (as it has a mangrove coastline). However, there were at one time turtle crawls or kraals used to hold live turtles in the sea in this area. It has been suggested that perhaps the concept of the origin of ‘batabano’ meaning turtle tracks was a mistaken reference to the kraals, with a misunderstanding that the turtles were crawling in this area (Banker, M., personal communication, February 24, 2012). It has indeed been indicated to me by members of the Rotary Club that the name was chosen because of the history of Batabano, West Bay (B. Ebanks, personal communication, March 3, 2012) or simply because they wanted a Caymanian word (H. Chisholm, personal communication, March 21, 2012). Some people, including native Caymanians, on hearing that ‘batabano’ means ‘turtle tracks’ will assume that there is some other precedent for the word, with many jumping to the conclusion that it is a Spanish term, probably because of the aforementioned region of Cuba. The Spanish place name ‘Batabanó’ perhaps comes from Matamanó and/or Patabano (Roig de Leuchsenring, 2008), but I have found no evidence to suggest that this has to do with turtle tracks. Instead, it may have to do with the history of the colonial settlement of Cuba or from the local Amerindian language (Robinson Echevarria, 2011). One suggestion is that the European settlers found a 34

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tribe called the ‘Matamanó’, a word meaning, in their language, ‘the residence of the cacique [chief]’ (Salgado, 2010, p. 2). My informal survey did not include many Cuban Spanish speakers but they also could not confirm having heard the ‘turtle tracks’ usage. Regardless of its dubious veracity (or its true origins), however, the idea of Batabano referring to turtle tracks is espoused in many articles, local and international. In this way, it has become a self-perpetuating myth. In Tobutt’s article, at least, the phrase ‘some people say’ makes the assertion tentative, adding a suggestion of doubt, a suggestion that, perhaps, this is just a myth. However, other instances of this assertion do not leave such allowance for doubt, instead using more definite phrases, as we shall see. In other sources, the idea is even developed further. As these texts are mostly web-based, it is difficult to tell which were written earlier, but it seems clear that they borrow heavily from each other. The official Batabano website says: The festival’s original name, Batabano, is a salute to Cayman’s turtling heritage. The word batabano refers to the tracks left in the sand by sea turtles as they crawl onto the beach to nest. Finding these tracks was—and still is—a reason to celebrate! (Cayman Carnival Batabano, 2012) The first thing to notice is the positive and definite ‘refers to’, rather than the tentative ‘some people say’. The second thing is the assertion that finding turtle tracks ‘was—and still is—a reason to celebrate!’ Naturally, for an island that was historically so dependent on turtle meat, and even eggs, for subsistence and trade, it is logical that there might be celebration in finding turtle tracks (not that this was necessarily true). The website does not go so far as to state outright that these theoretical celebrations were an early form of, and precursor to, modern Cayman Carnival Batabano. By juxtaposing the ideas, however, it is implied. The result of this juxtaposition is seen in the ways that other articles build on it. For example, The name Batabano was chosen as a salute to Cayman’s turtling heritage. The name refers to the tracks left in the sand by turtles as they drag themselves onto Cayman’s beaches to nest. Finding turtle tracks on the beach was, and still is, reason to celebrate in Cayman, thus, the name Cayman Carnival Batabano. (Lewis, 2011, emphasis added) The Batabano website (from which Lewis’ text differs in seemingly only minor ways) did not overtly draw a correlation between the purported ‘celebration’ of turtle tracks and the name ‘Batabano’ but Lewis’ article does, simply by adding the words ‘thus, the name Cayman Carnival Batabano’. This article was published one year Batabano: A Case Study of the Role of Language

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after Tobutt’s and in the same publication but note that now the mythos has been developed. Rather than a tentative, implied link, there is now an explicit cause and effect relationship between finding turtle tracks and celebrating Batabano. This same pattern can be seen in other articles. The underlying structure and even most of the words remain the same, but authors tweak the wording until the meaning changes (probably sincerely thinking that they are merely adjusting innocuous details). The Cayman Activity Guide, a local media outlet but one aimed at tourists, puts it thus: Literally, Batabano refers to the tracks left behind in the sand as turtles drag themselves along the Cayfest and Batabanoes [sic] to nest. Finding turtle tracks on the Cayfest and Batabano [sic] was and still remains a good enough reason to warrant celebration in the Cayman Islands and so Cayman Carnival Batabano continues, year after year. (Cayman Activity Guide, 2011) One assumes that the substitution of ‘Cayfest and Batabano[es]’ for sand/beach is an error but how will this be interpreted by unsuspecting persons from overseas? Moreover, we see that this author has chosen to emphasise the ‘truth’ of the claim that ‘Batabano’ refers to turtle tracks by adding the word ‘literally’. Furthermore, the insertion of ‘continues, year after year’ could imply a long history of Batabano, again connecting the modern celebration to a supposed traditional celebration. Another website, based in Iowa but selling Cayman Islands real estate, suggests that ‘The legend says that finding these tracks is a reason to celebrate’ (Cayman Condos, 2011). Thus, the ‘some people say’ of Tobutt’s article has become a ‘legend’, which instantly imbues the claim with increased romanticism and, one could suggest, more authority. ‘Some people say’ connotes a theory or rumour; ‘legend’ connotes a long established belief with a grain of truth. We can see that these assertions, especially on the internet, keep coming back – whether in the same or a different form. One text, by Justin Burch, who writes articles on the Caribbean and Central America for Marriott Resorts, was found ‘reprinted’ in its entirety on ten unique websites. The websites were ‘overseas’ articles, but some have links to Marriott’s website for its Cayman resort. This article takes the above assertions to their logical next step. Although the wording of this text is quite different, its sentiments point to similar source material. Taking inspiration from the turtles that arrive on Grand Cayman’s beaches.… As the Cayman Carnival Batabano was initially developed to celebrate the appearance of turtles on local beaches … was named for the tracks left behind by turtles that use the island’s beaches as nesting rounds. (Burch, 2008) Here we see that the idea of ‘celebration’ that could have taken place upon finding 36

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turtle tracks has become ‘fact’: ‘initially developed to celebrate the appearance of turtles on local beaches’. Even the use of multi-syllabic words helps to add weight to the assertion. The suggestion that the festival celebrates the ‘appearance’ of turtles to lay eggs may be linked to its current time frame at the start of May (not always the case)—also the start of turtle nesting season. The official website may have been carefully worded so as to imply without stating outright that Batabano is an ancient tradition to celebrate turtle nesting season, but this text does exactly that, and we can assume that future articles will add even more changes. What we see with the evolution of these stories about Batabano, is that language, in the form of the literature surrounding the event, begins to develop a mythology for Batabano, lending credence to the claims that it has deep links to Cayman’s historical past. If someone locally or overseas wishes to research the ‘authenticity’ of Batabano, an internet search will quickly yield a mass of results – all of which appear to corroborate the claims of the others. It should be noted that in most of the articles cited, the mythical history of Batabano appears alongside the verifiable fact that it was started in 1983 (though some accounts give 1984 as the date [Burch, 2008]) by the Rotary Club. History and myth peacefully coexist. But why does the need exist to create an alternate myth of origin? Perhaps simply because the idea of turtling celebrations is more exotic or romantic, or perhaps because market forces mean that tourists, as well as sponsors, would prefer to support a ‘cultural’ event, rather than just a party. With controversy continuing over whether or not Batabano encourages immoral behaviour such as lewd dancing, sponsors like the Government, may feel better knowing that they are supporting something ‘authentic’, something artistic rather than hedonistic. The issue runs deeper than just a concept used to ‘sell’ Batabano to locals and visitors. Recently, texts have been appearing that use ‘batabano[es]’ to actually refer to turtle tracks. The first are two articles from The Caymanian Compass. Neither article is primarily about Batabano, although the former mentions it in passing, yet the name is being used as a functional word, albeit one in quotation marks, signalling that it is not accepted standard English. Most Caymanians would probably be quick to point out, however, that it is also not dialect! In an article entitled ‘More turtles nesting in Cayman’, Norma Connolly finishes with: “Did you know? Batabano is the name given to the tracks turtles make in the sand when they come onto land to nest. Each species of turtles has its own distinctive “batabano”. Cayman holds a Batabano Festival every May” (Connolly N., 2011a). Two months later, we read ‘now the two walk Seven Mile Beach in the early morning looking for the “batabano” tracks of the turtle’ (Connolly N. , Turtle makes unusual Batabano: A Case Study of the Role of Language

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day trip to beach, 2011b). Both articles are by the same author and appear in the same publication within about eight weeks of each other but they are followed by another in 2013 which closely echoes the others: ‘signs of turtle tracks, known as “batabano”’ (Connolly N. , Brac turtle patrol seeks volunteers, 2013). In an anonymous article in the January-June 2013 Key to Cayman, which is also published by the Compass parent company Cayman Free Press, we see this usage again occurring in quotation marks in a similar reference: “Volunteers with the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism [sic] patrol the beaches looking for turtle tracks called “batabano” that lead to mounds of sand where turtles have dug their nests.” (Key to Cayman. Baby turtle steps., 2013, p. 59) These examples, though currently few and far between, may signal a growing trend. Published around the same time, the word also appears in The Cayman Islands Dictionary which lists the entry for batabano as: Noun – a word linked to Cayman’s history in ‘turtling’. 1. the name of the second-most popular Caribbean festival held in the Cayman Islands. 2. the tracks left by turtles when they drag themselves onto the beach to nest in the sand. 3. The name of a main street in West Bay. (Goring, 2011, p. 18) We have yet to see how this trend develops, if at all. If it continues, we will have witnessed the authentication of the word which, having come from nothing, is now utilised with its purported meaning. These texts are retroactively validating the dubious claims made by earlier articles. Moreover, its use in the first text by Connolly reinforces the idea that Cayman Carnival Batabano was originally a festival celebrating finding turtle tracks, with the emphasis squarely on the turtling and not on the costumes, parade or dancing thus reinforcing the idea that ‘batabano’ has roots going deep into Cayman’s past, at least deeper than its actual thirty years. Words always change over time, in spelling, pronunciation and meaning—and that is not necessarily negative. What is interesting in this case is to see the selfperpetuation of the story behind this particular word and the deliberateness of the variation in meaning and even pronunciation. Also of note is that the ‘definitions’ of the word, like the origins of the festival itself, are dual: the ‘historical fact’ that ‘batabano’ is associated with Cayman’s turtling heritage and the ‘myth’ that it refers specifically to turtle tracks. Myths themselves can embody unverifiable truths. At the very least, judging from the proliferation of the turtle tracks story, the idea has captured the imaginations of residents and tourists. On the other hand, with turtling undoubtedly an integral part of Cayman’s history, one has to question why an added meaning became necessary. The historically verifiable facts—that Batabano was a place where turtles were kept in pens to facilitate 38

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the local dietary needs—have been obscured by the more well-known ‘fact’ that the word meant turtle tracks. If Batabano, the festival, requires a stated link to Cayman’s cultural past, why was (and is) that past ignored in favour of a fabricated past? Even if the driver behind the search for ‘authenticity’ is to romance tourists and placate sponsors (and that is not to suggest that such cynical motives are the only ones), why have ‘turtle tracks’ beat out ‘turtle kraals’? Even the myth of old Caymanians’ celebration of the finding of turtle nests could presumably have been tailored to suit, say, a celebration of a full turtle kraal. It may be that turtle tracks are easier to explain to the uninitiated. One could speculate, however, that much of it has to do with the lack of research into Caymanian heritage and culture. This is not limited to serious academic inquiry but simply to the general knowledge of Caymanians and others. The general lack of education in Caymanian dialect and history, even amongst Caymanians themselves, encourages a sort of self-doubt that automatically assumes ignorance on the part of the reader and thus the uncritical acceptance of assertive but unsupported statements without further inquiry, even amongst multi-generational Caymanians. Another common reaction, the automatic dismissal of the claims as either amusing or ‘foolishness’ (as we Caymanians say), also closes off the route to potential research and discovery. ‘Culture’, like the word ‘authentic’, is a slippery term. When language changes and texts change, as we have seen, understandings of culture get changed also. The introduction of new meanings and changing mythologies can be exciting. One worries, however, that if insight into the past is suppressed, rich mines of cultural understanding and investigation are left unexplored. Public dialogue about what it means to be a Caymanian is left poorer if we are limited to new meanings and fabricated images, interesting and alluring as they may be. Assertions That Batabano Is An ‘Authentic’ Expression Of Caribbean Culture The other concept of ‘authenticity’ which is often repeated is that of firmly placing Batabano within the tradition of Carnival as an expression of Caribbean culture. The word which is repeated most is ‘true’—as in the assertion that Batabano is truly—or authentically—a version of Carnival as it is practised in other parts of the Caribbean region. This definition of ‘authenticity’ consists of Batabano closely resembling the festivities in other islands—especially Trinidad. A good place to start is with the same article that began the previous section—one which uses the word ‘true’ no less than three times.

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Cayman’s Batabano: A True Caribbean Carnival Every year in early May, the streets of Cayman explode with the colours, music, dance and pageantry of the islands’ very own Caribbean street Carnival, Batabano… Carnival is a true Caribbean tradition, and Batabano celebrates and blends the region’s diverse cultural influences… But the true nature of the festival goes beyond the Cayman Islands, and is proud to reflect the vibrant culture of the whole Caribbean region. (Tobutt, 2010 –emphasis added) The insistence that Batabano is a ‘true Caribbean Carnival’ would seem to imply that there is some doubt as to whether the claim is really true. Taking a narrow view of Carnival as a street parade featuring costumed persons in themed ‘bands’ marching a route accompanied by music and taking place during the days just before Ash Wednesday, such as Trinidadian or Brazilian Carnival, or New Orleans Mardi Gras, Cayman has never had a Carnival. The most likely reason for this is that the territory was not traditionally Catholic, having been evangelised exclusively by Protestant churches until the mid-twentieth century. With Lent not being a major season on the local Christian calendar, and without the resultant fasting, no pre-Lenten revelry— including more European festivities such as Pancake Day—was necessitated on Shrove Tuesday. Modern Batabano does not fit the quasi-religious nature of Carnival either: it has been celebrated at various times after Ash Wednesday, including during Lent, although in recent years the dates have tended to fall after Easter. Moreover, although, as we have seen in the last section, Batabano is said to have deep roots in Caymanian heritage, here we see that ‘the true nature of the festival goes beyond the Cayman Islands’. Ergo the ‘true nature’ of Batabano is not, after all, Caymanian but is instead from outside the territory. If it is not authentically Caymanian, it becomes necessary to prove that Batabano is at least authentically a form of Carnival. The organisers of Batabano have been quoted in recent years as referring to Cayman’s multicultural population. For example, the official Batabano website states: ‘Carnival in the Cayman Islands has a distinct flavour as the islands are home to a melting pot of over 100 nationalities—one country celebrating many cultures!’ (Cayman Carnival Batabano, 2012). In 2011, we read: Indeed, says Donna Myrie-Stephen, chairperson of the Batabano Committee, the theme this year is of unity, creativity and togetherness—CayFusion. “Times are tough right now so it’s All Together as One; one people, one Caribbean, and one nation. We want to invite all nationalities to come out once again this year with their country flags to be a part of the parade … will appeal to a wide cross-section of the community. With our theme being CayFusion we want to embrace all nationalities 40

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and invite everyone living on the island to be part of this cultural celebration,” says Donna. (Shooman J. , ‘Are you ready for Carnival?’, 2011) ‘CayFusion’, ‘togetherness’, ‘all nationalities’, ‘wide cross-section’ and so on suggest that the emphasis is on having an inclusive festival celebrating Cayman’s diversity. However, the phrase ‘one people, one Caribbean, one nation’ again puts the stress on having a ‘true Caribbean’ festival. The ‘wide cross-section’ of ‘all nationalities’ is being fused into a specifically Caribbean people—not a Caymanian people or a global people. The ‘true nature’ of Batabano is therefore a sort of panCaribbean expression of culture. We see this over and over in the literature. For example18: Carnival is a premier cultural celebration in the Caribbean—a kaleidoscope of music, dance and pageantry with roots mirroring the region’s diverse history of African and religious influences. Colourful costumes reflect the vibrant landscapes, heritage and culture, with the music the very rhythm of island life. (Cayman Carnival Batabano, 2012) A true Caribbean tradition with a display of music, dance and colorful costumes. (CaymanIslands.ky) Here again, we can see how the articles feed off each other, sharing similarities in content and word choice, although with each having made small changes. The texts borrow from each other, combining ideas and wording and thereby corroborating each other. Their message is that Carnival is ‘authentic’ because it is a ‘true’ expression of Caribbean culture and because it has historical precedent—‘history of African and religious influences’. Let us look closely at these claims: ‘Carnival is a premier cultural celebration in the Caribbean’, it is ‘a true Caribbean tradition’ and it is ‘the Caribbean’s cultural expression of the arts’ (Lewis, 2011 and Cayman Activity Guide, 2011). If Carnival is ‘true’ to the Caribbean, maintains ‘premier’ status and is ‘the’ way that the Caribbean expresses culture and/or arts, what does this say for territories, like the Cayman Islands, which do not have Carnival? The implication would be that Cayman is not ‘true’ to Caribbean tradition, or not ‘truly’ a Caribbean country. Alternately, or perhaps additionally, Cayman does not have a way to express its culture, or at least not a very good—a ‘premier’—way to do so. In this case, Cayman would be severely lacking as a Caribbean territory; indeed it would not be a Caribbean territory. By this logic, in order to maintain its identity as ‘authentically’ Caribbean, Cayman would need to have a Carnival. As the articles substitute ‘Carnival’ for ‘Batabano’ and vice versa, Batabano is Batabano: A Case Study of the Role of Language

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validated as an ‘authentic’ Carnival. For example, where Lewis (2011), says that ‘Carnival is a true Caribbean tradition’, the Cayman Activity Guide (2011), says that ‘Batabano is a true Caribbean tradition’. Thus, having established the ‘authenticity’ of Carnival as essentially Caribbean, they now establish the ‘authenticity’ of Batabano as a form of Carnival. The language used in these articles, therefore, creates the need for ‘Cayman Carnival Batabano’ since Batabano makes the Cayman Islands truly Caribbean. Thus Cayman must have Carnival, but it is apparently permitted to have a unique version. As with the articles that state Batabano’s historical origin along with its mythical origin, there is a duality of expression in many which suggests that the festival is both common to the whole Caribbean and also peculiarly local. Words like ‘unique’ and ‘distinct’ are presented again and again [all emphasis added] 19: Carnival in the Cayman Islands has a distinct flavour. (Batabano Cayman Carnival) Batabano is as unique to the Cayman Islands as its name. (Caymanian Compass, 2007) These statements appear to praise the non-conformity of Batabano. They seem to admit that Cayman’s Carnival is not exactly like Carnival elsewhere – and that is okay; in fact, it is something to celebrate. This would fit very agreeably with the claim that Batabano celebrates diversity as it shows that Carnival is a diverse cultural phenomenon. Perhaps there is no one thing that makes up Carnival. Perhaps instead there are numerous activities which can be grouped under that heading. This is good for Cayman, which has never had a more traditional Carnival to make it ‘authentically’ Caribbean in nature. It also helps to validate Batabano itself, since it is an artificial construct, invented in 1983 by the Rotary Club, rather than arising organically from ‘history…African and religious influences’. When we dig deeper, however, we see that having a festival which is unique to the Cayman Islands is apparently not sufficient3: [S]ince 2001 … the committee renamed the Carnival “Cayman Carnival Batabano”, which also carried efforts to bring the look and feel of Batabano events more in line with traditional Caribbean Carnivals. (Cayman Activity Guide, 2011) Renowned bands from Trinidad lead the parade each year, ensuring the crowd gets into the Carnival spirit. (Lewis, 2011) These articles quite overtly and cohesively suggest that Batabano needs to be changed to more closely resemble Carnival, especially as it is found in Trinidad. Currently, Batabano would not seem to be Caribbean enough, drawing us back to the idea that to be an authentic Caribbean territory, we must celebrate Carnival. 42

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Moreover, it is not enough to have a ‘unique’ or distinctive festival that celebrates diversity. These writers instead report, or even celebrate, increasing conformity to an ideal of Carnival that centres on the Trinidadian model. This in turn raises questions (which go unanswered) as to which aspects of Trinidad carnival are to be mimicked; what perceptions or stereotypes of Trinidadian culture are being transplanted to another territory, and how ‘authentic’ are they? Indeed, it has been suggested that Trinidadian carnival itself is being changed to more closely resemble carnival in Rio de Janeiro, for example, thus diminishing the uniqueness of its forms and practices (Morejón, 2012). Cayman’s authenticity, therefore, like Batabano’s, is dependent on imitating as closely as possible what goes on in a larger nation, despite the fact that the model or standard is itself something highly subjective and fluid. This sense that Caymanian culture is lacking and must imitate other, larger Caribbean countries is one reason that Batabano can be quite contentious. The Cayman Music and Entertainment Association (CMEA), for example, has been vocal in its criticisms of some past Batabano festivities wherein overseas musicians (those ‘renowned bands from Trinidad’ mentioned earlier, for instance) are allegedly given pride of place. In one such criticism made when he was President of the CMEA, Brent McLean’s phrasing is very telling: “Is Batabano not about promoting the Cayman Culture? Or is Batabano about transplanting Carnival from one country to ours?” (2008). Despite the very appealing sentiments that Batabano is really about ‘embrac[ing] all nationalities’, the tension between what is ‘authentically’ Caymanian and ‘authentically’ Caribbean is always present. Cayman is probably not unique in this sense; popular media suggests that another Caribbean territory has seen a local cultural experiment appropriated by the trend to standardise the carnival experience. Julian Marryshow is credited with helping to resuscitate the Crop-Over festival in Barbados, about ten years before Batabano was created in Cayman. He was in later life reported as being ‘a “little disappointed” that it [Crop-Over] has become more of a Trinidad-styled carnival than the cultural event that he conceptualised’ (Carter, 2010). In another reference to modern CropOver, we read ‘And with Barbados’s recent blitz on the regional music scene, local calypsonians no longer stand in the shadow of their Trinidadian colleagues’ (Various Contributors, 1998). As in the case of Batabano, the model or standard is Trinidad. Not only is Crop-Over being remade ‘Trinidad-style’ but the proof of the Barbadian musicians’ quality is that they can be compared favourably to Trinidadian musicians. This suggests that other territories share the Caymanian experience, with a tension between local culture (both traditional and modern), on the one hand, and a monolithic regional culture on the other. Batabano: A Case Study of the Role of Language

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Much has been said about the importance of regional Caribbean culture and identity in the last fifty years. But what happens when that regional culture—or some perception or even stereotype of that culture – dominates or suppresses the local culture of individual Caribbean territories. Who decides what ‘authentic’ Caribbean identity or ‘Caribbeanness’ is? Which cultural practices are selected as being quintessentially Caribbean in nature and how is this determined? Is the wholesale importation of a cultural practice such as Carnival just a new form of colonialism, an inter-Caribbean colonialism of ideas? Interestingly, McLean, like the other commentators studied, seems to automatically assume that Batabano has something to do with culture – it is not merely a big party. This raises even more questions. What drives this urge to define a practice such as Batabano in cultural terms? And what does ‘culture’ mean in these debates? For some, there is a tension between culture in terms of modern practices and art forms, and culture in terms of tradition and heritage, but both modern and traditional culture in this case seem to be treated equally in being relegated to second class in the face of regional culture. Jonkanoo And Wider Implications When we look more closely, we see that the current narrative surrounding Batabano may be obscuring cultural expressions which could more legitimately be deemed ‘authentic’. The quest for ‘authenticity’ in Cayman’s past and in a pan-Caribbean heritage could effectively be drowning out a valid historical precedent for Batabano that would answer both of the definitions of ‘authenticity’ explored in this paper. We have said that strictly speaking, Cayman has never celebrated Trinidad-style Carnival, hence the claims in the literature that Batabano is a ‘new’ phenomenon and the desperate search for ‘authenticity’ for an inherently artificial cultural artefact. If one takes a broader view of Carnival, however, we may look to a wider range of street parades featuring masked or costumed dancers which has as its heritage the beliefs and practices of Africans transplanted to the Caribbean or Americas. Sometimes termed ‘Carnivalesque’, these festivals have a substantively different cultural origin and a different timeline. There is Crop-Over in Barbados, for example, which is tied to the agricultural year, and Junkanoo or Jonkanoo in Jamaica and the Bahamas, which tends to come shortly after Christmas in the Christian calendar. It is the latter that the Cayman Islands celebrated. In the popular discourse surveyed for this article, there was never any mention of Jonkanoo in relation to Batabano. Few people nowadays even realise that Jonkanoo is a part of our Caymanian heritage, a legacy from our African ancestors. Yet it was celebrated on a regular basis from 44

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perhaps slavery days up into the mid-twentieth century, possibly until about twenty years prior to the invention of Batabano (Bodden, 2007, p.55; Craton, 2003, p.463; Pearl Coe, cited in McLaughlin, 1991, p.47). (There has been academic research into Caymanian Jonkanoo as well as very limited modern displays commemorating it, but the knowledge is not widespread and certainly does not form part of the popular discourse under discussion here.) It is not within the scope of this chapter to explore the varied reasons for Jonkanoo’s demise in Cayman or to research the forms it took here. Moreover, it would be erroneous to suggest that Jonkanoo was a direct precursor to the modern festival. I would suggest, however, that the current discourse on Batabano is creating a ‘history’ of Carnival here that has come to be taken as received knowledge. As Jonkanoo does not form part of this discourse, potential inquiry is stifled. One cannot have an impulse to research something of which one is wholly unaware. What does this say about perceptions of Caymanian culture, that a search for ‘authenticity’ yields a set of well-documented falsehoods and twisted or exaggerated truths, rather than any serious investigation into our past? Many Caymanians will be familiar with the charge that we have no culture. Perhaps it is this perceived lack of culture that has necessitated the invention of a ‘history’ for Batabano that has little resemblance to reality. Thus, one avenue for celebrating our ‘African and religious influences’, Jonkanoo, is effectively silenced, as we throw our energies into celebrating an artificially constructed past. The fact that texts espousing this artificial past, such as the ones cited above, have become accepted wisdom is very serious. Nicolette Bethel (2000), in discussing Bahamian Junkanoo, asserts that Bahamians have two narratives regarding Junkanoo: the ‘authentic’ one that is shared by Bahamians and is transmitted to the next generation as part of their culture and heritage, and the artificial one which is shared with tourists purely as entertainment. The tales told to tourists are, like our stories about Batabano, lacking in ‘accuracy’ and not ‘authentic’ (Ibid). The difference – and it is a big difference – is that Bethel asserts that Bahamians know that these stories are inaccurate and inauthentic4. In Cayman, we are telling ourselves the same stories we tell to tourists. Our new citizens, both Caymanian children and immigrants, will probably accept these narratives at face value. After all, local media – newspaper articles, websites and the like – substantiate each others’ stories, stories which find their way across the Internet to far flung corners of the globe and are transmuted into similar articles in media emanating from overseas. Even people ‘who should know better’ may be fooled, owing to the very human tendency to trust whatever we meet in print. I Batabano: A Case Study of the Role of Language

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myself, when I first began to read that ‘batabano’ meant ‘turtle tracks’, accepted it, assuming that the writers knew something that I did not. Acknowledging my own ignorance, I began to ask others how the word should be used, only to meet with mystified stares. Thus, unless you are blessed enough to have regular dialogue with the older generation of Caymanians (a fast dying breed), you are unlikely to hear any other story. Moreover, the alternate narrative, that ‘Cayman Carnival’ is artificial, is too often silenced, with Batabano’s detractors dismissed as old-fashioned killjoys, complainers and colonialists, or – to use a term found in one writer’s work – ‘derogating outsiders and “stuffy [traditionalist] Caymanians”’ (Williams, 2010, p. 380) Most detractors of Batabano fall into one of two camps: those who object to the skimpy costumes and suggestive dancing, and those who suggest that it is alien to Caymanian culture. For the latter type of critique, Batabano has an answer: the festival is about unity and togetherness. Attempts to discuss the tension between Caymanian history and imported so-called Trinidadian cultural practices are therefore automatically dismissed. The Cayman Carnival discourse suggests that critics are promoting disunity and are missing the point of a festival celebrating oneness and diversity. As we have seen, however, this oft-touted unity is in itself suspect. Conclusion The same claims about Batabano are repeated so frequently in mutually affirming articles written locally, and often for a local audience, that they have become a formidable body of literature. The stories they tell about Batabano constitute a welldeveloped and developing mythos designed to bestow ‘authenticity’ on the festival. The success of these narratives is such that at least one reporter for the preeminent local newspaper has used the word ‘batabano’ to actually mean ‘turtle tracks’, a coinage not previously found elsewhere outside of descriptions of the festival. These texts have moved from simply reporting on culture to creating it. This body of literature, moreover, carries with it certain judgements about what is legitimately, or ‘authentically’, Caymanian and/or Caribbean culture. Pains are taken to position Batabano firmly within the tradition of Trinidad-style Carnival while references to Jonkanoo, a traditional though defunct Caymanian festival, are entirely absent. Acknowledging that Caymanian society has birthed a unique and successful ‘new’ festival is, moreover, seen as insufficient on its own. Therefore, apparently, Caymanian culture, old and new, is not good enough, unless it can be moulded to mimic the culture of other, larger territories. Some texts even seek to pre-emptively silence this sort of criticism by talking about the inclusive nature of a Batabano that 46

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celebrates diversity rather than an exclusive Caymanian identity. If we begin to critically analyse other narratives about Caymanian culture, what will we find? In what other ways is Cayman’s heritage and contemporary culture – or that of other territories, especially smaller ones – being depicted as inferior, incomplete or inadequate? What impact does this have on our children, on their perceptions of themselves as Caymanians and on their subsequent thoughts and actions? With language being such a powerful tool for constructing and disseminating culture, we must ensure that we handle it skilfully and appropriately. If we want to be in the business of constructing myths, we need to analyse the foundations as we begin to put up the walls. Caymanians, and other persons from the Caribbean, must ensure that debates about culture and identity include rigorous and critical academic analysis, not merely emotional assertions, or the repetition of accepted wisdom. Nor should we shy away from explorations of national identity in the name of inclusiveness – an inclusiveness that can actually be used to exclude certain narratives about ourselves, especially if they do not comfortably fit the popular discourse. A truly inclusive Caribbean identity will be one where room is made to celebrate the uniqueness of each island and territory; where regional unity does not depend upon regional conformity. This requires all of us to have confidence that our own cultural practices, traditional and modern, have inherent worth, even if they differ from those of our neighbours.

References Avalon Condominiums. (2011, December 31). Retrieved December 31, 2011, from Grand Cayman holiday celebrations: http://www.avaloncayman.com/aboutcayman/holidays.html Bethel, N. (2000). Junkanoo in the Bahamas: a tale of identity adapted from Navigations: the Fluidity of national identity in the Post-Colonial Bahamas, PhD dissertation. Retrieved from: http://www.nicobethel.net/nico-at-home/academia/ junkident.html Bodden, J. (2007). The Cayman Islands in transition. The politics, history and sociology of a changing society. Kingston: Ian Randle., 55. Burch, J. (2008). A unique spin on a Caribbean tradition at Cayman Carnival Batabano. Retrieved December 31, 2011, from http://www.semuabisnis.com/ articles/103651/1/Experience-A-Unique-Spin-On-A-Caribbean-Tradition-AtCayman-Carnival-Batabano/Page1.html Batabano: A Case Study of the Role of Language

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Carter, G. (2010, July 23). The father of crop-over. Retrieved April 1, 2013, from NATIONNews.com: http://www.nationnews.com/index.php/articles/view/thefather-of-crop-over/ Cayman Activity Guide. (2011). Retrieved December 31, 2011, from http://www. caymanactivityguide.com/CayfestBatabano.htm Cayman Carnival Batabano. (2011). Retrieved December 31, 2011, from http://www. caymanCarnival.com/index.php/aboutbatabano Cayman Condos. (2011). Retrieved May 15, 2011, from http://blog.cicondos.com/ grandcaymantravel/2011/05/batabano-festival.html Caymanian Compass. (2007, May 14). Heaps of praise for Batabano. Caymanian Compass. Gand Cayman. CaymanIslands.ky. (n.d.). Cayman Carnival Batabano. Retrieved from Cayman Carnival Batabano: http://www.caymanislands.ky/sitelets/batabano-default.aspx on December 31, 2011. Connolly, N. (2011a, June 2). More turtles nesting in Cayman. The Caymanian Compass. Connolly, N. (2011b, August 4). Turtle makes unusual day trip to beach. The Caymanian Compass. Connolly, N. (2013, April 26). Brac turtle patrol seeks volunteers. The Caymanian Compass. Craton, M. and the New History Committee (2003). Founded Upon the Seas: A History of the Cayman Islands and Their People. Kingston: Ian Randle, 463. Frederick, C. (2012, February 27). Retrieved from Swanky international:: http:// swanky.ky/about.html Goring, K. (2011). The Cayman Islands dictionary. Grand Cayman: GapSeed. Key to Cayman. (2013). Baby turtle steps. Key to Cayman January-June 2013 p. 59. Grand Cayman:Cayman Free Press. Retrieved from http://caymaniankey.cay. ussrv15.newsmemory.com/hindex.php. Lewis, J. (2011). Cayman Carnival fetes and festivities. Cayman Airways Skies. McLaughlin, H., ed. (1991). Cayman Yesterdays: An Album of Childhood Memories. Grand Cayman: Cayman Islands National Archive. McLean, B. (2008, May 19). Local musicians were snubbed (Letter to the Editor). The Caymanian Compass. Grand Cayman:Cayman Free Press. Morejon, J. (2012, March 23). Caribbean Carnivals. The distinct performances of non-independence and emancipation. Paper presented at the 2012 UCCI/UWI/ ICCI.

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Pirates Week Official Website. (2013). Retrieved February 24, 2013 from http://www.piratesweekfestival.com/. Robinson Echevarria, V. (2011). La cultura popular tradicional en la comunidad de Surgidero de Batabano. Retrieved from http://www.monografias.com/trabajos82/ cultura-popular-tradicional-surgidero-batabano/cultura-popular-tradicionalsurgidero-batabano2.shtml Roig de Leuchsenring, E. (2008). La palabra Habana. Retrieved from http://www. upec.cu/idioma_nuestro/07.htm Salgado, I. (2010). La identidad cultural batabanoense:una mirada desde las artes plasticas. Retrieved from http://www.monografias.com/trabajos82/identidadcultural-batabanoense/identidad-cultural-batabanoense.shtml Shooman, J. (2010a, March 5). Get ready for Cayman Carnival Batabano. The Caymanian Compass. Shooman, J. (2010b, April 8). Cayman Carnival Batabano back in technicolor. Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hot, Grand Cayman: Cayman Free Press. Shooman, J. (2011, April 5). Are you ready for Carnival? Caymanian Compass. Tobutt, C. (2010, April). Caymanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Batabano. Retrieved from A true Caribbean Carnival. Cayman Airways Skies: http://caymanairwaysmagazine.com/archives/ article.htm?id=57 Various Contributors. (1998). Harvest of Fun: Barbados Crop Over. Caribbean Beat Issue 32 July/August 1998 retrieved April 23 from http://caribbeanbeat.com/issue-32/harvest-fun-barbados-crop-over. Williams, C.A. (2010). Caymanianness, History, Culture, Tradition, and Globalisation: Assessing the Dynamic Interplay Between Modern and Traditional(ist) thought in the Cayman Islands, PhD thesis, University of Warwick:. United Kingdom. http:// wrap.warwick.ac.uk/38543/

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Notes 1. Further examples with very similar wording (particularly including words

like ‘true’, ‘cultural’ and ‘history’ which suggest authenticity) include: Carnival is a true Caribbean tradition—a cultural kaleidoscope of music, dance and pageantry with roots mirroring the region’s diverse history of African and religious influences. The colourful costumes reflect Cayman’s vibrant landscapes and traditions, and the music is the very rhythm of life in the islands. From Trinidad and Tobago, to Jamaica and the Virgin Islands, Carnival is the Caribbean’s cultural expression of the arts. (Lewis, 2011) - Batabano is a true Caribbean tradition—a cultural kaleidoscope of music, dance and pageantry with roots mirroring the region’s diverse history of African and religious influences. Batabano’s colorful costumes reflect the vibrant landscapes and traditions of the Cayman Islands, while the music beats the very rhythm of life in the Cayman Islands. From Trinidad and Tobago, to Jamaica and the Virgin Islands, Carnival is the Caribbean’s cultural expression of the arts. (Cayman Activity Guide, 2011) - A Carnival of the like that only the Caribbean can pull off, Batabano is a cultural kaleidoscope of music, dance and pageantry and the main event takes place from 29 April to 1 May. It reflects the diverse historical influences on the Caribbean over the years rooted in African and religious influences. (Shooman J., 2010a) 2. Further examples showing the use of ‘unique’ and ‘distinct’ include (emphasis added in all cases): Batabano is Cayman’s Carnival and, appropriately, the name has a distinctly local flavor. (Avalon Condominiums, 2011) [O]ur unique Carnival …Another costume possesses an intricate and unique beauty. (Tobutt, 2010) Experience A Unique Spin On A Caribbean Tradition At Cayman Carnival Batabano [title]… Cayman Carnival Batabano has also incorporated many of the activities of traditional Carnival celebrations, allowing visitors to experience the most exciting Caribbean traditions in a unique environment… (Burch, 2008) [A] unique word for a unique country and a unique event…. (Shooman J. , Cayman Carnival Batabano back in technicolor, 2010b) 3. Further examples (below) emphasize the pervasive use of Trinidadian (or Brazilian) Carnival as a model and measure of a festival’s success or worthiness.

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The fete was renamed Cayman Carnival Batabano to bring it more in line with traditional Caribbean Carnivals (Cayman Carnival Batabano, 2012) Quick…What place do you think about when you hear the word Carnival? Rio? Trini? How about Cayman? (Caymanian Compass Editorial, 2007) We have changed the perception of Batabano as a parade that is not up to par with the rest of the Caribbean and other Carnivals. In 2008 the greatest compliment was paid to Swanky, when a Trinidadian lady came to me after the parade and thanked me for making her feel like she was home watching “The Greatest Show on Earth”, Trinidad Carnival. (Frederick, 2012) 4. This paragraph paraphrases the following quotation from Bethel, a consideration of the idea of authenticity that is highly pertinent to a discussion of Batabano: Bahamian Junkanoo tells the following tales of the self: it is simultaneously the central symbol of black Bahamians’ development, a metaphor for national progress, an affirmation of Bahamian creativity, an arena for social commentary and a ready tool for the education of the young… The tales told to the other, although less commonly invoked by Bahamians as conscious markers of identity, mirror the tales told by other participants in street festivals elsewhere. These are tales that embody the expected, that promote the visitors’ imagination of the exotic, the unfamiliar. Bahamians, however, are not picky about the accuracy of these tales, and many of them are richly ironic. Junkanoo is enacted for the tourist in ways that would be unacceptable to a Bahamian audience… [T]hese affairs are not considered to be authentic, or even believed to be representative of the real thing… However, the tourist in Junkanoo is a spectator only. The tale of Junkanoo is far more commonly told to other Bahamians than to outsiders. (2000)

Batabano: A Case Study of the Role of Language

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BRINGING THE LEGITIMACY OF CARNIVAL AND THE CARNIVALESQUE TO BEAR ON CAYMANIAN CULTURE: THE CASE OF CARNIVAL BATABANO CHRISTOPHER A. WILLIAMS University College of the Cayman Islands

Abstract Cayman Carnival Batabano (Batabano) is an important cultural event in the British dependent Cayman Islands. With this in mind, the attempt is made throughout this article to legitimate Batabano either in historical and traditionalist terms or else in accordance with a decidedly more modern variant which underlies globalization and multiculturalism. The author works to further break down the foregoing dichotomy by analyzing the rifts and contradictions which conflicting considerations of Batabano, and, by extension carnival in general, have created in the Cayman Islands between traditionalist and modernist modes of rhetoric.

Email: CWilliams@ucci.edu.ky 52

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INTRODUCTION Cayman Carnival Batabano is, in many circles, regarded as one of the most important national cultural events in the prosperous self-financing British Dependency of the Cayman Islands, located in the western Caribbean, some 180 miles to the South of Cuba. Tonight, I make the attempt to analyze perhaps Cayman’s most popular carnival, both from the expansive historical perspective of the carnivalesque and the multicultural – dare I say – globalized viewpoint, that seems to most adequately capture the underlying spirit of New World carnival at present; by New World carnival, I am referring to the specific brand of carnival that was developed in the New World, those regionalities in which slavery figured prominently, notably Brazil, the Caribbean, and New Orleans. With Carnival Batabano as my case study, then, it is my intention to capture the extent to which the driving oppositional spirit behind a strain of carnival popularized and developed within the walls of colonialism and slavery continues to underpin an evolved modern carnivalesque spirit that, on the surface, seems to thrive on human solidarity and equality. Yet, as we shall also see, there is a complex ebb and flow of intra-Caymanian conflicts and tensions beneath the surface of this so-called carnivalesque equality that is far more important and interesting precisely because any enduring analysis of these conflicts may well serve to challenge the very accuracy of any such widely proclaimed equality. Etymology Of The Word Batabano It is difficult to locate the etymology of the word batabano. It is entirely possible that it is a word of Taino origin, given that it has no designated meaning in Spanish, and considering also that it was the Spanish who assigned the word exclusively to perhaps the most important southern Cuban port town – Surgidero de Batabano – throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; the Spanish may have simply utilized a word that had already been a part of the vocabulary of the native Tainos they had encountered in Cuba. At present, the municipality of Batabano, which comprises Surgidero de Batabano and Batabano city, lies to the southeast of Havana in the newly established Mayabeque Province which, prior to 2011, comprised central and southern sectors of Havana Province, whose northern segments were also renamed Artemisa Province in 2011. Despite its continued importance as a communications hub for the islands and cays off and around its gulf, Batabano is now little more than an impoverished The Case of Carnival Batabano

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underdeveloped fishing municipality, although marine tourism is somewhat of a mainstay. Yet, given Batabano’s historically strategic significance as a coastal – and thus economic – capital, together with its close proximity to Cayman, it seems that the earlier inhabitants of Cayman – who were known to regularly navigate Cuban waters in search of turtles until the commencement of the Ten Years War in 1868 – had reappropriated batabano to fit a similar, if more Caymanian, maritime particularity. In the historical Cayman context, then, batabano refers to the tracks a female turtle makes as she crawls up the beach to lay her eggs, a ritual that would have been a familiar sight along the shores of the turtle-invested economy of Cayman in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries especially. Historical Analysis Of Carnival Yet, Batabano, by its very title, is also widely understood as a carnival event. A Latin word, Carnival (translated farewell to the flesh) – and its multivalent carnivalesque spirit— has existed since ancient times, even if the word ‘carnival’ had not yet been created. When I use the term ‘multivalent carnivalesque spirit’, I am referring to a positive, liberating outlook on carnival that is not limited to a single interpretation or value system, but that is instead open to multiple – even conflicting – values and beliefs, rendering this outlook necessarily multi-valued or multivalent. To give two ancient examples of this multivalency, certain sectors of ancient Greece often held orgiastic celebrations in accordance with their initially many and varied illegal interpretations of how their harvest god Dionysus should be celebrated and worshipped; while in predating ancient Egypt, the nobility initiated pagan festivals and celebrations that revolved around multiple interpretations of various cherished deities. Carnival “in its most general sense, [then],…celebrates the body, the senses, and the unofficial, uncanonized [or, hidden – dare I say, closeted?] relations among human beings that nonetheless exist…” (Danow, 1995, p. 3). Towards a clarification of the foregoing, we may look to the groundbreaking work of Russian formalist Mikhail Bakhtin (1984) on carnival and other forms of medieval folkloric cultural expression. For Bakhtin, carnival as expressed in gluttonous feasting, decadent carryings on, sexual liberation, mysticism, dance, song and music, parodying of regents in masquerade, and the like, represented a celebration geared towards the temporary inversion of fixed genteel social values. In its modern post-medieval, post-Renaissance manifestations, the underlying folkloric, inverted essence of carnival has largely remained, according to Victor Turner (1995), David Danow (1995), Sir James Frazer (2009), Andrew Pearse (1975), among others. For Danow, ‘[c]arnival is defined by folk culture temporarily 54

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subordinating to itself certain “hidden,” embedded features of the official [so-called politically correct] culture’ (1995, pp. 3-4). Andrews Carr and Pearse were the first to write on New World carnival and they understood these hidden, embedded features as constitutive of a hierarchy of fabled characters who were temporarily ‘…elevated to the level of the “real” or “authentic”’ (Cowley, 1996, p. 27). Temporary though it may be, official carnival, in this sense, can at once be liberating, counter-dictatorial, countercultural, and popular-cultural in the sense that it gives the illusion to have erased social, moral and even economic boundaries. Although Bakhtin focused on carnival in its medieval dispensation, he and Victor Turner both understood carnival in a similar way, that is, as a temporary, liminal (or transitional) festival that serves a social function based, firstly, on the inversion of the preexisting social order and, secondly, on the celebration of this inversion, which amounts to a carnival shrouded in the subversive.1 Both important writers identify carnival as a sort of release valve that, when switched, emits inversive and subversive functions that are especially inevitable in societies that are hardly free and fair. Victor Turner’s coined communitas/societas dialectic (or interaction) compellingly captures these functions, where the “anti-social” forces of carnival and the carnivalesque locate their origin and sustenance in the communal, community sphere before flowing into and interrupting the moral flow, if you will, of the society, or societas, which houses good governance and practical, perhaps innate, principles of legal and moral propriety.2 With particular reference to carnival in the hypernationalistic and fascistic Italy of the early twentieth century, Sir James Frazer put it another way: ‘[w]e have seen that many peoples have been used to observe an annual period of license when the whole population give themselves up to an extravagant mirth and jollity…such outbursts [amount to] pent-up forces of human nature, too often degenerating into wild orgies of lust and crime.’3 Important to note here is that the timing of carnival was, and still is, largely dependent on the Gregorian Christian calendar, which, for some, confirms carnival’s liminal or transitional status between worldliness and holiness. With its indulgences of excesses of almost every sort, it seems almost a matter of religious expediency that carnival tends to precede the season of Lent, which is devoted to profound introspection and disabusing one’s self of fleshly, worldly desires. Lent occurs between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday, and represents, among other things, the time to engage in retrospection, solemnity, and abstinence, an abstinence made all the more meaningful at present for the previous week(s) of “carnivalesque wickedness”, which in early nineteenth century Trinidad, for instance, usually occurred from Christmas time. Yet within modern carnival studies, there is another intellectual school, whose The Case of Carnival Batabano

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members are keen to cut against many of these traditional conceptions of carnival. Richard Schechner (2002), who is perhaps the school’s leading proponent, rejects the liminality and marginality of modern new world carnival, arguing instead that carnival is now very much a mainstream event, both in its egalitarian properties and its commercial brandings, which are nothing less than enduring, ongoing cultural creations and features of globalization, where globalization, it can be crudely reasoned, is not only built on a vast global network of economic and technological interdependence, but as well on the human, multicultural interactions that come as a result of this interdependency.4 Like influential Caribbeanist Gordon Rohlehr, Schechner is aware that although the carnivals in the new world jurisdictions of New Orleans, Trinidad, and Brazil now possess a logic substantively indebted to the modernizing forces of globalization, when analyzing these carnivals, one should also factor in the historical features and realities responsible for their very existence. Similarly, as it was part of my intention when conducting my research to attach the carnivalesque concept, in its historical developmental sense, to Carnival Batabano, I found myself reading up on the major developments of carnival in the new world. In the cases of Trinidad and Brazil especially, we can trace the origins of carnival at present back to the days of slavery, when slaves in these jurisdiction practiced their own form of carnival away from the version of carnival practiced by their masters; indeed, it was the incendiary, sexy, and subversive enslaved brand of carnival that would become popular among the Trinidadian and Brazilian masses in the post-slavery era, and that would be built upon and modernized towards the beginning of contemporary globalization in 1945 and beyond. Notice here that while the slave-inspired carnivals of the historical New World were being branded with eternally negative, godless, and immoral characteristics by colonial authorities, who viewed slaves as the white man’s burden in need of spiritual and moral upliftment, no less, the enslaved masses, and later the creole elites, continued to develop, solidify, and legitimate their carnival in cultural terms. There was a definite conflict of interests and ideologies at work during this time, but we cannot deny that the creolized manifestations of carnival today, from the whining and gyrating, to the unique costuming and characterizations, are unavoidably rooted in, and compellingly legitimated by, the experiences and hardships of our disfranchised ancestors. [By creolization, I am – in line with noted Barbadian scholar Kamau Brathwaite – referring to our Caribbean culture complex which was created as a result of the unequal synthesis of African and European cultural elements and, of course, later other cultural elements were thrown into this unequal stew, this gritty mix (notice here that carnival was brought to the Caribbean by Europeans, but profoundly 56

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altered by those of primarily African descent-Caribbean carnival, then, is at once a product of creolization). Although disagreements between the two camps abound, in many ways Brathwaite’s creolization is quite compatible with Cuban anthropologist Fernando Ortiz’s transculturation which maintains that ‘colonization – and by default, slavery, – had initiated a creative ongoing process of appropriation, revision, and survival, leading to the mutual transformation of two or more preexisting cultures into a new, if you will, creolized one.’] Caribbean Carnival, Batabano: Creole Heritage Does this therefore not mean that when Caribbean folks practice carnival at present, they are legitimately expressing an enduring part of their creole heritage? Yet why are they often written off as an immoral, uncultured, and uncouthly lewd bunch in need of Jesus, or some sort of psychiatric and/or civilizing intervention for that matter? Do you notice the almost accurate ideologically-split reflection of history on the present landscape of Caribbean carnival, and for our purposes tonight, Carnival Batabano? Should certain ‘extreme’ aspects of culture be seen as transgressions, then, when we for a moment stop to consider that the cultures and religions brought to the New World from Africa were thoroughly discredited and demonized by the European master, who had a vested interest in spreading and solidifying the truth and objectivity of his own religio-cultural progress? A truth and objectivity that simmered and developed under the appalling circumstances of the subjugation of human beings, no less? A state of affairs that is today unquestionably viewed as godless and immoral, but that was righteously, philosophically, and scientifically justified by our most consummate moralist Immanuel Kant, and countless others, as a matter of moral necessity? Whose cultural ideas were more “accurate” in the colonial Caribbean context? Was it a hitherto thriving, evolving, unmolested African cultural sensibility that would later be demonized in a new geographical space, and later the world over? Or, was it a European cultural sense that seemed destined to enjoy global preeminence and monotheistic truth, precisely because the Europeans stamped, by proselytizing force, no less, the virtue and superiority of their cultural sensibilities on other humans once branded by themselves as tertium quid, that is, as an intermediate species caught between European and cattle? Or, was it a burgeoning creole cultural awareness indebted to both African and European cultural elements, yet possessing a distinct African sensibility that we tend to wittingly and/or unwittingly downplay, reject and demonize at present, while clinging to our European half as if for dear life? I’ll leave you to grapple with these questions. In any case, on a lighter perhaps more comfortable note, my historical analysis The Case of Carnival Batabano

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confirmed that carnival, as a cultural force, was never entrenched in historical Cayman, beyond perhaps the notable pale of Junkanoo (another popular Caribbean carnival), whose existence here was both short-lived and representative of an imported cultural practice from Jamaica, where it had already long evolved beyond its European origins. Relative thus to Caymanian heritage and the acculturating impulses therein, Carnival Batabano is without any firm historical grounding in that unique creolized evolutionary sense. To take this a step further, many Caymanians, based on my doctoral research, are keen to understand themselves as culturally apart from the Caribbean (Williams, 2010), in part, because of the prevalent, if fallacious, belief that slavery was an insignificant institutional feature in historical Cayman (Williams, 2011). Accordingly, we should anticipate the contradictory cultural positions that are bound to arise in the islands’ present cultural lexicon and realities relative not only to Batabano, but indeed to the complete cultural edifice of Cayman, which is intensely multicultural and cosmopolitan and is home to well over 100 nationalities (ESO, 2011). Accordingly, the enduring aspect of Cayman’s historical reality which batabano comprised has been reappropriated in decidedly modern cultural terms, a reappropriation, as I recently stated, with no firm cultural-historical basis. However, it is my contention that Carnival Batabano can still be embraced as an authentic aspect of Caymanian culture, by virtue of the fact that Caymanians are Caribbean people. Carnival Batabano In Caymanian Culture Held within the first two weeks of every May since 1983, Carnival Batabano was initially organized and solely promoted by the Rotary Club of the Cayman Islands (2009), not so much, according to them, as a tourist attraction, but as ‘…a salute to Cayman’s turtling heritage’. According to its promoters, Carnival Batabano was created as a cultural vehicle with which to celebrate ‘youth and creativity’ (ibid.).5 The very first Batabano – a one day event – was lost in obscurity, perhaps due to the visit of the great boxer Muhammad Ali on the same day. Like Trinidad’s carnival, playing mas is indispensable to the spirit of Batabano at present given that during three days revelers parade elaborate costumes on equally elaborate floats – or mobile platforms – throughout the streets of West Bay and George Town. According to its official website: [Batabano]… is a true Caribbean tradition – a cultural kaleidoscope of music and dance pageantry with roots mirroring the region’s diverse history of African and religious influences. The colorful costumes reflect our vibrant 58

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landscapes and traditions, and the music is the very rhythm of life in the islands…[Batabano]…is the Caribbean’s cultural expression of the arts’ (Cayman Carnival Batabano, 2011)…6 As temporary and trivial as the foregoing descriptions of Batabano may appear, they do provide for an effective point of contrast between Caymanians who are accommodating to incoming peoples and cultures and those Caymanians who are very much participants in a modern lifestyle, but who are anti-modern in their ideas concerning incoming alien, multicultural sources and forces regarded as threats. Let us explore the sentiments and ideo-cultural positions of the latter type of Caymanian first. In 2008, a Caymanian expressed that the Batabano Committee should give more local musicians a chance to showcase their talents: ‘Is Batabano not about promoting Cayman culture?’ He asks, ‘[or] is [it] about transplanting Carnival from one country to ours?’28 One suspects that he was emphasizing the reality that the latter question summoned, while stressing the need for the transformation of Batabano in accordance with the former. One month later, another Caymanian of high standing invoked these probing questions, imploring the Batabano Committee to ‘take note’ of them: ‘Carnival is essentially not Caymanian’, this Caymanian began, ‘and has clearly not been embraced by all its people [sic]. Those who enjoy the making of costumes and teaching this craft to our children may be encouraged to pursue this for a more wholesome benefit.’8 These ostensibly traditionalist, somewhat official assessments of Batabano – official, given the professional status of these Caymanians – encourage cultural tension in an otherwise multicultural jurisdiction: These Caymanians have made it clear that the carnivalesque manifestations of Batabano are essentially not Caymanian, a declaration that automatically implicates some Caribbean expatriates in Cayman, and in whose original countries carnival is more entrenched and historicized. Accordingly, because the spirit of carnival has not been embraced ‘by all’ Caymanians, thereby in no way reflective of the traditional ‘basis of our Caymanian culture’, such vague yet heartfelt understandings of Caymanian culture possess the potential to stand in intense opposition to the carnivalesque cultural sensibilities of, for instance, the incoming Trinidadian, Jamaican, and Grenadian.9 Similarly, in 2006, yet another high-ranking Caymanian expressed outrage at a video that was placed on the free video sharing website, YouTube, which showed ‘young people simulating sexual intercourse at a [Batabano] street dance.’10 In this Caymanian’s perhaps politically-expedient mind, because festivals the likes of Batabano and Pirates Week were being officially sponsored by the government, any The Case of Carnival Batabano

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unwholesome behavior that occurred was not only being condoned by the government, but was presenting traditional Caymanian culture in an inaccurate, distorted, amoral light, even. This Caymanian’s clear dislike for the “lewd” manifestations of these cultural events seems to be premised on his understanding that what occurs at the events is not ‘all clean.’ “‘Liquor is involved”’, he begins, “‘and besides that, people are parading around half naked, showing body parts and young men are going up behind young women and women are going up behind young men.”’11 Another Caymanian proved as blunt as her fellow national: ‘“I make no apologies,’” she begins, ‘“[w]hat can be so cultural about people carousing and getting drunk in the street?’”12 Although differing in degrees of intensity, the foregoing Caymanians have not, in their underlying concern, called for the complete annihilation of Batabano. Rather, by implication or blunt expression, they are demonstrating a nationalistic desire to remake Batabano into a more wholesome or Caymanian cultural institution. The words wholesome and Caymanian achieve strange synonymy in this context, as if to say, one is a true Caymanian only if one is more wholesome. In an age where Caymanian traditions risk complete erasure, these Caymanians have demonstrated an unmistakable distrust for external cultural influences that seem to have both replaced and displaced an indigenous moral local culture. Indeed, this sort of distrust tends to occur when ‘rapid transformations of a society weaken or destroy the social patterns for which “old” traditions had been designed…’13 As such, the argument may be made that the sentiments responsible for such xenophobic distrust are inherently functional, which is to say that they function on the “trauma” of multiculturalism and its anti-traditional essences. The very functionality of anti-modern sentiments thus rests in the fact that they represent mental states that are generated by the external stimulant of multiculturalism.14 The sense of unity that underlines the line of functionalist rhetoric recently considered should necessarily be interpreted in nationalistic terms first and political terms finally. Anthony Marx defines ‘nationalism as the political sentiment of popular solidarity intended to coincide with states…’14 It is true that anti-modern rhetoric is as politically motivated as it is strengthened by an underlying – in this case – unambiguous ideological agreement. Thus, because such rhetoricizing has often been utilized as a tool of nationalism, the popularity of the previously assessed sentiments are beyond doubt: such sentiments are valid precisely because they are being expressed on behalf of that sizeable segment of the Caymanian population that has chosen to identify with them. It follows, then, that nationalistic thought, with its emphasis on anti-liberalism, necessarily begets a line of cultural rhetoric that in 60

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turn fashions a political reality in which anti-modern positions can be “naturally” theorized, rhetorically popularized, and politically implemented. Moreover, in light of the tensions that are generated by an otherwise unambiguous line of anti-modern sentiment posturing as conservatism, the gain and cost dimension of such thinking should be considered here. Having amassed religious-like mantras, anti-modern verbalizations are nothing less than preservatives, whose principal imperative is to safeguard, not necessarily the socio-cultural past and its static traditions, but the psychological structure, or the legacies of the past that live on in the Caymanian psyche. Yet, in spite of this imperative, anti-modern discourse, by its very existence, seems only able to reserve for itself what appears to be the hallowed nationalistic right to promote and, no less, politically exploit the inherent contradictions between a past conservative historical sensibility and a multicultural, liberal, modern way of life, whose Caymanian and non-Caymanian practitioners are comfortable and willing participants. Notice that anti-modern discourse cannot strive to recast these contradictions as human-cultural differences that can peacefully coexist within a constitutional framework genuinely dedicated to both the jurisprudence (legal study) and praxis (practice) of cultural tolerance and civility, as well as the benign preservation of a local culture in its actual and psychological manifestations. Thus anti-modernism’s perceived gain is revealed in the psychological basis of its longevity, while the social and cultural tensions it generates in multicultural, cosmopolitan settings come at the very real cost of cultural tolerance. As a corollary to the previous point, I am aware of the enduring importance of immigration control in a jurisdiction as small as Cayman, but that Cayman’s success is substantively built on expatriate contribution and investment, it becomes necessary to safeguard the expatriate’s basic human rights, including his/her right to practice their culture within the legal boundaries of the state, of course. Susan George, for instance, argues that given the rich-poor disparities and corporate exploitation often caused by globalization, greater effort should be made to treat the incoming “losers” – the blue collar and menial workers (especially the islanders, notably the yaardies and the Filipinos)—just as the prosperous winners – the incoming investors and stockbrokers. This speaks to the globalization of human rights, which, at its heart demands the foreign national’s cultural, legal, and human equality.15 Yet, it is precisely for the anti-modern pronouncements directed at Batabano that we must understand this carnival as a largely modern one that exists and thrives on the multicultural forces that come as a direct result of various emigration booms prompted by contemporary globalization. In this sense, Carnival Batabano transcends the limited cultural and geographical spaces in which the unassuming Caymanian ancestor was The Case of Carnival Batabano

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allowed to develop largely unmolested, and figures as an inevitable byproduct of our modern age, that is increasingly touted as a global, borderless age, terms that seem blissfully unaware of the prejudices and pejoratives that are stamped all over globalisation and, as a matter of course, certain emigration streams. Nonetheless, the shaping external capitalistic forces of a modern cultural logic appreciated and embraced by another type of Caymanian relative to Carnival Batabano and, indeed, a burgeoning global cultural awareness, do not amount a national mortal sin – as many other prosperous nationalities are keener to live in the liberating, cosmopolitan present than the restricting, beleaguered, actually-dead past. Yet, as we have seen, such forces do represent contaminating elements for many traditionalist Caymanians at present. When, for instance, executive director of Batabano, Donna Myrie-Stephen (2003) used such words as ‘entertainment’, ‘spectacular’, and ‘quite a blast’ in her vivid depictions of Batabano, one could not – and indeed cannot – help but to visualize the “marketability” concept over the cultural concept: the pushing of a product for the sake of maximum profit. This initial understanding certainly dovetails with what many traditionalist Caymanians have expressed, that is, that the carnivalesque aspects of Batabano are not really Caymanian, but created by and for, respectively, external forces and groups. Cayman is not at all unique in this sensationalising of culture, but is similar to the likes of Trinidad, Brazil, and New Orleans (among others), whose cultural festivals, although retaining the brunt of their shaping historical essence, have progressively been transformed into markets for overseas revenue. With the foregoing firmly in mind, Mrs. Myrie-Stephen helps to direct my argument in a specific direction by way of her letter to the editor entitled ‘Misunderstood Batabano Promotes Unity’ (2003). In her initial analysis, she situates Cayman Batabano in the wider culture of good times: Carnival is a religious festival celebrated worldwide. It is a time when everyone can get together, set aside all differences regardless of religious belief, race, colour, social or economic achievement, and [come] together as one for a period of time. From here, Mrs. Myrie-Stephen moves to the specificity of Caribbeanness, stating that ‘we are now in an era where we are striving for more Caribbean unity as we evolve as a people and as a nation we tend to merge other islands’ cultural experiences into our own daily lives’ (ibid.). By positioning herself as an authentic Caymanian cultural being, Mrs. Myrie-Stephen implies ‘that the resistance to Carnival Batabano [comes] from [traditionalists]…who fail to realize the bigger picture [and who] must [strive to] understand the historical, social, spiritual, psychological and economic aspects of such an event.’ Focusing on the vulgar ‘grinding’ and ‘whining’ that take place at Batabano, Mrs. Myrie-Stephen warns her readers to ‘render your hearts and 62

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not your garments’, hinting at the understanding that despite the ‘selfish babblings’ of intolerant traditionalist Caymanians, the liberal Caymanian carnivalesque spirit is culturally pure and accurate, regardless of any scanty, “immoral” costumes, although she is quick to point out, that such costumes and the dancing that takes place at Carnival Batabano ‘can be offensive to some by standers’ (ibid.). It would seem that Mrs. Myrie-Stephen’s most recent words are implicating those conservative Caymanians who detest Batabano as a matter of moral and/or Christian principle, thereby foregrounding an idea presented elsewhere, and which goes like this: liberal, cultural Caymanians do not necessarily hold hard and fast to traditionalist values, but veer more towards postmodern understandings of cultural equality regardless of any perceived immoral manifestations inherent in such understandings. The postmodern understandings in question tend to stress that there are no absolute “truths” when it comes to cultural adherence other than the passionate, patriotic love for one’s, or another’s, country (Cf. Grenz, 1993, Chapter 3). Mrs. Myrie-Stephen’s view finds a sympathetic ear in Sara Collins’ modern Caymanian cultural outlook (1997, p. 6). Although Ms Collins does not by any means demonstrate a truly pro-carnivalesque cultural stance, at least beyond the pale of the importance of the carnivalesque in modern Caribbean cultural life, somewhat like Mrs. Stephens, she positions herself as the ultimate Caribbeanist first, subsequently striving to reclaim her Caymanian culture from derogating outsiders and ‘stuffy [traditionalist] Caymanians’ especially. It seems no coincidence that Ms Collins was once Chair of the Human Rights Committee of the Cayman Islands. The concerns associated with human rights seem highly compatible with the intense defense that any restricting, largely intolerant, conservative cultural opinion not be allowed to ideologically dominate the social, cultural, and national landscape it inhabits and reserves the right to shape. Responding to a foreign national from the developed world who in 1997 wrote “harshly” of the vulgar and lewd behavior of a group of Batabano revelers calling themselves the ‘Mudders’, Ms Collins opined (1997): [i]n a very crucial way, the sentiments expressed by [this foreign national] could have been those of any of the “well meaning” colonizers, explorers and missionaries of history whose revulsion at the behavior of the “savages” and “natives” and their “obscene” “tribal” rituals is well documented. With hyperbolic aplomb, Ms Collins has connected the harshness of the Caribbean past with its emphasis on racial and ethnic discrimination, with the accompanying coping spirit of the slave, an enduring connection that fashioned the creole culture that we as Caribbean people function in today, despite the fact that multiculturalism and globalization have diluted our creolization as a matter of modern course. Regardless, The Case of Carnival Batabano

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our creolization is bound no less to express itself ‘in our food, music, art, literature, dance, language, sport [and] in everything we do’ (ibid.); in this foundational sense – and this is the clincher – Cayman’s cultural evolution is no different than elsewhere in the Caribbean, given that slavery was fully institutionalized there, Caymanian slaves indeed having played an indispensable role in shaping Caymanian culture and identity (Williams, 2011). Thus, by virtue of our historical development, we can, as Caymanians, choose to culturally identify with our fellow West Indians who practice carnival religiously and patriotically. Ms Collins all but implies the gaping schism between Caymanians who have no problem celebrating the more creolized, bacchanal aspects of Batabano, those who consider such celebrations as fundamentally Caymanian-cum-Caribbeanist, and their uncompromising counterparts who, with a sense of righteous indignation, refuse to recognize the essential ways in which history can manifest itself in these celebrations. Those who were, for instance, offended by the Mudders’ behaviour would, according to those Caymanians of Ms Collins’ ilk, represent that segment of Cayman society that prides itself on being Christian and moral, and indeed it is not difficult to relate the cultural consciousness of this segment with the consciousness of an earlier incoming colonial religious hegemonic force. In accordance with Ms. Collins’ understandings, then, there seems to me a not-so-peculiar ideological similarity between some conservative Caymanians and the likes of William Knibb and David Livingstone, for instance, popular nineteenth century protestant missionaries who fervently committed themselves to the religious redemption of people of African descent. And although these missionaries accepted that, in principle, people of color were spiritually redeemable, were also of the view that by merit – or demerit – of their Africanity, they stubbornly remained innately barbarous, uncivilized, and “dark.” It is this sense of difference based on the perceived pureness and wholesomeness of an otherwise superior culture that rests at the heart of cultural chauvinism and that precisely confirms the intolerant sensibility of cultural conservatism the world over. In the very final analysis, liberal-minded Caymanians who are able to appropriately factor in informed historical outlooks and opinions into modern equations of popular culture still run the risk of becoming the “adversaries” of “true” Caymanian culture and tradition, despite the very profound universally local cultural message which they cherish, and which goes a little like this: ‘[Caymanian culture should] [bring] together…children and adults [of all races, creeds, and nationalities] to celebrate creativity, imagination and musical talent found in the [Cayman] [I]slands’ (Collins, 1997, p. 6).

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References Bakhtin, M. (1984) Rabelais and His World (transl Helen Iswolsky). Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Bodden, J.A. (2007) The Cayman Islands in Transition: The Politics, History, and Sociology of a Changing Society. Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers. Brathwaite, E. (1971) The Development of Creole Society in Jamaica 1770-1820. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Craton, M. (2003) Founded Upon the Seas: A History of the Cayman Islands and Their People. Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers. Craton, M and G. Saunders (2000) Islanders’ in the Stream: A History of the Bahamian People, vol. 1. Atlanta: University of Georgia Press. Cowley, J (1996) Carnival, Canboulay and Calypso in the Making. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Cordingly, D. (1996) Life Among the Pirates: The Romance and the Reality. London: Abacus. Danow, D. (1995) The spirit of carnival: magical realism and the grotesque. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky. Debord, G. (1994) Society of the Spectacle (transl. Donald Nicholson-Smith). New York: Zone Books. Dudley, S. (2004) Carnival Music in Trinidad: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Frazer, J. (1963) The Golden Bough. New York: Macmillan Publishing. Grenz, S. (1996) A Primer on Postmodernism. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. Hall, C. (1999) ‘William Knibb and the Constitution of the New Black Subject’, in Empire and Others (edS Martin Daunton and Rick Halpern). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, pp.303-329. Inglehart, R. and C. Welzel (2005) Modernization, Cultural Change and Democracy: The Human Development Sequence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. Koningsbruggen, P. (1997) Trinidad Carnival: A Quest for National Identity. London: Macmillan Educational Ltd. Ortiz, F. (2003) Cuban Counterpoint: Tobacco and Sugar (transl. Harriet de Onis). Durham: Duke University Press.

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Pearse, Andrew (1975) Latin American Peasant. London: Frank Cass. Rattansi, Ali. (2011) Multiculturalism: A very short introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Rawls, John. (1999) A Theory of Justice. Cambridge, MASS: Harvard University Press. Rohlehr, G. (1990) Calypso and Society in Pre-Independence Trinidad Carapichaima, Trinidad: HEM Printers Ltd. Schechner, W (2002) Performance Studies: An Introduction. New York: Routledge. Terras, V. (1991) A History of Russian Literature. New Haven: Yale University Press. Turner, V. (1995) The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-structure. Chicago: Aldine Transaction, reprint. Waddell, H.M. (1977) Twenty-nine Years in the West Indies and Central Africa: A Review of Missionary Work and Adventure 1829-1858. London: Routledge, second revised edition. Williams, N. (1970) A History of the Cayman Islands. Grand Cayman: Cayman Islands Government. Newspapers, Websites, and Government Publications Anon (2001). Batabano 2001 promotes bigger carnival and…MORE REVELRY. In.Cayman Net News, 20 March. George Town: Cayman Net Ltd. Anon (2004). Organizers confident costume parades will be best in history. In. Cayman Net News, 3 May. Georg Town: Cayman Net Ltd. Anon (2008). Entrepreneurship promoted in Batabano cultural event. In. Cayman Net News, 16 May. George Town: Cayman Net Ltd. Anon (2009). Batabano soon come. In. The Caymanian Compass, 16 April. At. http://www.caycompass.com/cgi-bin/CFPnews.cgi?ID=10381675 (accessed 29 April 2009). Cayman Carnival Batabano (2011) About Batabano. At. http://www. caymancarnival.com/index.php/aboutbatabano (accessed 18 July 2012). Cayman Net News (2008) Cayman Carnival Celebrates 25 Years (special edition), issue 1628, 26 April-3 May. George Town: Cayman Net Ltd. Collins, S. (1997) Batabano – Carnival or Parade? In. The Caymanian Compass, 18 June. George Town: Cayman Free Press. Myrie-Stephens, D. (2003) Letter to the editor: Misunderstood Batabano promotes unity. In. Cayman Net News, 19 May. George Town: Cayman Net Ltd.

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Editor (2007) Today’s Editorial May 16: Heaps of Praise for Batabano. In. The Caymanian Compass, 16 May. At. http://www.caycompass.com/cgi- bin/CFPnews.cgi?ID=1022192 (accessed 12 December, 2008). Fergus, H.A. (2004) The Cayman Islands: Britain’s Maverick Caribbean Colony. In: Abstracts, vol.29, no.3 at http://www.cavehill.uwi.edu/salises/jecs/docu ments/Abstracts2004.pdf (accessed 5 February, 2007). Flatley, N. (2008) Letter: Batabano and Caymanian culture. In. Cayman Net News, 18 June. George Town: Cayman Net Ltd. Hall-Jones, S. (2006) Commentary: And another thing! In. The Caymanian Compass, 1 May. George Town: Cayman Net Ltd. Markoff, A. (2006) National festivals debated. In. The Caymanian Compass, 10 June. At. http://www.caycompass.com/cgi-bin/CFPnews. cgi?ID=1031321 (accessed 29 April, 2009). McLean, B. (2008) Letter: Batabano and local entertainers. In. Cayman Net News, 14 May. George Town: Cayman Net Ltd. Rotary Club of Grand Cayman (1989-1993) Annual Batabano Carnival. George Town: Cayman Islands Government, 1984 –. Annually. Seales, D. (2004) Editorial: Reinventing Batabano. In. Cayman Net News, 22 April. George Town: Cayman Net Ltd. Unpublished PhD thesis Williams, C.A. (2010) Caymanianness, History, Culture, Tradition, and Globalisation: Assessing the Dynamic Interplay Between Modern and Traditional[ist] Thought in the Cayman Islands. Unpublished PhD thesis. Coventry: University of Warwick. Government Websites The Economic and Statistics Office of the Cayman Islands (ESO), at www.eso.ky#1, 2015; February 3, 2015. Interviews Williams, C.A. (2012) ‘Interview with a Cuban government official.’ Havana, Cuba.

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Notes 1. See footnote 21; see also Victor Turner, The Anthropology of Performance (New

York: Performing Arts Journal Publications, 1988). 2. Turner, The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure (Piscataway: Aldine Transaction, 1983), 327-359. 3. Sir James G. Frazer, The Golden Bough: A Study of Magic and Religion (New York: Penguin Books, 1922), 630. 4. Richard Schechner, The Future of Ritual: Writings on Culture and Performance (London: Routledge, 1988); see also Schechner, Carnival (theory) after Bakhtin, in Carnival: Culture in Action-The Trinidad Experience (New York: Routledge, 2004), 3-12. 5. Rotary Club of Grand Cayman, Annual Batabano Carnival (George Town: Cayman Islands Government, 1984), 2. 6. Cayman Carnival Batabano, About Batabano. Available at http://www.caymancarnival.com/index.php/aboutbatabano, 2011 (accessed 18 July 2012). 7. Brent McLean, ‘Letter: Batabano and local entertainers’. In. Cayman Net News, 14 May, 2008. George Town: Cayman Net Ltd. 8. Nyda, Flatley, Letter: Batabano and Caymanian culture. In. Cayman Net News, 18 June, 2008. George Town: Cayman Net Ltd. 9. Ibid. 10. Alan Markoff, National festivals debated. In. The Caymanian Compass, 10 June, 2006. Available at http://www.caycompass.com/cgi-bin/CFPnews. cgi?ID=1031321 (accessed 29 April, 2009). 11. Ibid. 12. Ibid. 13. Eric Hobsbawm, ‘Introduction: Inventing Traditions’, in The Invention of Tradition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983), 4. 14. For an accessible understanding of theoretical functionalism, see especially J.J.C. Smart, ‘Sensations and Brain Processes’, The Philosophical Review, vol.6, no.8, pp.141-156; Available at http://www.thatmarcusfamily.org/philosophy/ Course_Websites/Contemporary/Readings/Smart.pdf 15. Faith in Nation: Exclusionary Origins of Nationalism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003), 8. 16. ‘Globalizing Rights?’ in Globalizing Rights: The Oxford Amnesty Lectures 1999

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TEACHING CAYMAN LITERATURE IN THE CAYMAN CLASSROOM STEPHANIE FULLERTON-COOPER*

Abstract In 2010-2011, the teaching of literature in the Cayman Islands’ classrooms included writings by Caymanians to a very limited extent. This paper explores this fact, looking very closely at what existed approximately five years ago, undertaking analyses and putting forward explanations for this reality. It examines a people’s knowledge of their writings as relevant, as literature reflects people to themselves and helps with the creation and celebration of a national identity. Literature also reflects and preserves a people’s history and simultaneously maps their future. What then are the reasons for the absence of Cayman writings in the Cayman classroom? What is lost as a result of this absence? Are there any benefits to not teaching Cayman literature? What are the possible repercussions of an exclusion of local literature from the Cayman classroom? Through interviewing tertiary level students and a professor, this paper, which is part one of a two-part paper, attempts to answer these and other questions. It eventually concludes that students’ non-exposure to Cayman literature points to external as well as internal obstructions. The paper makes recommendations about the way forward for students as well as educators. Part two of the paper will take another look at the same situation, approximately five years later.

Email: scooper@ucci.edu.ky

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INTRODUCTION In all cultures, storytellers are acknowledged as voices of significance and reference on many intellectual, social, and cultural issues related to their communities. Trinidadian Author Merle Hodge (2007) believes that writers are image-makers who can effectively agitate for change. Barbados’ George Lamming (2007) posits that the West Indians now have a better perspective on the Caribbean through the literature it has produced, as they now have a synoptic view of a whole civilization. Jamaica’s Erna Brodber (2007) believes in the creation of intellectual space, to encourage and facilitate new lines of inquiry by the community, whereby ordinary citizens can study the stories and memories of forefathers, as reflected in the creative writings that are produced by local authors. A people’s writings, therefore, are an important means of documenting and preserving a nation’s history and culture. It allows them to see who they are; to create an identity of a self they can be proud of; to share their culture with others beyond the boundaries of their shores. If the literature from any country has such a profound effect on its people, one important role of the education system in that country is to shape the image and self-concept of its people through the inclusion of local writings or literature in its curriculum. Upon probing the more prominent bookstores within Grand Cayman five years ago, it was revealed that there are quite a number of creative writings—fiction and non-fiction—that are produced by Caymanians, about the Cayman Islands’ many and varied realities. A further probe revealed, however, that very few who people Grand Cayman, whether expatriates or Caymanians themselves, are aware of the writings produced here. As such, they miss out on the privilege of seeing the Cayman Islands through the literature it produces. Five years ago, reflection on these matters brought about an interest in examining the education system within the Cayman Islands and the inclusion of local creative expressions in the Cayman classroom. This paper is a perusal of education in Grand Cayman. Has there been a deliberate effort by schools to establish an intellectual space where the Cayman folk, as displayed in the literature, can be seen? To what extent have Cayman classrooms included Cayman writings in their curriculum, especially in their English and Literature courses? How exposed to Cayman literature are the students? If it is found that Cayman literature is taught, to what extent is it explored? What is the response of students to it? How do teachers incorporate local literature into daily class discussions, and what obstacles to inclusion might teachers experience?

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Purpose Of The Study This paper is part one of a two-part paper that attempts to answer these and other questions about the teaching of Cayman literature within the context of the Cayman classroom, as seen five years ago. Part two (which will follow in the next issue of JUCCI) will bring the issue forward to the present-day situation, and will look at, among other issues, whether changes have taken place, what factors influenced change, students and lecturers’ responses, and what this means for the growth and development of the Cayman Islands. Working on the premise that art imitates reality, this study of Cayman creative expressions in the local classroom, hopes to explore adequately the possible benefits to a society that examines itself through the lens of its writings. It will explore the classroom settings of Canadian and American schools, to see whether much time has been devoted to the study of their literature, and the possible benefits of such devotion. In a quest for answers, this paper will divide the research in the following ways: Limitations of the Study; Literature Review; The Cayman situation (as reflected through interviews of students and a professor of English); the Findings; Analysis of these Findings; and Recommendations. Limitations Of The Study As with all research, this study had certain limitations. To conduct any study of the Cayman reality is to be limited by a number of social realities. A small country, the Cayman Islands has but a few tertiary institutions. The sample population for this research was therefore limited to students and a professor of Literature at Cayman’s premier tertiary institution. Because the focus is on Cayman creative writings, research was focused on its inclusion in the teaching of courses in Literature. Feedback from those interviewed suggests, however, that had the research also included other disciplines—like History or Education Studies—the results might have been different, as tertiary-level enrollment records show that few Cayman students are involved in the study of Literature. There was no control over gender. The only accessible professor of Literature (tertiary level) at the time of research is female. Only one male student who had explored this discipline was part of the interviews. There is a lack of existing material on this subject in the Cayman Islands, as there is no known writing on the inclusion of Cayman writings in local classrooms. Conclusively, no secondary criticism could be included in this paper. Although the research was initially meant to include all the tertiary institutions in Grand Cayman, this was not feasible as Literature is not taught at all of the tertiary Teaching Cayman Literature in the Cayman Classroom

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institutions. Only one other tertiary institution in Grand Cayman offered a course in Caribbean Literature, but— according to the Dean of Studies— it was not one of the subject areas that many students apply for, so was is not always offered. The professor of Literature at that college, then, is not fixed, but is employed on a part-time basis from semester to semester, depending on the number of students that enroll in the Literature course. This instability means inaccessibility. Literature Review The literature taught in Canadian and American universities was looked at to examine what happens in tertiary Literature classes in other countries. These countries were chosen as, although the Cayman Islands is a British territory, they, more so than Britain, have a profound impact on the culture of the Cayman Islands. Canadian Literature—though an international phenomenon that is used as a vehicle for international relations (Fuller, Bingham, 2000), and one that has achieved critical mass—is still viewed in Canada as essential for inclusion in the Canadian classrooms, at every level of the education system. Fuller and Bingham (2000) in their interrogation of how Canadian literature is delivered in the classroom posit that “a literature is lasting evidence of a nation’s growth and sense of destiny”. They establish that a society and its people can be accessed through its writings. It is the literature that traces a nation’s growth and reflects a national identity. Fuller and Bingham, in echoing these sentiments, explore not just how Canadian students have benefited from an inclusion of its literature in its classes, but also how Canada has exported its literature and thereby influenced the outsiders’ view of Canada. The authors did not record any problems associated with the inclusion of Canada’s literature in the classroom. They, instead, emphasise that Canadian literature is taught in a variety of contexts, entering not just Literature classes, but also other disciplines like History and Geography. Students have responded positively to such an inclusion. The inclusion of American literature in American classrooms is seen at all levels of the education system and spans all the literary genres—prose, fiction, poetry, etc. In the high schools, teachers admit that they use American literature to help their adolescent students in their search for self (Sean Griffin, 2001). Another teacher reports that by looking through the glass at fictional characters, students in the American classroom ultimately see a reflection of themselves, and they then identify and challenge their personal ethics (Friday, 2006). An exploration of the courses offered at the Rutgers University in New Jersey shows a vast array of subjects that include the study of writings from America as an integral part of the course content. Some such subjects are History, Women Studies, as well as Study of Environment (AcademicInfo, 1998). 72

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Cayman creative writers, Frank McField, and J.A. Roy Bodden, are said to use their works to confront and bring to the fore what society refuses to face up to in its behaviour (Gibbons 2000). Like Canada’s literature, it is the writings of these two men and other Caymanians like them that transport a positive image of the Cayman Islands beyond its shores. These works challenge the outsiders’ perception of the Cayman Islands, even as they help to forge Cayman’s sense of self (Gibbons 2000). Bodden (2007) admits that his collection of short stories titled Stories My Grandfather Never Told Me, speaks to Cayman’s cultural vibrancy—the exclusivity of its peoples and their strengths, as depicted in his portrayal of village life. Since the writers see such wealth in Cayman creative expressions, the inclusion of such writings in the Cayman classroom is an expectation, as they are seemingly necessary tools for young Caymanians who are on a journey to shape an identity. A look at the Cayman situation will reveal whether this is so. The Cayman Situation The Cayman education system is characterized by two sets of learning institutions: government (public) and private schools. Historically, there has been a proliferation of private educational establishments in these islands, as a shortage of funds to create government schools meant that it was not until the early 1900s that an effective public board of education was established (Craton, 2003). A study of the education system within these islands demands that this public/private school dichotomy be established in this paper, as the teaching and learning process can be determined by which of these types of schools one attends. In an effort to give an overview of the inclusion or exclusion of Cayman creative expressions in the Cayman classroom and to paint a background against which the tertiary level reality can be projected, the researcher interviewed past public school students (government institution) and also students from private schools. Students’ reference to the private school by its association with a church is understandable as “the church, the pioneer in education provision in the Cayman Islands, has continued to play a major role in this area” (Assessment 2000). Several students were interviewed. Four of them, all females, had left government high school and were tertiary level students for approximately one month. Another was a female student who had graduated public high school some four years prior and had been a tertiary-level student for more than two years. They were questioned about their exposure to Cayman literature in the classroom in the high school in the first instance, and the possibilities for such studies at the tertiary level. See Appendix A for the questions asked. Female students from private schools were asked the same Teaching Cayman Literature in the Cayman Classroom

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questions. The researcher also interviewed a male student who is not Caymanian, but who is studying at a tertiary institution in the Cayman Islands. He was questioned about his studies and whether he had been exposed to the literature that is produced in the Cayman Islands, and if he had been, to what extent. An interview was also conducted with an English Literature professor at the tertiary level. Credited with ten years of teaching English courses at the tertiary level, this particular professor was an ideal candidate for inclusion in the research. See Appendix B for the questions asked. The Findings The data collected from the interviews of new tertiary-level students from the government (public) high school revealed that although they had actively pursued studies in English Literature up to the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) level, in all of their high school life they had not been exposed to published creative writings from the Cayman Islands. Indeed, they expressed surprise and— to an extent— disbelief, when they learned that there is a body of writings by Caymanians that could be considered worthy of inclusion in the curriculum. Their exposure to ‘Caymanian’ writings was through the innovative efforts of one high school teacher, who had had them write essays on various aspects of Caymanian culture, and who later made these available for students’ reading. The students reported that in high school they had been exposed to African-Caribbean, African-American, British and Elizabethan literature. They admitted to having enjoyed African-Caribbean literature especially, as they could relate to it. They did not feel necessarily that no exposure to Cayman writings meant there was a gap in their education. They thought, however, that, as in the case of African-Caribbean writings, they would have enjoyed it, because they would likely have been able to relate to its thematic concerns. One student expressed an interest in reading Cayman literature in the future, primarily to determine whether it is of an acceptable standard and would ‘measure up’ to other kinds of literature to which she had been exposed. The students from the private school were completely unaware of the body of writings by Cayman authors that are available locally. Even when asked about nonfiction, especially books devoted to Cayman’s history, they remained oblivious, but explained that they had not been exposed to Cayman history (either) in their high school classrooms. They did not feel that there were gaps in their education because— they said— if something is missing, but one has never been exposed to it or had no prior knowledge of it, how can one realize that something is indeed absent? They admitted with some regret, however, that should they visit Europe, for example, 74

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and were asked to comment on Cayman literature, theatre, or even its music, they would not be able to adequately do so. The students admitted to not having been exposed to Cayman literature so far at the tertiary level either, stating that one was likely to be exposed to it only if one did Caribbean Literature. None of them had plans to pursue studies in this area at the college level, as it was not compulsory for their course of study. Data collected from the past public high school student who had been studying at the tertiary level for more than two years revealed that her exposure to stories from the Cayman Islands was not through the printed word. Her knowledge of Cayman stories was via the stories her father told her as a child, of thatch, rope making, and others. This oral tradition and her glimpse of Cayman of old helped to frame her identity. She believes the same could happen to Caymanian children today if these stories were preserved in writing. Although aware of Cayman stories, she had no exposure to Cayman writings in a formal classroom setting at either the high school or tertiary levels. She admitted to having done a Creative Writing course at the tertiary level, but there had been no inclusion of Cayman writings for that particular semester. Data collected from a male student who is a not Caymanian but who is studying at the tertiary level revealed that he too had pursued studies in the Creative Writing course in a different semester and had been exposed to Boddenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s (2007) collection of short stories. This student expressed a fascination with the Cayman Islands but admitted that what he knows about Cayman culture was not gained through the writings produced here. He felt that his exposure to Cayman writings, though interesting and quality writing, was merely introductory. He barely scratched the surface of the Creative Writing course, reading a part of but one story out of a book that is a collection of stories. Although included in the Creative Writing course, he found the book very historical in content, as the story he was introduced to charted the establishment of the Bodden Town community. His personal belief is that he saw a glimpse of Cayman within the pages of the book, but that he had not been sufficiently exposed to it for a full picture to be developed. Data collected from the professor of English at the tertiary level indicated that Stories My Grandfather Never Told Me (Bodden 2007) was used in the Fall 2010 Caribbean Literature course. This text, as well as Boddenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s other non-fiction writings, have also been included in previous Advanced Writing courses, where they had been critically assessed for stylistic and thematic concerns. The professor said that, in addition, there had been extensive use of various articles from Cayman newspapers that addressed Cayman Islands issues. These, however, had been used for courses that catered to a more mature or adult student body. These were effectively used as a Teaching Cayman Literature in the Cayman Classroom

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springboard for students to develop and write their individual responses. Familiarisation with particular topical issues best encourages this, the professor believed, hence the inclusion of Cayman writings, which students usually enjoyed. The professor posited that the creation of teaching material is integral at the tertiary level, and so there is always an attempt on her part to include Cayman writings in English courses. She believes this effort should be made by teachers of other disciplines as well, as so few Cayman tertiary students do Literature courses. The actual writing that she included in English classes would likely change from semester to semester, but this was done for more up-to-date inclusions, especially in courses with a focus on composition. Although the writings were likely to change each semester, one writing that had remained a constant in the Caribbean Literature course is Time Longer Dan Rope (McField, 2000). The professor asserted that students usually have a strong response to this writing. Even as Cayman’s students responded favourably to local writings, the professor found a favourable response to other kinds of literature as well, primarily African-American literature. Analysis Of Findings Cayman’s social realities profoundly impact its education system. Any research on Cayman’s classroom must take into consideration the social conditioning of the students. The Cayman Island’s socio-economic reality pushes students to study in a particular field. The result is that some classrooms at the tertiary level are quickly filled up while others are always seeking ways to attract and keep students. Cayman’s affluence and the establishment of a vibrant banking industry result in most tertiary-level students pursuing studies in the field of Business. Students who pursue English courses do so because it is mandated by the university or college that they attend, or—for a select few—out of genuine interest. This social conditioning is definitive of the Cayman Islands, but not necessarily true of Canada or the USA. Thus, although the preceding Literature review speaks to the detailed study of these countries’ literature in their universities’ classrooms, the same is not possible for the Cayman Islands, as the socio-economic realities are different. One finding, then, is that unlike Canada and the USA, Cayman’s students are not as exposed to indigenous literature at the tertiary level, not so much because an attempt is not made to include it in the classroom, but because they do not enroll in the courses that would most likely bring about such exposure. Another social reality is that, historically, teachers in the Cayman classrooms are largely expatriates. This reality has always been a defining feature of education in the Cayman Islands. The education component of Cayman’s Vision 2008 plan looked 76

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for gaps in the education development plan and admitted that “a weakness seems to be [government’s] inability to attract and retain Caymanian teachers” (Assessment 2000). It means, then, that students are being taught by teachers who might not have full knowledge of Cayman’s range of creative writings for inclusion in the classroom. This might explain why one public school teacher collected the students’ essays on Cayman and made them available to each other for future study. While this does show initiative, it is not far-fetched to conclude that students’ writings will be flawed and not the ideal scripts to be used to project an image of Cayman culture. Undoubtedly, a local teacher would have been better able to direct students to Cayman writings that do exist and thereby ensure that Cayman literature is effectively used within the classroom. Again, this notion of the expatriate teacher is not a definitive feature of Canada or America’s education system, to the extent that it is Cayman’s. It is understandable, therefore, that teachers in Canadian and American universities would have a sound knowledge of and would be in a position to include their countries’ writings in their classrooms. Past public school students explained that although they had been studying literature throughout high school, they had not been exposed to Cayman writings. One reason for this is clear. High school curricula are directed by the demands of the external examiner. Since the focus is to prepare them to sit and pass CXC (a Caribbean examination), GCSE (Welch board), IGSE (Cambridge) and many other external examinations (CI Annual Report, 2003), it is only prudent that the focus is on the external syllabus. It is true that though Caribbean Literature is a feature of these examinations, certainly for CXC, these exams do not include Cayman literature on their syllabi, and so no great emphasis is likely to be placed on it. Canadian and American classrooms are not necessarily subject to external (i.e. outside of the country) examination boards that dictate what they should study. Their examinations are determined from within their country, and it is logical therefore that the focus will be on their writings. In the case of Cayman’s private schools, the American or British education system— which clearly prepares students to sit exams that are set outside of their country—are often used. Hence, it is the literature as dictated by these countries and examination bodies that must be incorporated into the classroom. While tertiary institutions are accredited by a number of educational organizations the world over, they have far more liberty in determining what is taught. It is understandable, then, that the tertiary-level professor can determine that Cayman writings be included in a particular course. She can select the material for the course based on her concept of what will best suit her students’ needs. It is interesting to note Teaching Cayman Literature in the Cayman Classroom

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that the data collected indicates an inclusion of newspaper articles that are written by Caymanians, or those who people the country, and or addresses Cayman Islands’ issues. Newspaper writings can indeed be deemed creative expressions. This is an interesting way to interrogate the day-to-day issues that help create a national identity, and so the inclusion of such writings in English courses is applauded. Careful note of the students’—especially the adult students’—enthusiastic response to such inclusions must be taken. This might be because these adult students are able to see themselves in and through these readings. It is commendable, too, that the lecturer is cognizant of various classroom needs, demonstrating an in-depth knowledge of Kohlberg’s theories of moral development. Lessons can then be planned in such a way as to cater to the stage of cognitive and social development of her more mature, adult students who are an integral grouping of any tertiary institution. As with most small developing or developed countries, the Cayman residents have a fascination with the ‘outside’, if for no other reason than to escape the tedium of island life. The growth of technology means they can now experience ‘outside’ from the comforts of their living room. This preoccupation with the ‘outside’ can also be catered to through literature. It is, therefore, understandable that the professor—as well as past public high school students— commented on the fact that classroom exposure to African-American and Afro-Caribbean literature is thoroughly enjoyed. An enthusiastic response to these courses might dictate that the professor concentrates on writings from these areas rather than on local writings. This will be necessary if the tertiary institution wants to keep courses that are not in the traditional area of study (Business) included in the curriculum. The classroom then serves the dual purpose of meeting necessary teaching and learning needs, but also of bringing the ‘outside’ to a small island or vice versa. However, if the outside is the ideal, but Cayman literature is a look at itself, then understandably, Cayman’s students will have no interest in local literature. This reinforces the fact that there are several obstacles to the inclusion of Cayman creative writings within the context of the classroom. A good teacher should be interested in looking at any subject from different perspectives. Ironically, another point of view on this preoccupation with the other is expressed by the public school student who had been studying at the tertiary level for more than two years. She believes that an inclusion of Cayman literature in the classroom could eliminate the fascination with the other. She believes that if Cayman’s youth were exposed to literature that preserved their past and gave them a sense of self, then the dilution of the Cayman culture in today’s decidedly multi-cultural and diverse society would be alleviated. She had a genuine concern for the loss of Cayman culture and its replacement with a decidedly American culture. This, she and 78

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others have blamed on technology and, especially, on television, but it is possible that Cayman’s youth are also framing an identity based on the literature to which they are exposed. Equally ironic is that it is the outsider in the form of the tertiary-level male student who is not Caymanian, who expressed a fascination with the Cayman culture he had been exposed to through an admittedly limited exposure to Cayman writings. This reinforces the notion that one is always captivated by the ‘other’, as it is seen that the outsider finds the locals’ writings fascinating, while the locals are captivated by the ‘other’. It is a nation’s ongoing dialogues—as reflected through the discourse of writings—that will provide food for mature thought, introspection, and growth in selfesteem. Any teaching professional must take this into consideration and find new and innovative ways to include local literature in the syllabus. After all, one characteristic of the teaching profession is the relationship between practitioner and client. If the benefits to the student client are clear, then the professional teacher must ensure incorporation of local literature in the classroom. Conclusion The stated primary focus of this study was to explore the teaching of Cayman literature within the context of the Cayman classroom. The purpose was to consider the benefits of this teaching and to discover the possible repercussions of an exclusion of local literature from the Cayman classroom. Based on the findings, it can be concluded that Cayman literature is being taught in the Cayman classroom at the tertiary level. However, students are exposed to it at only this level, and not at the secondary level. This is of concern because it is only a slight percentage of Caymanians who receive tertiary-level education in a Cayman classroom. While socio-economic factors that are unique to teachers or teaching in the Cayman Islands are a consideration, the reasons for non-exposure also point to external as well as internal barriers. Internally, Caymanians are entering tertiary classrooms to do largely business-related studies as a means to an end. Externally, the need to meet external examinations’ standards that do not cater to an inclusion of Cayman literature in the syllabus is a significant influence. The repercussions are many, as it means gaps in the education of Cayman’s students. It also means that Caymanians are struggling with an authentic Cayman identity, as exposure to a predominantly American culture, through literature and other media, means a diluted sense of what is indigenous to Cayman.

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Recommendations Based on the findings the following recommendations are advanced: The Ministry of Education must renew its efforts to attract and retain Caymanian teachersâ&#x20AC;? (Assessment 2000), even if this means training them as well. At the primary, secondary and tertiary levels, all teachers ought to be urged to be reflective practitioners (Capel, Leask, Turner, www.routledge.com). Non-Caymanian teachers must get beyond the expatriate teacher status, get involved in or with the local realities and include them in the classroom. This will be advantageous to teacher and student as every teacher in developing his philosophy of teaching must contemplate personal development as well. Upon reflection, my experience as both teacher and student in Caymanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tertiary classrooms, suggests that students do become very interested when exposed to material to which they can relate. Personal development is also seen in the growth of my knowledge of the culture in which I now reside. Tertiary level teachers of various subjects, especially Business-related ones, must find a way to include Cayman writings in coursework. This is one way in which literacy can be included in various disciplines, even if it is one with a strong leaning towards numeracy. Teachers who use Informal Reading Inventories (IRIs) in their attempts at evaluation across disciplines, can be particularly focused on writings by locals and or which targets local issues. Since tertiary institutions can create courses without necessarily having to consider the dictates of external examination councils, some focus can be put on the creation of a course that focuses primarily on the preservation of the culture through Cayman oral traditions. This can be offered across faculties also, to attract students who are more inclined to Business studies and who do not necessarily enjoy extensive reading. Part two of this paper will appear in the next issue of JUCCI and will look at the same situation, but approximately five years later.

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References Bodden, R. 2007. Stories My Grandfather Never Told Me. Georgetown: Cayman National Cultural Foundation Craton, M. 2003. Founded Upon the Seas: A History of the Cayman Islands and Their People. Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers Dawkins, G. 2007. Teacher Study Groups: Enhancing Professional Development Through Effective Teaching Strategies. Institute of Education Publications Series, EduVision 2 (4): 45 - 70 Friday, S.K. 2006. Short Stories: Finding Ourselves in Fiction. http://yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/2007/1/08.02.06.x.html#g [Retrieved September 22, 2010] Fuller, D., and Billingham S. 2000. Canadian Lit: Fit for Export? http://webebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=7&hid=9&sid=8ffd19 [Retrieved September 18, 2010] Gibbons, R. 2000. Introduction. In Two Plays: Downside Up and Time Longer Dan Rope, F. McField, 11 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 15. Georgetown, Cayman National Cultural Foundation Griffin, S. 2001. The Search For Self: Voices of Adolescence in Literature. http://yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/2007/1/07.01.01.x.html#g [Retrieved September 22, 2010) Madin, M. 1998. American Literature Links. www.academicinfo.net/amlitmeta.html [Retrieved Sept. 23, 2010] McField, F. 2000. Two Plays: Downside Up and Time Longer Dan Rope. Georgetown, Cayman National Cultural Foundation

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Appendix A Interview questions for Public and Private School graduates: - Were you exposed to literature—fiction or non-fiction, written by Caymanians— while in high school? - How extensive is your knowledge of the poems, essays, plays, or novels that have been created in the Cayman Islands (CI)? - Did your high school teacher deliberately attempt to expose you to Cayman writings? - What, in your estimation, were some of the barriers to studying Cayman literature? - What was your reaction to literature you were exposed to and how do you believe your response to the Cayman literature might have compared? - Are you going to study Cayman literature at the tertiary level? - Would you be interested in studying Cayman writings at the university level if given a chance? - (For the student who had been at the tertiary level for more than two years): To what extent have you been exposed to Cayman literature at the college level? Appendix B Interview questions for Professor of English Literature courses at the tertiary level 1. Have you ever taught the literature produced by Caymanians in the Cayman classroom? 2. If yes, what are some of the works you have explored? 3. If yes, what are some advantages to teaching Cayman literature to Cayman’s students? 4. If yes, how have they responded to writings by Caymanians as compared to their response to other writings not by Caymanians? 5. If yes or no, what are some possible explanations for why Cayman’s creative expressions have been left out of local classrooms?

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AFRICANS AND PEDRO ST. JAMES ONEIL HALL PhD Candidate, University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus

Abstract This paper traces the remnants of African heritage within the Cayman Islands and attitudes in the Cayman Islands towards that heritage. It discusses the heritage tour and movie at Pedro St. James, and interrogates the lack of a memorial for the enslaved Africans. It is argued that the African memory still lingers most vividly at Pedro St James.

E-mail: Oneil.hall@hotmail.com

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INTRODUCTION The Cayman Islands, a British Overseas Territory, are comprised of three islands that are located north-west of the island of Jamaica and directly south of Cuba. For over 300 years, the Cayman Islands were attached administratively to the Colony of Jamaica. African slavery is one of the occurrences within the historiography of both the Cayman Islands and Jamaica. In fact, the experience of slavery was common to the entire West Indies. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the African memories within the Cayman Islands. Throughout the world where African slavery existed, the buildings, the people, language and culture resemble to some degree the African influences. With this in mind, the Cayman Islands are no exception, and the African connection there is very profound within these islandsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; historiography. Historian Herbert Klein argued: That the Europeans brought millions of Africans to America against their will is undeniable and the basic fact about the slave trade. Nor were Africans brought to America to better their lives. On the contrary, they lost their lands, their savings, and their freedom when they were forced to cross the Atlantic. Nor did Europeans reward them for creating the enormous wealth that helped to build America and which enriched their owners alone. But the resilient African immigrants were still able, despite everything, to forge their culture and to create a working class that fought to create a viable life for itself in America, even given the most limited of resources with which to create that life. Thus the unintended result of the Atlantic slave trade was to create a viable and vibrant working class Afro-American population, which would slowly emerge as a vital element within almost every major society in the Americas (1999, 182). The People In general, the demographic data on the Cayman Islands records that 20 percent are Blacks, 20 per cent Whites, 20 percent immigrants, and 40 percent mixed race. In fact, approximately 60 percent of Caymanians have African blood that runs through their veins. The African phenotype is very distinct in the mixed-race groups. African phenotypical features include flat noses, woolly hair, thick lips and darker skin pigmentation. However, for the mixed Caymanian group, their phenotypical features include less woolly hair and lighter skin, which is deemed closer to a European phenotypical feature. In accomplishing this project, a sample group of Caymanians were asked to identify their race. From the answers, it was clear many Caymanians were proud of their mixed heritage of African and Europeans roots, more so the whites. In January 2014, while doing academic research in the Cayman Islands, a good

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Caymanian friend shared an experience she had while studying in the United States of America. She noted that because her phenotype could pass as white, several persons called her ‘white girl.’ One day, the school bus driver referred to her as Caucasian. She replied, “I am not Caucasian.” It was clear she was not black, but again she was not white. She was mixed! This is an example of the identity crisis that a world that is split along direct racial lines and miscegenation poses for several persons of mixed heritage. However, for those outside the Caribbean region, the issue of race is even more complex. In fact, the Caribbean is a melting pot; the racial composition within the region is very diverse. While attending Jamaica College, I had a friend who was called the ‘white boy’ by many students. However, years after leaving Jamaica College, he told me about the challenges he faced travelling within North America. He complained about being stopped by immigration officers who thought he was Latino. It was clear that many persons were confused about his race. He does not look White, African, Chinese or Indian, but he could pass to some degree for a member of any of those groups. In fact, he is of African, German and Chinese ancestry. He is very proud of his entire heritage, but more so of the fact he is a Jamaican. Stories like these highlight the complexity of the history and the experiences within the Cayman Islands and the wider Caribbean, which started with the coming of the Europeans, Africans, Chinese, Indians, Syrians and others, and developed a society built mostly on sugar, race and gender stratification. Rex Nettleford (2003, p. 213) rightly notes, “the typical Caribbean person is that he or she is part-African, part-European, part-Asian, part-Native American but totally Caribbean.” Therefore, as a result of our history, our people are mixed with several ‘races.’ Another point to highlight is that for people like my friends, despite their mixture with the African race, their European phenotypical features are more pronounced. Thus, they have lighter skin, straighter noses and straightened hair which are stereotypical of ‘whiteness’ or European phenotype. So, while people are a perfect example of African connection within the New World, there are other works that testify more vividly of African contributions to society. Slave Trade After Christopher Columbus came to the West Indies, the Spanish established a system of slavery within the regions. The indigenous Indians were first used as slaves soon after the Europeans led an outright genocide on most of these indigenous groups. Today, the Kalingoes in Dominica and the Garifuna from St Vincent and Belize testify to the strength of some of these indigenous groups’ survival in the Americas. Africans and Pedro St. James

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From the seventeenth century, African people were brought to complement the labourers and continue to work as slaves, when the indigenous people had been decimated. Many ships left Europe, went to West Africa, collected Africans and brought them to work within the West Indies. Many Africans died on the most horrendous journey in human history. The journey from Africa to the West Indies was called the Middle Passage. After a time, a well- established West Indian economy was built by Africans. This society’s heartbeat of survival was enslavement. Historian James Rawley (1981, p. 12) noted: “Demand for African slaves sprang most of all from the development of a system of plantation agriculture. The severe manual labour of cultivating sugar required hands in numbers that, as it turned out, could be supplied only from Africa.” West Indian scholar and Trinidad and Tobago former Prime Minister, Eric Williams (1970, p. 141) further posited: The triangular trade provided a market in West Africa and the West Indies for metropolitan products, thereby increasing metropolitans’ exports and contributing to full employment at home. The purchase of slaves on the coast of West Africa and their maintenance in the West Indies gave an enormous stimulus to metropolitan industry and agriculture. Coming Of The Africans To Cayman The enslaved Africans that came to the Cayman Islands came directly from the colony of Jamaica. Jamaica was a well-developed colony with several ports at which international ships called. This contrasted with the Cayman Islands, which was very small, under-settled and highly swampy. The English seemed to have no interest in these islands. In the 1730s, the Governor of Jamaica, who was responsible administratively for the Cayman Islands, gave land grants to several persons to settle in Grand Cayman. When these persons were going to the Cayman Islands, they took with them their enslaved Africans. This was the first recorded history of African or people of African descent going to the Cayman Islands. The shipping returns located at the National Archives in London show several enslaved blacks taken from Jamaica to the Cayman Islands from 1796 to 1804. Again, in 1802 Edward Corbert conducted a population survey of the Cayman Islands. In that survey, he recorded a significant enslaved African population numbered 545 souls. Also, when slavery ended, the British government compensated slave owners for their slaves. In the Cayman Islands, Caymanian slave owners were compensated for 985 enslaved Africans. This was out of a general population of approximately 2000 souls living on these islands. Undeniably, Africans or people of African descent inhabited the Cayman Islands from as early as the

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1730s. The table below shows the number of Africans transported from Jamaica to the Cayman Islands. In the shipping return, Africans were numbered with goods and other material possessions. Figure 1: Enslaved Africans Exported to Cayman, 1796-1804 Date

Cleared out of: Port in Jamaica

Vessel / Details Sch. Industry

Caymanas

Judah Phillips

December 9, 1797

Kingston

Sch. Friend

Caymanas

Farquail Brown

December 19, 1797

Kingston

Sch. Betsy

Caymanas

Mark Howard

Sch. Industry

Caymanas

Judah Phillips

Sch. Industry

Caymanas

Judah Phillips

Caymanas

Joseph Barry

Sch. Nelly

Caymanas

Judah Phillips

Sch. Industry

Caymanas

Judah Phillips

July 2, 1796

February 11, 1803 June 3, 1803

Kingston

June 29, 1803

Kingston

December 25, 1803

Kingston

July 2, 1804

Destination

Number of Negroes

Given Name

Sources: CO142/21 Fo.80-82, 99-100154-155; CO142/23 FO.35-36, 65-66. Pedro St. James Figure 2: Pedro St. James Castle Source: The Author, Picture taken January 5, 2014. In the 18th century a wealthy Englishman and resident of Grand Cayman, William Eden, built a wonderful three-storey Great House in Grand Cayman. Today, this Great House is called the Pedro St. James Castle, and it is the oldest building in Grand Cayman. In 1877, Pedro St. James was destroyed by hurricane and was later abandoned. However, in 1991, the Cayman Islands Government purchased the Great house and by 1996 it was restored. Pedro St. James is a national historic site of the Cayman Islands and it is used today as a living heritage museum, restaurant, and the lawns have become a favourite place for Cayman Islandsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Government functions and weddings. In fact, Africans and Pedro St. James

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there is nowhere in the Cayman Islands that the African connection is more reflected than Pedro St. James. Figure 3: Pictures of Pedro St. James Source: Cayman Islands Tourism Department

It was the enslaved Africans that constructed Pedro St. James. The Africans used the stones from the nearby bluff to build this remarkable structure. The structure of the house resembles several structures throughout the Caribbean. For example, King’s House in Jamaica—the current residence of the island’s Governor General— was built from stone on its first floor. Pedro St. James has a story of louvered verandas similar to those of Jamaica’s King’s House. The point cannot be overlooked that it is the labour of the enslaved Africans that makes their presence linger so vividly at Pedro St. James. It was there that their forced labour and skills created the place known today as Cayman’s birthplace of democracy. The Africans’ humanity was stripped to advance a system built on slavery. In a similar manner, the White House and the Capitol Hill buildings in the United 88

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States were built by enslaved Africans. Charles Fletcher (2013, p. 9) argues, “the White House was built between 1812 and 1814 by 400 slaves. The slaves are the true builders of this structure. It was and is the slaves that has true ownership.” He further points out, “the slaves were never given the true accolades as the true builders of the White House (2013, p. 9).” Often, people see these glorious structures that resemble Eurocentric building codes, style and aesthetics, but forget who laboured to build these structures, which have such great history and legacy. The builders are often forgotten. However, at Pedro St. James, the exhibition reminds us of who the builders were. I am not sure if this connects with the hundreds of tourists, but, for me, it connects with the African legacy. In addition, Pedro St James is the only surviving architectural legacy that is reminiscent of the slave society that existed on Grand Cayman during the 18th century. Not only did the enslaved Africans build it, but they were the ones that worked on the plantation. Pedro St. James, through its building, tells us that there once existed cotton and lumber industries within the Cayman Islands. The planting, caring and picking of cotton was done manually by enslaved Africans. They cleaned Pedro St James, cared and cooked for those who lived there. The picture below of a restored kitchen at Pedro St. James, located near the house, brings back memories of the domestic slaves. Figure 4: Restored Kitchen at Pedro St. James. Source: The Author, Picture taken January 5, 2014. Also, on a tour of Pedro St James, one will see several exhibitions of its history. The exhibitions tell much about the African presence and contribution to the history of Pedro St. James. The exhibitions tell us who the enslaved were, how they came to the Cayman Islands, the work they did, and how they were divided. Again, the enslaved African’s legacy lingers heavily within the exhibitions. George W. McDaniel (2013), executive director of Drayton Hall, a historic site in Charleston, South Carolina tells us that: Each year, millions of people visit historical plantation sites throughout the South. Africans and Pedro St. James

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Mount Vernon alone attracts about a million, while Monticello engages about a half million. Magnolia Plantation and Gardens in Charleston brings in about 200, 000, while Middleton Place just up the river attracts 100,000, and Drayton Hall nearby attracts over 50,000. There are much educational potential of such historical sites such as Magnolia Plantation and others. If interpreted well, they can illustrate the trajectory of Southern Americans, both black and white, through centuries of time. They can serve as a remedy for the often overlooked contributions of African Americans and help correct a false picture of historical reality. Similarly, Pedro St. James has a wealth of knowledge of the African connection to the Cayman Islands which have been mostly unnoticed. Figure 5: Exhibitions of Enslaved Africans at Pedro St. James Source: The Author, Picture taken January 5, 2014.

Movie The most memorable time at Pedro St James Castle was the movie that speaks volumes of the Afro-Caymanian connections. The movie recreates the past and connects our spirit with mother Africa. A section of the land was converted into a living heritage museum. Generally, the tour starts with the purchasing of a ticket from the gift shop, which has several Caymanian products, such as traditional Tortuga rum cake, pepper jelly, and Caymanian souvenirs—shirts, key rings, cups, and many other craft items. Next, you proceed to the Pedro Theatre, to watch a multisensory three-dimensional presentation about the history and development of Pedro St James and the Cayman Islands from Columbus’ discovery to the present. 90

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The presentation starts with the sounding of thunder, lights flashing—symbolic of lightening— and you will feel water sprinkling on you. The start of this presentation creates a living experience of the storm that destroyed Pedro St James in 1877. The film starts with the narrator Mary Jane Eden, whose father was one of the owners of Pedro St James. She was struck by lightning during a storm which caused the burning down of Pedro St James. The Narrator stated: “Here in Cayman we measure our lives by storm, wind, rain, lightning, and the wild sea. Here me now, I am going to tell you the story of Pedro St James and Cayman. This story has been handed down by the old people. Before I can tell you the story of Pedro St James, I have to tell you the story about Cayman. Some of them came free and some of them came as slaves. The sea is everything to us, it brings us misery in the storm; it brings us salvation in fish and turtle to catch; and it brings us people who never thought to come to Cayman.” Throughout the movie, images of slavery were shown that connect the Cayman Islands with Africa. Firstly, in highlighting the history of the Cayman Islands, the narrator stated: “We traded with Jamaica, Honduras, all types of things like mahogany, turtles and slaves.” As mentioned above, the slave trade between Jamaica and the Cayman Islands was very important. This was how the Africans came to the Cayman Islands. They came through the ports of Jamaica as enslaved Africans. Again, in the movie, the narrator further connects the people of the Cayman Islands with Africa when she states, “slave’s blood runs through my father’s veins and it runs through me too, but so do the master’s.” Highlighting the miscegenation between the European masters and the enslaved Africans helps to connect the people of the Cayman Islands to both continents. The weakness of the movie was that it never once mentions the word Africa or Africans, but Africans are generally represented to be slaves. In fact, they were not born slaves, but they were enslaved Africans. The jargon of the film is still very much rooted in the Eurocentric notion of Africa as purely slaves, and not being enslaved. Another point of contention with how the historiography was represented in the film was when the narrator stated, “slaves did slave wuk [work].” During slavery, the society was very stratified, and enslaved Africans had designated work; the notion of slave ‘wuk’ helps to prejudice certain jobs within modern society. Is it that those who work on modern estates, picking cotton, cooking food, cutting mahogany, and building houses are considered to be doing slave ‘wuk’? Is it the work that is slave ‘wuk’, or the condition that the people worked under, that makes it slavery? In fact, no work is slave work. It is the conditions that make it slavery. If it is forced labour Africans and Pedro St. James

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with no pay and it takes away the dignity of the person, then it is slavery. In fact, the idea of some work being slave work contributes to the agricultural decline in the West Indies. On a research trip to Jamaica, an unemployed young man was offered a job in a sugar canefield. The young man noted, “Mi nah do dat wuk. It is slave wuk.” [I am not doing that work. It is slave work.] The Caribbean once boasted huge sugar productivity but in modern times, there has been a steady decline. Shockingly, some Caribbean islands are now importing sugar from outside the region. In fact, over the years, agricultural schools have seen a decline in enrollment. For the academic year 2012-2013, there was no reported Jamaican graduate in the field of agriculture at the University of the West Indies. The memory of slavery is directly attached to agriculture. Thus, it continues to perpetuate the region’s dependency for food on the most developed countries. It seems like we have exchanged physical slavery to economic slavery on North American food and produce. Also, throughout the movie, enslaved domestics were frequently seen. During, the scene, William Eden’s (the owner of Pedro St James) first wife was giving birth, and with her was an enslaved African assisting her as the midwife. After his first wife died during childbirth, his second wife Elizabeth Clarke was sitting around a table with another domestic enslaved sewing. Another scene later showed an enslaved woman baking bread for the family. These scenes show that enslaved Africans played an essential role in the running of Pedro St James. They cooked, washed, delivered babies, and cleaned the house. They were taken from Africa to assist in the running of huge plantation houses in the West Indies. Another scene that highlighted Afro-Caymanian heritage was with James Shearer Jackson, who killed Joseph Tatum over a hog. Jackson was confined to the jail cell at Pedro St. James. The movie showed a slave woman preparing Jackson’s meal. However, Caymanian historiography has it that Jackson impregnated the enslaved woman, who gave birth to a mulatto child. The reference to these stories in the film seeks to explain the reason for the mixed population in the Cayman Islands. Undeniably, there were sexual relations between the enslaved and the masters. The movie indeed connects Cayman with Africa in the form of the enslaved. It helps to relive the moment. Though it did not show the difficulties enslaved Africans endured within the Cayman Islands, it helps to reinforce that Africans were enslaved there, and that African blood runs through Caymanian veins. Pedro St. James connects the people of African descent with their liberation. It was on the steps of Pedro St. James, that the emancipation proclamation was read in 1835. The proclamation brought an end to slavery within the Cayman Islands. No 92

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longer would the blacks be considered property of the whites. In the same way, at the Kings House in Spanish Town, Jamaica, the emancipation proclamation was read, which freed enslaved Africans in that island. However, today, there is no national event at both sites of the emancipation proclamation that commemorates the events of the liberation of enslaved Africans in these islands. Jamaica celebrates Emancipation Day on August 1st each year, but for Cayman, there is no holiday that commemorates the freeing of the Africans from the system of slavery. Not only should there be a holiday like those in most West Indian territories, but there should be a national event at both Pedro St James and Emancipation Square in Spanish Town, Jamaica, to commemorate the exact timing of the liberation of Africans. Figure 6: Car Park (Former Enslaved Burial Ground) at Pedro St. James Source: The Author, Picture taken January 5, 2014.

Burial Ground During a tour of Pedro St. James, Mr. Hurlston told a story his mother Caroline Hurlston told him about a former ex-slaved, Dan-Dan. According to his mother, the story was passed down to her that Dan- Dan was a great cook. Mr. Hurlston and I went to the spot where Dan- Dan was buried and he reported that where the current car park is located on Pedro St James was where the enslaved Africans were buried. Caroline Hurlston was born in 1910 and, in an interview on 16 March, 1992, she recollected: I remember even my father telling me, he says, “You know, it’s a lot of chains that is buried with, they say, when they was working and all like that, you know, prisoners, even I think up to recent years, there used to be chains on prisoners. Dad used to tell me about it …. I remember plain of Grandfather Joseph, which was my father’s father, as I repeated already, said to me one day, he said, I remember plain, one old slaves that used to cook, this was a woman, he said her name was Grandma Dan-Dan. As you go in on the left hand side after you pass the old castle. You know Africans and Pedro St. James

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the graveyard is on the left hand side when you going towards the bluff. Different people he says as far as I get it from Papa, that is the old man William Eden he was talking about then. This was my Grandfather Joseph was talking to me. He said they [slaves] was buried here, there and everywhere on the right hand side and on the left hand side, no grave was kept up and he said, “You know”, he says “someone said to me, “he didn’t say the person’s name, he just said ‘someone.’ He said, “It’s a pity that Grandma Dan-Dan grave wasn’t kept up. She was such a wonderful old lady.” Throughout the Cayman Islands, there are several monuments and memorials of various types to several persons and events. However, there is no plaque by the Government of the Cayman Islands to highlight that former enslaved Africans were buried there. This is shocking, as the Cayman Islands is known for its well-kept cemeteries. Since the 19th century, several visitors to the island remarked on the well-kept burial sites. For example, Rev. Masterton, a minister who was shipwrecked in Cayman highlighted this unique feature of the Cayman Islands. In fact, there is nowhere in the Caribbean where the graves are looked after in such a caring way as in the Cayman Islands. The question must be asked: what accounts for the lack of preservation of the slave burial ground in the Cayman Islands? Why was it not preserved as the others? What led to its decay? These are questions that need to be answered, but lack of documentary evidence will only allow us to only speculate the past. As Carrie Hurlston recollected her grandfather’s lament: “It’s a pity that Grandma DanDan grave wasn’t kept up.” Conclusion There is nowhere in the Cayman Islands where the African memory is more memorialized than at Pedro St James. It was the enslaved Africans who built it, worked on its plantation and cared for it for many years. The preservation of Pedro St James, the oldest building in the Cayman Islands, the birthplace of Cayman’s democracy, is the preservation of African heritage. It was there that the story of the African people is told every day in its many tours, exhibitions, building and movie. In fact, it was at Pedro St James that the Emancipation Proclamation was read that freed the descendants of Africans who were enslaved for years. “It’s a pity that Grandma Dan-Dan grave wasn’t kept up.” Indeed it is a pity! But the African memory still lingers most vividly within the walls of Pedro St James.

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References Dacosta, P. (2003). The History of Pedro St. James “Castle” Cayman’s First Historic Site. George Town: Author. Ferguson, J. (1999). A Traveller’s History of the Caribbean. New York: Interlink. Fletcher, C. (2013). Black House/White House. Indiana: Xilibris. Klein, H. (1999). The Atlantic Slave Trade. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. Nettleford, R. (2003). Caribbean cultural identity: the case of Jamaica : an essay in cultural dynamics. Kingston: Ian Randle Publisher. McDaniel G. (2013). Through a Different Lens: Paradox and the Interpretation of Slavery at Southern Historical Plantation Sites. Retrieved from http://www. draytonhall.org/african-american-history/through-a-different-lens-paradox and-the-interpretation-of-slavery-at-southern-historical-plantation-sites/ Murray, R. “Manumized, Enfranchised and Forever Set Free” The Story of Eliza beth Jane Trusty, A Black Woman of Grand Cayman Rawley, J. (1981). The Transatlantic Slave Trade: A History. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. Williams, E. (1970). From Columbus to Castro: The History of the West Indies, 1492-1969. London: Vintage Books.

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“MANUMISED, ENFRANCHISED AND FOREVER SET FREE”: THE STORY OF ELIZABETH JANE TRUSTY, A BLACK WOMAN OF THE ISLAND OF GRAND CAYMAN. ROY MURRAY Solway Community School Abstract On March 20th, 1809, on the island of Grand Cayman, a slave owner by the name of Elizabeth Mary Thomson “for and in consideration of the sum of five pounds current money of Jamaica” agreed to manumise, enfranchise and for ever set free a slave named Elizabeth Jane Trusty. According to the deed of manumission, Trusty was a “Black Woman of the island” who paid the fee “in hand” to her owner. On the face of it, such a transaction might seem unremarkable given that Trusty was but one of an increasing number of Caymanian slaves who bought or were granted their freedom in those islands during the closing decades of formal slavery in the British Caribbean. However, what is notable about this negotiation is that it is one of six transactions in the Public Recorder’s Records of the Cayman Islands naming Elizabeth Jane Trusty, a collection of documents that may form the most complete record we have of the life of a former slave in those islands. While the whole story of Elizabeth Jane Trusty cannot be gleaned from the relatively few references made to her in the records, they do nonetheless shed some light on her experiences as both a slave and a free woman of colour on an island in which a slave society had evolved since the first years of permanent settlement in the 18th century.

Email: roy.murray@solway.cumbria.sch.uk

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At the time she first appears in the records, Elizabeth Jane Trusty belonged to Elizabeth Mary Thomson, the wife of Thomas Thomson of Prospect and one of the largest slaveholders on Grand Cayman at the turn of the 19th century. In 1802, Thomson owned 56 slaves most of whom worked on his cotton plantation, one of about a dozen such enterprises situated in the southern centre of the island and averaging about a hundred acres each.1 Thomson was originally a native of Penicuik near Edinburgh in Scotland who had arrived on Grand Cayman sometime after 1760 and settled at Prospect.2 He married Elizabeth Mary Bodden who bore him eight children, two sons and six daughters to whom Thomson bequeathed his estate and remaining slaves when he made his will on May 9th, 1811.3 By that time, Elizabeth Jane Trusty had been set free and the fact that her manumission was granted by Elizabeth Mary Thomson and not by her husband suggests that Trusty belonged outright to her mistress. This pattern of ownership was significant as we examine Elizabeth Jane Trustyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s likely role in her own manumission and the impact of the changes that her freedom had on her family. Indeed, by the time she drew up her own will in 1835, Trusty had managed to construct a life for herself and for her family within the narrow confines permitted to women of colour on an island regarded as one of the most economically marginal of colonies in the British Caribbean.4 That she managed to do so at all is testament to her character and a reflection of the important role women played in helping to define the social system of slavery as it developed on Grand Cayman. At the time of her manumission in 1809, Elizabeth Jane Trusty was likely to have been a domestic slave in the Thomson household. It is not known when or from whom she was purchased or if she was bequeathed to her mistress as part of the probate settlement of an estate belonging to a relative. As a domestic slave, Elizabeth Jane would have been tasked with providing personal services to her owner from the making of meals and clothes through to cleaning the house, washing, waiting on guests, child minding, running errands, and any other duty that her owner required her to carry out in the main house. Like most cotton plantation slaves in the Cayman Islands, Elizabeth Jane would have lived on her ownerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s land in a simple hut made of wattle, daub and thatch clustered with other slave huts away from the Thomson house. Given that Thomas Thomson was one of the more prominent slave owners on the Island, it is likely that his wife and children lived with him in the main house which was probably a one-storey dwelling framed in local hardwood with wattle and plaster walls and a thatched roof. The windows were shuttered or louvered rather than glassed, and there was probably a veranda in front or perhaps all the way around the The Story of Elizabeth Jane Trusty

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main house.5 Elizabeth Jane may have been one of several domestics working in the plantation house. If she had been a young girl at the time of her arrival on the estate, she would have been “trained up” as a domestic by older and more experienced hands to acquire the necessary habits of obedience, service and attention.6 Generally, one of the advantages of domestic work for a slave on a plantation in the Caribbean was to avoid the physically exacting labour of field work. On the plantation worked by the Thomson slaves in Prospect, the use of Anguilla cotton seed allowed for two seasons a year, typically in January and June. During the planting period on the estate, Thomson organised his slaves loosely into gangs or teams of labourers who moved through the cotton fields in procession. A typical planting gang consisted of five types of hands led by ploughmen and harrowers who ridged and broke up the clods of earth in the cotton piece. These were followed by drillers who dug the cotton holes at prescribed intervals into which droppers planted seeds. Finally, rakers covered up the holes. During the period of cultivation, field hands typically were divided into two groups. Slaves in the hoe gang were first into the cotton piece where they chopped out the weeds and pruned the cotton plants. Slaves in the plough gang followed behind tilling the soil and throwing it back around the base of the cotton plants. At each stage of the planting and cultivation process, either Thomson himself or an overseer if he employed one moved back and forth between the gangs of field slaves inspecting the quality of their work and prodding each to keep pace with the other.7 At harvest time, Thomson typically assigned all of his field hands to picking and cleaning the cotton. While it may not have been as arduous as the year round gang labour required for producing sugar on a plantation in Jamaica, cotton production was always hard work for slaves in the Caymans, especially when a new field was being prepared and had to be cleared of rocks, bushes and trees. As a domestic slave on the Thomson estate, Elizabeth Jane would have hoped to avoid field work, although she was probably turned out into the fields when required. It was not uncommon on relatively small holdings in the West Indies for slaves belonging to an owner like Thomson to doubleup and undertake whatever task was demanded of them.8 Her periodic deployment in the fields notwithstanding, for a woman like Elizabeth Jane, being a domestic slave carried with it opportunities not usually available for field slaves on the Thomson estate. While it is the case that she ran the risk finding herself “the butt of the mistress’s impatience, dissatisfaction, and frequently of her unevenly applied standards”,9 the intimacy of daily domestic life with her owner and children afforded Elizabeth Jane a chance to cultivate an understanding between 98

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herself and Elizabeth Mary Thomson that would prove crucial to her manumission. When finalised by a decree or memorandum such as that “Signed, Sealed and Delivered” by her owner on March 20th, 1809,10 Elizabeth Jane’s manumission meant that in law Elizabeth Mary Thomson had relinquished her property rights over Elizabeth Jane and that her legal status was changed from slave to free person. Effectively, Elizabeth Jane came into possession of herself. However, manumission was more than a legal event. Long before her manumission was formalised, Elizabeth Jane Trusty and Elizabeth Mary Thomson would have agreed to the manumission. It was an agreement that had been negotiated over time and was possible only because Elizabeth Jane had been allowed by, or had earned increasing degrees of freedom from, her owner. Her manumission was thus the consequence of a social relationship which had developed slowly in daily life between Elizabeth Jane and her mistress, a relationship that allowed Elizabeth Jane the potential to achieve a legal and permanent escape from slavery.11 The key to that relationship and to her manumission was her “individualization” as a slave. If she remained anonymous and not a specific individual with certain traits and skills, there would be little—if any—prospect of manumission. She could not afford to be passive and hope that one day freedom might be bestowed by a kind owner if indeed Elizabeth Thomson was such a mistress. On the contrary, Elizabeth Jane had to find ways to bring her mistress to agree to give up control and for that to happen she had to have personal, regular and extended contact with her owner,12 something her position as a domestic slave would have enabled her to do. As we have seen, domestic slaves like Elizabeth Jane were required to perform a host of services which their owners came to expect of their house servants. It was often hard and unrelenting work that involved a great deal of carrying and fetching of heavy items into and around the house. Added to this was the fact that they could not escape the scrutiny of their owners some of whom could be as demanding and exploitative as any driver in the fields.13 At the same time, however, a domestic slave like Elizabeth Jane also had power should she decide to use it. While we do not know how many domestic slaves Elizabeth Thomson had in the estate house at Prospect, even if she was one of several, at the very least, Elizabeth Jane would have helped to make the main house function as a home and as the centre of family life.14 As a domestic slave, she needed to be close at hand to cook, clean and serve and to look after her owner’s children whom she likely spoiled as she nursed and cuddled them, taught them songs, and told them stories. Like domestic slaves across the British Caribbean, Elizabeth Jane would have made a great show of affection and admiration for her mistress whenever Elizabeth Thomson returned to the plantation after an 99

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absence as a way of cementing a relationship with her owner that could yield material benefits; as a domestic, Elizabeth Jane had access to foodstuffs and medicines beyond the reach of other groups of slaves on the estate. She would also have been privy to her owner’s secrets, she would have overheard family squabbles and witnessed arguments between Elizabeth Thomson and her husband and/or her children, and she would have known her mistress’ strengths and weaknesses.15 It would not have been unusual in such a situation for Elizabeth Thomson to become dependent on Elizabeth Jane’s skills, her presence, her personality and even her opinions. With that dependency came some respect and possibly even affection.16 Indeed, Elizabeth Jane might even have been seen as a member of the extended family which shaped life in and around the main house. Of course, as a slave Elizabeth Jane would never have been regarded as an equal member of the Thomson family but none the less she could have been accepted by that family as someone akin to a distant relative.17 All of this would have placed Elizabeth Jane in a distinctive position in which to demonstrate her individuality as a slave and from which to negotiate the possibility of her manumission when, and if, she judged certain other conditions to be favourable. It is possible that Elizabeth Jane made such a calculation in the months preceding her manumission in 1809. By that time, the cotton boom on which the relative wealth of her owner’s husband was based was in terminal decline and, like other Caymanian proprietors, Thomas Thomson was struggling to adjust to the new economic reality. The boom had had its origins in the increased demand for raw cotton by the British textile industry as it underwent rapid mechanization in the 1770s.18 Cotton prices rose and the prospect of increased revenues for planters who could not grow sugar for commercial export in the Caymans were too tempting to resist. The Islands were climatically suited to cotton and although the soils were not particularly rich and the threats posed by the chenille bug not unknown, the colony experienced a short-lived cotton boom between about 1780 and 1810. At their peak levels of production, the dozen or so cotton plantations in and around south central Grand Cayman were producing about 40 tons of cotton annually.19 By 1810, however, these cotton plantations were in decline. Soil depletion, infestations of the chenille bug and increasing competition from large-scale enterprises in the American South that forced down the price of raw cotton together resulted in the collapse of West Indian cotton production. In the Caymans, it became imperative for planters like Thomas Thomson to reorganise their slave labour force and to diversify into more provision farming and stock raising for export to Jamaica and to supply passing ships as they had done before 1780.20 For a slave like Elizabeth Jane Trusty, this economically precarious situation 100

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would have improved her bargaining position. She may have worked out for herself and/or overheard conversations between Thomson and his family about the need to restructure and to rationalise their work force, possibly by hiring-out or by off-loading altogether some of their slaves who had become surplus to requirements.21 If we assume for a moment that Elizabeth Jane Trusty was able to persuade Elizabeth Thomson to manumit her on the basis of her mistress’ dependence upon and affection for her, of Elizabeth Jane’s own loyal service to the family and/or the matter of economic imperative, one potential stumbling block would have remained to Elizabeth Jane; the financial cost of her manumission. Unlike other slave manumissions of the period which often involved a standard fee plus the owner’s potential sale valuation of his/her slave, Elizabeth Thomson agreed to manumit Elizabeth Jane for the standard manumission fee only. Indeed, the memorandum confirming her manumission on March 20th, 1809 specifically states that Elizabeth Jane paid the manumission fee of £5 Jamaican currency herself.22 No third party is mentioned. Fortunate though Elizabeth Jane might have been in terms of the relatively low cost of her manumission, £5 was still a significant sum of money for a free labourer at the time to accrue, never mind for a slave on a Caymanian cotton plantation in decline. The question is—where did she get the money? As has been suggested, work was the central element of a slave’s life whether he or she worked in the fields or in the house (or in a skilled trade). In the eyes of the slave owners, everything else was secondary. However, free time and how best to fill it was also a feature of slave life throughout the British Caribbean. Apart from set-piece slave celebrations such as Christmas, New Year and crop-over, slaves were also granted free time on a daily and weekly basis by prudent owners who recognised that their slaves were more likely to work and be obedient if they were also given time for themselves. How this free time was allocated on an estate depended greatly on the inclination of the plantation owner, the mix of local work and the physical environment, but by the mid-18th century in the West Indies, free time had come to be accepted as a conventional right by both owners and their slaves.23 Like their contemporaries across the British Caribbean, most slaves in the Cayman Islands had time-off work at the end of the working day and usually on one day across the weekend. At the same time, however, owners like Thomson and his wife would have expected their slaves to use their free time to good effect. This often meant working for themselves in and around their huts and especially in the plots and gardens attached to them, or in the estate’s provisions grounds where they grew foodstuffs and raised small livestock to supplement the allowances of flour and herring given to them by their owners.24 For their own consumption and to supply The Story of Elizabeth Jane Trusty

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passing vessels, they raised “Indian Corn, yams, sweet potatoes, plantains, melons, besides Limes, Oranges and most kinds of fruit and vegetables that are to be found in Jamaica.”25 As a domestic slave, Elizabeth Jane likely had access to such grounds and the opportunity to sell or barter any surplus foodstuffs and animals to her owners, to other proprietors in the area, or at local markets. This was especially so on a cotton plantation that was in decline and where her owner may have been concerned to shift more of the burden of slave maintenance generally to these provision grounds.26 Moreover, Elizabeth Jane’s position in the main house gave her access to goods that Elizabeth Thomson and her family no longer required; shoes and clothing, damaged crockery, and small items of food and drink which an enterprising slave like Elizabeth Jane could sell in the local weekly markets at George Town. Slaves living and working in the cotton belt could walk to and from these markets in half a day. Market day was likely to have been a Sunday (the traditional day-off for slaves) as it was in most Caribbean islands. Slaves in the main growing areas on Grand Cayman were accustomed to travelling to their grounds “on the Friday of each week” to bring down “the weekly supply of provisions” to feed themselves and to sell any surplus at market.27 Elizabeth Jane may also have pilfered goods and foodstuffs from the Thomson household to sell on at market or to other slaves on neighbouring estates. Slave owners across the Caribbean complained constantly that slaves were natural thieves, always likely to steal from their white masters and mistresses.28 If she did liberate items from the Thomson house, Elizabeth Jane would have been very careful about doing so as the punishments for slaves caught stealing were usually severe.29 A portion of the £5 manumission fee may also have been given to Elizabeth Jane by her mistress’ family in the form of small cash gifts at Christmas and other holidays. On occasion, she might have been given cash for work well done such as the training of a new domestic in the household of for the completion of a particular task.30 It is also possible that Elizabeth Jane earned relatively small amounts of cash on hire-out, particularly as cotton declined markedly in the Cayman Islands during the first decade of the 19th century. The practice of slave owners allowing some of their slaves to seek their own employment in return for a mutually agreed sum to be paid to them at regular intervals was not unheard of in those Islands. Indeed, Thomas Thomson himself hired out a jobbing gang of his slaves to the Senior Magistrate at Grand Cayman to cut a road along the South West Sound Bay in October of 1803.31 Elizabeth Jane might have persuaded her mistress to release her on hire-out as a domestic in George Town, possibly to relatives of the Thomsons to whom she would have been known,32 or to another of the 16 white and 5 free coloured families living 102

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in that settlement in the early 1800s.33 Alternately, Elizabeth Jane might have been allowed to sell her goods door to door in George Town, hawking her wares to white and free coloured customers in a town that was also home to a port and several boat yards around Hog Stye Bay. However Elizabeth Jane raised the cash for her manumission, it is likely to have taken her several years to do so as part of an on-going and active negotiation with her mistress about the conditions and terms of her eventual release. When Elizabeth Jane Trusty was liberated by manumission on March 3rd, 1809, the changes freedom brought her were significant. Not only was she free but in taking possession of herself, Elizabeth Jane Trusty gained a legitimate identity of her own to pass on to any children she might have as well as control over their own lives, access to property, legal protection under the law and the right to inherit. Her transformation of slavery into freedom therefore did not end with her own manumission,34 and it is important to now consider how Elizabeth Jane Trusty built a life for herself as a free woman of colour on Grand Cayman after her release. Once she had secured her freedom, Elizabeth Jane Trusty moved to George Town and over the next 25 years she seems to have prospered. By the time she died in 1835, she had managed to build up an estate of her own consisting of a “dwelling house, outhouses, yard, livestock, furniture … land, plantations and provision grounds”.35 As significantly, Elizabeth Jane also owned 7 field slaves valued at just over £300 in 1834. Five of these slaves were adults (4 males and 1 female) and 2 were children under the age of 6 (a boy and a girl).36 That Elizabeth Jane got into the slave business herself is not as surprising as it might first sound. For her and other ex-slaves in the Cayman Islands and across the British Caribbean, buying, working and/or selling slaves was an economic enterprise, a way of making a living to support themselves and their families. Indeed, the Public Recorder’s Records for the Cayman Islands show that between 1818 and 1826, Elizabeth Jane Trusty was involved in £370 worth of transactions relating to the purchase, sale and/or manumission of slaves on Grand Cayman and in Jamaica. By any measure, this was a remarkable transformation for a woman who less than 10 years previously had been a slave herself. Moreover, by the time Elizabeth Jane Trusty had her final will and testament drawn up in May of 1835, she had two children to whom to bequeath her not inconsiderable estate. As it happens, both of these children had themselves been slaves until Elizabeth Jane was able to arrange for their freedom. Following her own manumission in 1809, Elizabeth Jane’s first recorded foray into the slave business took place on December 5th, 1818. On that day, “for and in consideration of the sum of Five Pounds current money of Jamaica” paid to her by The Story of Elizabeth Jane Trusty

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“William Hinds of the Islands”, Elizabeth Jane Trusty agreed to manumit and forever set free her “Black Girl named Gracy Trusty”.37 William Hinds, a free coloured man, does not appear to have had a particular connection to Gracy Trusty who was at least three years old at the time of her manumission.38 Indeed, Hinds did not assume responsibility for the child but instead turned her over to the care of Elizabeth Jane who in turn adopted Gracy and seems to have raised her as her own child. Three years later, William Hinds again paid Elizabeth Jane Trusty £5 to manumit a slave child, this time for a “Black Boy Edward William Dixon Trusty”.39 As he had with Gracy, Hinds turned the boy over to the care of his former owner who adopted Edward and raised him as her own child. It may be that Gracy and Edward were Elizabeth Jane Trusty’s own children born into slavery while she belonged to Elizabeth Thomson, and who could only be manumitted by a third person.40 However, it is more likely that Gracy and Edward were both the children of a slave woman on Trusty’s own estate near George Town, and that Elizabeth Jane, desirous of children and heirs of her own, decided to adopt them once they were legally free which could only come about by formal manumission.41 This may explain why the potential sale values of Gracy and Edward were not factored into the cost of their individual manumissions. As an abolitionist and a man of relatively modest means himself, William Hinds would have been drawn to the relatively low costs of manumitting the children. More importantly, he would have been keen to make sure that once free, Gracy and Edward had some kind of economic security that they could carry into adulthood and which Elizabeth Jane was in a position to offer them by 1818. Indeed, and reflecting her negotiations with Elizabeth Thomson about her own eventual freedom, it is almost inconceivable that Elizabeth Jane Trusty and William Hinds would not have come to some kind of arrangement along these lines before the manumissions of first Gracy and then Edward were carried forward. As an aside, the three year gap between the manumissions of Gracy and Edward could be explained as a simple consequence of their natural births. If both children did belong to the same enslaved mother on Elizabeth Jane’s estate, then Gracy was probably manumitted when her mother was pregnant with Edward who in turn was set free once he had been weaned from his mother at about the same age.42 Moreover, Elizabeth Jane would have another three years after Gracy’s manumission to ready herself financially as well as emotionally for another child. Especially in straightened economic times, the cost of raising and supporting Edward as well as his sister would not have escaped Elizabeth Jane however well she had managed to adjust to life as a free woman of colour after her own manumission. The exact source of Elizabeth Jane Trusty’s relative prosperity is unknown. To 104

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begin with, and after her manumission, she may have found some work as a domestic servant to one of the white or free coloured families in George Town. With her meagre earnings, she may also have bought goods and foodstuffs from slaves known to her and sold them on for a small profit at the market or door to door. As a free woman, she could move about the town on days when most slave hawkers (and competitors) could not. At some point in her new life as a free woman, Elizabeth Jane appears to have gotten married,43 and this may explain how she acquired some or all of the “dwelling house, outhouses, yard, livestock, furniture … land, plantations and provision grounds” she bequeathed to Gracy and Edward in 1835. For a pragmatic woman like Elizabeth Jane Trusty, intent on securing a future for herself as a free woman in a society still dominated by slavery, marriage would have been as much about economics as about emotional attachment. It is not known to whom Elizabeth Jane was married or when the wedding occurred, but it is likely that the economic and social capital which seem to have accompanied such a union were in place prior to the manumission of Gracy in 1818. Within two months of that transaction, confirmation that Elizabeth Jane’s slave business was expanding is illustrated in her manumission of a slave named Lettice in February, 1819. “For and in consideration of the sum of one hundred pounds current money of Jamaica” paid to her by William Page, a white magistrate and ship owner on Grand Cayman, Elizabeth Jane agreed to free Lettice, who was also known as Elizabeth Wright.44 In September of the same year, Elizabeth Jane Trusty was in Montego Bay on the north coast of Jamaica, where she paid a local Jewish merchant Isaac Simon and his wife Rebecca Orobio the sum of “one hundred and sixty pounds current money” of Jamaica to free a “Negro Boy named Adam”.45 It is not clear from the records how Elizabeth Jane came to know Isaac Simon or that he had a slave named Adam whom he was prepared to manumit. It is possible that the merchant was involved in the carrying trade between Jamaica and the Caymans during the early decades of the 19th century, and known to or by Elizabeth Jane in that regard. Although that trade was much reduced as a result of the end of the cotton boom on Grand Cayman, vessels from that island continued to regularly transport dry goods between George Town and Montego Bay or Kingston. As the mistress of a modest estate near George Town at the time, Elizabeth Jane Trusty may have sent small consignments of cotton, corn, turtle shell and corned fish to a merchant like Isaac Simon and received in return small quantities of crockery ware, flour, butter, salted beef and pork, tobacco, rum, and/or bread.46 Unfortunately, the records are silent on what happened to Adam once he was manumitted or indeed why Isaac Simon agreed to release him. We do know that The Story of Elizabeth Jane Trusty

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Isaac and his wife had two young children, Frances Salaman (born in June, 1817) and John Simon (born in December, 1818) and that Jews in Jamaica were limited by law to the ownership of two slaves unless they owned plantations,47 which the Simons did not. Perhaps the Simons already had two slaves (including Adam) who worked as stevedores in the business but decided that they needed a domestic slave to look after their young children and the house. In these circumstances, which Elizabeth Jane could have been aware of, the £160 Isaac Simon received from her for Adam would have provided the capital to purchase such a slave. Whatever the motives behind the transaction, the fact that Elizabeth Jane could afford to travel to Jamaica herself and to pay for the manumission of Adam in cash is evidence of her relative prosperity at the time, as well as of her abolitionist sentiments. That Elizabeth Jane Trusty continued to encourage manumissions when and where she could afford to was demonstrated for a third time eight months after the release of Adam. On this occasion, back in Grand Cayman, Elizabeth Jane paid “one hundred pounds current money of Jamaica” to John Bodden, William Bodden, Abraham Bodden and Judith Scott for the release of “a certain negro woman slave named Diana” on May 24th, 1820.48 That Diana was held in four shares indicates that she was probably inherited by the Boddens and Judith Scott upon the death of their father. Unfortunately, the records are silent on what became of Diana once she was manumitted, although— like Elizabeth Wright a year earlier—she may have followed her former owner into the slave business as a way of supporting herself as a free woman of colour.49 Elizabeth Jane Trusty’s last recorded transaction involving a slave on Grand Cayman took place on November 18th, 1826. However, sincere her abolitionist leanings in the manumissions of Gracy, Adam, Edward and Diana, for Elizabeth Jane, the buying and selling of slaves was still a business from which she stood to gain if she invested wisely. Accordingly, “for and in consideration of the sum of sixty five pounds current money of Jamaica”, James and Rachel Watler, both of Grand Cayman, sold “a Sambo girl slave named Sally” to Elizabeth Jane Trusty. This was not a manumission but an investment by a free black woman with a head for business. Sally was 16 years old when she was purchased and appears to have remained on the Trusty holding until emancipation in 1834; in April of that year, Sally was one of the seven slaves registered to Elizabeth Jane Trusty “as owner” of George Town. By that time, Sally had two children (Solomon aged 1 and Penny aged 5), although it is not clear if or which of the four adult male slaves also belonging to Trusty was the children’s father.50 That said, two slave children represented a good return on an initial investment of £65, especially when Sally’s appraised value for the purposes of compensation in August of 1834 was just over £100.51 106

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Unfortunately, Elizabeth Jane Trusty is absent from the records between 1826 and 1834. Like most estate holders on Grand Cayman post-cotton, she would have concentrated the labour of her field slaves on provision farming and stock raising for their own sustenance, for sale in local markets, to supply passing vessels and, in relatively good years, for export to Jamaica.52 By the time Elizabeth Jane Trusty came to draw up her final will and testament on May 19th, 1835, emancipation had come to the Cayman Islands and to the British Caribbean generally. Moreover, two weeks before the will was dictated, Governor Sligo of Jamaica had arrived in the Islands to personally announce the premature end of apprenticeship in the Caymans, much to the dismay of “25 of the Principal Inhabitants” who had been invited to hear him speak.53 It is not clear how Elizabeth Jane Trusty would have felt as a witness to the end of the inherently oppressive and cruel institution that in one way or another had dominated her life. The abolitionist in her would likely have welcomed the news that slaves were now free while the economic pragmatist in her might have regretted the loss of business, at least until she had decided on another way to try and secure her future. As it happens, this was to prove unnecessary. When she drew up her will in May of 1835, Elizabeth Jane Trusty was already “sick and weak in body”, and she died sometime before October that year.54 The journey of Elizabeth Jane Trusty from slave to slave owner, from possession to person, and from obscurity to a degree of respectability is a remarkable one. As well as being able to negotiate her own freedom from her mistress by way of manumission, Elizabeth Jane had gone on to establish an identity for herself on Grand Cayman as a free black woman, to gain control over her own life, to marry, to access and inherit property, and to gain legal protection under the law. As significantly, she was able to pass these rights on to her children as free persons of colour, thereby ensuring that her transformation from slavery into freedom did not end with her own manumission. Indeed, Elizabeth Jane Trusty created an enduring legacy of freedom for her adopted children Gracy and Edward that they could not have imagined as slaves. She also made sure that they both had a relatively solid foundation on which to build their respective futures. Gracy received the “dwelling house, outhouses, yard, livestock, furniture, cash… [and] an equal share of the remainder of the land, plantations, and provision grounds” belonging to her mother at her death. For his part, Edward received the remaining share of the estate to be held in trust until he reached the age of 21 or he married, whichever came first.55 When it was finally paid on March 19th, 1836, Gracy and Edward would also have each had a share of the £116 awarded to the Trusty estate by the Commissioners of Compensation for the loss of its slaves upon their emancipation two years previously.56 The Story of Elizabeth Jane Trusty

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As a postscript, and while relatively little is known of what became of Edward and his sister after their mother’s death, Elizabeth Jane Trusty would no doubt have been immensely contented with evidence of her son’s eventual passage into adulthood and respectability in the Cayman Islands. On the 30th of June, 1842, Edward William Richard Trusty stood as a witness at the marriage of Benjamin Scott, labourer, and Lucy Page, spinster, both of George Town.57 The other witness was Richard Phelan, one of the executor’s of Elizabeth Jane Trusty’s will, a white former slave-owner, a Clerk of the Court in George Town, and a local magistrate. That her son should be standing as a witness and an equal under the law alongside as prominent a man as Phelan would no doubt have brought a wry smile to the face of Elizabeth Jane Trusty were she still alive. For her son and for herself, it was a very long way indeed from cleaning, cooking and serving as a slave in the house of a mistress and owner.

Notes 1. Michael Craton, Founded Upon the Seas, Ian Randle Publishers, 2003, page 68. 2. George Hirst, Notes on the History of the Cayman Islands, Benjamin, 1911, page 93. 3. Copy of the will of Thomas Thomson, dated May 11th, 1811, CINA, Public Recorder’s Records, Volume 1, ff 15-18. 4. For an analysis of slavery in the marginal colonies of the British Caribbean, see Roy Murray, An Account of Slavery in the Marginal Colonies of the British Caribbean, PhD Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2001. 5. Craton, Founded Upon the Seas, page 69. 6. James Walvin, Questioning Slavery, Routledge, New York, 1996, p.39. 7. Robert Fogel and Stanley Engerman, Time on the Cross: the Economics of American Negro Slavery, W.W. Norton and Company, New York, 1974, pp.20304. 8. Walvin, Questioning Slavery, p.46. 9. Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, Within the Plantation Household, Chapel Hill, 1998, pp.135-36. 10. Copy of the Manumission of Elizabeth Jane Trusty, dated March 20th, 1809, CINA, Public Recorder’s Records, ff 18-19. A Public Recorder was first appointed for the Cayman Islands in 1810 and his records are the earliest locally

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created archives in those islands. He and his successors recorded all marriages, wills, deeds, slave sales, manumissions, as well as court transactions through to 1953. 11. Rosemary Brana-Shute, “Negotiating Freedom in Urban Suriname”. In Mary Turner, From Chattel Slaves to Wage Slaves, Ian Randle, Kingston, 1995, pp.148-49. 12. Ibid., pp.156-57. 13. James Walvin, Black Ivory, Fontana Press, London, 1993, p.124. 14. There was only one Registration Return of Slaves for the Cayman Islands and this was completed in 1834 by James Minot. Edward Corbet’s Report and Census of the Cayman Islands in 1802 did not list slaves by name, occupation or specific holding. 15. Ibid. 16. Rosemary Brana-Shute, “Negotiating Freedom in Urban Suriname”, p.159. 17. Ibid., pp. 124-30. 18. Craton, Founded Upon the Seas, p.65. 19. Ibid., pp.66-69. 20. Murray, PhD Thesis, pp.110-11. 21. The records show that between 1802 and 1811, the Thomsons either sold or manumitted 19 of their slaves. According to Corbet’s Report, Thomas Thomson owned 56 slaves in 1802. In his final will and testament dated 1811, he bequeathed 37 slaves to his wife and children (Public Recorder’s Records, CINA, XH/5/1, ff.16-17). Elizabeth Jane Trusty was almost certainly one of the Thomsons freed slaves. 22. Copy of the Manumission of Elizabeth Jane Trusty, dated March 20th, 1809, CINA, Public Recorder’s Records, ff 18-19. In the Cayman Islands at the turn of the 19th century, the cost of registering a manumission and the attendant paperwork involved complete with witness signatures et. al was £5. 23. Walvin, Questioning Slavery, p.140. 24. CO142/21, Jamaica Shipping Returns, 1788-1804, ff.12-15. 25. George Gauld, Remarks on the Map of Caymanas, CINA. 26. Murray, PhD Thesis, page 242. 27. Reverend Thomas Redpath, The Great Crocodile (1949), pp.333-34. 28. Walvin, Questioning Slavery, p.148. 29. D.G Hall (ed) In Miserable Slavery: Thomas Thistlewood in Jamaica, 17501786, London, 1989, p.94. A group of slaves on the Salt River Estate in Jamaica

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were caught stealing from the stores in 1753. One was hanged, another had both ears cropped and his nostrils slit while a third was marked on both cheeks. 30. Ibid., pp.147-48. 31. Murray, PhD Thesis, page 258. 32. George Hirst maintains that on a return trip to England shortly after he settled in Prospect, Thomas Thomson brought back with him a cousin William who settled at Whitehall and became patriarch of the “George Town Thomsons”. Notes on the Cayman Islands, p.93. There is a white family at George Town headed by a James Thomson in Corbet’s Census of 1802. There were seven in the family. 33. Edward Corbet’s Report and Census of the Cayman Islands, 1802. 34. L. Virginia Gould, “Urban Slavery-Urban Freedom: The Manumission of Jacqueline Lemelle.” In David Barry Gaspar and Darlene Clark Hine, Editors, More Than Chattel: Black Woman and Slavery in the Americas, Indiana University Press, 1996, pp.309-10. 35. T71/1026: The Last Will and Testament of Elizabeth Jane Trusty, May 19th, 1835, CINA. 36. T71/243, Return of Slaves in the possession of Elizabeth Jane Trusty, April 2nd, 1834, T71/734, Return of Slaves and Estimated Value Thereof, in possession of Elizabeth Jane Trusty, August 1st, 1834. Both at CINA. 37. Deed of Manumission of Gracy Trusty, December 5th, 1818. Quoted in Hirst, p.149. 38. Gracy is at least 21 in May of 1835 as she stood to inherit her share of the Trusty estate as soon as Elizabeth Jane Trusty died. T71/1026: The Last Will and Testament of Elizabeth Jane Trusty, May 19th, 1835, CINA. 39. Deed of Manumission of Edward William Dixon Trusty, October 24th, 1821. Quoted in Hirst, p.153. 40. Craton, Founded Upon the Seas, p.76. 41. Had the children belonged to Elizabeth Mary Thomson as Trusty’s former owner, Hinds would have made the manumission payments to that owner and not to Elizabeth Jane. In her final will and testament, Gracy and Edward are referred to as her “adopted daughter” and “adopted son”. T71/1026: The Last Will and Testament of Elizabeth Jane Trusty, May 19th, 1835, CINA.

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42. The Caymanian slave population had a relatively high proportion of Africanborn slaves in the early 19th century. At the time and earlier, children born in rural Africa were often not weaned until well into the second year of life, sometimes longer. Craton, Founded Upon the Seas, p.72, and Levine, “Child rearing as a cultural adaptation.” In Linda Pollock, Forgotten Children: Parent Child Relations from 1500 to 1900, Cambridge University Press, 1983, p.219. 43. In her final will and testament, Elizabeth Jane described herself as a widow. T71/1026: The Last Will and Testament of Elizabeth Jane Trusty, May 19th, 1835, CINA. 44. Deed of Manumission of Lettice alias Elizabeth Wright, February 2nd, 1819. Quoted in Hirst, p.152. 45. Deed of Manumission for Adam, dated September 4th, 1819. Quoted in Hirst, pp.150-51 46. Craton, Founded Upon the Seas, p.70. 47. www.geni.com/people/Rebecca-Simon, and Shavei Israel, Jews in Jamaica (www.shavei.org) 48. Deed of Manumission for Diana, May 24th, 1820. Quoted in Hirst, pp.154-55. 49. On October 6th, 1826, Elizabeth Wright swapped her slave Thomas for a slave named Dublin belonging to Susannah Reeves. On November 20th, 1826, Elizabeth Wright received the sum of £80 for the freedom of Dublin from Henry Clarke. In October 1833, she bought the freedom of a slave named Fortune from Rebecca Rivers. Hirst, p.159. 50. T71/243: Return of Slaves in the possession of Elizabeth Jane Trusty, April 2nd, 1834. Copy at CINA. Trusty’s slaves were not listed in family groups. Given their ages, however, is it is likely that Sally was the mother of Solomon and Penny as there were no other female slaves listed on the holding. Sally may have had a regular partner from another slaveholding. 51. T71/734: Return of the Number of Slaves in possession of Elizabeth Jane Trusty, August 1st, 1834. Copy at CINA. 52. Murray, PhD Thesis, pp.110-11. 53. Craton, Founded Upon the Seas, p.82. Under the terms of the Emancipation Act of 1833, slaves in the British West Indies were to be apprenticed to their former owners for a period of four years to allow slave owners to adjust to the new reality of labourers to whom they now had to pay wages. In Cayman, the decision was taken to end apprenticeship early on account of the tenuous question as to the governance of the Cayman Islands. See Craton, Founded Upon the Seas, pp.82-83. The Story of Elizabeth Jane Trusty

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54. Elizabeth Jane Trusty is not listed among the former slave owners in the Caymans who received their compensation payments between October 1835 and March 1836. Richard Phelan (one of her executors) has two entries: one for his own slaves on October 19th, 1835 and a second (for 7 slaves) on March 19th, 1836. Parliamentary Papers, 1837-1838 (215) Volume XLVIII, pp.153-54. Held at the University of Glasgow. 55. T71/1026: The Last Will and Testament of Elizabeth Jane Trusty, May 19th, 1835, CINA. 56. Parliamentary Papers, 1837-1838 (215) Volume XLVIII, pp.154. Entry for Richard Phelan, March 19th, 1836. Held at the University of Glasgow. 57. Marriages in Jamaica, Dissenter Registers, Liber 4, Folio 15, item 38: Marriage of Benjamin Scott and Lucy Page, George Town, Grand Cayman, June 30th, 1842.

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LOOKING BACK TO EXAMINE THE FUTURE Christopher Rose

Abstract What might a 50 year retrospective and a 50 year prospective undertaken in the year 1712 rather than 2012 have produced, and what might that product lend to the current proceedings? This paper adopts two linked hypotheses. The first hypothesis is that the past is a poor predictor of the future of small geographically isolated societies, save to the extent that it highlights the complexities and the uncertainties produced by matters beyond prediction and beyond the local geographic space. The second is that an examination of the effects of selected externalities in the history of the Cayman Islands will support the hypothesis that for the Cayman Islands and other small countries in the West Indies, matters beyond prediction have a propensity to shape events beyond any scope for informed long term domestic political prognostications. To the extent that these hypotheses are correct, then the utility of any selected political path is at least as dependent on each countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s susceptibility and vulnerability to external events, including global phenomena ranging from wind patterns to trade, fashion and finance patterns, as it is on any internal political decisions. This paper further suggests that profound uncertainties have existed throughout the recorded history of the Cayman Islands and that questions of political structure, governance, sovereignty and independence in relation to the Cayman Islands and other small geographically isolated countries, should be viewed from a perspective which includes a focus on relevant regional and global economic and security considerations.

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INTRODUCTION The theme of this year’s UCCI conference, ‘50-50 surveying the past, mapping the future’ calls particular attention to the 50 years since the end of the West Indies Federation and asks what may come in the next 50 years. This paper suggests that what may come in the next 50 years, and—more importantly— what may be done to optimise what may come, may be answered in part by looking a bit further back in time. If we imagine ourselves in Grand Cayman in the year 1712, attending a conference on Caribbean events which is looking back over the preceding 50 years and attempting to prognosticate what would come in the next 50 years, many things would be very different from what we find today, but some issues would undoubtedly have a ring of familiarity. How were the inhabitants of the Cayman Islands to provide for themselves and their families? How was security to be maintained? How were relations with neighbouring islands and the rest of the outside world to be managed? This paper looks first at selected externalities in the history of the Cayman Islands from 1662 to 1712 together with the origins of these events. Second, similar events between 1712 and 1762 are examined. These examinations will illustrate both how overseas events have shaped the development of the Cayman Islands, and the impossibility of predicting such events. They will also illustrate the potential advantages of the recognition of both global interconnectedness and environmental consequences in the formulation of timely and well thought out responses to external events. 1662 - 1712 The fifty years leading up to 1712 were not short on change for the few inhabitants of the Cayman Islands. Such changes were part and parcel of the European conflicts and global political and economic shifts which occurred during the period. The Cayman Islands was unoccupied in 1662, although it is clear that European mariners were aware of the Cayman Islands from the early 16thC, and that European ships stopped to acquire water and turtle at the islands from time to time from at least the mid-16thC.1 The singularly important background point for the Cayman Islands as it was in 1662, is the decision taken in England in 1654 as part of the Cromwellian Western Design to send an English army to attack Spanish possessions in the Caribbean. This English army damaged the Spanish colony in Hispaniola and captured the wealth-producing coastal areas of the Spanish colony in Jamaica in 1655. The authorities in England in early 1655 had not intended to establish an agricultural or trading colony in Jamaica, let alone the Cayman Islands. In fact, Penn and Venables, the military leaders of the conquest of Jamaica, were sent to the Tower in 114

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London when Cromwell learned that they had brought home news of a new colony rather than what they had been sent to fetch.2 The English government of the day had hoped to gain treasure taken from Spanish and French ships and colonies in order to pay for European ambitions.3 The years between 1655 and 1661 saw a rapidly changing political landscape England and also a profound shift in England’s approach to Caribbean colonial expansion. Cromwell and his advisors had little interest in expanding the English colonisation of the Caribbean. The return of Charles II to the throne in 1660 created space for policy change. Royalist advisors favoured rapid settlement of Jamaica and the immediate commencement of agricultural production by many colonists, each planting relatively small acreages. The remnants of Cromwell’s army in Jamaica provided a convenient but ill-prepared instrument for this new policy. For much of the period from 1655 to 1661, the situation of the English garrison in Jamaica declined. This garrison, though initially successful against the small and unprepared Spanish garrison, found itself almost entirely dependent on rotting, inadequate and infrequent food sent from England and other English colonies.98 Many soldiers died from a combination of want and disease. Cromwell’s army had not arrived in Jamaica prepared for a long occupation, and neither had they come prepared to produce food or otherwise sustain themselves. Contemporaneous reports suggest that they had exhausted their food supplies by the time that they landed in Jamaica.4 Spanish Jamaica had been in decline for decades before the English arrived, with only a few small plantations in operation by 1655. Historical records suggest that the Spanish in Jamaica continued to rely on food supplies sent from Spain, trading jerked meat, tallow and hides for European wheat, olive oil and wine.5 Although a significant part of the English army which took Jamaica had been raised from English settlers and apprentices in Barbados and the other English colonies in the eastern Caribbean, few had any relevant farming experience. Most of the English occupiers appear to have been almost completely ignorant in relation to raising food crops in the Caribbean, and in any event, most of what we now perceive to be common crops in the Caribbean had not yet made their way from Central America, Asia and Africa or were not cultivated in sufficient volumes to feed the occupying army.6 By 1658 the English army in Jamaica was near starvation. They turned to the Cayman Islands, then already well known to English sea captains, as a source of turtle meat for food. In March 1662, the restored English monarchy under Charles II authorised the granting of land patents to encourage planting and settlement of a number of the small islands close to Jamaica, which the English crown sought to secure as part of Looking Back to Examine the Future

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their Jamaican enterprise. Craton and Hirst include the Cayman Islands within this grouping.7 August 1662 saw the English army in Jamaica finally disbanded, a costsaving measure that also brought about the end of martial law in that colony. Those that were released from the army were offered land grants in Jamaica in lieu of transport to their homes in England or the other colonies. There are no records to indicate that any land grants with respect to the Cayman Islands were actually made in 1662 or during the 70 years immediately thereafter. Nevertheless, a few brave souls seem to have ventured out of Jamaica, or to have been starved out or forced to leave by debt or other legal problems, or to have been wrecked or marooned, or to have been encouraged by the turtle trade, to establish some sort of presence on Little Cayman and possibly Grand Cayman, at least on a seasonal basis, at some time between 1658 and 1669.8 Naval and other records from the period between the 1662 disbanding of the remnants of the English army in Jamaica, and 1668, do not record any persons living in the Cayman Islands although a few may have been present. Any individuals that were in the Cayman Islands were most likely engaged in subsistence fishing and agriculture, and those that were brave or foolhardy enough to identify their presence to passing ships may have earned whatever they could by providing water, salted fish and turtle, particularly to ships in transit to Central America or on their way back to Europe. Surviving documentation suggests that a few English settlers had arrived on Little Cayman by 1669.9 Their stay was short. In that year, the Portuguese-born Spanish privateer Pardal, ended the Little Cayman settlement rather unhappily for the settlers. Pardal’s raid was a reprisal for earlier raids made by the English privateer Henry Morgan on Spanish colonies in 1668 and 1669. At least, the pretext for Morgan’s 1668 and 1669 attacks involved retribution for Spanish attacks on English ships sailing near Cayman in 1667.10 Pardal burned the Little Cayman settlement, killed some of the settlers and sold others into slavery in Cuba. Little Cayman was in no sense the prize in this battle; it merely provided the battlefield and an opportunity for profit and a bit of retribution. Arguably, those unfortunate first inhabitants were also the first in the Cayman Islands to be collateral damage in the battles among competing outside economic interests. They were not to be the last. The Treaty of Madrid in 1670 ended hostilities between England and Spain in the Caribbean without any mention of the Cayman Islands or even Jamaica by name. Rather, that Treaty ceded to the English Crown control over Caribbean territories which the English did “hold and possess” as at the date of the Treaty.11 There is no 116

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existing evidence that any part of the Cayman Islands was in any real sense held and possessed by the English as at the date of the 1670 Treaty, although the earlier proclamation of Charles II suggests that the English crown thought of it as theirs to possess at least as early as 1662. The signing of the Treaty of Madrid and the temporary cessation of hostilities between England and Spain might have been viewed as a figurative “green light” for the further settlement of the Cayman Islands. However, colonial economics and other considerations once again intervened. Protecting a small colony was very expensive, particularly when the colony did not send tangible wealth back to England. Not only that, a populated Cayman Islands outside of the effective day-to-day control of the colonial authorities in Jamaica was probably viewed as undesirable, particularly at a time when the governments of England and Spain preferred to limit hostilities.12 A decision was therefore taken in 1671 by the English colonial authorities in Jamaica to end the proto-colonies on the smaller islands close to Jamaica, and to recall any remaining settlers in Cayman and other outlying islands to Jamaica.13 Little is recorded of events in the Cayman Islands in the period from 1670 to 1730, and that which is recorded relates mainly to ships, both pirate and prey, passing by or stopping temporarily to “victual”. It would seem that a few brave souls were living on the east end of Grand Cayman in the early 1700s, although very little is known of them. Other early settlers may have been present on Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, particularly during the turtling season. It was at this stage in the history of the Cayman Islands that European events once again provided an impetus for exploitation of both the location and the resources of the Cayman Islands. The impetus for what might now be described as diversification of the economy of the Cayman Islands was not war. Rather, it was a combination of imperial competition, European fashion trends, shifting political strengths within Europe, and the depletion of European natural resources. Economic growth within Europe, together with the wealth which colonial empires were transferring to colonial and European elites, brought new consumer demands and a re-alignment of economic power. The role of the vagaries of European fashion provides a useful insight. Brightly coloured wool products were much more valuable than non-dyed cloth in the Europe of the mid-17thC. Prior to 1662 the dyes that were used to dye cloth and leather in England were expensive and mostly imported from the Middle East or England’s rivals France and Spain. English dyers and those involved in the Levant dye trade prospered from a law passed in England in 1581 which forbade the import of relatively inexpensive dyes extracted from the logwood tree which the Spanish Looking Back to Examine the Future

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had discovered in Central America. The authorities in England preferred to have an artificial scarcity of cloth dyes rather than transfer wealth to their rivals in Spain. The establishment of an English foothold in Jamaica, combined with knowledge of the location of vast logwood forests along the Caribbean coast of central America, induced scores, and ultimately thousands, of English adventurers to seek their fortune in the Caribbean logwood trade. Cargos of logwood began to arrive back in Jamaica and in the English Eastern Caribbean colonies, as well as the English North American colonies. As a result of these non-Spanish sources, the English authorities amended the law to allow the importation of logwood from English colonies and possessions in 1662. The transport of logwood from the Caribbean back to England was extremely profitable in the third quarter of the 17thC, a contemporary economist indicating that transporting a single 50 ton cargo of logwood from the Caribbean to England was more profitable than an entire year of transporting any other cargo. Attacks on Spanish ships carrying logwood from the Central American coast caused significant tension in Europe at a time when the Spanish and English monarchies sought peace. In 1667, the English, who in theory controlled most of the pirates and privateers in the Western Caribbean, and the Spanish who in theory controlled most of the lands where logwood was extracted, cut a deal to end attacks on shipping carrying logwood to Europe. The restrictions on privateering brought about by the Treaty of Madrid, led to many English privateers entering the logwood trade while others entered the service of other countries or took up piracy.14 Logwood cutters from Jamaica made regular excursions to the Caribbean coast of what are now Honduras, Belize and Mexico to cut logwood. These logwood cutters joined pirates and transiting merchant ships in using the Cayman Islands as a source of water and turtle which facilitated their international commerce. That, however, is not the end of the story of logwood and the Cayman Islands. Logwood is not native to the Cayman Islands. By 1715 it had been transplanted from Central America to coastal areas in Jamaica and most likely Grand Cayman.15 By that time logwood prices in Europe were falling as supplies increased and logwood cutters no doubt found it more efficient to produce logwood in Jamaica and Cayman rather than travel to Central America, where they frequently had to fight Spaniards and disease on land and pirates at sea. The early 18thC commercial growing of logwood in Cayman may have been viewed as a good idea at the time, and it is something which might have brought a few pieces of silver to those early â&#x20AC;&#x153;developersâ&#x20AC;?, but it was an action now regarded by 118

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those interested in preserving the Cayman Islands native flora and fauna as something of a disaster. Cayman-grown logwood, which long ago ceased to have commercial value in dye production, continues to self-propagate in Cayman. It is an invasive species that thrives in areas once cleared for marginal agriculture. Large tracts of it may now be seen in many parts of Cayman, including within our botanic park. If we are to attempt to protect our native species of flora and fauna, the limitation or eradication of logwood will likely be part of that exercise, a part that will undoubtedly cost significantly more than any profit made by those who initially planted logwood in Cayman. European commercial and political interests also had other significant, if indirect, effects on the early economy of the Cayman Islands. The flow of dye wood and other commodities from the Caribbean colonies to Europe was subject to a set of complex and frequently changing legislated constraints. Between 1660 and 1672 the English crown set about to maximise its political, commercial and taxation interests by creating what were to become known as the Navigation Acts. These laws, that persisted in various forms for nearly a century, reflected the relative strengths of competing commercial interests within England. The Navigations Acts specified among other things, that with limited exceptions, only English ships could trade between the Caribbean English colonies and Europe and that ships from England’s Caribbean colonies returning to Europe must only go to certain English and Welsh ports. Spain had a set of similar rules regarding its shipping in that period and banned ships from other countries trading with Spanish possessions in the Caribbean and Central America. However, neither country saw any reason to enforce or even acknowledge the other’s rules. The illicit trade which flourished between Jamaica and Spanish colonies in the Caribbean and Central America has been well documented by Sheridan, Zahedia and others.17 There should be no doubt but that this trade provided benefits for those in the Cayman Islands who—at the very least—offered water and food to Jamaican ships engaged in clandestine trade, particularly with Cuba. There is another aspect of 17thC and 18thC trade which by its nature remains less well documented, particularly in the earliest periods. That is the trade in goods from Spanish colonies entering Jamaica disguised as goods from the Cayman Islands and other English possessions in the region. The economic basis of this trade was the distortion produced by English and Spanish importation rules as well as duties and taxes. Goods, and the ships transporting them, entering ports in Jamaica from other colonies and even from England were subject to certain taxes and duties. The coastal Looking Back to Examine the Future

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shipment of goods from one Jamaican port to another was duty free, although ships engaged in this trade paid an annual tax. A number of the droghers, as the boats used in the Jamaican coastal trade were known, were operated by persons from Cayman.18 Goods shipped from Cayman to Jamaica seem to have been treated as goods shipped between Jamaican ports. Goods originating in English Caribbean colonies including Jamaica that were shipped to England were generally taxed at a lower rate than goods entering England from foreign ports. Goods re-exported from England to neutral countries such as those in the Baltic with which England had a brisk trade, entitled the English importer to a rebate of duties paid provided that the goods were re-exported within a few months. Baltic traders shipped goods widely. It thus would have been profitable for ships based in Jamaica or Cayman that were willing to break Spanish law by selling English goods in Spanish colonies, to also break English law by accepting some part of the payment in the form of easily transportable products such as Spanish logwood, cacao and indigo for which there was a ready market in Jamaica for re-shipment to Europe. These illicitly transhipped Spanish goods would then be used by English and Baltic merchants to compete in Europe with identical legitimate—but because of taxes and duties imposed by Spain, much more expensive —goods. The available indirect evidence suggests that authorities in both Jamaica and England turned a blind eye, or possibly completely ignorant eye, to transhipment of foreign products through Jamaican ports. A glaring example relates to the amount of ‘Jamaican’ elephant ivory that customs logs show entered England in the late 17thC.19 Between 1689 and 1712, England was almost constantly at war with one or more of the other European powers. Those wars inevitably spilled over into the Caribbean. However, there were other events between 1689 and 1712 which also helped shape Cayman’s relationships with its neighbours. Piracy and privateering based in Port Royale Jamaica had largely been curtailed by 1690. The reformed privateer turned rich planter and Governor of Jamaica, Sir Henry Morgan, was ruthless in his campaign against his former brothers in arms in the years 1676 to 1683. The buccaneers were also forced from their Jamaican haunts by the effects of the 1683 Jamaica Act passed by the English Parliament in response to a 1681 request from Jamaican planters to prohibit all commercial interaction with anyone involved in piracy.20 The 1692 earthquake that destroyed Port Royal, and the subsequent collapse of infrastructure in Jamaica which brought starvation and disease, caused a significant portion of the earthquake survivors to leave Jamaica, with some going west towards Cayman and Central America. The French raids on Jamaica in 1694 had the same 120

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effect, but to a lesser extent. A blight affecting Jamaican cacao production and the shifting economics of the slave trade and sugar forced many small landholders to quit Jamaica in the latter part of the 17thC and the early 18thC. It is entirely plausible that one or more of those events brought some early settlers to Cayman. The very limited records that are available suggest that there were few people living in Cayman in 1712, and those that were in Cayman had a marginal existence. It is probably that the participants in a hypothetical 1712 Cayman conference would have had a somewhat narrow view of important events, with the arrival, birth or death of particular individuals, pirates and the size and timing of particular harvests assuming greater import than other matters. Food rather than political philosophy would likely have been the focus of their lives. It seems unlikely that any British or Jamaican born European living in Cayman in 1712 would have considered anything but a colonial future for Cayman, if he or she considered such things at all. Very few of the events between 1662 and 1712 forming the subject matter of our notional 1712 conference, with the possible exception of arrival dates of the first permanent settlers in Cayman, would have been within the control of people in Cayman. Few of the events would have been within the control of the nascent government in Jamaica, apart from the manner and to a certain extent the timing of recalling settlers in 1671, the commissioning and de-commissioning of privateers, the pursuit of pirates and the granting of land in the early 18thC. What then might those attending the 1712 conference have divined from the preceding 50 years regarding the best course forward for the 50 years between 1712 and 1762? In the next section of this paper, selected events which in fact shaped the course of the Cayman Islands will be reviewed to assess whether the attendees at a 1712 conference could have used the events of the period from 1662 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 1712 to foresee, or in any meaningful way shape, their futures. 1712 - 1762 In 1713 the Treaty of Utrecht brought an absence of official war to the Caribbean, but not peace. It is arguable that as experienced in the Cayman Islands, the 1713 peace treaties signed by the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Holland and Portugal to end what were known as the Wars of Spanish Succession, led to less peace in the Western Caribbean and in the Cayman Islands in particular. It was the habit of European governments in the early 18thC to disband their militaries at the end of hostilities wherever they might be. The end to a war declared and ended in Europe thus released many men who had few skills other than fighting into Looking Back to Examine the Future

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the ports of the Caribbean. Men released from official war between European powers in 1713, soon returned to the seas to take by force whatever they could, beginning a 26-year period of pirates creating havoc in Cayman and throughout the Caribbean. The Treaty of 1713 also made possible a commercial arrangement, “The Assiento”, between the Kingdom of Spain and what was by then the United Kingdom. The Assiento gave the United Kingdom a monopoly on the slave trade in the Caribbean and allowed for highly regulated but legitimate trade carried on by English and Spanish ships. Commercial agreements co-incident with the Assiento also allowed for the ships of Spain and the United Kingdom to enter the ports of the other in the Caribbean to trade goods other than slaves. This legitimate trade favoured larger ships carrying official papers and limited the illicit trading opportunities of smaller traders based in Jamaica and quite possibly the Cayman Islands. Tax and customs duty preferences for goods identified as coming from Cayman into Jamaica for transhipment to the UK remained. However, this transhipment sleight of hand in relation to Cayman is unlikely to have produced more than a moderate profit for a few, and did not require, and likely would not support, any substantial increase in settlements in Cayman. In modern parlance it would appear that there were no “substantial activities” in Cayman associated with much of the trade ascribed to Cayman in the years immediately after 1712. It was yet another externality of European origin, this time the British Naval Stores Act of 1721, that gave the impetus for next phase in the development of the Cayman Islands.21 Prior to the passage of the Naval Stores Act of 1721, British tax and customs laws, and in particular those passed in 1707, sought to protect the interests of the landed rich who controlled the timber trade in Britain. Imports of colonial and foreign hardwoods suitable for the construction of ships, homes and furniture were made impractical by protectionist high taxes and customs duties on the importation into England of such woods. The growing wealth of the Asian, American and West Indian colonies and the lobbying efforts funded by this wealth, brought change to those protectionist practices. Four factors in particular combined to bring about change to British tax and duty laws. These changes in Europe literally changed the face of Cayman after 1721. The first factor was an increasing demand in England for timber for both the commercial shipping which transported goods to and from the colonies, and for the Royal Navy which protected both this shipping and the UK’s colonial territories. This increasing demand for timber coincided in time with the second factor, an increasing population and changes in agriculture practices in the UK, with more land cleared for food and wool production and traditional sources of timber destroyed in order to 122

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meet the demands of exporters and a growing population. The increasing demand for timber, and the shrinking supply of the same, provided an impetus for changes to the UKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s laws which would allow the demand to be met. The third factor was the growing wealth and influence of the planter elite. Money was flowing back to England from Jamaica and other colonies both to the Crown and to private individuals. New wealth in the hands of families which had left England with little or nothing was used by the returning planter elite to buy and influence positions of power in the UK, and thus to lessen the hold of the hereditary English land owners. The planter interests saw the potential for further profit from at least some of the timber that was previously burned in land clearance and sugar production. Others saw the profit in logging for its own sake. The fourth factor was again fashion. Rich planters and those that chose to emulate them became trend setters in England, displaying mahogany furniture and panelling in their homes. As a result of the confluence of these factors, the tax and customs duties laws of the UK were changed, reducing the cost of mahogany and other hard woods imported from the British West Indian colonies. The stage was thus set for hardwoods and in particular mahogany to begin to flow from the West Indies to England, and for more loggers and settlers to venture further afield. Within months of the passage of the 1721 Naval Stores Act, mahogany began to flow from Jamaica and British outposts in Central America to England. Contemporaneous records suggest that by the late 1730â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s easily logged mahogany was beginning to be scarce in Jamaica,22 and those with interests in the mahogany trade began to look farther afield. Those that had knowledge of the mahogany forests in the Cayman Islands were then at a commercial advantage. Surviving legal records show that wealthy Jamaican and Bermudian merchants began sending slave crews to Cayman to cut mahogany as early as 1735. These merchants appointed a local agent, one John Bodden who was said to be of Grand Cayman. The volume of mahogany being cut in Grand Cayman was sufficient to justify the chartering of ships to transport the timber directly to England from Grand Cayman by 1736. This was in addition to timber also sent to Jamaica for transhipment to Britain. Initially, these Jamaican and Bermudian merchants did not find it necessary to obtain official land grants in order to engage in logging, presumably because most of Grand Cayman, and in particular the timbered land, was neither inhabited nor claimed by anyone. Several of these wealthy merchants, most of whom seem to have been entirely absentee, did however secure large land grants relating to Grand Cayman over the following decade. Looking Back to Examine the Future

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The first recorded land patent relating to the Cayman Islands was issued at Spanish Town, Jamaica on 28 February 1735. This grant of three thousand acres, comprising most of what is now the district of George Town, was given to 3 individuals.23 The contemporaneous map in support of the patent application shows that prior to this 1735 grant, someone, most likely the Campbells and Middletons to whom the first land was granted, had cleared part of the land, built a dwelling and had established a plaintain walk and hog sties. It also indicates the Campbells and the Middletons were interested in the remaining timber on the claimed land. It is entirely possible that the Campbells and Middletons undertook the trip to Jamaica in 1735 in order to formally secure their interests in the land, being aware of the recent or imminent arrival of timber cutters and more settlers. Others established in Grand Cayman took the trip to Jamaica to register their land interests in the following years. The clearing of Caymanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s forests for profit continued throughout the 18thC. No doubt a portion of the profits from that trade earned by residents of the Cayman Islands, as with profits from the earlier trade in logwood and turtle, made possible the expansion of initial experiments in the planting of subsistence crops and later cotton and sugar. It is noted, however, that neither the growing of crops nor the raising of livestock for export proved commercially successful beyond a very limited degree. Early settlers and temporary visitors lured by mahogany brought food crops and a variety of other plants that changed the face of Cayman forever. They also brought livestock, and the grasses the livestock needed as food,24 as well as rats, cats, dogs, a number of species of insect and reptiles, diseases and many of the other elements in what has come to be known as the Columbian Exchange.25 The mahogany trade also shaped the social fabric of the Cayman Islands. There is no record of slaves being present in Cayman before the commercial exploitation of mahogany began. The available evidence suggests that there was no economic activity beyond a subsistence scale in the Cayman Islands that would have been associated with slavery prior to the advent of the mahogany trade. It is possible that some early settlers were former slaves who had fled other colonies, but nothing is recorded of any such presence prior to the advent of the mahogany trade. To return to the initial question regarding whether those in the Cayman Islands in 1712 could have foreseen on the basis of the preceding 50 years the significant events which shaped the course of the islands evolution from 1712 to 1762, the only reasonable answer is that they could not. On one scale, it seems safe to conclude that European events in the first half of the 18thC and their consequences, including the advent and consequences of the mahogany trade, were no more foreseeable to early settlers in Cayman than hedge 124

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funds and YouTube were predictable to those in Cayman in 1962. Yet there are common threads which provide insights. The economy of the Cayman Islands over the past 300 years has existed in large part on the basis of supporting international trade in one form or another, from supplying food and water to sailing vessels prior to the advent of steam, to facilitating debt structuring by entities ranging from corporations to the World Bank and its regional bodies today. Even during the decades when Cayman gained the bulk of its hard currency from remittances, those remittances came in no small part from people directly or indirectly facilitating trade, whether as seamen on ships engaged in international commerce, or as workers on the Panama Canal. There has also been a recurring theme of what to modern eyes might appear as short term thinking and the ill-considered exploitation of local resources. The earliest transients and settlers exploited to near extinction Caymanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s marine resources, and in particular the turtle. Later arrivals exploited terrestrial resources and in particular the mahogany forests to the point of near destruction. Those that followed planted ill-suited crops such as cotton that badly damaged Caymanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fragile soils. In conclusion, I would like to suggest that unforeseeable economic and political externalities will likely continue to produce both threats to, and opportunities for, these islands. Policy makers in Cayman and other similar small jurisdictions ought to maintain a constant awareness that such externalities are almost certain to present themselves. The fact that externalities may be difficult to predict does not suggest that policy makers can be forgiven for ignoring them completely. There is a need for policy makers in both the public and private sectors to adopt long term perspectives when extrinsic challenges do appear. Policy responses to externalities ought to be made on the basis of thorough and timely analyses of the effects of externalities so as to limit negative consequences. Policy responses should also facilitate positive innovations which provide long term benefits as well as the smallest possible adverse impact on our environment, both physical and human. Our environment is the hidden pillar of our economy without which no diversification or innovation is possible. The 16thC and 17C turtling fleets from Jamaica, and the Eastern Caribbean colonies of England, Holland, and France are part of our history, but they provided no long term benefit commensurate with the destruction they caused. The 18thC mahogany cutters who passed through Cayman are also part of our history, but similarly they provided no long term benefit commensurate with the destruction they caused. Let us hope that in guiding the exploitation of present and future opportunities, policy makers avoid the repetition of past mistakes. Looking Back to Examine the Future

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NOTES 1. Craton, M. Founded Upon the Seas A History of the Cayman Islands and Her

2. 3. 4.

5. 6.

7. 8.

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People, [Ian Randle Publishers, Kingston 2003], p.14 – 21. See also the journal of Captain Jackson (1643) “The Island is much freequented by English, Dutch, & French ships, that come purposely to salt up ye flesh of these Tortoises.” Penn, Granville Memorials of the Professional Life and Times of Sir William Penn, [James Duncan, London 1833], p. 136 Ibid, p.20 - 25 D’Oyley, Col. Edward, Note to the Admiralty April 1661 Downloaded from: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=76438&strquery=turtle, 12 January 2012 Harrington, MC, 2004 Thesis, The Worke Wee May Doe in the World. The Western Design and the Anglo-Spanish Struggle for the Caribbean, 1654-1655. Parry, JH Plantation and Provision Ground: An Historical Sketch of the Introduction of Food Crops Into Jamaica, Revista de Historia de América, No. 39 (Jun., 1955), pp. 1-20. Parry notes that while the Arawaks had apparently introduced cassava, maize and possibly sweet potato to Jamaica from Central America, it was not widely grown. Cassava also rapidly depletes soil nutrients and therefore was not suitable for continuous farming in fixed locations. The early Spanish settlers brought with them citrus trees in small numbers as well as cattle, goats and pigs which rapidly became feral. Hunting feral pigs and cattle was one of the ways that the English garrison tried to feed itself after 1655. The Spanish also appear to have favoured fruit bearing plants, moving papaya, sweet sop, soursop, star apple, naseberry and guava about their American possessions but only to subsidize their family gardens and not for commerce. The coconut, although Asian in origin, seems to have arrived from Spanish colonies on the Pacific coast of Central America. The Spanish also brought banana and plantain from the Canary Islands before 1655. Yams appeared in the early 18thC and ackee in 1778, having been transported to Jamaica by the English from West Africa as slave food. Mango arrived in 1782 also from Africa. The 1793 arrival of breadfruit, along with jackfruit and otaheite apple from Tahiti is well known. Ibid Craton, p.21. Craton and Hirst both indicate that the Cayman Islands is mentioned in the relevant historical text, however the version of the text held by the British Archives for 21 March 1662 as reproduced online does not in fact mention the Cayman Islands although other islands proximate to Jamaica and

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referred to by Hirst and Craton are named; Instructions to Thomas Lord Windsor, Governor of Jamaica. To publish his commission as soon as he lands ; constitute the Council ; and administer the oaths. To settle judicatories for council affairs and for the Admiralty. To commission under the public seal of the island judges, justices, sheriffs, and other officers with fit salaries. Power to pass grants of the little islands adjacent to Jamaica, as Salt Island, Good Island, Pigeon Island, and others, and to raise forts there. To grant commissions and erect Courts of Admiralty. To promulgate the King’s license for transporting planters from the neighbouring plantations to Jamaica, with liberty to trade with the Spanish plantations, for the benefit of Jamaica. Accessed 2 January 2012 from http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report. aspx?compid=76449&strquery=1662%20Jamaica 9. Craton, p.35 - 37 10. Craton, 23 - 25 11. Craton, 23 12. “Universal Peace, True and Sincere Amity in America.” Treaty of Madrid (Godolphin Treaty) 18 July 1670. Downloaded 22 April 2011 from http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text1/text1read.htm. 13. Hirst, George S.S. Notes on the History of the Cayman Islands (Private Publication, Kingston 1910) p.24 14. Ibid p.20. See also; 12 June 1671 Minutes of the Council of Jamaica. Present, Sir Thomas Lynch, Knt., Lt.-Governor, and four of the Council. Ordered that, whereas there are divers soldiers, planters, privateers, and other late inhabitants of this island now at Caimanos, Musphitos, Keys, and other remote places who make scruple of returning, either fearing his Majesty’s displeasure for their past irregular actions or doubting their being prosecuted by their creditors, the Governor sends forth to declare his Majesty’s pardon and promise freedom from all arrests and debts to said soldiers, &c., for the term of one year, provided they return within eight months after the date hereof and enter their names in the Secretary’s office, from which time their impunity shall commence; and that this be proclaimed and affixed on some convenient place at Port Royal. Accessed 2 January 2012 at: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid= 70210&strquery=August%201671%20Caimanos 15. Camille, MA, Historical Geography of the Belizean Logwood Trade, downloaded 2 Jan 2012 from http://sites.maxwell.syr.edu/clag/yearbook1996/camille. htm. The importance of logwood to the 17thC and 18thC economies of Central America is reflected in the depiction of a logwood tree and logwood cutters on Looking Back to Examine the Future

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the flag and coinage of Belize. 16. Those from Cayman will recognise that there is an area in West Bay called Logwoods to this day. 17. MacDermot, E. The Romance of Logwood. Emp. Rev. 30:364–370, 1916. Cited in Kahr, B. The Progress of Logwood Extract CHIRALITY 10:66–77 (1998) 18. Zahedieh, Nuala The Merchants of Port Royal, Jamaica, and the Spanish Contraband Trade, 1655-1692 The William and Mary Quarterly, Third Series, Vol. 43, No. 4 (Oct., 1986), pp. 570-593. Sheridan, R. B. The Wealth of Jamaica in the Eighteenth Century The Economic History Review, New Series, Vol. 18, No. 2 (1965), pp. 292-311. Nettels, Curtis England and the Spanish-American Trade, 1680-1715. The Journal of Modern History, Vol. 3, No. 1 (Mar., 1931), pp. 1-32. 19. In 1862 the Jamaican Legislature passed a law taxing Cayman droghers in order to pay for the services of a resident magistrate who was to be sent from Jamaica. Acts of the Jamaican Legislature 26 Victoria, c.25, 26. 20. Calendar of State Papers Colonial, America and West Indies, Volume 20: 1702 Downloaded 8 November 2011 from http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report. aspx?compid=71631 21. From the colonial papers November 1681: Paper from the Planters of Jamaica to the Lords of Trade and Plantations. The Lords have made great progress in the well settling of Jamaica, and it is therefore hoped that the noting of what is yet wanting will be favourably received. Those wants seem to be—(1.) An assurance to continue under what is now settled. (2.) Discouraging privateers and pirates. (3.) Regulation of the negro trade. 1. As nothing tends more to invite new planters to a colony, and re-assure the old, than good government and the certainty of its continuance, it is hoped that a clause may be inserted in the intended perpetual Revenue Bill to provide that Jamaica shall always be governed under such laws as shall be made through His Majesty’s authority and consent of Governor, Council, and Assembly, not repugnant to the law of England. 2. The Commander-in-Chief in the Island should be ordered to recommend to the Assembly the effectual suppression of piracy by punishing not only the pirates but their abettors and comforters and all magistrates not doing their duty. Accessed 2 January 2012 at http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=7 0010&strquery=suppression%20of%20privateers 22. Cross, John M. “Mahogany in Jamaica was like Gold in the Reign of Solomon,”

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in van Duin, Paul and Hans Piena, The Meeting of East and West in the Furniture Trade (Stichting Ebenist, Amsterdam 2002). 23. Ibid, 24. Craton, p.37. 25. Parry, JH . According to Parry Guinea Grass, which facilitated the commercial raising of cattle and horses, was introduced into Jamaica from Africa in 1745. It seems likely that it would have subsequently been introduced into the Cayman Islands. 26. Nunn, N and Qian, N, “The Columbian Exchange: A History of Disease, Food, and Ideas” Journal of Economic Perspectives Vol. 24, Number 2, Spring 2010, p. 163–188.

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The History, Meaning and Importance of Judicial Independence: A Caribbean Perspective Keynote Address Delivered at the 2012 UCCI 50-50 Conference UCCI, March 22, 2012 HON. ANTHONY SMELLIE Chief Justice of the Cayman Islands

Abstract The process of evolution of the modern judiciary is as old as western civilization itself. For those countries of the Westminster tradition including the English-speaking Caribbean States, the process has culminated in written constitutions that enshrine the principles of the separation of powers under the tripartite system of government. This system integrates the independence of the judiciary as a central tenet. This paper looks at the process as it has developed and applies to the English-speaking Caribbean States. It identifies some of the potential areas of concern and discusses the importance of the insulation of the judiciary from external control. The paper examines the importance of ensuring the security of tenure of judges and advances the position that the processes for disciplinary control of the judiciary should remain under the purview of the judiciary, even while ensuring accountability to the public. The paper concludes by looking to the future, emphasizing the importance of mutual respect among the three separate arms of government – the legislature, the executive and the judiciary – for their respective roles, and reaffirms the importance of judicial restraint in the exercise of the courts’ supervisory role.

Key Words: separation of powers, independence of the judiciary, English-speaking Caribbean States, security of tenure of judges, processes for disciplinary control of the judiciary, accountability to the public, importance of judicial restraint, future constitutional issues 130

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The conveners of this conference have wisely decided that now, fully 50 years into the Commonwealth Caribbean independence movement, presaged by the Act of the British Parliament for the Federation of the British Caribbean 1956,1 the time has come to reflect upon the past, pause, and take stock for the future. The theme of the conference reflects the salutary advice of the philosopher George Santanya, who warned that â&#x20AC;&#x153;Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat itâ&#x20AC;?. Among the questions the conference invites us to examine is how well the process of Constitutional Reform has served the peoples of the Commonwealth Caribbean. I am privileged to have been invited to address you on the search for the answers to this compelling question and to attempt to do so from the particular point of view of experience from within the judiciary. My contribution will focus upon the concept of judicial independence as an indispensable element of constitutional governance. The constitutional laws of the countries of the English-speaking Caribbean have changed only incrementally in relative terms since the wave of constitutional reform that swept into being the independence constitutions of many countries in the 1960s. The same holds true in relation to those territories, such as the Cayman Islands, that have remained constitutionally and politically a part of Britain. Such a history of constitutional affairs can surely be regarded as a measure of the stability of the democracies of the Commonwealth Caribbean. With the notable exceptions of Grenada in 19792 and the Turks and Caicos Islands at the moment,3 the states of the English-speaking Caribbean have remained, since the advent of Federation and the attainment of independence, politically stable, free of military interference in civilian affairs, and relatively respectful of their citizensâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; civil and political rights. Scholars will point to many reasons for this; however, there can be no doubt that the reasons include the extended period of political socialization experienced before the advent of independence, during the era of internal self-government under the Westminster model of government. That experience included the formation and maturation of political parties, the holding of competitive elections for internal selfgovernment, and a number of successful cycles of governmental changes as the results of those elections. This period of post-colonial transitional democratization fortuitously also coincided with the advent of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which later came to find expression in the entrenched Bills of Rights of the Independence Constitutions. That remarkable process of constitutional advancement resulted in systems of government under the rule of law which enshrined the Constitution, including the The History, Meaning and Importance of Judicial Independence

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Bills of Rights, as the Supreme Law. It entrenched the doctrine of separation of powers in a manner that the Westminster Parliament, even while exporting the concept of the written constitution to the newly independent States, had not itself yet fully achieved. Indeed, it was not until the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 that the link between Parliament and the Judiciary (in the House of Lords Judicial Committee) was at last formally separated by the creation of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. Another important innovation of the Constitutional Reform Act of 2005 changed the process for appointments to the judiciary, removing it from the direct control of the Lord Chancellor, who, although the constitutional head of the judiciary was, nonetheless, a senior political and partisan figure. This independent process for the appointment of the judges was another way in which the United Kingdom’s Constitution was catching up with those that had been successfully exported to the rest of the Commonwealth. And, so, we are able to reflect upon the English-speaking Caribbean constitutions as the products of their progressive generation and as having been derived from a shared political and institutional heritage with Britain. Further, although having found expression in written form, they have remained faithful to the Westminster model of government. But it is well worth noting that that shared history with Britain was not the beginning of the process -- only the outcome. The modern Westminster model—that which depends on the separation of powers is itself the product of a process of democratization that emerged over the course of thousands of years. Throughout the ancient world, the absolutist kings exercised unbridled powers, including ultimate legal authority. Beyond declaring the law and enforcing legal rules, the king in ancient regimes enjoyed full adjudicative powers as well. The inevitable march from despotism to democracy is said to have first emerged in the form of an early Hebraic conception of an independent judiciary. In brief, two formative moments in the Hebraic tradition—one biblical (Deuteronomy), the other rabbinic (the Mishnah)—point to the establishment of an independent judiciary operating beyond the role of the king. Deuteronomy describes a centralized judiciary that oversaw an elaborate network of municipal courts, and the verses that discuss the administration of justice do not suggest that the king participated in this role.4 As the First Book of Samuel explains at Ch.10:25, biblical judges performed judicial duties, and the institute of judges was separated from the institute of the king. Moses himself exercised the powers of a superior judicial body and is said to have laid the foundation for the separation of powers, indispensable to any democracy, by the creation of an independent judiciary.5 132

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It is also, of course, widely accepted that Greco-Roman thought was instrumental in the development of western constitutional theory; and the foundation on which the modern constitutional theorists such as Locke, Montesquieu and Blackstone rested their dictum of separation of powers had long been laid by Plato, Aristotle and Polybius.6 Despite this early history, the notion of an independent judiciary emerged in a painfully slow manner by way of the English tradition, as the successive despotic kings of England would only reluctantly loosen their grip upon totalitarian rule. The first traces of English and, thus, our modern judiciary, can be seen emerging in the 12th Century A.D. As the business of the Royal household grew more specialized, it became possible to identify a small group of court officials responsible for advising the King on the settlement of disputes. In 1178, Henry II first chose five members of his personal household, two clergy and three lay, “to hear all the complaints of the realm and to do right”. These “embryo judges”7 were to carry out their work as part of the King’s “Court”, and their activities were supervised by the “King and the wise men of the realm”. This was the origin of the court of Common Pleas, and the Magna Carta prescribed that this Court should sit permanently “in some certain place”, which, in practice, became the Palace at Westminster. This close relationship between the King and the Court continued for hundreds of years, although there were many periods of disquiet when the judges tried to distance themselves from the controlling influence of the Kings. However, the prescribed nature of the relationship between the King as principal law maker, on the one hand, and the judges as interpreters of English law, on the other, remained unresolved. Things came to a head in the latter part of the 17th Century with the “Glorious Revolution8 of 1688” when King James II, who had become infamous for his control of the judiciary, was deposed. Parliament had understandably come to see the judges as the subservient tools of the King, and the King, seeking to rule without Parliament, saw the control of the judiciary as an essential element of royal power. This long constitutional conflict in English history was all about power. Where did sovereign power reside? What power did the sovereign have to dispense with the law? To whom were the judges responsible? On the day after the House of Commons resolved that King James II had abdicated in favour of William and Mary, a parliamentary committee drew up Heads of Grievances to be presented to the new King. These included provisions, which were seen, in the light of the history of the despotic control of the judges by the King, as essential for ensuring the independence of the judges. They provided “for making judges’ commissions permanent during good behaviour; for ascertaining and estabThe History, Meaning and Importance of Judicial Independence

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lishing their salaries, to be paid only out of the public revenue (as distinct from by way of grants from the King or his courtiers); and for preventing the judges being removed and suspended from the execution of their offices, unless by due cause of law.”9 These reforms, regarded as having laid the permanent foundation for the independence of the modern judiciary, were enacted in much the same form in the Act of Settlement 1701 and have remained in place ever since. They ensure two things that are vital to judicial independence: security of tenure and financial security of the judges, both being put beyond the control of the King. Apart from the crucial achievement of the separation of the judicial branch from the King, the Act was also aimed at eradicating the widespread corruption within the English judiciary. Perhaps the most notorious example was Francis Bacon’s fall from office as Lord Chancellor in 1621 for accepting gifts from litigants before his court. Notwithstanding those constitutional advances during the reign of William III, more than 70 years later, at the time of the American Revolution, the colonists, upon declaring their independence from England, included among their List of Grievances against King George III their characterization of the King’s control of the British judiciary as an obstruction of justice. The colonists declared that “[the King] has made Judges dependent on his will alone for the tenure of their office and the amount and payment of their salaries”. Thus, at least, from the point of view of the Founding Fathers at the time of the American Revolution, the reality of British judicial independence did not match the perception sought to be created by the Act of Settlement 1701. The Founding Fathers nonetheless understood the importance of the principles sought to be captured by the Act of Settlement and so proposed for enshrinement in the first modern written Constitution of the Western World the principle of permanent tenure for federal judges during good behavior. The Founding Fathers also enshrined the principle of financial security, by forbidding any reduction in federal judicial salaries. It was thus well recognized that immunity from removal from office would not count for very much, if the executive branch were at liberty to reduce a judge’s pay if it did not like his or her judgments. And so the separation of powers became central to the United States Constitution -- as it was later to become for the written constitutions of nations within the Commonwealth of Nations. The intermingled tripartite system of government with the checks and balances of its great organizing principle—the doctrine of separation of powers—became irreversibly entrenched. This included its essential commitment to a separate and independent judiciary. 134

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What, then, in today’s world, one may ask, is the importance of an independent judiciary to the doctrine of separation of powers? Long gone are the days when despotic kings would seek to subjugate the judges, in the way lamented by Chief Justice Sir Edward Coke in his assertion that the judges of James I’s reign were not to be seen, as “lions under the throne” (as his rival Francis Bacon had declared) but as “umpires between King and subject.”10 One may be inclined to think that the fact that Chief Justice Coke was imprisoned by James I for his rebelliousness is so far removed from present day Caribbean democratic reality as to require nothing more than relegation to the annals of history. Regrettably, however, any such sense of complacency would be badly misplaced. We need not look far for proof: examples of present day abuses abound in our midst within the Commonwealth. Just since the beginning of this year (2012), we have seen11: • a stand-off between the Government and the judiciary in Pakistan over the refusal of President Gillani to obey a court order directing him to institute an investigation of corruption against his predecessor;12 • an attempted coup in Papua, New Guinea; (this includes many attempts to suspend the Chief Justice since November last year);13 • the invasion of court, kidnapping, and arrest by paramilitary forces of the Chief Justice in the Maldives;14 • the closure of all the courts in Malawi due to a strike by court officers who have not received increments—although agreed by Parliament—since 2006;15 • the farce of the non-democratic government of Fiji lifting the Emergency Rules only to replace them with orders along the same lines and thus preventing ordinary access to the Courts.16 The obvious lesson that these recent and current examples hold for us who enjoy the relative stability of our Caribbean democracies is, of course, that we may never take the great organizing principle for granted. The separation of powers is the “backbone of democracy.”17 The modern understanding of the principle is based on a “trinity of branches” whose status stems from the constitution. Each of the three branches is limited in its authority and its powers. None of them is omnipotent. The legislative branch, the executive branch and the judicial branch are of equal status and have no authority beyond that granted them in and by the Constitution whose power stems, in turn, from the people. The importance of the principle of the separation of powers is in the very connection between the three branches that requires them to function together within the limitations—or checks and balances—that they place on each other. It is against such a historical backdrop of the emergence of the doctrine of separaThe History, Meaning and Importance of Judicial Independence

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tion of powers that we can properly understand the concept of judicial independence -- the focus of my talk to you today. What is Judicial Independence? Why is it important? And, given the very premise of its justification—which is to serve and protect the rights of the people—how then are the judges themselves to be held accountable? I will attempt a discussion of these questions during the next thirty minutes or so that I have remaining with you. What Then Is “Judicial Independence”? Like the proverbial elephant in the room, it is remarkable as much by its presence as by its absence, even though it may not be easily described. The following example of its very noticeable absence, taken again from the Pakistani experience, is illustrative. Tensions between President Musharraf and the judiciary came to a head in 2007 when he suspended Itjikhar Chaudhry, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, sparking mass protests by lawyers and wide political unrest. When the court attempted to rule on the validity of Musharraf’s victory in the October presidential elections, he again took preemptive action and imposed martial law on November 3rd, suspending the Constitution, replacing much of the higher judiciary, and arresting more than 6,000 civil society activists, political leaders, and lawyers. When the state of emergency was lifted under an amended Constitution fashioned by Musharraf, a judiciary, also of his own choosing, was installed. Musharraf, who first came to power by way of a coup in October 1999, remained in power until August 2008. From that extreme and appalling example of the Pakistani experience, we can at once identify the importance of judicial independence and lament its absence. Chief Justice Chaudhry and his colleagues, left to the exercise of their independent judgment free from political interference, would have upheld the constitutional right of the people to a democratically elected government. The usurpation of the democratic process by the President and his military prevented them from doing so and denied the people that most fundamental of rights. The Pakistani experience under Musharraf also provides a poignant reminder that judicial independence has two distinct elements: first, the institutional independence of the judges and, second, the individual independence of judges as dispensers of justice in the cases as they happen to come before them. Both elements of judicial independence are indispensable to the assurance of constitutional governance and the proper administration of justice. Again from the Pakistani example, it can plainly be seen that judicial indepen136

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dence requires that judges not be subject to control by the political regime and that they be shielded from any threats, interference or manipulation which may either force them to unjustly favour the state or subject them to punishment for not doing so. The rule of law—that central tenet of the democratic social contract by which those who are governed agree to be governed, and which requires that no person is above the law—is not secure when the institution for its enforcement is composed of judges who either fear challenging the government or are already predisposed towards declaring its deeds to be lawful. And so we see being distilled from this dialectic, two clear requirements of judicial independence: first, impartiality or the absence of bias and, second, “political insularity”18 -- the assurance of being insulated from political interference. These are the important elements of independence that have found expression in the constitutional requirements that judges may not be removed from office for reaching decisions which are generally or politically “unpopular,” and that the makeup of the courts should not be altered for political reasons. It is to be expected then that in any attempt at formulating a complete definition of judicial independence —and very many scholars have tried over the ages— there will be the inevitable reference to impartiality and insularity. One definition offered by a leading American Academic19 I find to be especially compelling is that Judicial Independence is “the degree to which judges actually decide cases in accordance with their own determinations of the evidence, the law and justice, free from coercion, blandishments, interference or threats from governmental authorities, private citizens [or powerful interest groups]”. This definition also neatly captures the two essential elements of institutional and individual judicial independence mentioned earlier. It must not be forgotten that not only is the independence of the individual judges to dispense justice important, but no less so is the independence of the judicial institution as a whole. The existence of a significant level of independence is contingent on the degree to which the judicial institution has a distinct and discrete role—detached from the interests of the political system, the concerns of powerful social groups, or the transient views of the general public (for example, the “blogosphere”)—to regulate the legality of state actions, enact justice and determine general constitutional and legal values. Judicial independence is not meaningful if the judiciary is not afforded the means by which to dispense justice. To be sure, judges need to be impartial and insulated from political pressure, but, just as important, they must be able to operate a broadly defined scope of institutional authority for the judicial branch.20 This concept of administrative autonomy as an aspect of judicial independence The History, Meaning and Importance of Judicial Independence

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should by now be regarded as beyond debate having been settled by Commonwealth Heads of Government as a defining principle of the Commonwealth (Latimer House) Principles on the Accountability of the Relationship between the Three Branches of Government (as agreed by Law Ministers and endorsed by Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, Abuja, Nigeria, 2003). Article 1V (c) of the Principles declares: “Adequate resources should be provided for the judicial system to operate effectively without any undue constraints which may hamper the independence sought.” But what, we may well ask, is the reality with the Commonwealth Caribbean? There is no doubt, as the scholars and other commentators have been willing to acknowledge,21 that the Commonwealth Caribbean has been blessed with capable, strong and independent judges and that judicial independence at the individual level is well established and recognised. It is, however, at the institutional level of independence, in practice if not in theory, that we lag behind the modern constitutional standards and, indeed, behind the modern democratic expectations of our citizens. Despite endorsement of the Commonwealth (Latimer House) Principles by all governments throughout the Commonwealth Caribbean, the judiciaries in the main have no autonomous control over their budgetary affairs. Instead, the judicial budgets, even after they are approved and allocated by Parliament, remain under the direct control of the Ministers of Justice, such that expenditure is approved on the piece-meal, virtually item-by-item basis, and must be submitted by the Heads of Judiciary and first approved at the political ministerial level before the expenditure is allowed. So invasive has this practice become in some of our Caribbean jurisdictions, that I have had to commiserate first-hand with colleagues who must first secure ministerial approval before they can travel to attend important conferences such as this one we are fortunate to be attending today -- conferences which are essential for continuing judicial education and for the cross-fertilization of ideas which foster the enhancement of the democracies that we serve. And this sort of budgetary control should not be underestimated for its demoralizing effect. A recent example was the rejection of the request of one of my colleagues for the modest funds to host our annual conference of Caribbean Heads of Judiciary, with a peremptory ministerial rebuff to the effect that “The Government doesn’t have money for that sort of thing”. That was a response that suggested that the Minister had an image in mind of the Chief Justices merely getting together to have a good time! Such an attitude is a parody of our Ca-

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ribbean sense of business. Even more poignant and closer to home, was the recent diversion of the entire legal aid budget away from the Courts by way of ministerial edict for other “nation building purposes”. This was said to be justified in part out of a sense of political umbrage that the Courts should not be spending money on expensive lawyers “to get criminals off the hook”. And this was although the lawyers are paid at the minimal rates prescribed by Cabinet itself. This happened notwithstanding also that in the Cayman Islands the Courts are charged by law and the Constitution with the administration of justice, an essential part of which is the delivery of legal aid for most criminal defendants who cannot afford to pay their own lawyers.22 While the position with legal aid has since been restored to the status quo ante, the episode certainly gave the impression that the political directorate did not regard the administration of justice as an important priority and did not understand the need for the institutional independence of the judiciary as a vital aspect of its ability to administer justice. The episode was an example of how bureaucratic control of the administrative functions of the judiciary can undermine the need of the judicial institution to be insulated from political control. Given all that I have said so far, many of you may well consider to be rhetorical the next question -- “Why is security of tenure and fiscal judicial independence important?” Nevertheless, in reality, it still is a question that exercises the minds and emotions of many in our societies. And why is this? As Justice Stephen Breyer sought to explain,23 “it is not that judicial independence is not (seen by people as) important—(most see it) as very important. Rather, it is because as soon as I start talking about the need for tenure, security of salaries, and adequate resources, the average person will say, “Of course you think that, you have a personal interest, you are a judge. Those are your problems. Every person has problems, and many have worse problems than you.” So Then, Why Is Judicial Independence Important? Throughout the Commonwealth Caribbean, as in the United Kingdom, judges take the oath to do right by all manner of people coming before the courts “without fear or favour, affection or ill-will.” The oath is the judge’s personal acceptance of the requirement of impartiality and at the same time demands freedom from external pressures, whether from the executive, powerful interest groups or even from other judges. No citizen challenging an action or decision of government that affects him The History, Meaning and Importance of Judicial Independence

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or her would want the case decided by a judge whose tenure or promotion may depend on the goodwill of government. And, in this regard, the appearance of the possibility of interference is as important as the reality. But, whatever the perception of the individual litigant may be, it is now widely and ever more increasingly understood that people’s liberty and prosperity depend greatly upon there being strong and independent judicial institutions within the democratic framework of governments. There is now a significant body of legal and political research and studies done by international organizations and human rights activists who have all identified the important role that an independent judiciary must play in securing the fundamental human rights that are promised by modern constitutions. Indeed, many assert that it is the indispensable link in the machinery for securing individual protection against human rights abuses by the instrumentalities of the State.24 The nexus between the independence of the judiciary and human rights has been most strongly emphasized by international organizations. Both the Universal Declarations of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights identify an independent judiciary as one of the essential elements for safeguarding human rights. And the United Nations, which also regularly assists emergent states in establishing systems of justice, has set forth standards for achieving an independent judiciary in its Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary.25 But, of course, none of this is really new. As Alexander Hamilton, one of the framers of the United States Constitution declared: limitations on government “can be preserved in practice no other way than through the medium of courts of justice…. Without this, all the reservations of particular rights or privileges would amount to nothing.”26 Thus, judicial independence is essential, not for the personal sake of the judges, but for the ability of the judges to ensure the rights of citizens. An independent judiciary is able to ensure that powerful individuals must conform to the law—that no one is above the law and no one is below the law. Without it, there is little hope for the rule of law and the preservation of the social contract between the governed and those who govern. As Lord Acton memorably stated, “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”27 A further import of an independent judiciary, not to be overlooked, is the stability that it provides to the economy by the assurance of the rule of law. The harmful consequences of a controlled judiciary are often illustrated by reference to intrusion upon personal liberties. The effect of a dependent judiciary on commercial interests, however, would be equally devastating. Consistent and predictable enforcement of 140

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contractual and commercial rights are crucial to business development. The coexistence in the developed and fast emerging economies of stable, independent court systems and thriving national economies is hardly coincidental. Investors and developers cannot risk doing business in an unstable legal environment where their legal rights depend merely on who is in power. They depend on the uniform application of the law by a judiciary that is not swayed by either popular opinion or political power, but is instead guided by precedent and the rule of law.28 I would suggest that no more needs be said to explain the importance of an independent judiciary. Judicial Accountability What, then, do we make of the notion of judicial accountability? How do we ensure that the judges themselves do not exceed or abuse the authority vested in them by the law and the Constitution? And how are they to be held to account when they fail to carry out their duties in a timely manner? These are all important questions to be addressed in any discussion about the doctrine of separation of powers, the rule of law and judicial independence. Nothing can be more detrimental to the rule of law and the independence of a judiciary than the absence of the trust and confidence of the people they serve—the situation that would readily occur if judges were seen as unaccountable for their misdeeds or incompetence. And the notion of accountability itself gives rise to the spectrum of issues just mentioned. These range from accountability to the rule of law by restraint of judicial activism that would stray into the realm of the legislative and executive functions, to misbehaviour or inability justifying removal, and to disciplinary control for failings which fall short of justifying removal. Time does not allow me now to even attempt an in depth discussion of this range of issues. A particularly notorious example of the first—judicial activism beyond the proper bounds of the law and constitution—is often cited as the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Bush v Gore.29 In this instance, the outcome of a presidential election was determined by judicial edict rather than by reference back to the Florida electoral and constitutional machinery for recount. Many commentators30 believe that in that case the U.S. Supreme Court assumed an activist role, failing to restrain itself within the proper bounds of its Constitutional remit, and, in so doing, allowed itself to be carried by the political philosophies and preferences of its majority. The commentators point to the ultimate harm that such a judicial attitude can do to the public’s confidence and trust in the constitutional safeguards and the rule of law. The History, Meaning and Importance of Judicial Independence

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Whatever one makes of that debate (and there certainly have been other examples of excessive judicial activism over the years), there should be no argument—difficult in practice though it may be—that judges are required to restrain themselves from seeking to “legislate from the bench.” There can be no argument that judges should follow and apply the law and its policies, in keeping with the mandate of the law and the constitution. Thus the term “judicial restraint” in its substantive sense involves a normative approach to exercising judicial power that is genuinely compelled by legal and constitutional principle, not by the whim or philosophical beliefs of the particular judge. As Justice Breyer is reported as having observed, “The good that proper adjudication can do … is only attainable … if judges actually decide according to law, and are perceived … to be deciding according to law, rather than according to their own whim ….”31 Thus, it may be said, a judge’s primary accountability is to the law. The meaning of the term “During Good Behaviour”, as it has filtered down over the centuries into modern constitutions from the Act of Settlement 1701, is now well understood, even if not categorically defined. It is now well understood that judges can and will be accountable by way of removal from office for serious misbehaviour or inability to fulfil the responsibilities of office. While there have mercifully not been a very large number of instances over the years since the Act of Settlement, two recent examples, one from the Cayman Islands32 (the Levers case) and one from Gibraltar33 (involving former Chief Justice Schofield), represent—at opposite ends of the spectrum—the kinds of obvious, as well as far less obvious, circumstances which could result in removal. They are examples of the manner in which the constitutions ensure the accountability of the judges by way of the ultimate sanction of removal. They represent examples of the well-established safeguard of the constitutional checks and balances designed for the protection of the people. But it is in the newly emergent tendency to legislate for the ongoing discipline and control of the judges, even while they are not to be removed but are to remain in office, that there is fertile ground for the seeds of uncertainty being sown amidst the constitutional checks and balances. This is a trend emerging in the form of legislation or regulation even in some of the more advanced and sophisticated democracies such as the United States,34 the United Kingdom,35 and Canada.36 These new regimes respond to the modern expectations of accountability and transparency of the age in which we live and which assume that the more information and control the citizen has about those holding public office, the more they can be called to account for their action or inactions, and so the better democracy works. 142

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But such an objective, in the case of the judiciary, can be readily overstated. An immediately apparent danger of this new kind of judicial control is, of course, its potential intrusiveness upon the need for judicial insularity from external influence and pressure. I will comment a bit further on this below. The trend, mercifully, has not yet found its way to Caribbean shores, perhaps with the singular exception of our own jurisdiction of the Cayman Islands, where the Judiciary, the Governor and the JLSC are in the midst of trying to unravel the Gordian Knot of the new constitutional innovation of ongoing disciplinary control over the judges. A particular difficulty with the Cayman situation is the potential view of the Constitution that which, despite the established principles of separation of powers, would vest in the Governor, the Head of the Executive branch, a general power to exercise ongoing disciplinary control over the judges. By contrast and of great importance, even in those other western constitutional democracies just mentioned above and where this new trend for ongoing disciplinary control of the judges has emerged, it is recognized and accepted that any such process must remain within the judiciary. By way of example, in the United States, the process involves complaints being sent to the Judicial Councils, one established for each of the Eleven Circuits of the Federal Court System. Each Council is composed of circuit court judges in active service and is empowered to “make all necessary orders for the effective and expeditious administration of the business of the courts within its circuits”. This is taken to include such orders or directives as may be necessary to regulate the conduct of the judges, short of removal from office. In the United Kingdom, the process involves an Office of Judicial Complaints, which is headed by a senior judge and which investigates and advises the Lord Chief Justice on matters of disciplinary complaints. Again, the process remains entirely within the judiciary, all matters falling short of justifying the removal of a judge are dealt with as between the judge concerned and the Lord Chief Justice. In the United Kingdom, the immediate sanctions for the kind of misconduct under discussion could include a warning or reprimand by the Lord Chief Justice and guidance given to remedy the shortcoming. In the United States, sanctions available to the Judicial Councils could include public and private censure, orders prohibiting further assignment of cases to the judge in question for a specified period of time (presumably to allow him or her to address any backlog in work) and formal pressure to retire “voluntarily”.37 Even when such a regulatory scheme remains internal to the judiciary (as in the examples cited) —let alone when it involves a regulatory body that is external to The History, Meaning and Importance of Judicial Independence

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the judiciary—I think that any discerning observer will believe that the separationof-powers doctrine requires careful constitutional scrutiny of the potential threat to independence and impartiality.38 Such concerns loom very large indeed when the disciplinary regime is to be imposed from outside the judiciary. This is primarily because the public are immediately likely to question the ability of the judges to remain impartial where a case might involve their external regulator. What in any event, one might well ask, is the justification for seeking to impose this kind of ongoing disciplinary control over the judges? As already observed, it is widely acknowledged that, in general, judges tend to be conscientious and competent in their approach to their duties. Certainly that has been the Caribbean experience over the last 50 years. This, no doubt, as they are only human, is due in no small measure to the fact that judges sit in the open glare of public scrutiny—scrutiny both by the immediate parties involved and by the media on behalf of the public. It is no doubt also due to the fact that judges are amenable to having their decisions immediately reviewed by way of appeal. In other words, by the very nature of what they do, judges are accountable and, in so many ways, more accountable, than the public officials of any other branch of government. And so the question certainly bears asking: Is this newly emergent trend for the ongoing disciplinary control of judges likely to inure to the public good when weighed against the obvious pitfalls and dangers to judicial independence? Already, there are many dissentient voices—a number of them having witnessed the result of the process in the United States—who say “No”. These include voices of criticism raised no less than from within Congressional Committees39 charged with the responsibility of reviewing the system. And their concern is well founded. If the threat of discipline, like the Sword of Damocles hanging over his or her head, instigates in a judge an irrelevant personal interest in the outcome of a particularly troublesome case, the intrusiveness of possible intermediate sanctions relating to his or her functions cannot be justified. Nothing in our long history of constitutional development explains a power in the judges to exercise ongoing discipline over each other, let alone a power in an extra-judicial body to exercise ongoing discipline over the judges. The separation-of-powers framework contemplates that the judiciary will hold its members accountable to the law and to litigants through the powers of appellate review, not through a process of inquisitorial oversight and sanction. Weighing against the apparently thin justification for this type of legislation is the extraordinary danger, especially in our small jurisdictions, of the actual erosion of impartiality that is of the essence of the judicial role. Despite the contrary arguments 144

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of the sponsors of this type of disciplinary regime, it is likely to invite dissatisfied litigants to harass judges who rule against them. Although the disciplinary authorities must dismiss complaints which are based merely on the merits of a decision, they are nonetheless obliged to review the complaints before they can be dismissed. The disgruntled litigant may then seek a review of the dismissal, and may even be able to force the disciplinary authority to review the record of the case. During the time required for these procedures to run their course, the judge under investigation would no doubt feel a chill. Indeed, since authorities may choose to conduct investigations, the judge may be inclined to avoid rendering any further potentially controversial decisions while the complaint is pending. Under such regimes, there would inevitably arise cases in which even the most dispassionate judge, knowing that litigants could “punish” him by harassment by abusing the process, would be unable to preserve an unwavering focus only upon the relevant issues of the cases coming before him. Any disciplinary system that allows or encourages interested parties to strike out at judges is too great an interference with judicial impartiality to be tolerable under the doctrine of separation of powers. Just as legislators must be free to consider and enact legislation, and the members of the executive free to execute the laws and their policies, so must each judge be free to adjudicate fairly and without fear of reprisal. It is for reasons such as these that commentators40 believe that disciplinary regimes like the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act that disturb a judge’s impartiality must, absent a demonstrated democratic necessity, be deemed an unconstitutional infringement upon judicial independence. So, while judges must certainly be accountable for their misdeeds or incompetencies and inefficiencies like everyone else, no disciplinary system should be imposed that would interfere with their ability to be independent. The Next 50 Years? Having, I hope, not overstayed my welcome in my consideration of the interrelated topics of the separation of powers, rule of law, judicial independence and judicial accountability, I think I am expected, in closing, to reflect a bit on what we might expect of the next 50 years of the Caribbean constitutional experience. This is, of course, a task to be approached with great reticence: after all, the most that we can expect by following George Santana’s advice is perhaps to avoid the mistakes of the past, not the ability to predict the future. But it is nonetheless in the sense he advised, that already, I think, there may be important lessons to be learned for the future. The entire history of the inter-relationships between the three branches of government has, time and again, shown the delicate nature of the balance that pivots the The History, Meaning and Importance of Judicial Independence

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separation of powers. Without a deep and abiding sense of mutual respect and appreciation for the fundamental importance of their respective functions, one branch or the other could readily seek to trespass in such a way as to upset, if not destroy, the delicate balance. “Restraint” and “mutual respect and trust” must therefore be the watch words for the future. I have already mentioned the experience of Bush v Gore as an example—at least as perceived in the minds of many—of what can go wrong when there is the absence of appropriate judicial restraint. Recent experiences in the United Kingdom are illustrative of the threat to democracy that can arise from too little restraint on the part of the legislature and the executive in their responses to judicial decisions. Here I refer to the unusual degree of tension that developed after the enactment of the Human Rights Act 1998 between the other arms of government and the judiciary in reaction to judicial decisions, particularly in the field of criminal sentencing, asylum and immigration matters.41 Even more challenging have been the statutes, aimed at the threat of terrorist activity, which seek to detain and control individuals who have yet committed no offence.42 Inevitably, these statutes have given rise to issues which the Courts had to resolve. They involved the difficult problem of balancing the fundamental rights to liberty and a fair trial, with the essential requirements of society for the preservation of its own safety. Judicial pronouncements which came down in favour of the fundamental human rights were criticized for not paying due regard to public safety. Often, the most strident and misinformed criticisms came from members of Parliament who vented their misgivings from behind the safety of Parliamentary privilege. The fact that the British judiciary has emerged from this tense debate even stronger than before is due in great part to the measured and clearly articulated responses from the House of Lords decisions of the day, most notably, perhaps, those flowing from the pen of Lord Bingham.43 While the firm resolve of the court for the fulfilment of its functions and its concerns for human dignity and for the rights of the individual were unmistakable, so too was the courts’ willingness, in an appropriate case, to recognize, acknowledge and defer to the legislative and executive roles, in the design and implementation of legislative policy. This measured judicial approach provided the British public with the necessary assurance that the courts would not unduly overreach into the legislative or executive realms, recognizing, as Lord Devlin had once stated that: “…the British have no more wish to be governed by judges than they have to be judged by administrators.”44 As we look to the future, it is only reasonable to expect that similarly difficult and 146

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potentially tense constitutional issues—pitting the rights of the individual against the mandate of the State—will continue to arise for determination by our Caribbean Courts. At the domestic level within each of our Caribbean polities, the judges will face challenges like those which the House of Lords had to confront in dealing with politically fraught cases. The Caribbean Court of Justice, as the modern reaffirmation of the short-lived Federal Supreme Court, is already for some—and is likely to become for many states—the supra-national and final appellate Court. As Caribbean citizens, we have every right to expect, and so must insist upon, the same kind of measured, restrained and mutually respectful responses amongst the participants within the separate branches of our constitutional democracies, as have emerged to solidify and ensure the future of those democracies that we would seek to emulate. If by their actions and criticisms aimed against each other, the separate branches of Government erode the public trusts and respect that is so vital to the fulfilment of the responsibilities vested by our constitutions, they will end up undermining the democracy and the Rule of Law on which our societies depend. As we progress into the future, we should be ever sensitive to the reality that with neither the power of the sword nor the power of the purse45 the judicial branch has an enduring vulnerability to attack. The trust and faith vested in the judiciary could only have happened -- and will only be maintained in the future -- if the judges, while remaining appropriately accountable, are also insulated from undue pressures and safeguarded in their independence. Notes 1. Cessation of the Federation and the grant of independence were enabled by the 2.

4. 5. 6.

West Indies Act 1962. The leftist New Jewel Movement seized power in a coup in 1979, suspending the Constitution adopted upon independence from Britain in 1974. The Constitution was restored after a U.S.-led invasion, supported by troops from Jamaica. Britain suspends Constitution of the Turks and Caicos, 14 August 2009. www. fco.gov.uk/en/news: “A major step to clean up public life in Turks and Caicos Islands”. David C. Flatto, “The Historical Origins of Judicial Independence and Their Modern Resonances,” 117 Yale L.J. Part 8 (2007) and Deuteronomy 17:8-13. Diamont, Max: Jews, God and History, New York, 1994, p. 45. The Oxford Encyclopaedia of Ancient Greece and Rome, Vol. 1, by Gagovi and

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Fantham; Oxford University Press, February 16, 2010. 7. Rt. Hon. Brooke LJ, Court of Appeal, England. (1997). “Judicial Independence – Its History in England and Wales.” In Helen Cunningham (Ed.), Fragile Bastion: Judicial Independence in the Nineties and Beyond. Sydney, Judicial Commission of New South Wales. Retrieved from http://www.judcom.nsw.gov.au/ publications/education-monographs-1/monograph1 8. W. Holdworth, History of English Law (7th Ed. 1956), 195. 9. See “Judicial Independence”: Brooke LJ 10. Catherine Drinker Bowen: The Lions and the Throne: The Life and Times of Sir Edward Coke 1552-1634. 11. See Dr. Karen Brewer, Secretary General of CJMA: “100 days of the EPG Reform Agenda – Progress and Priorities. The Strengthening of Democracy, Rule of Law and Human Rights in the Commonwealth”. 12. BBC News Asia; 19th June 2012 13. For having declared the opponent of the incumbent Prime Minister to have been the winner of the last elections: The Australian News, Feb. 12, 2012. 14. For having ordered the release from unlawful detention of the Opposition Leader citing “corruption” as the grounds of arrest: The Jurist, 17 January 2012. 15. Irish Rule of Law International, January 2012. 16. The Guardian, AP Foreign, Friday January 6 2012. The arrest of a judge in the Cayman Islands in 2008 by the police on the spurious basis of “misconduct in public office” with the knowledge of the Governor of the day was an egregious example of attack upon the judiciary by the executive: Henderson v The Governor: www.judicial.ky/CILR2008 17. So described by Aharon Barak: The Judge in a Democracy; Princeton University Press 2006 adopting the dicta from Cooper v Canada [1996] 3 S.C.R. 854, 867. 18. See: Fiss, “The Limits of Judicial Independence,” 25 U. Miami Inter-Am. L. Rev. 58 (1993) for the coining of this expression. 19. Rosenn: “The Protection of Judicial Independence in Latin America,” 19. U. Miami Inter-am. L. Rev. 1-25 (1987). 20. Thus, a more accurate definition of judicial independence might be posited:

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“Judicial independence refers to the existence of judges who are not manipulated for political gain, who are impartial towards the parties of a dispute, and who form a judicial branch which has the power and means of an institution to regulate the legality of government behaviour, deliver “neutral” justice, and determine significant constitutional and legal values.” (See Rosenn (supra).) 21. See, for instance: Constitutional Reform in the English-speaking Caribbean: Challenges and Prospects (The Judiciary at page 10). A report prepared for the Conflict Prevention and Peace Forum January 2011: www.webarchive.ssrc.org. 22. The diversion of the legal aid budget happened also despite the clear provisions of Section 107 of the Cayman Islands Constitution which states: “The Legislature and the Cabinet shall uphold the rule of law and judicial independence, and shall ensure that adequate funds are provided to support the Judicial Administration in the Cayman Islands.” 23. “Comment: Liberty, Prosperity, and a Strong Judicial Institution.” http://www. law.duke.edu/journals/61LCPBreyer. 24. See, for a useful survey: “Judicial Independence and Human Rights Protection Around the World,” Linda Camp Keith, Judicature, Vol. 85 November 4, January-February 2002. 25. Adopted by the Seventh United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, Milan, 26th August – 6th September 1985 and endorsed by General Assembly Resolutions 40/32 of 29 Nov. 1985 and 40/146 of 13th December 1985. 26. Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist Newspaper, No. 78, at 465, 466 (Clinton Rossiter ed., 19610. 27. En.wikiquote.org/wiki/John.Dulberg-Acton. 28. “Judging Judges: Securing Judicial Independence by Use of Judicial Performance Evaluations.” Penny J White, Vol. 29, Fordham Urban Law Journal, 153. 29. Bush v Gore: www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/00-949.ZPC.html. 30. A comprehensive summary of the commentaries can be seen at “When Freedom Isn’t Free: The Cost of Judicial Independence in Bush v Gore: Karlan 64 OHIO St. L.J. 265, 2003. 31. Remarks to the Conference of the Supreme Court of the Americas, October 1995 http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itdhr/1296/ijde/bfeyer.htm. 32. Levers v The Governor of the Cayman Islands [2009] UKPC 0092 33. The Hearing on the Report of the Chief Justice of Gibraltar [2009] UKPC 43 34. 28 U.S.C. chp. 332 (1976). The History, Meaning and Importance of Judicial Independence

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35. The Judicial Discipline (Prescribed Procedures) (Amendment) Regulations

2008. 36. Through the Canadian Judicial Council (for Superior Court Judges) or the provincial Judicial Council (for Provincial Court judges) 37. 28 USC Ch. 332 S. 1873 subs. 2(d) (2). 38. As Irving Kaufman suggests in “The Essence of Judicial Independence,” Columbia Law Review, Vol. 80 No. 4 May 1880. 39. See Kaufman, ibid p.698 and S.1428, 95th Cong. 2nd Session. S. Rep. No. 1035, 95th Cong. 2nd Sess. 47-71 (1978); and Penny White, supra. “Judging Judges”: p.1057. 40. See Kaufman in previous footnote for a survey of the commentaries. 41. Lord Justice David Keen of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales presents an insightful examination of the subject in his article: “The Independence of the Judge,” published in Tom Bingham and the Transformation of the Law, A Liber Amicorum, Oxford University Press, 2011 (Rep.). 42. They include the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 and the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005. 43. See, for examples: A and Others v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2004] UKHL 56; Secretary of State for the Home Department v JJ [2007] UKHL 45; and Secretary of State for the Home Department v MB [2007] UKHL 46. 44. “The courts and the abuse of power”, The Times, 27 October 1976. 45. Alexander Hamilton: “The Federalist,” No. 78 at 465 (Clinton Rossiter, Ed. 1961).

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REBRANDING THE CAYMAN ISLANDS WALID HEJAZI, ZORAN GRABOVAC AND J.D. MATCHETT Rotman School of Management & University College of the Cayman Islands Abstract Fully aware of its global view and vulnerability to policy changes in onshore jurisdictions, the Cayman Islands has begun a journey to shed its image as a tax haven to become a more transparent and economically diversified jurisdiction. To be successful, there is need for a well-articulated vision for the future together with alignment of key stakeholders including government, private sector, media and academia. The Future of Cayman initiative is entirely consistent with the approach needed, and if executed properly would change the world view of the Cayman Islands and would ensure the long term sustainability of its prosperity.

*Hejazi@rotman.utoronto.ca **Zoran.Grabovac15@rotman.utoronto.ca â&#x20AC; JMosley-Matchett@ucci.edu.ky

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Our belief is that brands truly have the power to change the world, they have the power to change the way we view the world and how we choose to see one country in contrast to another. http://www.brandchannel.com/images/papers/country_branding.pdf The Cayman Islands are poised to break with decades of secrecy by opening thousands of companies and hedge funds domiciled on the offshore Caribbean territory to greater scrutiny. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/22f602b2-60d4-11e2-a31a-00144feab49a. html#axzz2uiBBSMeg Jan 17, 2013 The Future of Cayman initiative was implemented by the Chamber of Commerce and endorsed and supported by Government to bring both public and private sectors together as we partner to achieve the best possible quality of life, business climate, employment, and investment opportunities available to us. Future of Cayman http://www.futureofcaymanforum.ky/about.html

INTRODUCTION At a 2013 lecture at UCCI1, Jack Blum, a leading US attorney specializing in money-laundering cases and investigations of offshore tax evasion, discussed the international view of the Cayman Islands. In his opening comments, he talked about why he first visited the Cayman Islands in 1973: his trip was part of a Senate investigation into the disappearance of money in a large US fraud. Over the past many decades, the Cayman Islands has been linked to such activities—a destination to hide money from onshore jurisdictions. The Cayman Islands was recently highlighted in a speech by President Obama: For years, we’ve talked about shutting down overseas tax havens that let companies set up operations to avoid paying taxes in America. That’s what our budget will finally do. On the campaign, I used to talk about the outrage of a building in the Cayman Islands that had over 12,000 businesses—businesses claim this building as their headquarters. And I’ve said before, either this is the largest building in the world or the largest tax scam in the world.2 152

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While the funds involved were often the fruits of legal pursuits by those wanting to avoid paying taxes, there were also claims that the Cayman Islands was used to launder the proceeds of illegal activity. Even Hollywood has taken liberties with the Cayman Islands’ brand by portraying it as place to launder money or set up dummy companies to avoid paying taxes—for example, Tom Cruise’s The Firm. It would be fruitless to dispute such claims—there is ample evidence that the Caymans was used for such purposes. But there is also ample evidence of significant changes—it is no longer a centre for such activities. However, as is typically the case, changing an international brand is not an overnight event—it is a long-term process and must be legitimate. To that end, in the year 2000, Governor Smith agreed to changes in a letter addressed to the OECD: I am writing in connection with the OECD’s project on harmful tax competition. I am pleased to inform you that the Cayman Islands herby commits to the elimination of tax practices determined by the Forum to be harmful in accordance with the OECD’s Report….the government of the Cayman Islands commits in particular to a programme of effective exchange of information in tax matters, transparency, and the elimination of any aspects of the regimes for financial and other services that attract business with no substantial domestic activities.3 It is well documented that the presence of transparency and exchange of information are key requirements for the reduction of corruption, tax evasion, and other illegal activity.4 Furthermore, in the case of offshore low-tax jurisdictions, institutions that ensure transparency and exchange of information are necessary to prevent these jurisdictions from being used to evade paying taxes legally due in onshore jurisdictions or to launder the proceeds of illegal activity. At the same time, there must be safeguards in place to ensure the sovereignty of the Cayman Islands and other offshore jurisdictions—simply exchanging information or responding to requests of onshore jurisdictions is not the answer. There must be “mutual” respect in such international agreements. Any international agreements should not allow onshore jurisdictions to simply go fishing for information. As such, these agreements are not straightforward to create or implement. The significant efforts on the part of the Cayman Islands have been rewarded— the Cayman Islands is on the OECD’s list of “Jurisdictions Committed to Improving Transparency and Establishing Effective Exchange of Information in Tax Matters”.5 Furthermore, the success is reflected in the fact that the head of the Global AntiCorruption rating Agency will open UCCI’s 2014 Ethics conference. Dr. Huguette Labelle is the Chair of the Board of Transparency International, an organization that Rebranding the Cayman Islands

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works in more than 100 countries in the fight against corruption. Each year, Transparency International scores countries on a Corruptions Perceptions Index regarding how corrupt their public sectors are seen to be. It is no coincidence of their engagement with the Cayman Islands—this is clearly an indication of the commitment demonstrated by the Islands to move in the direction of enhanced transparency and exchange of information. This discussion highlights the efforts undertaken by the Cayman Islands to shed its image as a tax haven and move it in the direction of a more sustainable and internationally tax-responsible jurisdiction. Many countries have successfully redefined their image in the world. Great examples include Japan, which in the past was portrayed as an enemy to the West, a country that produced cheap products, copied western technologies, and— of course— perpetrated the attack on Pearl Harbor. Today Japan is viewed as a friend and reliable ally of the West, an advanced Western democracy, producing some of the world’s most advanced automobiles and electronics. Consider the case of Germany, which, despite two world wars and the Holocaust, changed its brand such that products made in Germany carry an “extra aura”.6 German cars are preferred in many countries globally, both attributable to their quality and other attractive features, but also in part to the image of Germany as a country which is efficient and of high technical and quality standards. The country brand helps tremendously. China is a country currently in the midst of such a transformation, but with a long and complicated journey ahead. Dubai is yet another example of a small jurisdiction with very little oil, but is surrounded by countries flooded with oil. As a result of the leadership and vision of its ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai has been transformed into a leading global financial and tourist hub. In fact, there have been discussions between the governments of Dubai and the Cayman Islands on a possible partnership deal for a proposed new enterprise zone.7 That is, it may be possible to think of Dubai as a model of sorts for developing the future vision of the Cayman Islands. These examples highlight the benefits that can flow from shedding an image of the past and moving into a new direction that creates an economy that can deliver significant prosperity for its people. But this also highlights a fundamental theme that the global brand must be supported by the realities on the ground, and the reality and the brand must be consistent with one another. The first necessary step in this process of transformation is articulating a vision for the future of the Cayman Islands, a “narrative” that must be developed with participation and alignment of all stakeholders. The Future of the Cayman initiative, an 154

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inclusive public private partnership, has clearly achieved this first goal. This initiative will be discussed detail below. The second required step is developing a strategy to achieve this new vision, which has also been achieve through the release of the Future of Cayman Strategy Document. As such, this initiative has successfully completed the first two required steps. In order to be successful in this transformation, however, is the third required step, namely execution of the strategy. As will be discussed below, this is a very difficult journey which requires steadfast leadership and a determination to implement the changes required, as the cost of failure is too great. The format of this paper is as follows. Section 2 of this paper lays out the basic requirements to define a global brand. Section 3 discusses the pillars of a global brand with an application to the Cayman Islands. Section 4 discusses The Cayman Brand and a Path Forward, and particularly the Future of Cayman initiative. Section 5 concludes. Steps In Defining A Country Brand?8 There are three essential building blocks to establish a national brand. First, there must be a “clearly defined national narrative, an agreement on a differentiating and relevant story of what the nation truly stands for”. Second, this narrative has to guide and direct brand execution—a “focused, strategy-led communication rather than stand-alone, short-term campaigns and taglines”. Third, is the requirement for “a consistent stream of actions and behaviours that constantly prove the truth of the defined national narrative.” A key difficulty therefore is coordinating the key stakeholders—government, business, the media and academia—to align on the national narrative, or the themes, that drive the country’s brand, and ensure that these themes are communicated repeatedly and consistently. Such a strategy of alignment ensures all stakeholders work to the same branding objectives, reinforces the repeated messaging, and also enhances domestic and international recognition and understanding of the emerging brand. Many countries lack an ability to drive such alignment—after all the government cannot “force” this upon other stakeholders—there must be a consensus building process to drive alignment. Therefore, a key challenge is how all stakeholders can converge to such a consensus. A key principle in management is the idea that “if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it”. This turns out to be the case in building a country brand as well. If a country is to build and nurture a new or more clearly defined international brand, it is imperative that a thorough understanding be developed of how the country is curRebranding the Cayman Islands

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rently perceived both domestically and internationally. This understanding must then be used in developing a new country brand. There must be a clear understanding of the country’s strengths and weaknesses, both objectively measured and perceived. Part of the brand building process is working to close any existing gaps—it is not enough to change the reality: perceptions must be changed as well. Reputations have long memories, and often the perceptions lag the actual changes that occur. In measuring the current brand, both factors external to the country and those internal to the country must be taken into account. External factors include Awareness, Familiarity, Preference, Consideration, Advocacy, and Active Decisions. Internal factors include the Value System, Quality of Life, Ease of Business, Tourism, Heritage and Culture, and Governance.9 These factors and their link to a country’s global brand are laid out in Figure 1. Together, these factors form the basis of how the world views a country and how it views itself. With this understanding, the three steps discussed above to create a country brand can be implemented, namely (1) defining the narrative—that is, where do we want to go; (2) the strategy—how we plan on getting there; and (3) execution—ensuring there is alignment and the actions of stakeholders work towards meaningful real and perceived change. Figure 1 Brand Foundation

Source: Authors’ creation using Interbrand inputs.

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As noted by Interbrand, “a strong country brand is more than the sum of its attributes: in total, it must make people’s lives better.” Therefore, quantifying the sum of all the components is the first step in truly understanding the current brand of the Cayman Islands. 3. Quantifying the Factors underlying the Brand: An Application to the Cayman Islands In this section, the internal and external factors that together define the foundation of a country’s brand will be discussed with applications to the Cayman Islands. 3.1 External Factors Box 1 provides the list of the External Factors, a general description of how they are measured, and a description of how the Cayman Islands ranks on each factor. A detailed discussion of each factor and the rank of the Cayman Islands follows. Box 1. External Factors – Data Sources Variable Awareness Familiarity Preference Consideration Advocacy Active Decisions

Measurement Google Search Results

Cayman Islands Value Relative Tourism: Low Relative Economic: Medium Number of Online Forum Topics 6th out of 7 Caribbean destinations Tourist Arrivals per Capita #1 among peers Google Trends score Relatively low Number of Travel Reviews 6th out of 7 Caribbean destinations Travel Statistics – change in 20% increase in air arrivals, 14% decrease tourism over last 3 years in cruise arrivals from 2010 to 2013

Corporations registered in a year Over 9,400 corporations registered in 2013, representing a 5.15% increase from the previous year.

Awareness Awareness is defined as the extent to which information about the country exists relative to others. While there are many ways for this to be measured we quantify this by using the number of internet (Google) search results that exist for the country, indexed against similar jurisdictions. In the case of the Cayman Islands, its value relative to comparable tourism destinations is low, whereas for comparable economic dstinations it is medium. Jurisdictions used for comparison were selected based on comparability in tourism and economic activity.

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Table 1. Awareness Country Tourism Comparator CountryEconomic Comparator Search Results Search Results (millions) (millions) Cuba Dominican Republic Trinidad and Tobago Jamaica The Bahamas Barbados Cayman Islands

129 124 101 96.8 89.5 86.4 85.7

Singapore The Bahamas Cayman Islands Bermuda British Virgin Islands Turks and Caicos

320 89.5 85.7 79.6 68.9 63.9

Note: Search terms used: “Cuba”, “Dominican Republic”, “Trinidad and Tobago”, “Jamaica”, “The Bahamas”, “Barbados”, “Cayman Islands”, “Singapore”, “Bermuda”, “British Virgin Islands”, and “Turks and Caicos”. Familiarity Familiarity is defined as the extent to which knowledge of the country permeates overall relative to comparable jurisdictions. In this case, the variable is measured and indexed against nearby jurisdictions by the number of online forum topics (on TripAdvisor.com) related to tourism in the country. The value for the Cayman Islands relative to a comparable group of Caribbean destinations is 6th out of 7. Table 2. Familiarity Country (Tourism Comparator)

Aggregate Number of Forum Topics

Dominican Republic

151,216

Cuba

122,797

Jamaica

102,473

The Bahamas

32,967

Barbados

23,520

Cayman Islands

12,616

Trinidad and Tobago

2,303

Note: Search terms used on TripAdvisor: “Dominican Republic”, “Cuba”, “Jamaica”, “The Bahamas”, “Barbados”, “Cayman Islands”, “Trinidad and Tobago”.

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Preference Preference is defined as the country’s ability to draw visitors when compared to its peers. Since there are significant variations in the absolute size of the countries being compared, both geographically and demographically, this variable is measured and indexed against nearby jurisdictions by the total air and cruise tourist arrivals per capita. By this measure, the Cayman Islands rank first among comparable Caribbean jurisdictions. Table 3. Preference Country (Tourism Comparator) Cayman Islands

Population Tourist Arrivals Tourist Arrivals per capita (latest available information) 57,570 1,721,259

29.899

The Bahamas

371,960

5,940,170

15.970

Barbados

283,221

575,000

2.030

2,712,000

3,306,168

1.219

Dominican Republic

10,280,000

3,992,000

0.388

Trinidad and Tobago

1,337,400

385,500

0.288

11,270,000

3,000,000

0.266

Jamaica

Cuba

Consideration Consideration is defined as the extent to which prospective “customers” include the country in their basket of options. This variable is measured by the country’s Google Trends score, which ranks the relative volume of searches for topics related to given keywords, in this case the country’s name. The Cayman Islands score relatively low on this measure of consideration. The Cayman Islands (blue) score was compared to the Bahamas (red), Barbados (yellow), and Cuba (green). Figure 2. Country’s Google Trend Scores

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Advocacy Advocacy is defined as the extent to which customers, whether potential or existing, recommend the country. This variable is measured and indexed against nearby jurisdictions by the aggregate number of reviews (on TripAdvisor.com) related to the country’s tourism industry. As with Familiarity, the Cayman Islands ranks 6th out of 7 on this measure. The following jurisdictions were used as a basis for comparison: Jamaica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, The Bahamas, Barbados, and Trinidad and Tobago. Table 4. Advocacy Country (Tourism Comparator)

Aggregate Number of Reviews

Dominican Republic

324,466

Cuba

257,530

Jamaica

190,481

The Bahamas

95,101

Barbados

69,375

Cayman Islands

63,516

Trinidad and Tobago

22,570

Note: Search terms used on TripAdvisor: “Dominican Republic Hotels”, “Cuba Hotels”, “Jamaica Hotels”, “The Bahamas Hotels”, “Barbados Hotels”, “Cayman Islands Hotels”, and “Trinidad and Tobago Hotels”.

Active Decisions Active Decisions is defined as the economic transactions that customers initiate with respect to the country. This variable is measured by two factors: the change in tourism transactions in the previous 3 years and the number of corporations registered per year. Because of the nature and limited availability of the information, these values are ranked relative to the country’s previous years’ results rather than external comparators. This measure shows a 20% increase in air arrivals, a 14% decrease in cruise arrivals, and an increase of 5% in corporations registered in 2013 relative to 2012. Recent trends for both air and cruise arrivals are shown below. Although air arrivals seem to have tapered for several years before dipping significantly in 2005 due to the devastation brought about by Hurricane Ivan, by 2013 they appear to have returned to earlier levels. Cruise arrivals, however, have been in decline since 2006, when they hit a peak of nearly 2 million. The drop from the all-time highs is nearly 30%, suggesting a worrying erosion in the country’s larger source of tourist arrivals, potentially as a result of an erosion in the country brand.

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Figure 3

Source: http://www.caymanislands.ky/statistics/currentarrivalsstatistics.aspx Figure 4

Source: http://www.caymanislands.ky/statistics/currentarrivalsstatistics.aspx

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3.2 Internal Factors Box 2 provides the list of the Internal Factors, how they are measured, and a description of how the Cayman Islands ranks on each factor. A discussion of each factor and the rank of the Cayman Islands are provided below. Box 2. Internal Factors – Data Sources Variable Value System1

Quality of Life2 Ease of Doing Business2 Tourism3 Heritage and Culture4

Measurement Religiosity, School Life Expectancy, Political Breadth

HDI – Use United Kingdom as proxy World Bank Ease of Doing Business Index Travel and Tourism Index Hofstede 6 Dimensions of Culture

Cayman Islands Value Religiosity – 6th School Life Expectancy – 6th Political Breadth – 8th (All values out of 11 ranked) Very High – 0.875 Very high – 83.52% 4.42 – would be ranked 51st in the world Power Distance: 32.5 (low) Individualism: 98 (high) Masculinity: 63.5 Uncertainty Avoidance: 35.5 Pragmatism: 52 Indulgence: 50*

Governance

World Bank Governance Indicators

*Ranked lower due to information from government site below Voice and Accountability – 65th percentile Government Effectiveness – 85th percentile Political Stability and the Absence of Violence – 82nd percentile Regulatory Quality – 82nd percentile Rule of Law – 77th percentile Control of Corruption – 89th percentile

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Value System The Value System is defined as the collective principles and attitudes that are adopted by a social group, which in this case is the Cayman Islands. This variable is measured across 3 dimensions: Religiosity (the percentage of the population adhering to any religion), School Life Expectancy (the number of years a child is expected to remain in school upon entering the system, from primary to tertiary education), and Political Breadth (the number of political parties present in the country representing differing views). For each of these dimensions, the Cayman Islands is benchmarked against Economic and Tourism comparators. These results are provided in Table 5. Along these criteria, the Cayman Islands is placed 6th, and 8th respectively among a group of 11 economic and tourism comparator countries. Table 5. Value System Country

Religiosity

Rank School Life Expectancy 8 13

Rank Political Rank Breadth 4 7 2

Singapore

83.6%

Cayman Islands

90.7%

Bermuda

82.3%

98%

100%

British Virgin Islands Turks and Caicos Cuba

90%

Dominican Republic

100%

Trinidad and Tobago

98.1%

Jamaica

79.1%

The Bahamas

97.1%

Barbados

79.4%

Source: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ In some respects, the social and the tourism aspects of a countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s brand are correlated. The choice and experience of visitors in many cases is highly dependent on the perceived culture and social fabric of the country. Contributing to the social aspect of the brand are three main factors: social norms, legal standards, and local attitude. Social norms of the Cayman Islands is viewed as relatively conservative and religious. This is supported by the law requiring most businesses to close on Sundays, in accordance with religious beliefs.10 The legal system in the country is viewed as highly protective of locals, enforcing strict immigraRebranding the Cayman Islands

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tion and citizenship controls. The country is viewed as putting these policies into place to restrict entry into the Cayman Islands.11 This creates an image of the country as hostile to foreigners and a generally “closed” country to external observers. In terms of local attitudes, the external viewpoint is generally mixed. While many visitors to the island have a generally positive impression, some have described locals as “rude”.12 While the majority opinion tends toward the positive, there is a sense of wariness about the attitudes of local residents to foreigners. Quality Of Life Quality of life is represented by the Human Development Index (HDI), a composite measure that integrates life expectancy, education (including adult literacy and gross enrollment), and GDP per capita. In this case, no direct data exist for the Cayman Islands. One possible way around this is to use the HDI measure for Great Britain. The value of 0.875 ranks very high on the global scale. Table 6. Human Development Index Components Country

HDI

2012 Rank

L/E

Schooling Income Per capita

Singapore

0.895

18 81.2

14.4

$52,613

Cayman Islands / UK

0.875

26 80.3

16.4

$32,538

Barbados

0.825

38 77.0

16.3

$17,308

The Bahamas

0.794

49 75.9

12.6

$27,401

Cuba

0.780

59 79.3

16.2

$5,539

Trinidad and Tobago

0.760

67 70.3

11.9

$21,941

Jamaica

0.730

85 73.3

13.1

$6,701

Dominican Republic

0.702

96 73.6

12.3

$8,506

https://data.undp.org/dataset/Table-1-Human-Development-Index-and-its- components/wxub-qc5k

Ease Of Business Ease of Doing Business is measured by the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index. This overall index is an aggregate of 10 underlying factors related to business activity: (1) starting a business (2) dealing with construction permits (3) getting electricity (4) registering property (5) getting credit (6) protecting investors (7) paying taxes (8) trading across borders (9) enforcing contracts and (10) resolving insolvency. As with the HDI, there are no data provided by the World Bank on these measures for the Cayman Islands. While not a perfect comparator, the United Kingdom is used 164

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as a proxy measure for the Cayman Islands. As with the HDI, this measure ranks as very high on the global scale at 83.52%, or 10th globally. Table 7. Ease of Doing Business (Ranking) Country

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

Over- S/B all

C/P

Elec

Reg. Prop.

(5)

(6)

(7)

Get- Prot. ting Inv. Credit 3 2

Singapore

Cayman Islands / UK

Barbados

142

The Bahamas

Trinidad and Tobago

Jamaica

Dominican Republic

117

144

(8)

Pay. Tax

(9)

Trade E/C

(10) Ins

170

112

110

182

115

125

178

174

114

132

114

109

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115

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Source: http://www.doingbusiness.org/ (1) starting a business (2) dealing with construction permits (3) getting electricity (4) registering property (5) getting credit (6) protecting investors (7) paying taxes (8) trading across borders (9) enforcing contracts and (10) resolving insolvency

The Cayman Islands is viewed by the business community in a positive and optimistic, yet cautious manner. The political and administrative arms of the country are viewed positively by the business community. The opening in 2012 of Cayman Enterprise City, a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) that is regarded as among the top 1% in the world, saw praise given to the “cooperation and pro-business attitude” of the government and the civil service.13 In addition, Moody’s reaffirmed the country’s Aa3 sovereign debt rating in February, 2013, citing factors such as stability, a relatively low debt burden, a strong institutional framework, and prudent macroeconomic management alongside a wellfunctioning legal system as the primary reasons for this.14 Moreover, the Cayman Islands are regarded as one of the world’s pre-eminent financial centres, particularly for domiciling offshore investment funds. The reasons for this are many, including those cited by Moody’s as well as factors such as structural flexibility, specialist service providers (such as accountancy, legal services, and investment expertise), investor confidence and familiarity, and tax neutrality.15 This positive view is reflected in its prominence as an international financial center. Despite having a small domestic economy, the Cayman Islands are a major player in global finance. As of June, 2012, total international assets and liabilities (crossRebranding the Cayman Islands

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border positions in domestic and foreign currency and domestic positions in foreign currency) stood at US$1.460 trillion and US$1.528 trillion, respectively, with crossborder and domestic assets of US$1.429 trillion and US$31 billion and liabilities of US$1.472 trillion and US$56 billion. Furthermore, the Cayman Islands ranked fourth internationally based on the value of cross-border liabilities booked from the Cayman Islands: US$1.441 trillion (June 2011: $1.672 trillion). Cayman also ranked sixth in terms of cross-border assets booked: US$1.429 trillion (June 2011: US$1.661 trillion). Of the US$1.472 trillion in cross-border liabilities as at June 2012, US$1.365 trillion represents cross-border deposit liabilities of which over 60% (US$824 billion) represents inter-bank bookings between onshore banks and their Cayman Islands branches or subsidiaries. This US$1.365 trillion in deposits was used to provide US$1.174 trillion and US$51 billion of cross- border loans to Developed Countries and Latin America, respectively, highlighting the role of the Cayman Islands as a financial intermediary providing capital for cross-border investments. Despite this positive image with the business world, there are some concerns which persist. In the same report that reaffirmed its Aa3 credit rating, Moody’s raised concerns that the economy was small and quite narrowly focused. The economy is simply not very large in absolute size, and its dependence on tourism and finance lead to significant vulnerability to fluctuations in either of these sometimes turbulent sectors. In addition to this concern, the country carries with it a reputation for clandestine financial activity. In addition to the tax benefits seen by investors, the country’s “minimal disclosure requirements” and “tough corporate privacy laws” have received harsh international criticism and have led to a stubborn reputation for secrecy.16 In summary, therefore, the reputation of the Cayman Islands in the business world is generally positive, with some criticisms and reservations. A cooperative and open attitude towards business coupled with strong policies and institutional factors outweigh the concerns regarding secrecy and economic breadth. However, reputations built over several decades tend to outlast the policies on which they are based. Tourism Tourism as an internal measure is represented by the Travel and Tourism Index, a measurement of the factors that contribute to the attractiveness of a country for the development of business in the travel and tourism industry. As no direct data exist for the Cayman Islands, this measure was derived using the average of comparable countries including the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and the United 166

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Kingdom. Its composite score of 4.42 would place it above average at 51st in the world. Table 8. Travel and Tourism Index Country Barbados Cayman Islands Jamaica Trinidad and Tobago Dominican Republic

Score 4.88 4.42 4.08 3.93 3.88

Rank 27 51 67 83 86

The Caribbean tends to be a very popular destination among tourists, and the Cayman Islands is no exception to this. In this respect, the country is a highly regarded vacation destination and is globally recognized, having come in second place on TripAdvisor’s 2013 Traveller’s Choice awards17. Furthermore, the Cayman Islands regularly receives high scores and positive feedback in travel reviews. This reputation is substantiated by the scale of tourism the islands experience annually. The number of air arrivals, at 345,000 tourists, is approximately 7 times larger than the country’s population in 2013.18 Additionally, the number of cruise arrivals, totaling approximately 1.375 million in the same year, represents approximately 24 times the country’s population. Although the absolute number of tourists may not rank among the highest worldwide, relative to the population it represents a very large and important contribution to the economy and the country’s reputation. Despite these impressive tourist numbers, there may be cause for concern, particularly with respect to the exposure of the country’s economy to the tourism industry. While the number of air arrivals increased by 20% from 2011 to 2013, the number of cruise arrivals decreased by 14% in the same time period. This may indicate a net erosion in the Cayman Islands tourism brand. In absolute terms, this represents a net loss in tourism arrivals of nearly 10,700 or approximately 1% of the total annual amount. Although this does not represent a significant figure in absolute or relative terms, it serves to highlight the fact that the contribution to the economy by travel and tourism is not a given and must be cultivated through reputation and branding. As will be discussed below, the importance of smart infrastructure must also be considered especially as it relates to the development of a pier and new retail space which should enhance the attractiveness of the Islands to tour companies and tourists.

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Heritage And Culture Heritage and Culture is measured based on Hofstede’s six Dimensions of Culture (http://geert-hofstede.com/countries.html). The dimensions included in this measure cannot be ranked in the traditional sense, but can be compared both within and across countries to ascertain a general impression of the Island’s culture. The six dimensions include Power Distance, Individualism, Masculinity, Uncertainty Avoidance, Pragmatism, and Indulgence. The values are derived from the composite of United Kingdom and Trinidad and Tobago values, as no direct data exist for the Cayman Islands or more appropriate comparator countries. These measures show a relatively low Power Distance, high Individualism, above average Masculinity, relatively low Uncertainty Avoidance, and average Pragmatism and Indulgence scores for the Cayman Islands. Governance: The World Bank Governance Measures19 The Cayman Islands is a self-governed overseas territory of the United Kingdom, and is a parliamentary democracy with three branches of government: the judiciary, the executive and the legislature. Governance is a key pillar of a country’s global brand, and reflects its ability to effectively implement policies that protect its people and goals, as well as outside factors such as the influence of corruption at the macroor micro-levels. The most widely used and most extensive measures of institutional quality are those developed by the World Bank under the direction of Daniel Kaufmann and his colleagues (Kaufmann et al (2003). These measures cover six dimensions of each country’s institutional framework as noted in Box 3. These include Voice and Accountability, Government Effectiveness, Political Stability and Absence of Violence/ Terrorism, Regulatory Quality, Rule of Law, and Control of Corruption. These indicators together serve to illustrate the extent to which the governance structure of a given country is conducive to a stable, open, and effective governing system and society.

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Box 3. World Bank Governance Indicators Voice and Accountability

The extent to which a countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s citizens are able to participate in selecting their government, as well as freedom of expression, freedom of association, and a free media

Political Stability and Absence of Violence/ Terrorism

The likelihood that the government will be destabilized by unconstitutional or violent means, including terrorism.

Government Effectiveness

The quality of public services, the capacity of the civil service and its independence from political pressures; and the quality of policy formulation.

Regulatory Quality

Rule of Law

Control of Corruption

The ability of the government to provide sound policies and regulations that enables and promotes private sector development. The extent to which agents have confidence in and abide by the rules of society, including the quality of contract enforcement and property rights, the police, and the courts, as well as the likelihood of crime and violence. The extent to which public power is exercised for private gain, including both petty and grand forms of corruption, as well as â&#x20AC;&#x153;captureâ&#x20AC;? of the state by elites and private interests.

Reproduced from www.govindicators.org

Figure 5 provides the ranking for the Cayman Islands on the six governance measures. Its rank on Voice and Accountability has slipped significantly over the past 20 years. In the late 1990s, the Cayman Islands was ranked near the top of 200 countries ranked by the World Bank. This has slipped to the 65th percentile in 2012. Government Effectiveness too has slipped from near the top of the global ranking in 1996 to the 85th percentile in 2012. A similar slide is seen in the rule of law, where the ranking fell from the 92nd percentile in 1996 to slightly below the 80th percentile in 2012. In contrast to the decline in the 3 indicators above, Political Stability and the Absence of Violence has increased from the 67th percentile in 1996 to the 90th percentile through the period 2004 to 2010, but has fallen sharply in 2012 to below the 85th percentile. In terms of regulatory quality, the Cayman Islands saw its ranking rise to the 90th percentile in 2000 and remained at that level through 2007, but has since seen its ranking fall to a percentile ranking in the low 80s. In the case of conRebranding the Cayman Islands

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trol of corruption, the Cayman Islands ranking has been at the 90th percentile from 1996 through 2007, but saw its ranking fall sharply to the 80th percentile in 2008, but drifted back to the 90th percentile in 2012. Figure 5: Cayman Islands Benchmarked on Governance

Summary While experiencing some challenges, the Cayman Islands overall ranks quite well on the internal and external factors discussed above. The Islands has a solid foundation to build a more highly diversified and globally competitive economy that delivers a sustainable level of prosperity for its citizens. The attributes of the Cayman Islands documented above should not be taken for granted, nor should their significance in redefining the Islands be underestimated. Stated differently, these positive attributes possessed by the Cayman Islands are necessary, but by no means sufficient, to transform the territory in a way discussed below. The territory is well placed to move forward, and can follow in the footsteps of other jurisdictions that have been successful in just the kind transformation sought. 170

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A strategy and way forward is reviewed below. 4. The Future Brand Of The Cayman Islands With the understanding developed above on the internal and external factors, we are now positioned to lay out the three steps described above on how to create a country brand, namely, defining the narrative – that is, where do we want to go? the strategy – how do we plan on getting there?; and execution – creating alignment across all stakeholders and ensuring the actions of stakeholders work towards the same meaningful real and perceived change. 4.1 The Narrative There is a general consensus that with the substantial shifts in the global economy, together with the global financial crisis of 2008, that a significant change is needed within the Cayman Islands. While the downturn in the economy may seem cyclical, attributable to the global financial crisis, there is also a sense that structural changes are needed to diversify the economy and enhance its global competitiveness. Such changes and the efforts involved are significant, and require financial resources, alignment and the involvement of key stakeholders. Quoting from the Cayman Islands Journal, “The simple truth is we cannot sit still and do nothing—so let the ‘something’ that we do be a shared effort of resources, innovation and commitment. It is not however the mission of a few—we are all able to contribute to the process in some way. The [Future of Cayman] strategy is about knowledge sharing and relationships as we build the Cayman we want to see. www.futureofcayman.com is an excellent resource and interactive website developed specifically to engage the public in the process and progress of the driver committees. Social media tools, including Facebook, Twitter, You Tube and a blog site, allow anyone to offer feedback and suggestions along the way.” Such an inclusive approach is also backed by the evidence indicating that “those countries that have brought their public and private sectors together to work collaboratively on a shared vision and strategy are seeing a faster and more solid recovery.20 Recognizing this, the government and the private sector of the Cayman Islands have come together in a strategic partnership to better understand the needs of the Cayman Islands and also to develop and deploy strategies to achieve these ambitious goals. As stated by Chamber President James O’Neill, “The report is a starting point for Cayman as we put some strategies in place to give some solid foundation to our goals—it will not work in isolation but it will ensure that we are all pulling in the same direction”. Rebranding the Cayman Islands

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The appreciation of this public private partnership is reflected in the Cayman Island’s Journal which stated that “The Future of Cayman initiative is answering this need and we should feel proud and fortunate that our country’s leaders in both the public and private sectors recognise the power behind this kind of collaboration.” 21 Consistent with the themes of creating a national narrative and to work towards alignment, there is also a call for people to be involved. “I urge all interested persons to reach out to one of our co-chairs or Steering Committee members or Chamber of Commerce and find out how you can get involved. You can also contact us through the Future of Cayman website.” (Co-Chair of the Create a Business-Friendly Climate driver, Michael Joseph) The narrative, or discussion of the future of the Cayman Islands is well underway. Consider the Future of Cayman, which is a public private partnership in economic development. As noted on the Future of Cayman website, The Future of Cayman initiative was implemented by the Chamber of Commerce and endorsed and supported by Government to bring both public and private sectors together as we partner to achieve the best possible quality of life, business climate, employment, and investment opportunities available to us. (http://www.futureofcaymanforum.ky/about.html) Using a state of business survey and consultations with key stakeholder, including private business associations and civil service entities, the initiative has identified critical areas to be addressed for a prosperous and sustainable future: Develop Talent, Create a Business Friendly Climate, Build a Smarter Infrastructure, Enhance Quality of Life, and Diversify the Economy. These are discussed briefly in Box 4 below.

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Box. 4. The Future of Caymans Strategic initiatives to redefine the Cayman Islands Develop Talent

Talent and workforce is key to a prosperous Cayman. We must examine the human capital development of the country, not only in support of current key operating industries, but also in preparation of future industries, as we, like many other nations, look to diversify.

Create a business friendly climate

There must be a synergy between our government and the private sector to allow for growth, diversity and stability within the marketplace and ensure Cayman is competitive to attract new businesses and grow existing industries.

Build a smarter As we look to Caymanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s future needs and development in support of our ecoinfrastructure nomic pillars, we must examine infrastructural investments in areas, notably, transportation, ports, airports, water, communications, waste management, energy and building technologies to ensure that these investments are cost effective and sustainable. Diversify the economy

In response to evolving global economics and the new financial challenges placed on us and other countries around the world, we must look beyond our traditional industries and innovate. Economic diversity is critical in todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s market and exploring opportunities in medical tourism and other new industries will be key in establishing a sustainable and prosperous future for generations to come.

Enhance Quality of life

In recent years we have enjoyed an excellent quality of life, but it is not enough to expect this to continue without effort. We must put in place assurances that what we hold dear: clean water, personal safety, education for all, environmental and marine conservation, affordable housing, democratic governance, will always remain available to us all.

Source: Reproduced from http://www.futureofcayman.com/

4.2 Strategy: How Do We Plan On Getting There? To this end, The Future of Cayman created a strategic Report,22 which develops more fully the strategic initiatives laid out in Box 4 above. As stated in the report, A Forum was planned to develop objectives and actions under each of the drivers. It was also agreed that it was important to identify key performance indicators that would be used to measure and monitor progress and to provide regular reports and ongoing interaction. For each of the strategic initiatives laid out above, the strategic report provides several objectives for each followed by a carefully developed list of actions. To illustrate, the objectives and actions developed for the first initiative, developing talent, are laid out in Box 5 below. These are very well thought out and comprehensive. Similarly detailed and comprehensive objectives and actions are developed for the other initiatives laid out in Box 4 are also available in the Future of Caymans Strategic Report. Rebranding the Cayman Islands

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Box 5. Develop Talent a. Objective:

b. Objective:

Ensure successful educational performance at every level.

Ensure employers have ac- Create an environment that process to a skilled workforce. motes lifelong learning.

Actions:

• Develop a strategy for private • Establish mechanisms to sector contributions to the de- support collaboration and velopment of a quality Early communication between government and private Childhood Care and Education sector scholarship pro(ECCE) System. grammes.

• Develop mechanisms for private sector participation in Government’s Year 12 programme (Cayman Islands Further Education Centre – CIFEC) to ensure strong industry

- Develop an “adopt-a-school” campaign to provide support to schools of the ECCE system, including funding support.

- Liaise with the Chamber of Commerce and the

input into programming and support for the preparation of young people for the workforce

- Liaise with the Early Years Task Force to determine how best to assist with the ECCE system; this is the most representative group

to highlight public and private sector scholarship opportunities in the Cayman Islands.

- Contribute to an advisory group to provide input/feedback on programming and other ways to support the programme

- Consult with a few companies that offer scholarships to determine how their scholarships are being utilized, what if any problems they are encountering and how may we be of help to them.

- Collate information regarding work placement and work experience and how to improve this area and seek greater private sector involvement.

dealing with early childhood education, comprising of preschool operators, teachers, parents, education officials, etc. - Support upcoming initiatives such as Month of the Young Child, (organized by

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C.I. Student Association to develop a website

or further education.

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Department of Children & Family Services, supported by Department of Education) and the ECCE national conference. - Assist with disseminating information about the various initiatives via Chamber communications, Cayman Islands Society Human Resource Professionals and other organisations. â&#x20AC;˘ Ensure inter-sectoral participation in a national campaign to promote the value of education and importance of parental involvement.

- Develop a plan to assist with better partnering of private and public sector scholarship

- Nominate persons or suggest suitable persons/association representatives to form

part of this advisory group programmes to provide a more comprehensive edu- - `Develop the terms of reference cational and developmental for this advisory group experience to students, - Establish subject area subgroups, i.e. in business studies, literacy, e.g. supplemental funds, numeracy, etc job placement before, during and after tertiary education, locally and overseas.

- Assist with the national campaign via association contacts, Chamber communications, sponsorships, etc. Reproduced from Future of Caymans Strategic Report.

4.3 Execution There is little doubt that the relevant stakeholders in the Cayman Islands, including government, the private sector, organizations in civil society, and academia have come together and developed a well-defined national narrative on the future of the Cayman Islands. Furthermore, the initiative has created a well-developed strategic plan that has also laid out significant information on the actions needed to achieve the vision developed. For this, the Future of Caymanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s initiative must be congratulated. The work involved in moving, or transforming, the Cayman Islands from where it is today to where it is desired to be in the future as articulated in the Future of Cayman strategy documents is long and difficult. It will require steadfast leadership from the government to ensure that the difficult decisions are pursued and implemented and for the government not to be swayed by any particular lobby. These actions are needed to ensure all stakeholders remain aligned and confident. If exceptions to the long term vision are made along the way, the costs will be significant. One possible example is the possibility of developing a pier so as to allow cruise ship passengers easier and more efficient access to the islands. This would be part of the smart infrastructure initiative. As noted in a cayCompass.com article:23 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Many Rebranding the Cayman Islands

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port cities have at least two berths at a minimum. It ultimately benefits the passengers, crews and the economic vitality of the port city.â&#x20AC;? However, the development of a pier for the Cayman Islands is not without difficulties. Again, as noted in a cayCompass.com article, Government may struggle to find a cruise line interested in splashing out up to $200 million to build new piers in George Town without any retail development attached, comments from the biggest player in the industry suggest. A spokesman for Carnival Cruise Lines could not think of a single example where the company had built piers that did not include a retail element. The development of a pier, as with much infrastructure, will always have some who benefit and other who do not. This is true with most significant economic changes. The benefits of the national narrative and strategic plan cannot be lost on these individual initiatives. The future of the Cayman Islands must be the focus to guide the Cayman Islands through any difficult individual initiative. Obviously the concerns of those who would lose from the pier and other strategies must be taken into account, and cannot be disregarded. To the contrary, as in other jurisdictions that have also undertaken such a transformative journey, strategies must be developed to create win-win scenarios. In the case of building a pier, a strategy that is feasible, thus inclusive of retail element, but at the same time strategies to bring tourists into the territory to shop, and thus enhance the opportunities for established retailers, must be developed. The larger number of tourists a pier would bring would in part accommodate this, but so too would the development of more attractions within the Islands to attract tourists to the Islands, but also pull them into the territory from the cruise ships. A great example of this kind of success is Dubai. 5. Conclusion It is often the case with any major change initiative, the most difficult step is creating that sense of urgency required to initiate that change. The Cayman Islands has overcome that obstacle and is well on its way to transformation. The strategic initiatives developed through the Future of Caymans public-private-partnership is that first major step. Having developed the strategic document which lays out the foundational goals required for the new vision has also been achieved, which is the second key ingredient. It is now time to ensure the execution is done correctly and in a timely fashion so as to maintain the alignment across all stakeholders and to maintain the confidence in the transformation. The benchmarking done in this paper shows clearly that the Cayman Islands has the DNA, the necessary institutions, human capital, and infrastructure to allow it 176

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to successfully transform itself into a globally competitive economy. These assets should not be taken for granted—most of the world’s economies aspire to achieve these characteristics. What is needed to ensure that these basic building blocks are used to move the Cayman Islands forward economically, financially, socially, and with that a new brand for the Cayman Islands will emerge. With that, the prosperity of citizens of the Cayman Islands will both be enhanced and remain sustainable over the long run. References Bloom Consulting. 2013. Country Brand Ranking: Trade Edition. Blum, Jack Distinguished Lecture Series on November 13, 2013 Brymer, Charles. Branding a Country. Retrieved from http://www.brandchannel.com/ images/papers/country_branding.pdf Cayman New Resident (2013). Customs, Traditions & Formalities. Retrieved from http://www.caymannewresident.com/cayman-islands-customs- traditions-formalities Cayman Islands Government (2014). Current Arrival Statistics. Retrieved from http://www.caymanislands.ky/statistics/currentarrivalsstatistics.aspx Cayman Islands Government General Registry (2013). New Companies Registered Monthly. Retrieved from http://www.ciregistry.gov.ky/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/REGHOME/ABOUTUS/S TATISTICS/COMPANIES%20STATISTICS.PDF Cayman Islands Advance Commitment Letter Cayman Islands Government (2011). Culture of the Cayman Islands. Retrieved from http://www.gov.ky/portal/page?_pageid=1142,1592604&_dad=portal&_sc hema=PORTAL Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (2012). Annual Report. Cayman Islands Ministry of Finance, Financial Services Secretariat. 2010. News Release, Cayman Islands Transparency Regime Recognised by Peers at OECD Global Forum. Retrieved from www.caymanfinance.gov.ky Compass Cayman (2013). Carnival: Pier Development without retail ‘very rare’. Retrieved from http://www.compasscayman.com/caycompass/2013/11/27/Carnival-Pier- development-without-retail--very-rare-/ eCayOnline (2013). Working in Cayman – the regulations. Retrieved from http:// www.ecayonline.com/cayman-islands-jobs.html

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Financial Times, Clandestine financial activity. Cayman Islands to open up to scrutiny. Retrieved from http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/22f602b2-60d4-11e2- a31a00144feab49a.html#axzz2s7LekEvG FutureBrand (2012). Country Brand Index. Retrieved from http://www.futurebrand. com/foresight/cbi/cbi-2012 FutureBrand (2012). FutureBrand Launches the 8th Annual Country Brand Index. Retrieved from http://www.futurebrand.com/news/futurebrand- launches-the8th-annual-country-brand-index Harbour (2013). The Cayman Islands business environment. Retrieved from http:// www.harbour.ky/about-us/the-cayman-islands Future of Cayman Forum (2012). About Us. Retrieved from http://www.futureofcaymanforum.ky/about.html Future of Cayman Forum (2012). A Public Private Partnership in Economic Development [PowerPoint Slides]. Retrieved from http://www.futureofcayman.com/ templates/standard/donwloads/FutureC aymanWeb.pdf gogobot (2013). Grand Cayman Island Travel Guide. Retrieved from http://www. gogobot.com/grand-cayman-island-cayman-islands Hejazi, Walid. 2012. Why offshore financial centres matter to the global economy, The Banker Magazine, http://www.thebanker.com/Banker- Data/Why-offshorefinancial-centres-matter-to-the-global- economy?ct=true Kaufmann, Daniel, Aart Kraay and Massimo Mastruzzi (2003). “Governance Matters III: Governance Indicators for 1996-2002”. NBER, Volume 12, N.12 Level 5 Strategy Consultants, 2013. China Country Branding DNA, presentation at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. Moody’s Investors Service (2013). Moody’s Affirms the Cayman Islands’ Aa3 Sovereign Rating, Maintains Stable Outlook. Retrieved from https://www.moodys. com/research/Moodys-Affirms-the-Cayman-Islands- Aa3-Sovereign-RatingMaintains-Stable--PR_266123 Moody’s Investors Service. Moody’s Affirms the Cayman Islands’ Aa3 Sovereign Rating, Maintains Stable Outlook. Retrieved from https://www.moodys.com/ research/Moodys-Affirms-the-Cayman-Islands- Aa3-Sovereign-Rating-MaintainsStable--PR_266123 Obama, Barack, speech. http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-ByThe-President- On-International-Tax-Policy-Reform

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OECD (2010). Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes Peer Reviews: Cayman Islands 2010. Retrieved from http://www. keepeek.com/Digital-Asset- Management/oecd/taxation/global-forum-on-transparency-and-exchange- of-information-for-tax-purposes-peer-reviews-caymanislands- 2010_9789264095502-en#page1 OECD. Jurisdictions Committed to Improving Transparency and Establishing Effective Exchange of Information in Tax Matters. Retrieved from http://www. oecd.org/countries/caymanislands/jurisdictionscommittedtoim provingtransparencyandestablishingeffectiveexchangeofinformationintaxm atters.htm PRWeb (2012). Cayman Enterprise City, a Technology-based Special Economic Zone, Launches in the Cayman Islands. Retrieved from http://www.prweb.com/ releases/2012/3/prweb9257322.htm Sambidge, Andy (2011). Arabian Business. Cayman Islands seek Dubai talks on Enterprise City. Retrieved from http://www.arabianbusiness.com/cayman-islandsseek-dubai-talks-on- enterprise-city-389998.html The Cayman Islands Journal (2011). Future of Cayman Strategic Report Released. Retrieved from http://www.compasscayman.com/journal/2011/09/07/Future-ofCayman- strategic-report-released/ TripAdvisor (2013). Travellersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Choice Top 10 Islands â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Caribbean. Retrieved from http://www.tripadvisor.ca/TravelersChoice-Islands-cTop-g147237#2 World Bank, World Wide Governance Indicators (2013). Country Data Report for Cayman Islands, 1996-2012. Retrieved from http://info.worldbank.org/governance/ wgi/index.aspx#home Notes 1. Distinguished Lecture Series on November 13, 2013. 2. http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-By-The-President-On3. 4.

International-Tax-Policy-Reform The full text of the letter is reproduced in Appendix 1. According to the most recent Transparency International report, there are no countries completely free of corruption. So the best that can be expected is a significant reduction in such activities. http://www.oecd.org/countries/caymanislands/jurisdictionscommittedtoim provingtransparencyandestablishingeffectiveexchangeofinformationintaxm atters.htm www.interbrand.com Rebranding the Cayman Islands

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7. http://www.arabianbusiness.com/cayman-islands-seek-dubai-talks-on-

enterprise-city-389998.html 8. http://www.interbrand.com/en/knowledge/blogaspx?Category=Nation+Brandi ng http://www.brandchannel.com/images/papers/country_branding.pdf 9. http://www.futurebrand.com/foresight/cbi/cbi-2012 http://www.futurebrand.com/news/futurebrand-launches-the-8th-annual- country-brand-index 10. http://www.caymannewresident.com/cayman-islands-customs- traditions- formalities 11. http://www.ecayonline.com/cayman-islands-jobs.html 12. http://www.gogobot.com/grand-cayman-island-cayman-islands 13. http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/3/prweb9257322.htm 14. https://www.moodys.com/research/Moodys-Affirms-the-Cayman- Islands Aa3-Sovereign-Rating-Maintains-Stable--PR_266123 15. http://www.harbour.ky/about-us/the-cayman-islands 16. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/22f602b2-60d4-11e2-a31a- 00144feab49a.html#axzz2tuWsUvdw 17. http://www.tripadvisor.ca/TravelersChoice-Islands-cTop-g147237#2 18. http://www.caymanislands.ky/statistics/currentarrivalsstatistics.aspx 19. Despite Barbados being covered in the World Bankâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Doing Business Index as well as in the World Economic Forums World Competitiveness Report, the Cayman Islands are not. 20. http://www.compasscayman.com/journal/2011/09/07/Future-of- Cayman- strategic-report-released/ 21. http://www.compasscayman.com/journal/2011/09/07/Future-of- Cayman- strategic-report-released/ 22. http://www.futureofcayman.com/templates/standard/donwloads/FutureCayman Web.pdf 23. http://www.compasscayman.com/caycompass/2013/11/27/Carnival-- Pier development-without-retail--very-rare-/

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Appendix 1

http://www.oecd.org/ctp/harmful/1903543.pdf

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Appendix 2 Data Appendix External Variables Variable Awareness1

Measurement Google Search Results

Source www.google.com

Familiarity2

Number of Online Forum Topics Tourist Arrivals per Capita

http://www.tripadvisor.com

Preference3

http://www.caymanislands.ky/statistics/currentarrivalsstatistics. aspx http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ cuba-welcomes- record-number-of-touristsin-2012-188967501.html http://www.raveable.com/dominican-republic/ l23485 http://www.tdc.co.tt/tourism_report.htm http://www.jtbonline.org/statistics/Annual%20Travel/ Annual%2 0Travel%20Statistics%202012.pdf http://www.tourismtoday.com/home/statistics/stopovers/

Consideration4

Google Trends score

Advocacy5

Number of Travel Reviews

Active Decisions

Travel Statistics â&#x20AC;&#x201C; change http://www.caymanislands.ky/statistics/currentarrivin tourism over last 3 alsstatistics. aspx years

Corporations registered in a year

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http://www.tradingeconomics.com/barbados/international- tourism-number-of-arrivals-wb-data.html http://www.google.ca/trends/ explore#q=cayman%20islands http://www.tripadvisor.com

http://www.ciregistry.gov.ky/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/ REGHOME/ ABOUTUS/STATISTICS/COMPANIES%20STATISTICS.PDF

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Appendix 3 Internal Variables Variable Value System1

Measurement Religiosity, School Life Expectancy, Political Breadth)

Source https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/theworld-factbook/

Quality of Life2

HDI â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Use United Kingdom as proxy

http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries

Ease of Doing Business2

World Bank Ease of Doing Business Index

http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploreeconomies/unite d-kingdom/

Tourism3

Travel and Tourism Index

Heritage and Culture4

Hofstede 6 Dimensions of Culture

http://reports.weforum.org/travel-and-tourismcompetitiveness-report-2013/# http://geert-hofstede.com/countries.html

Governance

World Bank Governance Indicators

http://www.govindicators.org

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THE CHALLENGES OF SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC GROWTH THOMAS F. PHILLIPS AND ASAF ZOHAR Trent University, Gzowski College

Abstract Caribbean nations, and other countries, are now recognizing that the realities of economic growth must incorporate social and environmental sustainability into public- and private-sector strategies. Historically, it has been generally accepted that growth requires social institutions to adapt to technological and other changes for potential economic growth to be realized. However, a contemporary barrier to growth is the acceptance of approaches to economic growth that are grounded in the uncritical application of outdated management and organizational practices. Here we make the case for transformational change in social institutions, particularly in education, that are necessary to achieve sustainable economic growth.

Thomas F. Phillips, Ph.D., Email: tphillips@trentu.ca Asaf Zohar, Ph.D., Email: azohar@trentu.ca Surveying The Past, Mapping The Future

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The Challenges Of Sustainable Economic Growth Over the last few years there has been a shift in the debate about the most relevant approach to economic growth, especially for small, open economies. Rather than concentrating on natural resource exploitation and technological development, a new focus is on seeking innovations in social institutions that can promote sustainable progress. The challenges of resource exploitation and technological sophistication have, in most cases, become less significant than the social foundations that support sustainable growth. This view sees strong social foundations being a prerequisite for sustainable economic growth, regardless of its source. This new perspective on growth has two important aspects that are at the heart of the discussion. First, technological change is easy relative to the creation of social institutions that challenge the status quoâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;changing social institutions is difficult work. Second, and most importantly for this paper, it must be accepted that the conventional wisdom underpinning todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s approaches to management and education cannot be the foundation for future growth. Clinging to an outdated approach to economic growth that is grounded solely in the uncritical application of traditional approaches to strategic management and organization (Porter and Kramer (2011); Mintzberg and Lampel (2001); Clegg and Ross-Smith (2003)) cannot lead to growth, let alone sustainable growth, over the next fifty years. In direct contrast to traditional strategic management approaches, there is growing consensus that economic development needs to embrace environmental, social, and economic drivers if society is to achieve any level of stability in the global commons. We propose that innovations in social institutions, particularly in education, are a necessary condition for future, sustainable economic growth. Economies And Social Institutions The Insights of Adam Smith The orthodox, Neoclassical models of economic growth see the forces for growth being asocial, ahistorical, and apolitical. From the Neoclassical perspective, forces other than market forces only limit economic growth rather than promote it. For those who appeal to socioeconomic, reality rather than ideologically burdened models of growth, generally accept that social institutions play a fundamentally significant role in supporting economic growth. Even though there is little recognition of social conditions in contemporary economic thought, there has been a rich tradition of investigating economic society within the greater nature of social institutions. In fact, in considering the transition The Challenges of Sustainable Economic Growth

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from Adam Smith’s The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1976, originally published in 1759) to his An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1976, originally published in 1776), Smith clearly understood that the change in the social institutions of his time would be a necessary condition for the success of capitalism. The Theory of Moral Sentiments offers what are often overlooked insights into contemporary challenges being faced by many Caribbean nations as they lay the foundations for their future. Smith, in The Theory of Moral Sentiments, was grappling with how a society in which people were free to pursue their own self-interest could thrive. With the history of successful societies being dominated by social structures of command and control, how could freedom lead to prosperity? Smith identified two aspects of the social environment is which individuals free to make their own economic decisions experienced—each person had the ability to be an impartial observer in terms of their place in society, and in particular, their ties to others, and the natural empathy each person has for others. It is through these insights from Smith that we see how, ironically, the individual freedom that comes with capitalism is bounded by the necessity to meet the needs of others before meeting one’s own—it is the interdependence that comes with independence that holds economic society together. The impartial observer helps identify how to meet the needs of others so that your own needs can be met. Combining the impartial observer with the empathy we feel for others lays the foundation, according to Smith, that is necessary for the success of market economies. This is very different than the more generally accepted view of individualistic greed being at the heart of market economies that many, wrongly attribute to Smith. Considering sustainability in terms of insights Smith offers us suggests that environmental, organizational, and social sustainability requires us to put more emphasis on interdependence than independence. This is not found in the generally accepted approaches to management or education. However, taking Smith’s guidance could enable us to see that the actions of individuals in a market economy necessarily have direct impacts on others—society as a whole—and that sustainability in all its facets must accept that the whole is greater than the sum of its individual parts. Education, as an example of a social institution that could contribute to a nation’s prosperity and sustainability, must ensure that the lessons its students learn emphasize that their personal wellbeing is directly related to how they can contribute to the wellbeing of others, the organizations they are active in, and the environment in which they live.

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Thorstein Veblen and Social Innovation Smith’s recognition of the importance of social institutions was put in a new perspective by Thorstein Veblen in the latter part of the nineteenth century. Veblen saw the evolution of social institutions as essential in sustaining market economies. In challenging the commonly held view of his time, Veblen, rather than embracing the idea of a static equilibrium where markets move through negative feedbacks (e.g., diminishing returns) saw economies moving through dynamic, positive feedbacks that led to undetermined destinations—a process of ‘cumulative causation’ that is not deterministic. He wrote “an evolutionary economics must be a theory of a process of cultural growth as determined by the economic interest, a theory of a cumulative sequence of economic institutions stated in terms of the process itself.” (Veblen (1991), p. 77) Ultimately, for Veblen, an economy that finds itself under stress adapts by creating new social institutions that are part of a cumulative social process that can be identified as having demonstrably different characteristics than its economic predecessors. Taking this perspective, economies in different places and/or different times, are not characterized as having identical underlying timeless principles (as economic orthodoxy would argue), but can be characterized by observing the institutional characteristics that have prevailed through the process of cumulative causation. Therefore, there can be different ‘species’ of market economies, coming from common ancestral roots (as described, for example, by Adam Smith) that have adapted to the different economic pressures they have been subjected to. This view is particularly relevant to the countries of the Caribbean since many of them face very different socioeconomic and environmental pressures. However, for the countries to address the issues surrounding growth and sustainability they must develop social institutions that are consistent with market economies—those core principles described by Adam Smith – and accept that the status quo—i.e., their generally accepted social institution—cannot lead to greater prosperity and sustainability. Looking at education, as a social institution, from Veblen’s perspective suggests that the cumulative pressures of greater global competitiveness, the need for domestic economic growth, and deteriorating environmental and social conditions makes it necessary to transform the social role of education so that it can react positively to the challenges of our time.

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Edward Nell’s Transformational Growth Building on the work of Smith and Veblen (and others) to better understand the role of social institutions in economic development, Edward J. Nell of the New School for Social Research has established a theoretical model of economic growth—Transformational Growth—that has observable patterns of economic activity in several countries (Nell (1998b)). In general terms, Nell’s work has identified different patterns in key economic measures—e.g., prices, wages, and output—during different technological eras. That is, there are differences in the behaviour of economies under different economic conditions. Like Veblen, this is contrary to the current, mainstream, economic orthodoxy that has—as its core assumes—timeless, immutable economic behaviours that should lead to consistent patterns in key economic measures. From Edward Nell’s theory of Transformational Growth there is clear evidence that technological innovation alone is not sufficient for economic growth to be achieved. It is necessary for social institutions (i.e., from government, to education, to the family) to complement the innovation for the full potential for economic growth to be realized. Adding the dimension of sustainable economic growth to Nell’s perspective, especially for small open economies, provokes the question of how social institutions could change to achieve sustainable economic growth in both social and environmental terms. As was mentioned in the introduction, changing social institutions is more difficult than adopting new technologies. That is, expecting economic growth from technological change, or the discovery of new natural resources, without social change can, according to Nell’s work, only lead to disappointment. There is no historical evidence that preserving the ‘status quo’ in terms of underlying social institutions—more particularly, dismissing new social institutions that would support future growth—can facilitate growth, especially sustainable growth, in the future. Put bluntly, the ‘status quo’ is a prescription for economic, social, and environmental decline. In its most simple terms, the currently accepted organizational structures in business and government, and the socially accepted role of education will not be sufficient to realize either economic prosperity or sustainability for any country, anywhere, over the next five decades. The Central Role of Labour It would not be unrealistic to suggest that most Caribbean nations adopt technologies developed in other countries and have limited natural resources upon which to build a broadly affluent economy. Generally, the most abundant resource in many Caribbean countries is labour. From historical experience, a well educated and pro188

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ductive labour force is a necessary requirement for an affluent economy. Given the additional pressures that have emerged in recent years, it is also reasonable to suggest that an educated labour force will be necessary for the sustainability— environmentally, organizationally, and socially—of all Caribbean countries. Growth and sustainability have become, in our time, complements rather than substitutes, and the social institutions necessary to achieve both do not currently exist in any of the Caribbean countries. Recently, internationally, there has been a shift in the way many jobs are done that represents both threats and opportunities for Caribbean countries. With the general shift in the West from high-volume, mass production to ‘knowledge-based’ and ‘creative work’—not bound by location—high-value jobs are now much more available in remote locations. However, as much as these jobs have a relatively high degree of independence, they require ‘social environments’ where knowledge and creativity are supported. Without an environment in which well-educated, knowledge workers can thrive, interact with other accomplished people, and value creative innovation (technologically and socially) a country will not be able to benefit from their skills and expertise. That is, it will not be enough to simply improve business practices and education to promote growth and sustainability; it will require a more concerted, interdependent approach to social change. As an example, Henry Ford’s innovation in producing affordable, mass produced automobiles in the early, twentieth-century would not have had as great an economic impact if the social institutions that complemented automobiles were not developed. Government had to play new institutional roles—building roads, educating young people for jobs in manufacturing, etc. Families embraced the technology in such a way that ultimately defined the nature of the social and economic impact of the automobile. Of the many changes that have had significant impacts, suburbanization required an automobile to get away from overcrowded urban centers, making more travel and experiences available to the family—especially children—and, the changes in behaviours undoubtedly included ‘dating.’ The manufacturing-led growth of the mid-twentieth century is a classic example of how social institutions changed to complement technological innovations and led to the economic potential of the innovation being realized. It could be argued that the technological innovation of the automobile had a smaller economic impact than the economic impacts of social innovations that complemented the technology. Of course, both were necessary. The technology came first, but the impact came from adapting new ways of during business and the adoption of new social institutions. Today, technological change in communications and information technologies The Challenges of Sustainable Economic Growth

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has created opportunities for small, island economies to better use education as an economic engine over the next fifty years. In fact, the opportunities that these technological innovations represent are greater for Caribbean countries than most realize. In many advanced countries, those in education have been reluctant to adopt new ways of “doing business” that could reap educational and economic advances. Generally, education is stuck in the status quo where many educators are unwilling to change how learning occurs. The technological innovations in education are seen as threats, not opportunities. Countries that embrace educational innovations that complement the technological advances will not only close the existing economic gap between themselves and others, but they would also take a market position in more advanced approaches to education. The Role of Leadership History teaches us that new technologies need new social systems—new social institutions in business, government, and even the family—to enjoy the full benefit of the technologies. This, however, requires leadership from the private—and publicsectors. Businesses must find new ways of doing business that better complement the technologies of our time (not the past), and governments must find new ways of supporting innovation and sustainability. In both cases, for business and government to simply do what customers and taxpayers want will not be sufficient. Returning to the automobile example, Henry Ford, when asked what led to his innovation, said “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses” (Ford (2013)). Productive innovation, whether technological or social, requires leadership. Challenging Business, Government, And Education We often look towards large international summits and forums to reflect our shared capacity to address the challenging issues of our time, and offer hope and direction for the future sustainable development. Sadly, the results of many events in recent years have, at best, set a very low level of public expectation. The recent Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development offers a case in point. This was yet another missed opportunity for the political leaders of our time to demonstrate an understanding of the basic need for transformative ideas and actions. It appears that despite a mounting sense of public concern, political leaders lack the foresight and resolve to address the need for meaningful systemic change. Mallen Baker, a veteran commentator on global forums, offers the following: I cannot recall an earth summit which, as Rio+20 did, brought with it so little interest or glimmer of optimism. Nobody except the insanely optimistic 190

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expected anything significant to happen at this event. Most developed world leaders stayed away altogether. Others were focused on what seemed to them to be the main issue of the moment—economic growth and their need to get their hands on some of it… Instead, there is a core problem we face here. Focus on the issue of sustainability has—worldwide—gone off the boil. Baker goes on to identify the major factors that appear to be driving the persistent pattern of inaction: It’s done so because of two things, I suspect. First, the economic situation has put a lot of people back into the mindset that says that environmental sustainability is less important to them than money in the pocket. We know the flaws in this thinking, but it is a powerful mindset and you don’t have to believe in evil people in order for it to completely play its part in messing things up. The other is that the issue is no longer new. It seems trivial, but people aren’t capable of maintaining a sense of urgency on one issue for an extended period of time unless the threat that it poses to their well-being is increasingly visible and progressively worse. If it is worse but not visible, they stop paying attention to the message that it’s getting worse. If it’s visible but not worse, they gradually adapt their expectations to fit their new reality (Baker (2013)). It has been widely claimed that most corporate leaders and their shareholders are simply failing to grasp the nature and scale of these systemic challenges (Gore (2012); Elkington (2011)). In a world that is rapidly reaching a population threshold of nine billion, they conclude that we need to redirect our current economic systems through fundamental changes in our mindsets, behaviors, cultures, and paradigms. Jørgen Rander also suggests that the consequences of such inaction may lead to dire consequences in the form of social upheaval at an unprecedented scale. Rander, a leading figure in sustainable development and the co-author of the seminal Limits to Growth (1972) and Beyond the Limits (1993) studies, his recent book, 2052, concludes that the changes needed to ensure true sustainability are not going to happen—at least on the necessary scale and in the required timeframes. He predicts that the 2030s will see worldwide uprising, driven by disenfranchised youth. These sentiments are supported by Austrian biologist Karl Wagner, who sees this wave of dissent as a natural consequence of our current economic strategies that have placed the price of current economic development squarely on the shoulders of future generations: “They are already now beginning to wake up to the fact that their parents and grandparents are in the process of leaving them an exploited planet with degraded life-support systems, indebted economies, few jobs, and no affordable housing,” he warns. He also ofThe Challenges of Sustainable Economic Growth

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fers that, “In developed countries they also inherit the responsibility of caring for an increasing number of retired people who plan to receive pensions and health care for the next thirty to forty years.” Revolution is inevitable, Wagner says, “because the old system will not go away by itself.” Randers ends his book with a plea: “Please help make my forecast wrong” (Randers (2012), 40-1). In light of this bleak outlook on the present state, the search for a successful path towards sustainable economic growth seems to be an overwhelming task. In this paper, we propose that a successful journey needs to begin with the proposition that there is a fundamental design fault in capitalism—“both in its prevailing paradigm and in the linked mindsets, behaviors, cultures, economic formulae, business models, and technologies” (Elkington (2011)). We need to put in place educational systems that will play a crucial role in helping us to avoid the nightmare scenarios predicted for the twenty-first century and beyond. We have argued that to achieve any level of stability in the global commons, innovations in social institutions—particularly education—are a necessary condition for future sustainable economic growth. In the absence of revitalized educational institutions, new technologies alone cannot lead to sustainable economic growth. The fundamental challenge facing social institutions in general, and educational institutions, in particular, is how to successfully initiate broad scale endeavors that can put a country on a sustainable development trajectory. Within this new view of the necessary sustainable development strategies for sustainable economic growth, educational institutions need to incorporate sustainability— social and environmental—into all of its aspects. How do we educate for transformational, systemic change? How do we educate for leaders that can be, in Elkington’s terms, ‘unreasonable people’—people that simply refuse to take the world as it is as any guide to how it might be in the future? How do we educate in a manner that will give critical mass to a new way of doing things and become endemic in the economy? To move from incremental to transformative change, we must educate in a way that embraces wider framings, deeper insights, higher targets, and longer time scales. Educating For A Sustainable Future – The Case Of Management Education Within the educational sector, management education has been at the forefront of change in pursuing novel directions towards sustainable economic growth. Recent trends in management education have emerged in response to a mounting concern for the essential unsustainability of both management practice and education that is grounded solely in the uncritical application of traditional approaches to strategic management and organization (Colby, et. al, (2011); Zohar and Middleton (2001); 192

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Clegg and Ross-Smith (2003)). Colby, et. al. (2011) draw attention to the fundamental challenge this represents for university education in general, and management education programs in particular, and their traditional curricula. In direct contrast to traditional strategic management approaches, Prahalad (2004), Hart (2010;1997) and others have argued that business education needs to embrace models based jointly on environmental, social, and economic drivers if society is to achieve any level of stability in the global commons. Influential commentators such as Gore (2012), Porter and Kramer (2011), Elkington (2012, 1998) Hawken (2007; 1999) and others have chronicled the serious embrace of environmental and social drivers by leading international businesses in recent years. Increasingly, this embrace has not simply been one of reaction to threat and accommodation of new risks. Instead the emerging agenda has been one of proactive versus reactive strategies, opportunity not threat, new markets not old markets, innovation not conservatism (Porter and Kramer (2011); Hart (2010); Prahalad (2004); Hart and Milstein (2003); Hart and Christensen (2002)). Thus we see such multinational giants as DuPont and BASF in the chemical industry; Exxon and Shell in oil and gas; Unilever and Proctor and Gamble in consumer products; HP and IBM in information and communications technologies; Toyota and Honda in the automotive industry and a growing numbers of others adopting explicit stances on socially and environmentally sustainable products and services. They are doing so through proactive and well-defined strategies that are targeting â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;sustainabilityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; as an opportunity for value creation. In this context, educating for sustainable growth implies a redirection towards a balanced and synergistic creation of economic, social, and environmental value (Hart (2010); Wheeler et. al. (2005); Hart and Milstein (2003)). The challenge of educating for business and sustainability has been addressed in many diverse ways (Brown et. al. (2010); Martin (2008); Egri and Rogers (2003); Bradbury (2003); Mintzberg and Lampel (2001)). In particular, it has precipitated the emergence of innovative applications of alternative pedagogies, such as critical pedagogy (Kearins and Springett (2003); Welsh and Murray (2003); whole-systems learning approaches (Brown and Macy (2004)); novel experiential teaching approaches and exercises (Mintzberg and Gosling (2002)); and, in a few prominent cases, fundamental curriculum reform in management and business programs (Elkington (2011); Wheeler, Zohar and Hart (2005); Marshall (2004); Pesonen (2003); Courtice and Porritt (2004)). Collectively, such initiatives have attempted to create successful learning contexts that engage business students in new understandings that promote sustainable organizational strategies and economic growth. Despite these promising developments, and the clear case to be made for management education that adThe Challenges of Sustainable Economic Growth

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dresses the widest possible array of external drivers of business success, there have been relatively few systemic transformations at a national level that have explicitly addressed the fundamental challenge of educating for sustainable economic growth (Colby, et. al. (2011)). The lack of prominent cases of successful institutional transformation does not, however, indicate that significant emergent market forces are not moving in this direction. As is often the case in the field of management, innovative practitioners appear to be leading the way in the absence of transformative institutional change. There seems to be some desire for a move from incremental to transformative change. Elkington (2011) has recently argued for the emergence of what he describes as a new wave of innovation and social entrepreneurhip that represent the future of successful enterprise. In his recent book, Zeronauts (2011), he describes the leaders of this emergent form of enterprise as being, â&#x20AC;&#x153;an inventor, innovator, entrepreneur, intraprenuer, investor, manager or educator who promotes wealth-creation while driving adverse environmental, social and economic impacts toward zero.â&#x20AC;? He sites dozens of cases, including Frito Lay, Nestle, and Herman Miller, that are part of an escalating movement towards sustainable corporate growth that embraces wider framings, deeper insights, higher targets, and longer time scales. These are, in his view, the leaders that can find, investigate, and develop breakthrough solutions and sources of untapped value from the growing tensions between demography, consumerist lifestyles and sustainability. Significantly, Elkington emphasizes that leaders in this field are not limited to traditional business entrepreneurs, but also include political leaders and policy makers who help create educational systems, regulatory frameworks, and the incentives for the kind of institutional change needed to meet these challenges. Conclusions We have argued here that management education faces the task of winding down the dysfunctional economic and business models of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It is time to rise to the fundamental intergenerational challenge of embracing new mindsets and learning approaches that can successfully guide our future leaders through the challenges and opportunities of our times. A critical dimension of meeting this challenge involves our educational systems and institutions. How we prepare our future leaders for this challenge is vital for the long-term success of communities, countries, and the global economy? While there is no prescriptive solution to how to address this in all settings and contexts, educational institutions can promote the mindsets and teach the skills that propel world-class revitalization and innovation. We therefore need to cultivate cultures of dissatisfaction with the status quo, promote 194

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entrepreneurial ‘unreasonable’ thinkers, interdisciplinary programs, and provide nontraditional, experiential learning opportunities to expose young people to the world of innovative mindsets and nurture a new era of entrepreneurial, organizational cultures. Most Caribbean nations have more at stake when considering the growing significance of creating social institutions that promote sustainability than other countries of the world. Larger countries can often fall back on their natural resource and technological sectors as they slowly adapt their social institutions to the pressures of our time. Most Caribbean countries do not have this luxury. Whether the pressures for change are imminent or in the not too distant future, all countries will eventually have to face the realities and act on the challenge of simultaneously achieving economic growth and sustainability. By taking a transformational approach to the roles of business, government, and in particular, education that are necessary for social, organizational, and environmental sustainability, Caribbean countries could, in a decade or two, be leading the way. The ultimate challenge is to face the realities of our time, respect the past, and accept that a sustainable future is only achievable through transformational change. References Baker, M http://www.mallenbaker.net/csr/post.php?id=440. Accessed April, 2013 Bardi, Ugo (2011) The Limits to Growth Revisited. New York, N.Y.: Springer, Chelsea Green, NH. Bradbury H. (2003) ‘Sustaining inner and outer worlds: a whole-systems approach to developing sustainable business practices in management’ Journal of Management Education 27: 172-187. Brown, V.A., Harris, J.A., and Russell, J. Y. (Eds.) (2010). Tackling wicked problems through the transdisciplinary imagination, (London: Earthscan). Brown J, Macy J. (2004). ‘Teaching sustainability: whole-systems learning.’ Teaching Business Sustainability, Galea C (ed), (Sheffield, UK: Greanleaf Publishing). Clegg SR, Ross-Smith A. (2003) ‘Revising the boundaries: Management education and learning in a post-positivist world,’ Academy of Management Education and Learning, 2(1) 85-99. Colby, A., Ehrlich, T., Sullivan, W. M., & Dolle, J. R. (2011). Rethinking under graduate business education: Liberal learning for the profession. (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass). Courtice P, Porritt J. (2004) ‘Sustainability education: the experience of HRH the Prince of Wales’ Business and the Environment program’ Teaching Business Sustainability, Galea C (ed.), (Sheffield, UK: Greanleaf Publishing). Egri CP, Rogers K.S. (2003) ‘Teaching about the natural environment in

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management education: new directions and approaches,’. Journal of Management Education, 27:139-143. Elkington, J. (2012) The Zeronauts: Breaking the Sustainability Barrier. (New York: Routledge). Elkington J. (1998) Cannibals with Forks.: (British Columbia: New Society). Florida, R., (2002) The Rise of the Creative Class, (New York: Basic Books). Ford, H., quote from http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/203714.Henry_ Ford , accessed April, 2013. Friedman, T., (2008). Hot, Flat and Crowded: Why we need a green revolution and how it can renew America, (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux).. Gore, A. (2013) The Future: Six drivers of Global Change, (New York: Random House). Hart, S.L.(2010). Capitalism at the Crossroads: Aligning Business, Earth, and Humanity. ,3rd ed. (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Wharton:) pp. 1-15. Hart S.L., Milstein, M.B. (2003) ‘Creating Sustainable Value’ Academy of Management Executive 17(2): 1-12. Hart, S. L., Christensen, C. M. (2002) ‘The great leap: Driving innovation from the base of the pyramid’ Sloan Management Review, 44(1): 51-56. Hawken, P. (2007) Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Social Movement in History is Restoring Grace, Justice, and Beauty to the World (New York: Penguin). Hawken P, Lovins A.B., Lovins L.H. (1999) Natural Capitalism. The Next Industrial Revolution, (London: Earthscan). Heilbroner, R.L., (1985) The Nature and Logic of Capitalism, (New York: Norton). Hodgson, G., (1996) Evolution and Economics (Michigan: University of Michigan). Martin, R. (2007). “How Successful Leaders Think.” Harvard Business Review, June 2007, 85 (6): 60-67 Meadows, D.H., Meadows, D.L., and Randers, J. (2004). Limits to Growth: The 30-Year Update, (Post Mills, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing). Marshall J. (2004) ‘Matching form to content in educating for sustainability: the Masters course in responsibility and business practice,’ Teaching Business Sustainability, Galea C. (ed), (Sheffield, UK: Greanleaf Publishing). Mintzberg H., Gosling, J. (2002) ‘Educating managers beyond border,’. Academy of Management Education and Learning 1(1): 64-76. Mintzberg, H., Lampel, J. (2001) ‘Matter of Degrees: Do MBAs Make Better CEOs?’ Fortune Magazine, February 19th, 2001: 244. Nell, E.J., (1998a) The General Theory of Transformational Growth (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press). Nell, E.J., (1998b) Transformational Growth and the Business Cycle, (New York: Routledge) Nell, E.J., Phillips, T.F. (1995) ‘Transformational Growth and the Business Cycle,’ Eastern Economic Journal, 21 (2), 125-42. Phillips, T.F., (2012) ‘Growing the Cayman Economy from the Inside Out’ Grand Cayman, (9) 1, 91-5. Phillips, T.F., (2011) ‘Lessons to be Learned: Cayman’s Educational Opportunity,’ Grand Cayman, (8) 2, 79-83. 196

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Phillips, T.F., (2010) ‘Education and Cayman’s Future,’ Grand Cayman, (7) 2, 91-8. Phillips, T.F., (2004) ‘Educational Insights from Edward Nell’s Theory of Transformational Growth,’ in Growth, Distribution, and Effective Demand, ed. G. Argyrous, M. Forstater, and G. Mongovi, (New York: M.E. Sharpe), 115-24. Porter, M. E. and Kramer, M.R. (2011). ‘The Big Idea: Creating Shared Value,’ Harvard Business Review, January-February, 89(1/2): pp. 62-77. Prahalad, C. K. (2004) The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits, (India: Wharton School Publishing). Randers, J. (2012). 2052 - A Global Forecast for the Next Forty Years, (Vermont, USA Chelsea Green Publishing). Smith, A., (1976) The Theory of Moral Sentiments (Oxford: Clarendon Press). Smith, A., (1976) The Wealth of Nations (Oxford: Clarendon Press). Veblen, T.B. (1919) The Place of Science in Modern Civilization and Other Essays (New York: Huebsch). Reprinted 1990 with a new introduction by W.J. Samuels (New Brunswick: Translation). Veblen, T.B., (1899) The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study of Institutions, (New York: MacMillan). Veblen, T.B. (1904) The Theory of Business Enterprise (New York: Charles Scribners). Welsh, M.A., Murray, D.L., (2003) ‘The ecollaborative: teaching sustainability through critical pedagogy,’ Journal of Management Education, 27: 220-235. Wheeler, D,, Zohar, A, Hart, S. (2005). ‘Educating senior executives in a novel strategic paradigm: Early experiences of the Sustainable Enterprise Academy,’Business Strategy and the Environment, 14(3), 172-85. Zohar, A., Middleton, C. (1997) ‘The problem-solving buffet: tales from the teaching field,’ Innovations in Business Education: Theory and Practice,. (London: Kluwer), 249–65.

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SPORT BUSINESS AND BRAND DESTINATION: A CAYMAN ISLANDS ANALYSIS Dalton Watler-Lyons* Abstract The organization of sport events as a tourism destination has its own challenges in small countries, territories and cities. Wanting to organize an event because the political class has certain political mandates, can play a tremendous role in the decision making process; however, its socio/economic and financial implication could be a positive one for small sport events/games and devastating for large ones. The Cayman Islandsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; organization of small sport events, demonstrates that sport events, destination attributes, event brand, hospitality, cultural approach toward sport, countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s buying in, security and safety are paramount for the organization and success of small events or games.

Keywords: Physical attributes, hospitality, destination, branding, sport consumers, event organization, socio/political importance of sport events, facilities. Email: watler.de@gmail.com

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INTRODUCTION The business of sports encompasses many sectors: social, educational, commercialization of products, and recently tours. The confirmation of sports tourism as a new facet in the business of sports is not a new concept. Its origins go way back to the Hellenic period, and proceeds through various stages of the development of humanity, until arriving in the modern period, where it gained importance and transcendence in the tourist industry. Sports tourism counts on a variety of components, which form the industry: the athletes, the fans and the sports officials who travel with the intention of presenting a competition. Within sports tourism one finds a) tourists who travel to the event and also visit other tourist activities, b) those who travel to see the event and all of their activities are related to the sport, c) those who travel to participate in the event (athletes and officials), and d) those who go there to work and provide a service at the event. Some of the important aspects related to sports tourism include the quality of the host countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s imageâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;particularly its cityâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and the uncertainty of the consumer to find authentic experiences at the games. Government Policies Of Sports Tourism In the new millennium, the Olympic Games and Football World Cup are the pinnacle games for the political class and they portray their ccountries as leaders in one or more different socio/economic/political sectors. Countries such Australia organized the Olympic Games to show their socio/political organization and China did it to demonstrate their socio-political and economic transition. South Africa hosted the World Cup to embrace their national identity and show inclusion of ethnicities and national unity. Brazil organized the Football World Cup and the Olympic Games to transform their society and show their economic and financial market capacity. All the previous examples have importance and merit, but it begs the question as to what sort of socio-political movement is required in order for the Country to maintain its world importance before, during, and after the event? Experience in this area indicates that once a country enters into high expenditure, the sports tourism and socio/political actions gear up for a continuous game organization process. Hence, once Countries become part of any major event, their emphasis shifts to the organization of more games for the following reasons: a) developing large amounts of land in the cities with the aim of modernization; b) developing and constructing self-sustainable villas;

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c) creating a propitious environment to construct modern cities and value the existing residences in the process; d) recognizing groups associated with the political class; e) demonstrating power of the political party; f) demonstrating power and leadership in the region; g) establishing a sports culture (achieving medals); h) promoting the Country as a sports tourism destination; i) creating a sense of unity and national identity, and promoting civic values within the population; j) satisfying the intrinsic necessities for modern urban development. The above reasons may be important for those who are in favour of organizing games, but the same may not be valid for another sector who may be against, for one or more of the following reasons a) procurement process b) over expenditures and inflation, c) neglecting the country’s real needs d) economic and financial benefits for a small sector. Investing in sports is not much of a problem for the political class, especially when construction contracts for major facilities are already among the dominant business class. There are instances when certain social classes, together with the opposition, create major problems because— in their view—government is not catering to their own people’s needs. One issue of importance between those who have and those who have not is the policy guideline set by the political class in power, whereby procurement, transparency and expenditure set the tone. The problem faced by many small countries is keeping in line with the policy guidelines, because of the lack of natural resources to produce material and/or the investment necessary to establish an industry to buy the raw materials to manufacture products locally. As no such industry exists, the Country has to import almost all of the construction materials, creating major financial problems for the Country and for the establishment of the sport tourism concept. Characteristics Of The Caymanian Tourist Market Tourists look for a destination based on abstract attributes (such as security, safety, environment and climate); physical attributes (such as activities, tourist attractions, natural landscapes); and cultural elements (such as sports, painting, literature and art). Each one of these attributes determines the type of demographic to which the consumer belongs. When a country has physical and abstract attributes that are found elsewhere, it becomes more attractive to consumers if price and safety can be included as added value propositions. The Caribbean as a tourism region offers the same 200

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sun, sea and sand to all visitors; while in other jurisdictions, sex, culture and marijuana are available. The differences between destinations and a consumer’s purchasing decision is not as easy as we think, even though they share a series of variables that are similar. From one point view, the physical attributes are thought to motivate the consumer to travel, and these can be rural, urban, cultural, historic, sports, health, religious, natural and sex attributes, among others. It is known that the Cayman Islands have earned a reputation as an elitist and exclusive country, with few physical attributes. Visitors to these islands are characterized as belonging to a socioeconomic class with disposable salaries ranging between $100,000 and $500,000 per annum after tax. These tourists are divided into four socioeconomic classes: a) high class, b) middle class, c) business class, and d) rich class. The territorial and natural characteristics of the Cayman Islands are different in comparison to other Countries in the region. The island is not mountainous, it has little variety in its flora and fauna, and natural attractions are scarce—which means that extrinsic factors have little influence on consumers. An article published by the Caymanian Compass in 2008, said that “the success of the island is not precisely because the island is beautiful—let me tell you a secret: there are many other beautiful islands; the success is due to the fact that people feel they are welcome in a place where their family values have importance in the community and are compatible with their beliefs.” The ability to attract and retain tourists is complex, but within this complex relationship it is necessary to identify the specific qualities of the market. Knowing that sports tourism is on the rise, it would be very interesting for the Cayman Islands to add sport as another attraction through which to provide an avenue for market diversification. Conceptualization Of Sports Tourism Destinations in which mega sports and sport tourism have demonstrated compatibility with economic, planning, development, consumers, and geographic locations may not produce the same results in other jurisdictions. Additionally, the organization of any event for sports tourism should essentially be compatible with both the consumer market and the Country’s identified brand. Sports tourism events—whether in large or small Countries—require a study and the utilization of marketing tools to determine their facilities’ structural planning, organizational probabilities and financial sustainability. Experiences in the preparation of the Olympics Games in China showed that the country was unable to satisfy the demand for steel, while London faced issues with security systems and participants’ safety. While such experiences can happen to any organization, both scenarios tell us that when there is a problem in Sport Business and Brand Destinations

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meeting demands, the organizing committee should have contingency plans in place to deal with the challenges, even if doing so incurs higher costs to satisfy the Games pressing demands. Smaller jurisdictions may be unable to consider the organization of multi-games and/or world championships as the number of scenarios and variety of infrastructure and human resource needs exceed the capacity of a small State. Rather, it is advisable for organizers of small events to attract consumers by diversifying the market and encouraging support through broadcast opportunities via the Fox television network, for example. From an organizational point of view, preparation requires things like lights, sound systems, decoration, chairs, preferential seating, counterfeit-proof tickets, entrance processes, emergency exits, announcers, commentators, promoters, security, food and refreshment zones within the stadium. Identifying an event’s needs and the Country’s capacity to cater to them are issues that require special attention, but the most important element is the Country’s attributes and its ability to attract consumers and TV audiences. Taking a closer look at sports tourism diversification in the Cayman Islands, it can be seen that there is repetitive behaviour in doing business, which produces below average results—which, in turn, has a negative impact on sport tourism, tourism diversification and the Country’s ability to promote sport tourism as a brand. Higham, J and Hinch, T (2007) are of the opinion that “one of the conditions for diversification to produce results is the necessity that there be a demand in the corresponding market, therefore it becomes necessary to verify the needs of the market before investing in the development of the product.” This corroboration is hugely significant as it establishes that consumers will only buy a product if there is a demand for it. In other words, putting on an event with little-known athletes is totally different to putting on an event with renowned athletes, and increasing tourist arrivals or earning Country recognition on a television network from emerging or professional athletes without a name is difficult. However, television can generate publicity for any small market, especially if it is based in the USA. Taking the above explanation into the context of Cayman Islands international sporting events, raises the question of whether sports events can successfully attract consumers. In response, it is very important to take into account the Country’s sports heritage, as well as its peoples’ willingness to preserve and communicate their heritage and identity. It is my understanding that for the conceptualization of sports tourism, it is important that the people and the place influence consumers once they arrive on Island, thereby shifting from a state of attraction to one of affection, because the Country and its people can showcase the following: a) The Cayman Islands has a demand for certain sports; 202

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b) The Cayman Islands has produced some world class athletes; c) The Cayman Islands sport heritage is evident in sea and sand activities; d) Recognition of local professional athletes is well established; e) Influential sport consumers follow sporting events; f) Facilities and landscaping aesthetically cater to sport tourism; g) The Caymanian market is sophisticated and suited to higher incomes; Factors such as destination, attraction and affection are important for understanding sports tourism, in addition to motivational components, such as intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Those above are called the push or psychological intrinsic components and are determined by the personality and attitude of the individual; while the cultural components are determined by the destination’s image, cost of the trip, promotion and products offered. According to Higham, J. and Hinch, T. (2007), the process to move the tourist from awareness to attraction requires a planning process targeting the consumer’s intrinsic values. These can be achieved by providing a unique product that matches the consumers wants in a destination that is as unique as his/her values. In this case, the destination is a component of his/ her social status—which acts as a supporter—influencing his/her behaviour to be where his/her socio/economic class belongs. In this regard, how tourists understand the image, place and destination is how they demonstrate their social significance and social class, by travelling either to watch a match abroad in a very expensive seat or in a stadium in an exclusive area. The Cayman Islands have the potential to develop sport tourism and the same can be achieved by sport events that are already established, such as the Legends Tennis Tournament and the Golf Invitational. However, this may create issues between local and overseas sport consumers, because the facilities’ capacity caters to a specified number of tourists, particularly from the USA region, rather than to local fans. Creation And Establishment Of Sports Tourism Destinations Many countries have hosted events with sports and touristic aims, but few have consolidated this objective. Regional, World and Olympic Games are established on a perennial cycle, but the effects are short-lived for the countries that organize them. While the names of the events are established, the destination and experiences are sold through the organizers to sports followers, to create or establish a country as a sports destination in which the sports culture is promoted. Recognizing the importance of the Games and the visitor can achieve equal results as compared to well-known sport events, without the need to compete with or trying to replace them. Rather, providing opportunities for market demands and accomplishing great results Sport Business and Brand Destinations

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can be possible and achievable, whether or not the organizer follows the recommendations below for its establishment: a) Surveys. The method is a straightforward one; the interviewer posts his/her questions in such a way that his/her emotions are under control. For example: Do you believe that the Cayman Islands half marathon can attract tourists? b) Study Group. The participants are knowledgeable of the subject and these, in turn, exercise influence over a number of other people or associated groups who have been identified as potential consumers. The groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s selection is based on the identification of experiences and consumer preferences. For example: Do you believe that the half marathon can bring runners from overseas? c) Personal Interviews. Generally the person being interviewed has experience or contact with the product, and the interviewer wants to know their impressions about their experiences. A negative aspect to this method is its costliness and tediousness, which can create negativity with the person being interviewed. d) Observation. This is one of the most often used and very effective methods in that the survey subjects reveal behaviour and processes by which they decide to select one product over another. For example: Why do runners prefer the Negril half marathon over the Cayman Islands half marathon? f) Method of Study Online. Technology has provided a tool through which to communicate via the telephone, social networks and electronic mail. This method tends to be effective when the questions and the survey are short and the communication apparatus is available. Its effectiveness is a given when it is conducted randomly and the participants accept the interview and answer the questions in a manner that conveys he/she is enjoying the process. g) Credit Cards and Business Affiliation. This type of method is in major demand in the commercial sector because it follows all of the cardholderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s transactions and reoccurrence of use when incentives are given. Through the use of the cards, consumers are identified by their preferences for specified products, places and destinations, and according to their tastes, are placed in demographic groups classified by education, family, work and salaries. The rise of sport events dictates that it is necessary for any sporting association or sport business to undergo the minimum requirements before planning a new event, and following the above guidelines will provide enough information for the event organizer to host it. The study and the identification of the consumer (i.e., consumer behaviour includes thinking, reasoning, process of selection between one product 204

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and another, brand name, influencing environment, and others) helps to prescribe the most effective strategies. Having this assured, the next steps are to identify the funding, brand name of the event, and most suitable location or venue. These—once analyzed and finalized—should generate sufficient interest for the organizer, and can be greatly enhanced if the Country has the following attributes: stable finances, low crime rate, natural resources, gastronomic variety, sophisticated/elitist destination, cultural variety, free zone or duty free shopping areas. Mullin, B., Hardy, S., and Sutton, W (2000), of the American Association of Marketing, defined brand name as “the name, terms, design, symbols or any other characteristic that identifies one seller of distinct products and services from other sellers.” New sports events and destination paradigms can generate interest of indescribable characteristics, which could follow high profile consumers. In addition to the above, government participation would deliver added value to the product through its tourism department and/or commission. Another important aspect besides Government is high performance athletes participating in the event and the necessary mechanisms being in place to sell the event to the consumers. That is to say, if the brand name of the event is good, and the product presented is good, consumers will be attracted—independent of their financial status. Experience observed at brand-name events like the World and Olympic Games demonstrates that spectators travel to see the Games regardless of the distances, costs or destination. The important thing is to be at the event. In much the same way, since traditional brand-name events attract fans, it is presumed that when the event is of significance, spectators want to participate, and the decision that makes them travel rests on the expectations of the brand name and the products presented to satisfy their needs and create favourable experiences for them. When an event is conceptualized, it is necessary to organize and have available well-trained workers in the hospitality sector and to create favourable experiences, so that the consumer associates the destination and brand-name as a place where their participation, together with the Country embracing their expectations, produces results in line with their socio/economic class and values. Every sports event with sights set on sustaining sports tourism should transmit a unique experience to the consumer as well as the athletes. This is achieved by constructing a series of values for the event that should be long-lasting, relevant, communicable and highlighted for the market and the event itself. From this point of view, the destination plays an important role in consolidating the event, and the experiences demonstrate that sports events use the destination to highlight, guarantee and communicate activities that can only be found in that country or city. In this sense, the creation and establishment of a sports-tourism event takes into account everything Sport Business and Brand Destinations

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about the country or place where it will be held. This is reinforced by important aspects about the destination, such as history, music, foods, art, culture and image. According to Chalip, L. and Xing, X (2006), “the theory of the brand name united with the image of the Country provokes and transmits to the consumer a profile of the destination and the product.” If one follows this suggestion and takes into account the destination and the construction of the Cayman Islands brand, it is understood that the Country’s image has three important variables: country, commerce and market. Putting these together conveys important information about the destination and creates symbolic benefits. The term Country communicates everything that is related to the security, culture and image of its tourist attractions, as well as its seriousness related to fulfillment in organizing the event. The commerce variable represents the influence of the private sector and multinational corporations within the Anglophone and emerging countries, as well as their capacity to sponsor and invite clients to the event. On the other hand, the market variable makes reference to the tourist sector, identified and characterized by the capacity to communicate—through the media— the importance of the event and its expectations. With respect to the previously mentioned values, Chalip, L. and Xing, X (2006) are of the opinion that “the effect of the organization of an event among its consumers and spectators depends to a certain degree on the mutual correlation between the event and the destination.” As a Country, the Cayman Islands have all of the necessary attributes to organize individual sports events and the individual sports should be in line with its heritage, because a sports attraction is also a cultural attraction, to the point that it confirms people’s identities in a specific place. From the perspective of the destination and the culture and brand, Cayman sells the perfect images. It implies that the tourists are well received and that the exuberant hospitality from its people guarantees security and a sense of belonging. These characteristics—added to classy tourism, catering to consumer demands and wants—produce unforgettable experiences. By way of example, the “Cayman Beach Volleyball, NORCECA,” was an event organized to attract spectators during the month of March/April. The event was created taking into account a variety of factors—including the demographics of the consumer market, the Countries where the NORCECA tournament takes place, the Cayman Islands image, climate, iconic attractions such as Stingray City, and the Islands’ crystal clear waters and diving sites, among others. The amalgamation of all of the above was sufficient for the event to be considered as an important attraction for the local population as well as tourists. Since its inception, the tournament has grown and attracts internationally renowned players from countries in North America, Mexico, Canada, and the United States, as well as major participation from the 206

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countries in the Caribbean region such as Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica. It has been established that independent of negative factors associated to the branding of an event or the destination, sports continue and the demands become greater, as the event itself provides entertainment and satisfaction. The business of sports, specifically in tourism, is complicated and lucrative. On the one hand, ticket prices, athletes’ demands to attend, consumer safety, and Country security are among issues that can work against any sports event, but the fundamental fact at the end of the day is an economic one. The price to see a brand-name event reflects its commercial value and—using the Super Bowl as an example—the practice in this sense establishes that the greater the ranking of a major event, the greater the price to attend. Conversely, less important events are reflected in the cost of the ticket. The event brand and ticket price are in direct proportion to its quality. If the price of tickets is expensive and the product brand is of high quality, then the event becomes elitist, and only those who have the capacity to acquire at that price can be at the stadium to watch the game. On the other hand, if brand-name events—such as the NORCECA Volleyball Tournament, in which the ticket price does not exist (i.e., admission is free) but the product has consumer demand—can generate enough expectation locally and bring economic gain to stakeholders, then the events’ demand cannot be valued based on local appreciation. Rather, it requires indirect stakeholder participation to position a brand that delivers consumers promise. Much is said about sports tourism and the destination, brand, organization, spectators, volunteering and the different tourist packages offered to travellers. All of these factors make sports tourism a business, which—first of all—consists of a process to rationalize a concept and develop an idea, and ends with a working proposal for the event, which establishes its commercialization and gravitates to the achievement of tangible (products) and intangible (clients), and the presentation of a service (business) having as an objective profit. In the process of business, the hospitality sector (providers of services to tourists) comes into play by private entities (sponsors) and public entities (government/organizers). These three sectors work in a synergistic manner, even though each one has its own marked objectives and areas of interest. For example, the hospitality sector through its chain of hotels, provides services for all the available markets. Some set their sights on the corporate sector, others on the worker sector, others on the well-off sector, while other chains provide services to all of the aforementioned under the same brand but with different names. This is the case with the Melia chain, whereby the Marriott services the corporate sector, and the Ritz Carlton caters to the more affluent sector. The importance of the division beSport Business and Brand Destinations

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tween one class and another brings a sample of the labour class and their preparation to provide services, especially to those coming from the aristocratic social class and the bourgeois class. Caymanian Hospitality And Sports Tourism Hospitality is an acquired right demanded by the customer upon purchasing a service. Its quality is dependent on the amount of money exchanged, personality of the worker, and culture and work ethics. The services are provided by the worker to the customer based on respect and understanding of the functions of each one at the moment of the interaction—either in a direct or indirect manner. According to Slaterry, P. (2002), “the basic function of hospitality is to establish a relationship or promote the exchange of services and products either material or symbolic between whomever provides the service or whomever receives it.” Slaterry, P (2002) is also of the opinion that one of the principal functions of the hospitality act is to consolidate the recognition between the provider and the receiver, so that both share the same moral universal system, in which both participants agree to belong. The hospitality scene from a commercial concept is based on the relationship where the employee subordinates himself or herself to the customer—and this subordination is out of respect—to guarantee the provision of the service in an efficient manner. Acts of hospitality are universal, but each one is charged with a certain stamp that identifies the country. It is common knowledge that cultural patterns are significant when providing services to a customer, specifically to the tourists, who travel to faraway countries looking for experiences, enjoyment, and a sense of belonging (value); and on the part of the provider of these services, the cultural values of the people to whom the service is provided should be understood. The Caymanian experience in the area of hospitality, in which the social values are transmitted includes: smiling, explaining and assisting tourists, and resolving problems in a spontaneous manner. These characteristics are found in virtually all jurisdictions, but few do their part in keeping with their culture and social legacy. The type of interaction between the population and visitors—or more specifically, between taxi drivers/tour operators and tourists, describes the disposition, orientation and understanding of the significance of tourism and hospitality. It could be said that hospitality can have a certain negative value if the local people are not very open and flattering; and the same can be said about any instance where the interaction between tourist and service provider takes place. This is to say, the place dictates the standards of hospitality, and the lack of tact in its application determines how good the recognition of the service provided can be. 208

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The business of tourism is based on the offer of a product the tourist demands. At the same time the fundamental premise, or the provision of services at acceptable levels, is charged with a socio-financial value; that is to say, the worker offers and provides his or her services knowing that the tourist will compensate his or her good service. In other scenarios like the ones that are observed in guesthouses, the hospitality service is not connected directly to the tourist, but to the level of attention that he or she receives from the proprietor. This scenario reflects a variable in which the tourist is housed in a guest house operated by the owners of the business, whose tradition and culture is offered with a significant value, and both exchange their uniqueness with little formal protocol. The all-inclusive service is another factor that can influence best hospitality services in a negative way, compared to the provision of classic service. In this scenario, tourists and hospitality providers are presented with challenges because the travel agency sells tourist packages bundled with hospitality services. Data from a hospitality service study conducted among a number of workers in the Cayman Islands (N 50), revealed that: 32% who work in the hospitality sector are in the industry to pay for their university studies; 21% are in their jobs for the money; 13% are in the industry because of a family tradition; 17% donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know why they joined; another 13% are in the industry for the money, family influence and/or saving for college; while 4% are in the hotel/ hospitality industry because it was the only available work they could find (See Appendix 14). Further research reveals that their parents also worked in the industry to reach higher educational levels. The correlation between the reasons for which they work in the hotel/ hospitality sector and the reasons why they give better service revealed that 76% are of the opinion that incentives are the reason for them to provide best service, 14% believe that to receive better pay it would be very beneficial to provide more services. This correlation between one and the other variable indicates that the workers in the Hotel sector in the Cayman Islands earned enough to pay for their university careers, but they work-extensive hours, including weekends and public holidays. This says that the job is a sacrifice, because Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays are the days on which people go out to have fun. From a labour and commercial point of view, workers in the Hotel sector meet their obligations and provide services according to the guidelines established by their superiors. In this sense, it is understood that the hospitality sector, in addition to being connected to culture and incentives, also obeys the standards put in place by their managers. According to the workers of this sector in the Cayman Islands, 90% of the Managers of the hotels, restaurants and agencies that provide services to tourists Sport Business and Brand Destinations

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are qualified and excellent leaders in their respective businesses. According to them, their Managers have a sense that enables them to know and differentiate between one and another customer. In providing superior treatment and service, there is a certain contrast in the way the welcome is delivered, and body gestures, tone of voice, and the offering of welcome beverages vary upon communicating with them. Knowing how to communicate and understand the customer requires experience and personality. For Managers in the industry, finding personnel with these attributes is not an easy task, and is much more complicated when the provision of service is given to numerous groups, in which each tourist demands attention to his or her necessities. Within the sports environment, the provision of hospitality services demands a conscientious effort and qualified personnel to attend and deal with important guests. It is well known that tourists are the number one business in overseas territories and the Caribbean Islands. This dependency on tourism, as a means of employment and sustenance among the inhabitants and the business sector, is strongly connected to development and construction. The problem with small territories is their fragile ecosystems and lack of natural resources. One of the many ways that tourism exists in the Countries of the Caribbean is through the organization of sports events with sights set on increasing the number of visitors to their countries. Hence, the establishment of an events plan—with the objective being to organize sports events of all types—can assist small countries/territories in generating enough business while protecting the environment, but this requires preparation of the work force. One of the few challenges for young Caymanians and Anglophone Caribbean territories is the lack of languages. Experience in this sector reveals that the countries of the Caribbean region have organized sports events and they prepare the country, but neglect to offer communication either in Spanish or French. The above balance between the private sector and the non-profit sports sector requires attention with respect to sports hospitality. One provides services under the premise of better price and better quality of the service; while the other requires providing services independent of the circumstances. The latter demands high quality services from volunteers and employees for fans, sponsors and VIP’s. According to Mullin, B., Hardy, S. and Sutton, W. (2000), “the adequate use of hospitality services is done to demonstrate that the services are available as part of a comprehensive agreement between the sponsors and the organizers of the event.” Sports events, just like the tourist sector, offer a gamut of services for selection by the spectators and invited guests. They are at the disposition of the tourist, and the sponsor depends on their status and contribution. The organization of the services takes into account the previously described factors and sets the rules so that workers from both sectors pro210

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vide services according to the circumstances, which will guarantee their gratification, remuneration or recognition. Jawardena, C. (2000) is of the opinion that the achievements of one establishment are not determined by the number of visitors, sales or money earned, but by the labour done by the Manager and the functions of the workers, who—through their careful work—give satisfaction to the customer. Hence, as more customers return, there will be more of a guarantee of development in the long run. One must be aware that the perception of hospitality rests on a subjective value between the customer and the worker; it is a relationship where standards of both tourist and customer belong. The analysis of the Caymanian experience reflects that the workers of the hotel sector (hotels, restaurants and tours) do not have many problems with the amount of money that they earn because other incentives, such as free time, tips, free time to study and flexible working hours, which are very effective in encouraging workers to provide more effective and productive services. However, hospitality as a culture is not a determinant in looking for permanent jobs, but is viewed as a temporary job while sights are set on acquiring better education and higher payment within the administrative sector. Security, Hospitality And Sports Tourism Today’s societies face many challenges in organizing sports events. Groups of rebels, criminals, terrorism, threats, unbalanced fans and antisocial behaviour from spectators while attending an event, bring to light that sports activities— the same as any other historic, cultural or nationally important event—require the construction of venues which can cater to the security of dignitaries and people with special physical needs, as well as fans and the athletes. Plans to reduce any type of skirmish against persons or groups who act against social and sporting norms include activities such as monitoring by air, on foot, by vehicle checkpoints, positioning ticket stands far from the sports venue, cameras, digital identification (facial recognition) of fans, signs and billboards indicating points of access, evacuation and parking, among other procedures. Establishing security plans for people to obey the mandates of the sports federations is a government requirement. On the other hand, the organizing committee takes charge of monitoring the spectators, the hospitality and the vendors. The security—as such—is in hands of the Government, private sector and sport federation. These three entities work together and, depending on the treatment meted out to participants, can serve as a detonator to create problems or can pacify spectators into obeying the rule of law. The Caribbean region has the CAC games, the CARIFTA games and other indiSport Business and Brand Destinations

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vidual tournaments such as tennis and golf as their best regional games. The CAC games are the premier Games of the region and enjoy all of the technical/sporting and security requirements for its execution. As one of the major competitive games in the region, the measures of security, hygiene and hospitality are always of the highest standards and the number of volunteers that provide services to the athletes, tourists and the spectators is demonstrably important to both the brand and the tourist destination. The organization of multiple or individual games has peculiar characteristics in each country. The region of the Hispanic Caribbean is characterized by high security deployment, while that of the Anglophone Caribbean dedicates itself more to enjoying the event. Within these parameters, the Cayman Islands as a Caribbean destination shares characteristics in the hospitality arena which are similar to its regional neighbours, but in the area of security, the Cayman Islands has unique characteristics when compared to other countries in the Caribbean area. The Cayman Islands is a relatively small sports tourism destination and its security and safety system is relaxed. Free seating assignments, relaxed control over stands, chain link fences and consumption of bottled or canned beer on the premises, without police presence or closed-circuit television reveals much about the local fans sporting culture. Comparing the Cayman Islands experience with other sports jurisdictions can produce two different results, if one takes into account the use of security devices in other countries that include security cameras, undercover police, uniformed police, undercover guards and a high quantity of stewards. Those types of actions and tools are required because their fansâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; cultural approach to sport is different to what obtains in the Cayman Islands. According to Frostick, S. (1996), the close circuit services have five primordial objectives: 1) supervise, 2) help to direct, 3) detect conflicts, 4) provide visibility, 5) provide recognition and identification of spectators. The principal objective of the system is to supervise the activities before, during and after the game, whereas the use of security cameras in the Caymanian experience is not required at this time. It is my understanding that a CCTV system requires significant investment and personnel for monitoring, as well as funds to cover maintenance and operational costs. Local coaches and event organizers are of the view that the police force is sufficient, especially outside the sports arena, since police on patrol have security on their minds and their presence commands respect and abstention among those who want to cause problems. Another group, which includes district coaches, is of the opinion that the manner in which some police operate poses risks and problems, especially when spectators of the game resist following orders from the officials. In these instances, the lack of cultural knowledge and police 212

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experience could cause confrontation instead of calm. Historic incidences of sports violence shows few instances when the police force intervened, and taking into account the data and experiences of aggressive behaviour inside and outside the venues, the Cayman Islands experience could be considered as unique. This is due in great part to the little affinity that exists between the population and the sports clubs. This does not mean that the sports fans of the Cayman Islands do not live for sports; on the contrary, they feel it, but they are steady, in part because their feeling of belonging and recognition does not use sports as a measure, but as a point of reference to feel and live the social euphoria of the moment. Another example for understanding the behaviour of sports fans in the Cayman Islands is the cultural definition that is given to sports on the island, which—from my point of view—could define itself as “the means by which to achieve well-being and development without neglecting education.” That is to say, if the means is profiled with more importance than the end, it should be abandoned or rectified in order to arrive at the final objective. Therefore, sport is not a passion, but a diversion. However, a security plan, although not directly linked to terrorism but rather at antisocial behaviours, should include the following actions: a) Monitoring of central or unit air conditioners; b) Control over parking lots; c) VIP automobiles license plate ID; d) Inspection of drivers licenses upon entering the park; e) Inquiry of the license plates of cars that seem suspicious; f) Control over the area of the park where honoured invited guests stay; g) Monitoring of the pedestrians, rails, chairs and fences; h) Requisitioning of elements that can be used as projectiles or arms; i) Presence of custodial staff; j) Gate entrance and control/separate male and female entry line; To guarantee peace and the provision of excellent services for all spectators, it is imperative that security personnel are on hand to prevent potential risk. For example, if the stadium has zones, each zone should be dutifully marked with custodial staff able to locate spectators in their rightful stands. In the case of spectators demonstrating rude behaviour against a woman, a spectator, or a player, the security system in place should be able to catch such action and call this to the attention of the security personnel to give a warning. If the offender continues with such action, they should be removed from the stadium. While this recommendation has been put into practice in the Cayman Islands, there is not an analogy in the countries in which sports is a passion whereby the action of removing a fan(s) is used as a measure to avoid possible seditious acts. Sport Business and Brand Destinations

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Another important aspect is the identification of counterfeit tickets and finding possible sellers. In this instance it is advisable that barcodes and holograms are used as a means of control. Another viable secure solution is the use of the intern, due to the fact that the purchasing of goods via the internet requires the spectator’s personal information. All of the above are effective methods for keeping a secure facility and, in some instances, the segregation or separation of the fans is very effective when there is a history of aggressiveness between rival groups of fans. This is not a new practice; in fact, it is very old and was utilized during the Roman Empire. Segregation is not observed in the Cayman Islands, although the possibility to effect separation could be considered as a preventive measure against violence if the sport in question has a history of violent or antisocial behaviour. Safety And Sports Tourism To guarantee the well-being of all participants, including tourists and athletes, it is the primordial task of the host country to provide information on safety, to encourage travellers’ participation at Games. Countries with histories and problems of social aggressiveness with deadly weapons or social riots, should concentrate all their efforts in communicating security plans for all travellers and participants. The scourge of antisocial behaviour on the part of one sector of the population gains much visibility in the media and can affect and overshadow the organization of the games. One group that is always causing social issues are the fanatics with their out-of-control extremism motivated by an ideal. Additionally, the influence of alcohol, or quarrels with other casual spectators or fans from another team, are considerations which give the game a high level of risk, and—in such cases—it is advisable for the organizing committee to put mechanisms in place to avoid any group organization in the stands. Talorw, P. (2002) recognizes six types of groups as follows: 1) Visible, 2) aggressive, 3) runner, 4) prohibited, 5) reactionary, and 6) agreeable. Each one of these has its own characteristics, but they can be grouped according to their method of acting. For example, the invisibles, runners and agreeable are the type of fan groups who do more cheering for a good game and event. They live the matches, enjoy the encounters and express frustration without coming to violence. The invisibles watch the game in silence, participate little in the shouting, and are calm. The runners are characterized by participating in the encounter in a lively manner; but, in case of a possible revolt or aggressive act, abandons the instigation and set themselves apart from any kind of confrontation, going as far as fleeing when danger is imminent. The agreeable, as their name indicates, are the type of fans who enjoy the game. For these fans, there are no winners or losers, simply a match which they enjoy for the good of 214

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the sport. From the point of view of the sports consumer, it could be stated that the first three types of groups previously mentioned belong to those fans that look for feelings of pleasure and enjoyment and want to be part of the event and have a good time. Without a doubt, these three types of sports fan groups are the only ones known in the Caymanian sports experience. The aggressive, prohibited and reactionary fan groups are characterized by the search for emotions beyond the game, especially when they live in the moment, and the passion and the game are part of their life and destiny. Therefore, the variable of risk is always present among these groups, and even though they do not plan on fighting, risk factors and strong emotions influence their collective behaviour. According to Tarlow, P. (2002), â&#x20AC;&#x153;the people in finding themselves among the fan groups are exposed to behaviour that is totally different to what they demonstrate, hence, the way of acting in any particular moment can be influenced by other fans.â&#x20AC;? It is understood that there are certain characteristics which are shared between one and another sector. The experiences of other countries have demonstrated that the reactionary fan groups can pass from being aggressive and prohibited, that is to say, they go through stages of emotions, from noisy to verbal insults, and later on to actions. In other words, their behaviour does not suddenly explode. These demonstrate certain routes and characteristics that indicate that these fan groups are a danger to the event and to the passive fan groups as well. The previously described reflects the behaviour of the followers, with the difference that the insults can be the result of bad calls from the referee, for allowing dirty play, for omitting the gamesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; rules or for not applying them in a timely manner. Those are and can be reason(s) for a group of people to initiate disturbances and, even worse, when alcoholic beverages are consumed within the stadium. Paradoxically, their sales and promotion is made at events promoting health and a healthy lifestyle. The use and sale of alcoholic beverages in the Cayman Islands at sports venues has had its defenders, who promote its consumption as a socializing agent, while another sector sees the sale of alcoholic beverages in sports places as a social and sports fallacy. At the root of these pro and con debates, the government in the year 1995, instituted a policy banning the sale and distribution of alcoholic beverages in all the sports venues managed and operated by the Department of Sports and Health. Subject to pressure on the part of the sponsors in some sports such as rugby, in the year 2002, the government changed its policy and established a friendly and conciliatory relationship between the two groups and gave permission for the sale of alcoholic beverages, but maintained its point of no consumption in the stands. By the year 2007, the government established the consumption of alcohol in the stands, but in Sport Business and Brand Destinations

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plastic containers only. This is to say, the policy went from no tolerance to harmony and acceptance. The position of the government of not accepting alcoholic beverages had as an argument that it encouraged a healthy lifestyle and the use of sports as a vehicle meant for good habits. Arguments along these lines have their validity and application at the elementary, secondary and university fan levels and with totally amateur community sports teams. But at the professional level, the companies producing beer and other types of energetic beverages, sponsor and help sports, and defend their use and consumption at or near the venue. Countries such as Jamaica (Red Stripe) Colombia (Aguila), United States (Corona), Mexico (Tecate), Australia (Fosters) and the Cayman Islands (Heineken) have demonstrated their interest in sponsoring and announcing their products in the stadiums and stands. The different trends as far as no consumption, consumption within an area and consumption within the stands are three points of view that reflect the policies of each government. If the sale of alcohol is not permitted and spectators want to consume alcohol, they could easily ingest it before entering the stadium and be under its influence on arrival. That is to say, the argument in favour of selling and consuming of alcohol is in line with the thought process (reasoning) that, all things being equal, behavioural patterns should produce the same results in all the jurisdictions where the consumption of alcoholic beverages is permitted. Hence, the problem is not the sale of alcohol, but rather the cultural approach and lack of safety procedures in place to control, reduce and avoid antisocial behaviour. Security And The Environment Another important factor within the subject of security is the environment and the scenarios in which the sports activity takes place. The agencies of control assure themselves that sports venues deny all the requirements of protection and meet all the standards of security. The sports agencies inspect the sports fields, tracks and courts, and the organizers of the event assure that the planning for the game is in accordance with standards of regulation and internal control. Environmental conditions, especially with open-air sports, play an important role when planning for an event. Discarding them and not taking into account security measures can imply risk for the participants and the spectators. Open-air sports such as football, baseball, swimming and beach volleyballâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;among othersâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;have sports rules that regulate the sport against environmental phenomena, leaving the continuation or stopping of the game at the discretion of the referee. The act of leaving the game in the hands of the referee places the organizers of the event at the mercy of the referee, whose function is to control the game and not the event. 216

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Environmental conditions, such as snow and heavy rain, are not reasons to hold back a match, but could be used as a reason to protect the integrity, health and wellbeing of everyone, especially the fans attending who are watching the game. There are certain circumstances in which the referees and trainers do not have problems with heavy rain, but the problem is not so much rain as lighting, and its proximity to the sports scenario, requiring immediate action on the part of the chief of security to safeguard the spectators. Situations like these are to be taken seriously, and once the natural phenomenon has been identified by the meteorologist as a threat, it requires action(s) to move spectators to safety in an identified area. The process includes the use of loudspeakers and megaphones that inform and instruct the spectators how, when and who should evacuate the facility first. The process begins with the closest row to the exit and ends with the most distant. According to Gratz, J. and Church, R. (2004), the use of lightning rods is a great help in the protection of spectators. These devices have 93% effectiveness and are located in the electricity towers of the stadium. The installation of these, in addition to guaranteeing the safety of spectators, gives the players and spectators confidence in feeling protected when a storm is sudden and cruel. Natural phenomena (e.g., cold fronts, heat waves, electrical storms and storms) are formed and unfold their strength, causing unfavorable results for all those that are found in their proximity. At the root of natural actions, stadiums and sports venues are designed to take into account two aspects: functionality and aesthetics. Functionality makes reference to services that should be available for the intended purpose of the scenario. Aesthetics makes reference to the design, contrast, and agreeable perception of the scenario by the observer. The aspects of aesthetics and functionality can be subjective according to the observerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interpretation, butâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;in sports termsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;functionality and aesthetics do not leave room for these considerations since sports and the scenarios, together with the players, the trainers and the rest of the human resources, are part of the codification of sports. The Cayman Islands, in keeping with the rest of the Anglophone Islands, do not possess majestic or immense venues that hold thousands of people, but the few that exist perform their function and, in the absence of teams of security, the public forces (fire and police) should be trained and prepared to meet the demands.

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References Anderson. Attendance at Gladiator Games. www.reviewjournal.com. April 29, 2006. Ancient Roman and Sports retrieved 4/10/2006 www.crystallinks.com 1999. AFP Agency Piden a FIFA autorizar venta de plato tradicional brasileño en Mundial-2014 noviembre 3/21012. Sao Pablo, Brazil. Arnett, D. Laverie, D. Factors Affecting Fan Attendance: The influence of Identity Salience and Satisfaction. Journal of Leisure (2000) 130. 28- 36. Australia Sport Commission. Talented Identification Program (2006). Beckles, H. (1998). The Development of West Indies Cricket (The Age of Nationalism) The Press, University of the West Indies: Kingston. Bernardot, D. (2003). Nutrition for Serious Athletes. Human Kinetics. Champaign, ILL. Bernstein. Sport Stadium Boondoggle. Public Interest (1998). 132.45-57. Blair, R. (1995). Antitrust Economics, Homewood, Ill. Blazquez, D. 1986. Iniciación de los Deportes de Equipos. Martinez Roca: Barcelona. Bodden, O. Minister of Sports Cayman Islands. Personal interview, January 9, 2015. Brawell, B. A Sport Mega Event as a Sustainable Tourism Development Strategy. Tourism Recreation (1997) 22, (2) 13-19. Brawell,B. Strategic Planning before and after a Mega Event. Tourism Management (1998) 19 (1) 35-47. Bush,W,Mc. Sport Development Plan and Policy for the Cayman Islands, 1994 speech. Cahill, B. and Pearl, A., Eds. , (1993). Intensive Participation in Children’s Sports. Human Kinetics. Champaign: ILL. Chalip,L.Green,C. Effects of Sport Event Media on Destination Image and Intention to Visit. Journal of Sport Management, 2003, 17, 214-234. Chalip, L. Johnson, A. Stachura, L. National Sports Policies. Greenwood. CT. USA. (1998). Chalip, L & Sparvero, E. Professional Teams as Leverageable Asset: Strategic Creation of Community Value. Sport Management. Vol. I (2007) 1- 44. Chalip, L & Xing, X. Effects of Hosting a sport Event on Destination Brand: A test of Co-branding and Match–up Models. Sport Management Association of Australian and New Zealand. (2006) Vol. (9) 1-23. Connolly, W. Personal Interview, 1999. Cayman Islands Economic Development Plan, 1986-1990. Cayman Islands National Archive 1986. 218

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Cayman Islands Government in Council. The Sport Tourism Law. Revision 1995, 4/4. Cayman Islands Historical Compendium of Statistics, 1774-1980. Government Statistics Office, C.I, 1992. Caymanian Compass. US Affluence Unveiled, Oct/1/08, C. Doherty. Clark, N. (1997). Sports Nutrition Guide Book. Human Kinetics. Champaign: ILL. Coakley,J. (2004). Sports in Society, Issues and Controversies. McGraw Hill: NY. Coleman, J. ( 2006). Lanzadores y Video Games. The Magazine of Law 1 (2). www.legalaffairs.org/issues/january-february-2006/review. International Character of Physical Education and Sport. Paris, 21 November 1978. www.unesco.org/education/information/nfsunesco/pdf/SPORT_E.PDF. Colander, D. (1998). Economics. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill. Connolly, W. Cayman Islands. Personal interview. 9 May, 1998. Cousens, L., Babiak, K., Bradish, C. Beyond Sponsorship: Re-framing Corporate-Sport Relationship. Sport Management SMAANZ (2006) Vol (9) 1-23. Cranston, M. (2003). Founded Upon the Seas, Ian Randle: Kingston. Crompton, J. (1999). Financing and Acquiring Park and Recreation Resources. Human Kinetics. Champaign: IL. Crompton, J. (2001). The Role of Sports in Economics and Social Regeneration. Columbia University Press: New York. Delaney, K & Eckstein, R. (2004). Public Dollars, Private Stadium, Rutgers University Press: NJ. Cuadrado, E., Quejada, R., & Castro, R., (2006). CAC Economic Impacts. Imprima, Col. Dhabi, A. Vibrant Sports Tourism. www.breaking ravelnews.com /article/2/1/2007. Church, J.R. Noble, (2004). E. Lightning Safety and Outdoor Stadiums. University of Colorado. Funk. D & James J. Consumer Loyalty: The Meaning of Attachment in the Development of Sport Team Allegiance. Journal of Sport Management, 2006 (20) 189-217. Funk.D. & Pastore, D. Equating attitudes to allegiance. Sport Marketing 2000. Vol. (9) 175-184. Funk, D & Pritcherd, M. Symbiosis and Substitution in Spectator Sport. Journal of Sport. 2006. Vol. (20), 299-321. Frostick, S. Risk Responsibility. Stadia International.1996 Quarterly Report, Vol. 3 (4) 34-36. Frostick, S. Watching the Crowd .Football Management1996.Vol. 4 (1) 28-30. Frostick, S. Violent Behaviour. Stadium & Arena Management. 2003. 25-27. Sport Business and Brand Destinations

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Frostick, S. Drink and Dry. Stadium and Arena Management. 1998. Vol. 2. (4)20-24. Frostick, S. Untinkable. Stadia International Quarterly Report. 2002. Vol. 8. (3) 14-16. Frostick, S, & Smith, S. On the Fence Balancing the Risk. Stadium & Arena Management. Vol.I (5) 30-32. Frostick, S. New Guidelines for Stewarding. The Grounds Man.Vol.47 (7) 25-26. Gaunt, R. Sindic, D. Leyens, J. Intergroup Relations in Soccer Finals. The Journal of Social Psychology, 2005.14 (2), 117-126. Gillard, D. Education in England a brief history (2011). www.educationengland. org.uk/ retrieved on May/11/2014. Graham, J. Strength Training for Children. WWW.faccioni.com/reviews (2002). Graham, S. Neirotty, L. Goldblatt, J. (2001). Guide to Sports Marketing. New York: McGraw-Hill. Gratton, C. Henry, I. (2001). Sport in the City: The Role of Sport in Economic and Social Regeneration. Routledge: London.

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PUBLIC SECTOR WORKERS, COLLABORATION AND REFLECTIVE PRACTICE IN THE CAYMAN ISLANDS Implications For Policy And Practice (An Exploratory Study) ALLAN YOUNG* AND MARK MINOTT† University College of the Cayman Islands and Independent Researcher, UK Abstract The Public Sector, like the private sector, does encourage its workers to collaborate on tasks, but rarely do we find this in the workplace, workers being encouraged to reflect their job tasks. This is primarily done in educational settings. This study sought to elicit responses regarding how sixty five public sector workers in the Cayman Islands engage in collaboration on the job as well as integrate the discipline of reflection in their daily job tasks. Civil Servants engaged in a problem solving class were asked to respond to questions on collaboration and how they use the reflective process in their jobs. Those involved in this exploratory study indicated that they regularly collaborate with their peers and found it fulfilling. A further revelation of this study was that Civil Servants in this context were convinced that there was room to improve in their jobs and suggested that they most times reflected on “how things have gone, and try to understand why they turned out as they did”. Public sector management can leverage this understanding of collaboration and reflection to improve the public sector. Keywords: Reflective practice, collaboration, public sector, civil servant, policy and practice

* Email: ayoung@ucci.edu.ky † Email: Minott.mark@icloud.com

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INTRODUCTION AND OUTLINE While there is an abundance of literature on reflective practice and collaboration, the concepts have been confined to the regular school classroom. There are very few studies which apply these teaching/learning methodologies to the area of public sector working and/or management. A search of the terms, ‘reflective learning’ and ‘collaboration’, and ‘management’ on the Elton B. Stephens Company (EBSCO) data base returned (3) articles. The British Education Index (BEI) free collection returned (0) articles. The Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) returned (0) articles. We did, however, find articles addressing the areas as separate disciplines. Also, in the Cayman Islands, there is no known local research which examines these areas. Given these facts, the aim of this study is two-fold; one, to identify what constitutes collaborative and reflective practice among local public sector workers, and the extent to which these workers engage in these activities on the job; and, two, to discuss implications of these happenings for policy and practice. We commence this paper with an outline of what constitutes reflective and collaborative practice generally, and indicators of these activities on the job. We end with an outline of the study, which forms the basis of the paper, and a discussion of the implications of the findings for public sector policy and practice. Reflective Practice Gayle and Gayle (1999) see reflection as thinking about what you do, and Farrell (2001) sees it as thinking critically about what you do, which involves recall, consideration, and evaluation of experiences. For the purpose of our study, reflection is careful consideration or thought; it is a process of disciplined intellectual criticism combining research, knowledge of context, and balanced judgment (critical thinking) about previous, present, and future actions, events or decisions (Minott, 2009). Reflection does not exist in an abstract sense, but is enacted through job related tasks, actions, events or decisions. A common feature of the reflective practice process is the questioning of ‘self’, that is, one’s beliefs, values, assumptions, context, and goals, in relation to tasks, actions, events, or decisions (Zeichner and Liston, 1996). In light of this, reflective practice is an approach to problem solving that uses reflection as the main tool. It encourages individuals to create distance between themselves and their practice. It involves them analysing, discussing, evaluating, changing and developing their workplace practices by adopting an analytical approach to their work. Sometimes this process is triggered by an experience or an 222

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unexpected incident (Boyd and Fales, 1983). Brockbank and McGill (2007) agree with this definition when they state that reflective practice is a process that occurs in a social setting, and it involves a context (workplace) and experiences (work-related tasks, events or situations). Individuals are actively engaged in the process and with others in open dialogue, with the expressed aim of transforming and improving self and the environment. As this thought hints at the idea of collaboration, we will examine the area in some detail later in this paper. So, to summarize, reflective practice is the use of critical thinking to aid in analysing, discussing and evaluating experiences, so as to develop work-related knowledge and improve work-related practices. This process may also result in the discovery of new insights, theories and perspectives. As indicated in this definition, critical thinking is a co-requisite of reflective practice. It is characterised differently by various writers. Fowler (1996) lists over fifteen definitions of critical thinking proposed by fifteen different writers. There are some similarities as well as differences to these. An examination of the definitions of critical thinking suggests that the writers all agree on the fact that its binding characteristic is that it is primarily a mental or cognitive process with particular outcomes—such as arriving at appropriate: • Beliefs • Patterns of reasoning • Conclusions about whether to reject or suspend judgment on an issue • Understanding the meaning of an issue or statement • Logical inferences • Evidence and following where it leads • Decisions about material by distinguishing between facts and opinion • This list of outcomes of critical thinking displays the different uses and results

of the application of this cognitive skill. For example, critical thinking can be applied to a particular situation and a conclusion drawn in regard to what to believe or what actions to take, or it can result in making logical inferences. Collaboration In The Workplace: Types, Benefits And Challenges As indicated in the foregoing discussion, collaboration is important to reflective practice and the practitioner, for it is through dialoguing and interacting with others that appropriate contextualised solutions to problems and situations can be found and implemented (Schon 1983, 1987). The literature reveals that there are different types of collaboration, and benefits and challenges of collaboration in the workplace. Types of collaboration include cross-functional collaboration, where members Public Sector Workers, Collaboration and Reflective Practice in the Cayman Islands

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of a team have different functions, but a common goal on which they are working. Specialized collaboration involves team members with the same skill set and similar experiences and partnership, where points of intersection are discussions by various departments in the organization. There is also community collaboration where the goal is learning— rather than completing a task—, and network collaboration, which starts with an individual with a particular personal interest, and grows into a network of other individuals with a similar interest (Callahan, Schenk, & White, 2008). There are also several benefits to workplace collaboration. For example, it makes use of individuals with different perspectives, thus covering a variety of angles. Collaborative activities reduce error in thinking and actions, enable people to move beyond limited individualized vision, and generate new ideas and solutions. It also encourages creativity, because it brings together different ideas and accommodates out-of-the-box thinking. It brings balance to decision making, for it helps to root out the occurrence of biased or partisan decisions, because each stakeholder has a presence around the table and can facilitate the timely completion of projects (Jones, 2011; Alamgir, 2011). Despite these benefits, there are also several challenges of collaboration in the workplace. For example, there is the risk of ‘group-think’. This occurs when the stronger personalities manage to persuade and supplant their ideas as the outcome for the group (Jones, 2011 and Martel, 2004). There may also exist possible ambiguities in roles and responsibilities. If these are not clearly defined, the result can be chaotic. Additionally, the cost of collaboration can be high, especially if members of the group work and meet across international borders and time zones. This occurrence may also lead to longer decision times (Jones, 2011 & Johnson, 2006). A very important challenge with collaboration in the workplace is conflict within the group, which may be caused from perceived unequal workload among group members, noncontributors, and mistrust (Markel, 2004, Jones, 2011, Johnson, 2006). While the foregoing literature review highlights potential indicators of reflective practice and collaboration generally, what remains unknown is the extent to which local public sector workers engage in reflective practice and collaborative activities, and the extent to which they do so on the job. Based on these questions, a study was launched. Methodology The study utilised a survey methodology and focused on how those in the public sector viewed the issue of reflective learning on the job or within the public sector context. Essentially, the investigation utilised individuals attending the Civil Service 224

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College, an arm of the University College of the Cayman Islands (UCCI). Most of these individuals (for one reason or another) were just now completing tertiary education, after having raised families. Questionnaire A questionnaire was developed and implemented as part of a problem-solving class attended by civil servants. The questionnaire sought to elicit responses from civil servants regarding their ability to work with others and being a reflective practitioner at the same time. The questionnaire consisted of two main sections: the first labeled “Working with Other People” contained six statements measuring participants’ disposition in working with people. The second labeled “Becoming a “Reflective Practitioner” also had six questions. The statements were measured using a rating scale of 1 to 5, where 1 represented total disagreement with the statement and 5 total agreement. The questionnaire had only two demographic items, the gender and employee status (supervisor, manager or regular employees). Participants The participants for this exploratory study were students enrolled in the Civil Service College—an arm of the University College of the Cayman Islands, UCCI—who were pursing courses to complete the Certificate or Associate degree in the Public Administration program. There were 65 participants, who were either supervisormanagers or regular employees. In the Civil Service College, the 65 participants reflected a little less than 40 % of the enrolled Civil Servants at the time the survey was carried out, but, as suggested, the target participants were those in a specific class entitled ‘problem solving’. Data Collection Methods A one-page questionnaire was utilised to facilitate the survey, which was carried out in two parts. First, with 25 participants in one semester, and an additional 40 participants from other classes in another semester. There was not double counting of individuals since the classes were quite different and the forty students were not students at the time the first set of questionnaires were administered. Although there were 65 participants, five questionnaires were rendered unusable since the participants failed to complete the relevant questions. During the administration of the questionnaires participants were encouraged to be honest in submitting their responses on the two variables being investigated. All students had an option to refrain from Public Sector Workers, Collaboration and Reflective Practice in the Cayman Islands

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answering the questions, but were encouraged to respond. After less than 10 minutes the questionnaire was collected. Data Analysis Process All the questions on the questionnaire were coded; those in the first section were coded as W’s— indicating work collaboration—, and those in the second section coded RP—indicating a measure of reflective practice. Each questionnaire was entered in SPSS, where several key statistics were computed, including a T-test. The responses reflected collaborative or reflective levels among key group managers and workers as well as differences that exist between female and male civil servants. Findings And Discussion Of Questionnaire Responses What constitutes collaboration among public sector workers and the extent to which these workers engage in this activity on the job? Table 1 displays the statements utilised to indicate collaborative activities in the workplace and the mean scores accompanying each statement. Table 1-Working with Other People Statements W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6

I regularly work as part of an effective team and enjoy it. I really enjoy testing my own perceptions against theirs. I feel that I always make a valuable contribution to a team and help others contribute. I can be assertive as is necessary if the occasion demands. I am happy to admit to being wrong. I look forward to the group work and other collaboration

Mean Score N=65 3.93 3.48 4.23 4.22 4.07 3.68

Sixty five participants responded to the questions about working with people in their departments or within the public sector. The results indicated that for the most part participants were positive about their work relationships in the public sector. The average score for three of the six statements were greater than 4 and ranged from 4.07 to 4.23; these scores indicated that Civil Servants/Public Sector workers were extremely satisfied about how they value their contribution to various teams existing in their workplaces, but even more revealing was the fact that they could be assertive in a team setting if the situation warranted this.

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The nature of, and high response to, questions W3 and W4 are eye-opening, because they indicate that civil servants saw themselves as making a contribution to the ‘team’ while been equally assertive. We can infer that it is likely that participants in this study were involved in a type of cross-functional collaboration, where members of a team have a common goal on which they are working (Callahan, Schenk, & White, 2008). This common goal and understanding can be the catalyst and grounds for group members to assert themselves if the established goal has been contravened. The benefits of this type of collaboration are many, for example, it reduces error in thinking and actions, enables people to move beyond limited individualized vision, and generates new ideas and solutions (Jones, 2011, Alamgir, 2011). These benefits of collaboration can be very important to the public sector, which is saddled with the responsibility of producing, delivering and allocating good and services by and for the government or its citizens. For example, the generation of new ideas and solutions is not only desirable, but essential to the smooth functioning of every aspect of a government, especially in this period of rapid change and development. While a large number of respondents (mean score: 4.23) highlighted the fact that they can be assertive as is necessary if the occasion demands it, Jones (2011) and Martel (2004) point out that this can be a challenge if not carefully handled. For example, it can lead to ‘group think’, which occurs when the stronger personalities manage to persuade and supplant their ideas as the outcome for the group; this also reduces the generation of new and creative ideas. This is important because decisions influenced by ‘group think’ have a low chance of a successful outcome (Janis, 1972). Faulty decisions that result in low successful outcome could reduce the efficacy of any government civil sector. Also worth noting is that question W2 was the least favored collaborative activity highlighted by respondents (mean score 3.48). This question speaks of participants’ ability to value and ‘enjoy’ testing their own perceptions against those of members in a group. The idea of testing ones perceptions against another person’s (if not carefully done) could lead to conflict in the group, as well as non-contribution and mistrust among group members (Markel, 2004, Johnson, 2006, Jones, 2011). The less than ideal response to this question could be attributed to the fact that the wording of the question connotes competition rather than collaboration. Perhaps rewording this question could have aided in achieving a higher response rate, thus a higher mean score. Based on the findings, we will conclude that collaboration among the public sector workers who participated in this study involved a type of cross-functional collaboration, where members of a team have a common goal on which they are working (CalPublic Sector Workers, Collaboration and Reflective Practice in the Cayman Islands

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lahan, Schenk, & White, 2008). The extent to which these workers engage in this activity on the job is reflected in the fact that they often contribute to team decisions and help others to do the same, and are assertive when necessary. Their least favorite collaborative activity is testing their own perceptions against their co-workers’. What constitutes reflective practice among local public sector workers and the extent to which these workers engage in this activity on the job? Table 2 displays the statements utilised to indicate the workers’ reflectivity and the mean scores accompanying each statement. Table 2 – Reflective Learning

RP1 RP2 RP3 RP4 RP5 RP6

Statements

Mean Scores

I am convinced that there is room to improve on how I do things. I routinely reflect on how things have gone, and try to understand why they turned out as they did. I routinely discuss things with colleagues to see what we can learn. I always keep a log in which I note learning points from my experience and set myself new learning targets. I enjoyed those activities in the previous sessions that asked me to think about my own experience. I am aware of what my learning style is and this helps in my routinely assessing areas of concern and taking corrective actions.

4.62 3.97 4.03 3.03 3.83 3.98

The results highlighted in Table 2 indicate that—overall— participants were positive about their ability to engage reflectively with their jobs. The high response rate to RP1 (mean score 4.62) suggests that participants have given great thought to— or had reflected on— their jobs, and by so doing concluded that there was room for improvement. This attitude of reflecting on one’s job and arriving at a conclusion, such as the need for improvement, is not just important for public sector workers to embrace as they engage in the business of producing, delivering and allocating good and services by and for the government or its citizen, but it is also important because it is a catalyst for self-directed professional development (Minott, 2010). Also of importance is the fact that a large number of participants (mean score 4.03) routinely reflect on how things have gone, and try to understand why they turned out as they did. This activity points to the fact that they are actively engaged in ‘reflection-on-action (Schon, 1987). What is also worth noting is that question RP5 was the least favored reflective ac228

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tivity highlighted by respondents (mean score 3.83). This indicates that participants did not enjoy the classroom-based activities which required them to think about their own experiences while on the job. This low response rate is not surprising, given the fact that ‘self- reflection’ is a learning activity that is seldom encouraged and practiced in many workplaces (Minott, Young & Matthews, 2011). Additionally, we will conclude that reflective practice among the public sector workers who participated in this study involved reflection-on-action (Schon 1987). The extent to which these workers engage in this activity is reflected in the fact that they thought about their job and were able to conclude that there was room for improvement. Just as important was the fact that they also routinely reflected on how things had gone, and tried to understand why they turned out as they did. This too is in-line with Schon’s idea of ‘reflection-on-action’. Their least favorite reflective activity is self-reflection. How do men and women in the Civil Service view collaboration and reflective practice? Tables 3 and 4 reports on how male and female participants view collaboration and reflective practice in the Civil Service. With respect to collaboration in the workplace, men showed a slightly higher mean on all the statements regarding collaboration, except statement W6. Interestingly, the statement espoused group work, to which one would expect women to be more open than men. Although not conclusive, the mean score was slightly higher and indicated a slight preference in this area. The test did not indicate any significance in terms of all six statements. Table 3- Means and Standard Deviations for Male and Female Civil Servants with Regard to Work Place Collaborations (N: Male =22 and Female =38)

W1 W2 W3 W4 W5

Gender Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female

Mean 4.09 3.83 3.64 3.39 4.32 4.18 4.32 4.12 4.09 4.05

SD .92 1.08 .95 1.37 .84 .93 .72 1.17 .87 .93

t .995

p .324

.803

.425

.574

.569

.656

.514

.160

.873

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Male 3.64 1.14 -.228 .820 Female 3.71 1.33 *p<.05, df = 58, a: Degrees of freedom was reduced because equal variances not assumed Using Levene’s test of equality for variances.

The p values in Table 3 regarding the six statements about Civil Servants’ collaboration did not yield any significant information regarding male and female thoughts regarding collaboration within the work workplace. The comparison of males and females on each of the dependent variables with regard to reflective thinking on the job did not yield anything significant and, as such, did not indicate that there were significant differences between how men and women viewed reflection on the job. Table 4- Means and Standard Deviations for Male and Female Civil Servants with Regard to Workplace Reflective Practice (RP) (n: Male =22 and Female =38)

R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6

Gender

Mean

Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female

4.73 4.55 4.10 3.89 4.23 3.92 2.82 3.16 3.68 3.92 4.10 3.92

.92 1.08 .95 1.37 .84 .93 .72 1.17 .87 .93 1.14 1.33

.854

.324

.650

.425

1.365

.178

-1.154

.254

-.847

.401

.684

.497

*p<.05, df = 58, a: Degrees of freedom was reduced because equal variances not assumed Using Levene’s test of equality for variances.

Conclusions And Implications For Public Sector Policy And Practice This study involving civil servants’ views of collaboration and reflective practices in the workplace elicited how these unique groups of workers handle these two important tasks. When analyzed as a group, there was an indication that— overall— civil servants valued group work as a collaborative means when completing their tasks. The findings also disclosed that they were more apt to be involved in reflection on the job. Comparison between male and female Civil Servants did not yield any significance as to differences between the gender when there was a need to collabo230

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rate on the job or to use reflective strategies when carrying out their tasks. The 2008 economic meltdown continues to have some effect on workers in the private sector; neither has the public sector escaped the effects. Resoundingly, there is a call for workers— whether in the private or public sector— to be engaged in meaningful ways to do their jobs and so provide optimal quality service aimed at helping to counteract the effects of a poor economic climate. This study does have implications for those who lead in the public sector. First, collaboration is an essential ingredient of any successful organization, and the public sector is no exception. Public servants who collaborate on the job are more likely to improve productivity and, consequently, feel a sense of being on the job. Secondly, in reflecting on their tasks as workers in the public sector, there is likelihood that employees will improve job processes and thereby aid in achieving the goals of most public sector entities. Like other public sectors, the Cayman Islands takes pride in providing its workers with an education, as well as other tools that will enable them to be efficient and effective in the workplace. Collaboration in problem solving as well as reflecting on one’s task as a public service worker can only aid in building optimal relationships in the workplace, which aims at sharing and providing opportunities for doing tasks more efficiently. Such relationships, steeped in trust as well as the opportunity to engage in reflection, ultimately engage the worker in a deep assessment about job tasks, which will also lead to increased productivity. In a more general context, Minott, Young and Mathews (2011) stated that management should be cognizant of the importance of reflective learning used in the work environment. This inclusion of reflective practice will act as a catalyst in “accomplishing strategic goals in the organization”—not only will it impact human capital, but it will ultimately impact the organizational review process. High-ranking Civil Servants who are aware of the benefits of collaboration and reflective practice may contribute by discussing and implementing policy issues that will positively impact the quality of the work environment in the public sector. Limitations Of The Study Firstly, a limitation of this study is the non-inclusion of data regarding how managers and supervisors feel about the areas investigated in this study. If this aspect was explored comprehensively, then clarity in this area would further elucidate the importance of both collaboration and reflective practice in adding value to tasks being attempted within the work environment in the Civil Service. How this could be addressed is attended to in the recommendations for further study below. Secondly, the results of this study may not be generalized since a deliberate and Public Sector Workers, Collaboration and Reflective Practice in the Cayman Islands

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concentrated group was used. It was not convenient to survey all 108 unique course takers at the time, or better yet the over 3,000 civil servants who worked for the public sector at the time the study was done. The focus was on those who were engaged in a problem-solving course and so cannot be considered as representative; however, the findings might help to encourage others to pursue more in-depth investigation. Recommendations For Further Study Although this explorative study does have some limitations, it provides a springboard for more in-depth studies in the area of reflective practice in the public sector, with a view of creating efficiencies. As in other areas where reflective practice has been used, the public sector would serve to benefit and, as such, the following recommendations are suggested: • Conduct interviews with managers, supervisors and regular workers within different units of the public sector within the Cayman Islands. In order to strengthen this suggestion, the same data could be used to provide comparisons between the supervisors and workers in the areas of collaboration and reflective practice in the public sector. • Conduct regional studies among Caribbean countries and compare reflective practices within the public sector and its impact on public policy and practice. • Study the impact of reflective practice and its impact on worker productivity. References Alamgir, M (2011). The Advantage and Disadvantage of Collaboration in the Workplace Retrieved February 8, 2011 from http://hubpages.com/hub/Collaborationatwork Boyd, E.M., & Fales, A.W. (1983) Reflective Learning: Key to learning from experience Journal of Humanistic Psychology 23 (2): 99-117 Brockbank, A., & McGill, I. (2007). Facilitating reflective learning in higher education. 2nd Edition. Open University Press. McGraw-Hill: Berkshire, England. Callahan, S., Schenk, M., & White, N. (2008). Building a Collaborative Workplace. Anecdote.com. Retrieved June 12, 2009, from http://www.anecdote.com.au/ whitepapers.php?wpid+15 Farrell, T. S.C. (2001). ‘Tailoring Reflection to Individual Needs: a TESOL case study’. Journal of Education for Teaching 27.1

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Fowler, B. (1996). Critical thinking across the curriculum project ‘definitions of critical thinking’ Longview Community College Lee’s Summit, Missouri - U.S.A. Retrieved June 24 2005 from: http://www.kcmetro.cc.mo.us/ longview/ctac/definitions.htm Ghaye, T., & Gaye, K. (1999). Teaching and Learning through critical reflective practice London: David Fulton Publishers Janis, I.L. (1972). Victims of Groupthink. Houghton Mifflin: New York. Johnson, D. (2006). A few words about collaboration. Library Media Connection, 24(4), 98-98. Retrieved February 8, 2011 from http://www.doug-johnson.com/dougwri/few words-about-collaboration.html Jones, N. (2010). Advantages and Disadvantages of Collaboration in the Work place. Retrieved February 3, 2011 from http://www.brighthub.com/office/ collaboration/articles/73856.aspx#ixzz1CtUpfzuT Markel, M. (2004). Collaborating Effectively. Retrieved April 06, 2009 from Technical Communication 7th ed. Website: http://research.uvu.edu/ abrechtcrane/4310/Collaboration.htm Minott, M.A., Young, A. Mathews, C. (2011). Reflective Learning and Clerical staff at a University College in the Cayman Islands: Implications for Management (An Exploratory Study) Reflective Practice: International and Multidisciplinary Perspectives,12 (5) 663-677 Minott, M.A. (2010). Reflective Teaching as Self-Directed Professional Development: building Practical or work-related knowledge. Professional Development in Education, 36 (1-2), 325-338. Minott, M.A. (2009) Reflection and Reflective Teaching, A Case study of Four Seasoned Teachers in the Cayman Islands. Germany: VDM Verlag Dr. Müller Schon, D.A. (1987). Educating the Reflective Practitioner USA: Jossey-Bass Inc. Schon, D.A. (1987). Educating the Reflective Practitioner. USA: Jossey-Bass Inc. Zeichner, K. M., & Liston, D. P. (Eds) (1996). Reflective Teaching An Introduction. USA: Lawrence Erlbaun Associates, Inc.

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ECONOMIC VALUE OF CORAL REEFS AND MANGROVES Support For The Sustainable Management Of Coral Reefs And Mangroves In The Cayman Islands By Quantifying Their Economic Value ANTHONY J HUSEMANN, AND MELISA BENT –HAMILTON International College of the Cayman Islands Abstract Coral reefs and mangroves are integral to the marine ecosystem in the Cayman Islands as they provide a variety of services such as fisheries, storm protection, and tourism. However, the impacts from a combination of human activities— from fishing to development, and increasing sea temperatures—threaten the coral reefs and mangroves. The present study was conducted to provide a rationale for increased investment in the protection of Cayman Islands’ coastal ecosystems by placing a monetary value on these ecosystems’ services. A field study was conducted in several strategic locations in Grand Cayman to illustrate the effects a single high-powered storm can have on a low-lying island. Interviews were also utilized involving participants from both the private and public sectors. It was hypothesized that participants would validate the importance of these ecosystems’ services, thereby implicitly placing a value on them. The results indicated that sustainable management of the coral reefs and mangroves necessitates an economic valuation of these ecosystems’ services, which would quantify their impacts on the economy of the Cayman Islands and particularly to potential landside developers. Keywords: economics, valuations, environmental assessment, cost/benefit analysis, sustainability, sustainable business

Anthony J Husemann, Email: anthony.husemann@myicci.com Melisa Bent-Hamilton, Email: melisa.hamilton@myicci.com

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Sustainable Management Of Coral Reefs And Mangroves Coral reefs are the largest living animal colony on earth. Many different corals populate the reef habitat, some are soft, some are stony, some are flat, and some are round, but there is one feature that they all have in common: tiny animals called coral polyps. These polyps form a thin layer of life that covers the limestone base of the reef (Manfrino, 2008, p.10). Reef-building corals grow only on seafloor in the photic zone in tropical waters between 30o N and 30oS (Segar, 1998), mostly on the side of islands and continents, where prevailing currents are the strongest. Coral reefs make up the most ecologically diverse and important marine habitats, ranging from isolated shallow water patch reefs, exposed fringing reefs to deeper spur and groove formations, on all three islands and offshore banks. Fringing reefs form the most visible and perhaps physically significant of the coral reef formations as they are critical components in the natural protection and formation of the Cayman Islands’ many important and attractive coastal features, such as clear, calm lagoons and sandy beaches (Rigby and Roberts, 1976). Although they are thousands of years old, it may take one coral head 20 years to grow to be the size of your living room. “Comparisons with earlier studies…in the Cayman Islands indicate that many changes have occurred over the past 30 years. The shallow Acropora palmate zone, as described for the 1970’s and 1980’s, no longer exists” (Manfrino, 2003, p.215). The term mangrove refers to any of dozens of species of trees capable of living in salt water and salty soil regimes. Ecologically, one prominent role of mangrove is the production of leaf litter and detrital matter, which are exported to lagoons and the near shore coastal environment. The organic matter exported from the mangrove habitat is used in one form or another by the inhabitants of estuaries or lagoons or near coast waters, seagrass meadows— evident in the North Sound area (H. H. Roberts, 1976)— and the coral reefs in the area. The mangrove ecosystem provides income for the Caymanian economy from the collection of the mollusks, crustaceans, and fish that live there. Mangroves are nurseries for ecologically important fisheries and provide habitats for a large number of mollusks, crustaceans, birds, insects and reptiles. Other services include the filtering and trapping of pollutants and the stabilization of coastal land by trapping sediments and protection against storm damage (Sumich & Morrissey, 2004). The field research conducted in this study confirms the extensive damage done to most of the coastline of Grand Cayman and the little or total lack of natural beach replenishment taking place even seven years after the last single high velocity storm hit Grand Cayman (Husemann, 2012). In addition, it poses the question of what will happen if another similar or more devastating storm hit Grand Cayman, especially Public Sector Workers, Collaboration and Reflective Practice in the Cayman Islands

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with increased plans to conduct dredging and build canals to facilitate new ‘ecotourism’ facilities. From a series of personal interviews conducted by the researchers, the importance of the coral reefs and mangroves to the sustainability of both the economy and the society in general for the Cayman Islands was quite evident. Once we make changes to the natural functioning of the environment, we then implicitly add value to it. From the discussions, it was difficult to place a monetary value on these ecosystems’ services, as they are not like assets which can be traded on the markets. Therefore, when we remove the mangroves for residential or commercial purposes, a trade-off is made between preserving the environment and development. Hypothetical scenarios were created to help policymakers and stakeholders assess the likely consequences for the ecosystem and its services of different approaches to economic and environmental management. Finally, the paper implores the need to conduct an economic valuation of the environment, including these marine ecosystems, as it allows the trade-off between the benefits of the ecosystems’ services we will forego and the gains to be accrued in light of new development to be clarified. Introduction: The Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands, situated along the Cayman Ridge, which extends from southeastern Cuba into the Bay of Honduras, is flanked by the 6,000m deep Cayman Trench. Grand Cayman, the largest and most populated, and the other smaller Sister Islands—Little Cayman and Cayman Brac—form the Cayman Islands. Geologically, the islands are composed of two distinct limestone formations: bluff limestone, which is a fault-block formation consisting of white Oligocene and Miocene strata, and the second being iron shore limestone, consisting of coral reef, sand and marl that have been deposited around the bluff formation (Balderas, 2009). Although it is thousands of meters thick, it is built from the external skeletons of millions of tiny marine organism—examples of which are still living on the diverse reefs of the Caribbean (Manfrino, 1999, Rigby and Roberts, 1976). The two dominant terrestrial ecosystems occurring naturally in the Cayman Islands are mangrove swamp formations, which occupy two thirds of Grand Cayman and a third of Little Cayman, and dry evergreen woodlands and thickets, which occupy the limestone and dolomite karst terrain above sea level (Brunt & Davies, 1994). The two most prominent features of Grand Cayman are the Central Swamp and the North Sound. Together, the Central Swamp and North Sound are the ecological heart of Grand Cayman, and their fringing mangroves (Rhizopora mangle) and sea grass 236

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(i.e., turtle grass, Thalassia testudinada) beds are critical breeding and nursery habitats for the marine fauna (Ebanks-Petrie, 1993). The Cayman Islands are recognized as a centre for banking, insurance and legal services as well as tourism, especially the cruise line industry and dive tourism. Fishing pressure is relatively low, supplying only the local markets and the last known grouper spawning site is on Little Cayman. Fishing remains an important cultural tradition in Cayman Brac, following activities of the original residents. On Grand Cayman, there are numerous large resort hotels, condominiums, private homes and corporate development; whereas the population on the other islands is small. The Cayman Islands are one of the most popular dive and tourist destinations in the northern Caribbean because of the luxurious reefs and spectacular walls (Manfrino et al., 1990). Over 2 million visitors come to Grand Cayman annually to experience the “sun, sea and sand” activities that this center of scuba diving has to offer. Most of the tourists participate in some form of water sports. Although the majority of the scuba diving takes place off the Seven Mile Beach, many sites have been established outside the North Sound’s acroporid reef ridge (Manfrino et al., 1999). Other recreational activities include day trips to experience “Stingray City” and “Sand Bar”, both excellent areas for snorkeling and harvesting of queen conchs. However, coral reefs in the Cayman Islands have been under continuous natural stresses caused by bleaching. In 1998 nearly 80% of the corals on the wall were bleached (Manfrino, 1999, compare to Rigby & Roberts, 1976), compounded by major storms and hurricanes (Hurricane Ivan made landfall on Grand Cayman in September, 2004). With increased human use such as fishing, coastal development and mangrove destruction, concerns about the survival, and hence the sustainability, of these important resources are mounting. Despite implementation of the marine park system, the sheer numbers of visitors and watercraft are also cause for concern over issues such as the carrying capacities of dive sites, pollution, overfishing and the overall environmental degradation from overuse. Since the 1960s, large-scale speculative development has resulted in the destruction of 61.6% of the mangroves within a half-kilometer of the western periphery of the North Sound (Ebanks-Petrie, 1993) and the practically complete inability of the South Sound mangrove swamp to regrow after hurricane Ivan (Husemann, 2012). Currently, with a rising sea level rate of 1 foot per 100 years, this will gradually submerge the mangrove wetlands, where the dead wood and leaf litter on the wetland floor is cut off from the air, and its decomposition slowed. This process leads to the formation of peat, which builds up on the wetland floor to keep pace with rising sea Public Sector Workers, Collaboration and Reflective Practice in the Cayman Islands

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levels. Over thousands of years, thick layers of mangrove peat have been deposited in areas where the underlying rock is now far below sea level. On the part of the mangroves, approximately 21.5km2 of the shallow lagoon bedrock faces of the shore zone of the North Sound has been dredged to supply marl for the reclamation of swampland (Ebanks-Petrie, 1993). During heavy rainfall in the wet season, runoff is evident from these developments, where the marl fill level is higher than retaining bulkheads. During heavy nor’easters in the winter season, fine sediments from dredged borrow pits are stirred up and redistributed over a much wider area of the seabed. Over 83 percent of the total waterfront canal lot developments that were built on speculation since the late 1970s remain unoccupied, calling into serious question the benefit of continued development without proper management of the coastal zone (Riegl, 1999). General overview: Coral reefs, mangroves and marine parks Grand Cayman’s Central Mangrove Wetland is known as the ‘ecological heart of Grand Cayman’. The Central Mangrove Wetland forms a part of the large scale water flow system, filtering and conditioning the surface water and shallow ground water which flows into the North Sound. The Wetland provides a flow of nutrients into the North Sound from both the constant tidal flushing of the mangrove fringes and by the occasional massive overflows of accumulated rainwater from the entire central Mangrove basin. These nutrients are a part of the base of a complex food chain from the turtle grass and shrimp moulds in Little Sound, especially to the snappers and lobsters which move from the mangroves to the reef. The entire living system of North Sound is linked to the Central Mangroves, and would collapse if the Wetlands were ever destroyed. On Little Cayman, mangroves are abundant around the major sound on the south side and along the north and south coasts, inland fringing brackish water ponds. Results from the Little Cayman mangrove and sea grass studies (2006-2007) indicate no change in productivity and biomass (Creary et al., 2008). Unfortunately, the mangroves and sea grass beds are under intense threat of development, especially on the western coast of Grand Cayman. The Wetlands cover a total of 8,500 acres, still almost entirely in its natural state (National Trust of the Cayman Islands (NTCI), 2012). Except for areas of open water, it is covered by a canopy of trees, absorbing sunlight and radiating part of that energy as heat, warming the air near the leaves. This same air becomes saturated with water vapour, evaporating from the leaves’ breathing pores and from the ponds below. The saturated air rising above the Central Mangrove Wetland forms rapidly developing clouds, which are carried west by the prevailing winds and dump rain over the 238

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central and western districts of Grand Cayman. This process is believed to contribute to a large part of western Grand Cayman’s rainfall, which is 40% greater than in the eastern districts. Without the Central Mangrove, George Town and West Bay could almost be as dry as East End, but without the benefit of an unspoiled ground water lens to keep the trees healthy and the well fresh (Department of Environment (DOE) , 2012). In 1986, a system of marine protected areas known locally as Marine Parks, has offered marine resource protection to approximately one-third of Cayman Islands’ total coastal shelf area. The Marine Parks system encompasses three major zones to accommodate different types and levels of use. The highest level of protection is through designation as an Environmental Zone. Only one of these zones currently exists, located on Grand Cayman. This 4,169 acre mangrove and seagrass dominated set aside area is a complete “no use” zone, with no in-water activity permitted other than the passage through of boats at 5 knots or less. Of particular interest to this area, and unique to only this zone, is the extension of the protection inland by approximately 1000 feet to include tidally flooded coastal Mangrove (Muse Global, 2012). Literature Review According to the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the marine environment is defined as “any area of intertidal or subtidal terrain, together with its overlying water and associated flora, fauna, historical and cultural features” indicating the enormous complexity and diversity present in this realm. This is hardly surprising since the area of sea and seabed is over two-and-a-half times as great as the total area of land masses of the world (IUCN, 1991, Resolution 17.38.2). Marine ecosystems vary from coral reefs (the most species-diverse of all marine habitats, approaching tropical rainforests in their species richness) to coastal mangrove wetlands; species range from sperm whales to sea horses; and marine tourism embraces a multiplicity of activities fr om whale-watching to scuba-diving— a driving force in Cayman Islands’ tourism industry. The purpose of this section is to highlight the distinctive features of marine ecosystems, specifically mangroves and coral reefs, and also discuss the role of different types of marine protected areas (MPAs). Finally, several case studies done in the region are highlighted to attest to the importance of our marine ecosystems. The world’s oceans provide a vast amount of ecosystem services to humanity. An increasingly large portion of our food comes from the oceans. Globally, approximately 5% of the protein in people’s diet comes from seafood, but this portion is dramatically higher in places such as China, Japan, and Iceland. An estimated 15% of Public Sector Workers, Collaboration and Reflective Practice in the Cayman Islands

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the world’s species diversity is in the oceans, and 16 of the world’s 35 animal Phyla are found only in the oceans, whereas only one is found exclusively on land (Muse Global, 2012). The varied services this biodiversity provides include providing biochemical and medical substances for human uses, higher and more stable fisheries catch, and aesthetic and cultural resources. The oceans also act as a massive carbon sink by converting CO2 into carbonic acid, which in turn slows global climate change (but unfortunately increases ocean acidification). Specific ecosystems within the oceans, such as coral reefs, mangroves, and salt marshes play important roles in buffering coastal areas from wave and storm damage. The 2004 Hurricane Ivan (notwithstanding its severe damaging effects) dramatically illustrated the value of this service in protecting both human lives and property. The oceans also provide critical supporting and cultural services. An ideal example, is the mangrove located in the North Sound region, which helps filter and clean the polluted waters that run off the land from these coastal developments as they ‘soak’ up the nutrient-rich water. The turtle sea grass next to it further acts as a buffer between the mangroves and the coral reefs as they can also absorb much of the fertilizer-based nutrient water, thus enabling little or no nutrient–packed effluents reaching the coral reefs (Bothwell, 2012). Such supporting services can even extend to terrestrial ecosystems. For example, salmon mortality after spawning migrations leads to substantial deposition of originally marine nutrients into riparian ecosystems, and seabird nesting sites provide a major source of nitrogen to coastal landscapes through the guano from these fish consumers. Coastal areas are a major source of recreational and aesthetic value to many people. A day spent at the beach, birdwatching in the coastal salt marshes or wetlands, and scuba diving in coral reefs, are all services that have great intrinsic value and support the tourism industries. Marine protected areas (MPAs) are a relatively new concept; most sites were established within the past two decades (World Resources Institute, 1997). However, it is undeniable that a symbiotic relationship can more readily occur in such areas, with environmental protection resulting both from and in enhanced local livelihoods, sustained visitor attraction, continued profits for the industry and revenue for conservation (Cater, 1997). Colwell (1998) examines the role of small-scale MPAs as an essential complement to the ambitious proposal by the IUCN, the World Bank and others to create a worldwide network of primarily large-scale MPAs to ultimately protect 10% of all marine and coastal areas. He suggests that small-scale MPAs may be particularly appropriate in coral reef areas, where nearby reefs can be managed not only by local communities and non-government organizations (NGOs), but also by 240

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tourism entrepreneurs who have a vested interest in promoting abundant marine life, such as dive resorts. A case example is the small island of Balicasag in the Philippines, which was the target of a community-based marine resource management project in the mid-1980s, which assisted the island community to establish a municipal marine park through the local government. The community endorsed a sanctuary area of 8 ha, and the entire coral reef was included within a marine reserve stretching to 0.5 km offshore. Guidelines were adopted by the community to manage the sanctuary and reserve areas, while the Philippine Tourism Authority initiated its first ‘backyard tourism’ pilot project. This includes a small-scale beach hotel for scuba-divers. Villagers are employed in the resort and involved in running it; the profits are directed at the maintenance of the marine park and divers are charged extra to dive in the sanctuary area of the park. Overall, there has been a significant net contribution of marine tourism in terms of environmental quality, raising community awareness and increasing local incomes, although the distributional effects are not wholly equitable (White and Dobias, 1990). Economic valuation which is a tool which assigns a monetary value to goods and services provided by ecosystems, gives policy makers important information to help them set priorities and improve decision-making regarding natural resources. The following sections summaries previous studies conducted in the Caribbean region, with focus on coastal ecosystem valuations. A study conducted in 2003 in Jamaica by Sary, Munroe and Woodley revealed that overfishing at landing sites on Jamaica’s north coast led to a 13 percent decline in total fish catch volume and a 17.3 percent decline in fish catch value between 1968 and 2001. Scaling this up to the national level suggests that Jamaica’s failure to effectively manage its fisheries cost the country US$1.6 billion in lost revenues over the period from 1975 to 2000. A more recent study done in 2011 by Kushner and others from the World Resources Institute (WRI) estimated that at the end of 10 years, current erosion rates at the beaches in Negril, Montego Bay, and Ocho Rios will cause an annual loss in value of US$19 million. They also indicated that if the reefs degrade further, they estimated that the additional beach erosion will increase this annual loss to US$33 million that year. Such loss of value is projected to have knock-on impacts by reducing tourist visitation to Jamaica by 9000 to 18,000 visitors annually, costing an estimated US$9 million to US$19 million per year to the Jamaican tourism industry and US$11 million to US$23 million per year to the entire Jamaican economy. Similarly, a study done by Lauretta Burke from the WRI in 2010 in Dominican Republic—where its economy depends on its beaches to attract tourists— revealed Public Sector Workers, Collaboration and Reflective Practice in the Cayman Islands

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that for each meter of beach a resort loses, the average per person hotel room rate drops by about US$1.0 per night. Thus, if beaches there continue to erode at their current rate, the Dominican tourism industry stands to lose US$52 to $100 million in revenue over the next decade. The report also estimated that the income from reef or mangrove-dependent fisheries has decreased by 60 per cent in the past 10 years from US$41 million to US$17 million because of pollution and overfishing. Ultimately, this would threaten the livelihoods of many Dominican fishermen, and the country’s economy as a whole. Finally, widespread environmental degradation, both marine and terrestrial, is a significant weakness and threat to the regional ecotourism product. Extreme levels of deterioration are evident in Haiti, which retains less than 1% of its original forest cover, but the situation is also serious in the Dominican Republic (25% retention), Cuba (29%) and Jamaica (35%), among the larger countries. In Mexico, 77% of original ‘frontier’ forests are considered threatened (World Resources Institute, 1998). With respect to offshore resources, the coral reefs of the Caribbean rank among the most endangered in the world due to mass tourism, industrialization, shipping, fishing and sedimentation. The rapidly growing tourism industry is itself regarded as a major contributor to the area’s environmental problems, despite its recent embrace of the rhetoric of sustainability (Holder, 1996). As such, the link between mass tourism and ecotourism can also be perceived as a threat. An example is the Costa Maya project in Mexico’s Quintana Roo Province, which purports to be an ‘ecotourism’ development, yet includes 18-hole golf courses and at least one full-service marina (CeballosLascuráin, 1996). The geographical positioning of the Caribbean and Mexico make them highly susceptible to natural disasters such as hurricanes, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. Hurricanes may cause massive destruction, but the effects are temporary. The reality is that ecotourism suffers from a lack of institutional articulation. Among countries and dependencies in the region, any common understanding of ecotourism is absent, with some islands proffering definitions that can only be described as bizarre. Martinique, for example, includes golfing as a component of ecotourism (Weaver, 2001). Research Framework And Methodology The objective of this paper is to assess the values of tourism, fisheries, shoreline protection, and other coastal ecosystem services to the Cayman Islands’ economy. The information garnered from this research is intended to raise awareness about the location and severity of threats to the coral reefs and mangroves in the Cayman Islands. These results can also catalyze opportunities for changes in policy and prac242

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tices that could safeguard the coral reefs and mangroves and the benefits they provide to the people for future generations. The research was conducted in three steps: Interviews conducted with the Department of Environment (DOE), Department of Planning (DOP) and private sector contributors such as The Ambassadors of the Environment (affiliated with the Ritz Carlton Hotel), a Contractor/Developer and renowned underwater photographer, Cathy Church. See Table 1 for the grid sheet of the interview questions. A field study that was conducted by Dr. Anthony Husemann and the Master Degree program students (2010) in the Bodden Town and South Sound areas of Grand Cayman. Three scenarios were created illustrating possible futures for the Cayman Islands as a result of non-sustainable management of the coral reefs and mangroves up to 2030.

Table 1 Interview Questions Template 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Based on your own knowledge and experience, what is the present condition of the coral reefs and mangroves in the Cayman Islands? What are the major destructive elements affecting the coral reefs and mangroves? Why are these marine ecosystems important to the Cayman Islands’ economy to warrant sustainable management? What do you consider the end results of no sustainable management systems in place for these marine ecosystems? Indicate a rough dollar value. Which ‘principal’ parties should be involved in such sustainable management efforts? What can we do now to help to save the coral reefs and mangroves in Cayman Islands? What is your personal involvement/influence in preserving these critical ecosystems? What advice would you offer to business majors on their role in protecting the environment?

The objectives of the field study were (1) To illustrate the effect a single high-powered storm can have on a low-lying island; (2) To show how little of that damage has been naturally repaired; (3) To calculate the potential cost to repair it by human means, and (4) To learn by observation the difference between sustainable construction practices and those that may actually do more harm than good. Public Sector Workers, Collaboration and Reflective Practice in the Cayman Islands

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The researcher has developed four scenarios to help policymakers and stakeholders assess the likely consequences for these marine ecosystems and their services through different approaches to economic and environmental management. These scenarios are intended to give an overview and illustrate possible futures for the Cayman Islands up to 2031. These plausible story lines of the future should help create potential prospects for services such as tourism, fishing, and recreation on the values and priorities expressed by locals. However, it should be noted that these scenarios are not certain predictions of the future but rather what the future could be. Conditions And Trends Of Ecosystem Services In Cayman Warming sea temperatures, rising sea levels and the threat of stronger hurricanes have the individual and cumulative potential to significantly impact marine ecosystems like fragile coral reefs, the more resilient mangroves and the services they provide. In the Caribbean region, there has been a loss of about 80% of living coral cover over the last 20 years (Gardener et al, 2003). This present declining state of the coral reefs has been amplified by coral diseases, pollution, and sediment runoff from coastal agriculture, fishing and direct damage from boat anchors, fish traps, grounded ships, dredging, collection, and dynamite fishing. Locally, it has been observed that the sea level is rising at an average rate of 2.4 mm per year from 1976 to 1988 (Burton, 1994). The impact on beach resources, particularly that of Seven Mile Beach on Grand Cayman, should be a cause for concern, as the extent of possible beach retreat under these sea level rise and other scenarios may be quite significant. The density of recent development and inappropriate siting of structures such as seawalls, swimming pools and, in some instances, buildings in the active beach zone, further exacerbate the problems and potential for erosion, as the beaches have limited distances to retreat or flex naturally. Further, Seven Mile Beach is a very â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;leakyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; system with sand losses occurring under relatively benign conditions (Seymour, 2000). Existing portions of this particular shoreline from Crescent Point to Royal Palms in the south and Boggy Sand in the north already suffer significant cyclical erosion, typically when summer storms bring waves from the south. The Boggy Sand area provides compelling evidence of beach retreat, as sixty years ago the coastline in this area supported a church, school, market building and slipway, among other things, on land that no longer exists (DOE, 2009). The analyses by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) indicate that the mangrove area around the Caribbean Sea has in general decreased by about 1% per year since 1980 (FAO 2002, 2003a). Mangroves in the Cayman Islands provide the services of protection of the coral reefs, turtle grass beds, and the provision of 244

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habitat, spawning grounds, and nutrients for a variety of fish and shellfish, including snappers and lobsters. Mangroves can provide income as eco-tourist attraction— the Ambassadors of the Environment make weekly eco-tours to the mangroves on Grand Cayman—for viewing birds such as West Indian Whistling Duck, Grand Cayman’s Parrot, Snowy Egrets and other flora and fauna. Unfortunately, the coastal mangroves in the Cayman Islands are now challenged to keep pace and adapt to rising sea levels. Research in the 1990s on mangrove retreat on Grand Cayman suggests that the rate of mangrove peat formation may not be sufficient to cope with a sea level rise of 2mm per year (Woodroffe, 1990, in Simpson, et al, 2009). Given the present global mean rate of sea level rise is 3.1mm per year, and the sea level rise in the Caribbean is expected to be near the global mean, it is likely that many coastlines will experience erosion as coastal mangroves become compromised (National Climate Committee, 2010). These coastal mangroves systems will find it difficult to function as natural buffers as many of these systems have been dissected by coastal roads which now impede natural drainage after storms, causing mangroves to drown. This was evident in Tarpon Lake in Little Cayman in which the mangroves were drowned following flooding from Hurricane Gilbert in 1988 and also much of South Sound mangroves after Hurricane Ivan. According to Senior Research Officer of the Department of Environment, M. McCoy, mangroves in Grand Cayman’s Little Sound receded approximately 20ft after Hurricane Ivan. From our field study along the South Sound area, it was quite evident from the slow signs of recovery of these systems that it takes a long time to recover from just this one event; this would be even greater from successive storms, which may become more intense and more frequent. Now with plans underway to dredge a section of the area and build a canal (providing now easy access for flood waters) for the new Resort and Golf Course in that area—where will we be if a more severe storm strikes? Map 1 shows the 7.5% loss of coastal mangroves between 1999 and 2008 alone within the Mangrove Buffer Zone—a designation in the Development and Planning Law.

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Map 1 Changes in Mangrove Buffer Zone, West Side, Grand Cayman 1998-2008 Source: Cayman Islands Department of Environment, 2010, p.64 The Marine Park Zones represent the next level of protection in which no extractive use of the coral reefs they predominantly protect is permitted for any marine resources alive or dead. Water sports activities are permitted, but anchoring vessels larger than 60ft is not allowed. A total of 3,677 acres of Marine Parks are found on all three islands, but this protection does not extend to any of the neighbouring coastal habitats. Replenishment Zones are essentially fisheries management zones found on all three islands, encompassing a total of 12,886 acres of lagoon and shallow reef habitat. These zones provide protection to culturally important conch (Strombus gigas) and lobster (Panulirus argus) population. Superimposed within the Marine Park system, Wild Life Interaction Zones and No Diving Zones have also recently been developed to address and manage user conflicts. Comparatively, terrestrial protection is severely restricted due to the lack of enabling legislation and is limited to animal sanctuaries under the existing Animal Law (1976). Four Crown-owned mangrove coastal ponds and their surrounding buffer habitat totaling 341 acres have been declared Animal Sanctuaries, restricting activities such as hunting or collection and other forms of deliberate disturbance and littering. The National Trust for the Cayman Islands, under the National Trust Law (1987), has purchased or secured approximately 3,109 acres of ecologically or culturally key terrestrial areas on all three islands, declaring them inalienable for the people of the Cayman Islands and indirectly affording them a measure of protection through private ownership and a commitment to manage these areas in their natural state (DOE, 2009). 246

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Major Drivers Of Ecosystem Change In The Cayman Islands It is a central part of the assessment of any ecosystem to identify the key factors leading to changes which can affect the services provided by the natural systems of a region or locality. Known as drivers, these can either be direct (such as pollution) or indirect (such as population increase leading to pollution); they can be local drivers (such as habitat destruction) or external ones such as global climate change (Caribbean Sea Ecosystem Assessment, (CARSEA), 2007). By analyzing these drivers, one may understand better the full consequences of particular policies or activities on the well-being of the Cayman Islandsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; society, and to suggest the type and scale of changes which may be required to reduce the stress on the marine ecosystems. Examples of these drivers of change are: Local, direct -- changes in coastal land and sea use in the Cayman Islands have been the single greatest cause of ecosystem damage. Flat land along the coastline and reclaimed from the sea has been used for industry and commerce, and in a wide range of tourism developments such as hotels, apartments, and golf courses. The consequence has been severe depletion of habitats such as turtle grass beds and mangroves, damage to coral reefs, and the destabilization of beaches. Can you think of the impact of these newly approved coastal developments, such as Indigo Bay in Bodden Town, which will be dynamiting the current bluff to build a canal almost touching the reef, or Emerald Bay in South Sound, where the recently replanted mangroves will be cut down and a canal also excavated to provide an inlet to the resort and golf course? Sewage pollution from land sources and from cruise ships creates another form of contamination of the coastal environment. The elevated nutrient levels from such pollution can over stimulate the growth of algae, causing fish kills and coral damage. This is accelerated by the dying out of the sea urchins (from the 1980s, by an unknown disease) which assisted in grazing the algae down. Local, indirect -- Urbanization of coastal communities has been the major factor underlying the direct pressures on the Caribbean Sea ecosystem. High tourism dependency has led to a massive amount of capital investment in coastal infrastructure, which has, in turn, damaged the capacity of the ecosystem to provide services to the region (CARSEA, 2007). Non- implementation of a Conservation Law in the Cayman Islands has indirectly added to the detriment of the marine ecosystems. External, direct -- Global climate change can potentially have a profound impact on the Caribbean Sea ecosystem, including Cayman Islands. Increased intensity and frequency of tropical storms and hurricanes have had devastating socio-economic consequences on the Cayman Islands, exacerbated due to the increased population along the coasts. Table 2 highlights damages and losses from the most recently costly Public Sector Workers, Collaboration and Reflective Practice in the Cayman Islands

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disasters such as Hurricane Ivan in 2004—locally referred to as ‘Ivan the Terrible’— which severely impacted the southern and eastern coasts of Grand Cayman, leaving losses of CI $2.8 billion in its wake. This represented 183% of the country’s GDP in 2003 and is by far the most devastating hurricane to hit the Cayman Islands (ECLAC, 2005).

Table 2 - losses from recent hurricanes affecting Cayman Islands Year

Hurricane