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I’ll be a little busy here and there throughout today, but since I covered my Masters project, today I’d like to focus on my PhD project that has consumed the last 4 years and 5 months of my life. A warning in advance: I will be talking about colonial racism and slavery (1/n)
Ok! So after the masters, I had so many questions. But the one that stuck out the most was “what did this look like in the past?” So, after being accepted into the PhD, I was in a fortunate position to put my idea to my supervisors...
...I (ambitiously) have covered 3 out of 4 of La Soufrière’s recorded explosive eruptions: 1812, 1902-1903 and 1979. What’s interesting about these eruptions is that they occur at distinct stages in social development: slavery, post-emancipation and on the eve of independence.
A little bit of historical context first. St. Vincent is home to the indigenous Kalinago (Red/Yellow Caribs) who populated the Lesser Antilles from about 1 AD from Venezuela 🇻🇪 and also the Garifuna (Black Caribs) who were runaway slaves that intermarried with the Kalinago.
These two groups were resistant to French and British colonial occupation. The island was a bargaining chip in the wider conflict in the USA at the time. For example, it was occupied by the French first but when the 7 Years’ War concluded, it was ceded to Britain.
Fast forward a bit to the 1760s when the island was occupied by British colonists, the Kalinago and Garifuna had a “reserve” in the north end of St. Vincent where La Soufrière was. But, the British noticed that their sugar plantations in the south weren’t doing so well...
They figured out that the most fertile soil was located closer to the volcano in the north. But they had a problem...there was an indigenous population present (you can probably see where this is going...) basically, this led to the First and Second Carib Wars
The end of the Second Carib War resulted in the exile of over 4,000 Garifuna (note, not Kalinago) to present day Honduras. Many Garifuna descendents today can be found across the whole of Central America. Why is this part of history important to know you maybe asking yourself...?
Knowledge and experience is viewed as vital in living in a hazardous environment. A particular part is called “indigenous knowledge”. I have argued that due to the exile and/or silencing of the Kalinago and Garifuna, knowledge of La Soufrière has been neglected...
...meaning that come the 1812 eruption, it was a “new” experience for the colonists and slaves. The eruption lasted for 6 weeks, created a new crater and was very interesting to read, as people from this time LOVED creating beautiful descriptions due to the fascination of nature 
Example: “...an abrupt and dreadful crash from the mountain, with a severe concussion of the earth, and tremulous noise in the air alarmed all around it...[the ash] darkened the air like a cataract of rain and covered the ridges, woods and cane pieces...”
In the archive records, I could only find confirmation that 46 (47? Can’t remember at the top of my head!) slaves were killed by the eruption. Number maybe higher, have to remember slaves were viewed as property and not people.
2 plantations were destroyed by pyroclastic density currents, the other was destroyed by a debris avalanche. The debris avalanche was part of the “new crater” but hasn’t been active since. This took a while to figure out! (Imagine the gif but 100 times bigger)
Slaves were left behind whilst overseers either fled to the south of the island, or off the island completely. After the eruption, it was about returning to the “status quo” and not adapting and diversifying, which in disaster literature, makes you more resilient for the next one
Right, sorry! Just had to transfer some photos from the computer to the phone for you all! So, the 1902-1903 eruption went on for 10 months, some months/weeks were quieter than others. This eruption was the most severe, killing approx. 1,300 people.
The eruption had a huge impact on the environment as well as the people. The pyroclastic density currents stripped the land bare and the lahars before, during and after did not help things. An eruption as long as 10 months is bound to be impacted by the rainy season
The social situation contributed to challenges from this eruption. Most descendants of former slaves were now farmers growing a variety of crops for themselves. Due to racism, they lacked the economic, political and social mobility needed to recover relatively quickly.
So, this is a map of St. Vincent that I reconstructed the pyroclastic density currents (orange), lahars (dark orange lines), where ash fell (light orange) and where earthquakes were felt (dashed circles). 🔺is impacted places, ◾️ is land bought, ⚫️ is repairs.
Estates and villages nearer to La Soufrière were impacted differently. Pyroclastic density currents are still not fully understood. From order of appearance: Wallibou estate, Richmond Village, Orange Hill estate and Lot 14 estate. Plantations were mainly owned by absentees...
...meaning they weren’t actually on the island to manage them. But unlike the farmers having a variety of crops that some are quite resistant to volcanic ash, the estates were still cultivating sugar cane which was in decline and now competing against sugar beet production.
But because of colonial racism, absentees got way more help in recovery than their black and mixed race farmer counterparts. The absentees had control of the land and were able to set (really rubbish) daily wages. La Soufrière’s eruption exacerbated underlining social issues
Right onto 1979! This eruption didn’t kill anybody, in part due to a quicker response and loads of people already being awake when it started about 7am because it was Good Friday. It was also because the eruption was smaller in volcanology terms compared to 1812 and 1902-1903
So this meant that the most deadliest volcanic hazards for La Soufrière, pyroclastic density currents and lahars were not as severe. They did happen but in smaller volumes. The biggest issue the country faced was the volcanic ash. It was more a nuisance and irritating for them!
I mentioned yesterday, the population is quite religious. And like I said a couple of tweets ago in this thread, the eruption began on a Good Friday, so a lot of people were awake already. This had certainly been a key factor in the quick recognition that an eruption had started
It still wasn’t a smooth process. Everything was a mess. Makeshift evacuation centres were set-up, which were mainly schools, churches and community centres. So even know no one died, still caused a major disruption to the island.
And even know the racism on the island was now minimal, there were still social and economic mobility issues. For example, I spoke to two separate families living in the largest town closest to the volcano, which is called Chateaubelair...
...one family had a car and was able to stay with friends in the south of the island for the duration. The other family, didn’t have a car and walked several miles to the nearest town of Barrouallie (where my grandfather is from, see photo!) with nothing with them.
Researching the volcanic history with a background of the social changes happening, shows that us as a society have just as much a play in how we respond, recover, adapt, mitigate and prepare against any hazard. We as a society turn that hazard impact into a disaster.
To end, after 2 weeks of explosive activity in 1979, the quiet extrusion of a lava mass/dome continued until 1983. So guys, we’ve reached the end of this thread covering some findings of my PhD! I hope you’ve enjoyed it!
