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| ==History== | ==History== | ||
| Three hundred years ago, men and women in flesh and bone, were kidnapped from their villages in Guinea; trapped and captured like animals in Senegal; ripped from their families in Mozambique; herded aboard slave ships in Madagascar, and shipped across the Indian Ocean to this part of the World. Those who survived ended their days, labouring like beasts of burden for foreign masters. They would never see Africa again. | |||
| During the the 10th century, the Arabs regularly visited the Mascarenes Islands. A map realized during the 12th century by the Arabic geographer, Al Sharif El-Edrissi, clearly shows the three islands of the Mascarenes known back then as Dina Arobi (Mauritius), Dina Margabin (Reunion) and Dina Moraze (Rodrigues). But it was the Portuguese navigoator Don Diego Rodriguez who gave his name to the island of Rodrigues in 1528. | |||
| The name Rodrigues was eponymously plucked from Diego Rodriguez, a Portuguese sailor whose brief visit in 1528 heralded the coming of the Europeans. There is some evidence that Chinese Mariners, Arab and Malay traders, and Pirates may have stumbled on the island as far back as the tenth century. No record of any indigenous population exists. By 1638, a council on nearby Reunion Island was already administering Rodrigues as a French possession. It remained a French colony until British troops stormed the island in 1809. It was then governed as a separate British territory until May 30, 1814, when its administration was transferred to Mauritius. | |||
| From 1601, the Dutch regularly anchored in the island’s lagoon to take in fresh supplies of food . But they did not yet settle down on the island. | |||
| In 1691 François Leguat and his 7 Huguenot companions landed on the island in with the firm intention to set up a farming colony of protestant refugees. They did not have much success with their own crops, but there was an abundance of tortoises, turtles, birds, fish and other sea food . But they they were too few and rapidly were overwhelmed by the loneliness. Two years later they decided to move to nearby Mauritius Island. | |||
| During the Second World War, 300 of our compatriots, from our tiny active population, supported the British in Tobruk and El Alamein. | |||
| During the following years the island remained unoccupied and was again only used as a supply anchor for ships on their way to the Indies. | |||
| Yet, in March 1968, we were bound to Mauritius against our will, and marooned in the colonially imposed ‘forced marriage’ of unitary rule. Having offloaded Mauritius, the British in Rodrigues simply packed their bags, shot their dogs, and took off. In effect, we became the whipping boy, left behind at the mercy of new masters, to foot the bill for the transgressions of others. | |||
| Our history has been one long painful struggle against non-consensual governments: from French possession, French colony, English possession, dependency of the colony of Mauritius, ‘district’ of Mauritius, to Island region of Mauritius today. Neo-colonial labels replaced colonial tags; alien masters took over from foreign rulers, but for our people – the dysphoric cycle grinds on: Adieu l’esclavage – Bonjour l’esclavage (farewell slavery – good morning slavery.) | |||
| In 1735 Mahé de Labourdonnais, governor of Ile de France (Mauritius) and Bourbon Island (Reunion) ordered to occupy also rodrigues island on a permanent basis. He sent a detachment to settle down there. But their only job was to gather the giant tortoises and sending them to the two islands. The tortoises were alos loaded on the ships of the East Indies company. As they could be kept alive for long, they were a precious source of fresh meat. Unfortunately as this activity was carried on for 60 years, at the end of the 18th century the species was . | |||
| By 1960, the decolonization of Mauritius and Rodrigues islands had already been decided. When subsequent negotiations and constitutional conferences were held in London and Mauritius in 1961, ‘65 and ‘67, Rodriguans were deliberately excluded. The pretext was that we did not have any political parties or organizations. | |||
| During the 18 th century several attempt was also made by the French to develop the island. Slaves were brought to develop stockbreeding and farming. It was during this epoch that the ancestors of the present population came into the island: African slaves were brought to Rodrigues. | |||
| During that epoch, the ultraconservative Mauritian party, PMSD (Parti Mauritian ‘Social Democrat’), had been running a campaign of scaremongering, along ethnic lines in Rodrigues. Besides promises of freedom, its leader, Duval, had managed to convince our people that the Devil and his Dam would descend on Rodrigues after the British pulled out. Not surprisingly, in their first contact with the ballot box in 1967, an overwhelming ninety-eight percent of Rodriguans voted against being attached to Mauritius. Sadly, the express views of our people did not take precedence over the urgent conspiracy to annex our homeland. | |||
| In 1809, the British troops, after a brief battle, took possession of Rodrigues. The were not interested in Rodrigues. Their intention was to attack Mauritius from Rodrigues. In 1810 1810 Mauritius and Rodrigues thus became British territories. During The Brisish occupation slavery was abolished. | |||
| Of note, in 1967, Rodriguans were not offered a choice between freedom and colonialism; we had to face the horns of this dilemma: British colonization or Mauritian occupation … a foreign ruler or an alien master. Not too dissimilar to Indochina’s quandary: Japanese occupation or French colonization. | |||
| The island’s population gradually grew with freed slaves and some European colonists. At the end of the 19th century, about 3000 inhabitants were living on the island. The British invested little in the island’s development. Only some agriculture was done. And whatever was produced was systematically sent to Mauritius. | |||
| Rodriguans did not wish to continue living under a British heel, anymore than we craved the prospect of living under a Mauritian one. And we certainly did not fancy the idea of uprooting our families, leaving the bones of ten generations of our ancestors buried in Rodrigues, to sail into exile in foreign lands. Nonetheless, in those blood-curdling days in Mauritius, people were dying in the streets; we feared being carved up next. The chilling reality of the times saw many discard their possessions, homes and lands, to escape to Canada, Australia, France, England, South Africa and other parts of the World. For some, this still cuts close to the bone. | |||
| Hence Rodrigues development was very slow compared to Mauritius. | |||
| In 1968, before the ink was dry on a unilaterally drafted Independence constitution; baton-wielding police hoisted the Mauritian flag atop Port Mathurin under a cloud of tear-gas. Rodriguans became unwilling Mauritian citizens overnight. On occasions when our stout-hearted brothers and sisters resisted, British troops were summoned to put down our protest. | |||
| In 1968, Mauritius annexed the island of Rodrigues. Although, now an autonomous region, sovereignty is still disputed. | |||
| Admittedly, after the British left in 1968, our hands were not cut off. All the same, Rodrigues was reduced to a Mauritian fiefdom, where marginalization soon became institutionalized. We found ourselves with higher unemployment, higher cost of living, higher infant mortality, higher primary education drop-out rate and lower literacy and living standard than Mauritius. Discrimination, domination and exclusion became the norm. Today, force majeure continues to buttress the status quo. | |||
| In 1976, a separate ministry was set up to deal with Rodrigues’ specificities. So far, only a handful of ‘moderate’ Rodriguans, with their wings clipped, have ever been co-opted to this portfolio. What’s more, no Rodriguan has filled this post in the past ten years, and the likelihood of it ever being different, seems remote. Mauritian politicians arbitrarily choose the minister for Rodrigues and politically-appointed Mauritian bureaucrats govern Rodrigues by proxy – irrespective of our votes. | |||
| In 1991, when Rodriguans, had the temerity to demand more control over their own affairs, a token island Council was put in place to placate them. Fellow travellers and party hacks were handpicked and allowed to make recommendations on local matters. But, when the Council, though toothless, began to fuel nationalist pride among those with ‘ideas above their station’ – it was unceremoniously disbanded in 1996. | |||
| In 2001, following a long sustained struggle, the idea of Autonomy for the ethnically diverse people of Rodrigues, was first mooted. Finally, 170 years after the abolition of slavery, far reaching devolution from the centralized rigidities of Mauritian control came into sight … albeit briefly. | |||
| In 2002, after much fanfare, after the spin-doctors had recited their precision-tooled sound bites, after the pig-headed and the big-headed had had their photo opportunities – ‘Autonomy’ arrived. The names were changed from Island Council to Regional Assembly and from Councillors to Commissioners. A few buildings were erected here and there, a few factotums got to fly to Mauritius, there to sit, silent and still, on government back-benches and a plague of introduced Chameleons overran Rodrigues. That was roughly the extent of it. | |||
| Mauritian ministers continued to micro-manage our affairs and we got to elect the lackeys who run their errands. The central government retained all legislative and executive powers and practically everything else. Eventually, even its rusted-on supporters had to concede that our promised ‘Autonomy’ was a dud. | |||
| The colonial legacy of authoritarian bureaucratic dictatorship was never dismantled in Rodrigues – it was reinforced. External bureaucratic-warlords command and our people obey without question. The chief of police, the judge, the minister for Rodrigues, all the principal heads of department, all the lawyers, all the policy makers, all those who actually govern Rodrigues – all come from Mauritius. | |||
| When our Creole language, in which is stored the experiences and struggles of our people, is spurned in our Assembly – when seventy percent of our people are disqualified from political office, because they do not speak a foreign language – when half-nourished, half-educated and half-free schoolchildren are forced to learn three languages – when there is a dearth of educational material on our African culture in a curriculum designed for us, by others – when our children mimic cultures, beliefs, languages and traditions dissimilar to their own, in order to validate their sense of self-worth – when our civil service which represents ninety percent of our educated, is effectively gagged from political discourse – when our people speak of Independence in tentative muffled whispers, for fear of government spies – when everything is controlled by external forces, there is no freedom … only domination. | |||
| Constitutional guarantees of no ruling caste, of no second class citizens, of consent of the governed to govern, seem to apply to all, except in respect to Rodriguans. | |||
| Mauritius speaks of human rights at the United Nations, pledges solidarity with SADC (Southern African Development Committee) and the African Union – yet retains its own Colonial Dominion. The double-edged morality is staggering. | |||
| ==Natural history== | ==Natural history== | ||
Revision as of 06:42, 10 May 2007
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| Dependency of RodriguesRodrigues | |
|---|---|
Flag | |
| Anthem: Motherland (Republic of Mauritius Anthem) | |
 | |
| Capitaland largest city | Port Mathurin |
| Official languages | English (official Language), French, Rodriguan Creole |
| Government | Dependency of Mauritius |
| • President | Anerood Jugnauth |
| • Chief Commissioner | Johnson Roussety |
| • Chief Executive of Rodrigues | Jean-Claude Pierre-Louis |
| Population | |
| • 2006 estimate | 40,000 |
| Currency | Mauritian rupee (MUR) |
Rodrigues, named for Portuguese explorer Diogo Rodrigues, is one of the Mascarene Islands and a dependency of Mauritius. With a peak elevation of approximately 355 meters, it is located 560 km east of Mauritius, in the middle of the Indian Ocean. It is 109 km² in size, and surrounded by a coral reef. The capital of the island is Port Mathurin. Google Earth refers to the island as Gambrani Island.
As of 2006, the island's population was about 40,000. The main language is Rodriguan Creole, while French and English are spoken or understood by some of the inhabitants. The main religion is Roman Catholicism with a small minority of Protestants and Jehovah's Witnesses. Most of the inhabitants are of mixed African and French descent. The main industries are woodcrafting, farming, fishing and tourism.
History
Three hundred years ago, men and women in flesh and bone, were kidnapped from their villages in Guinea; trapped and captured like animals in Senegal; ripped from their families in Mozambique; herded aboard slave ships in Madagascar, and shipped across the Indian Ocean to this part of the World. Those who survived ended their days, labouring like beasts of burden for foreign masters. They would never see Africa again.
The name Rodrigues was eponymously plucked from Diego Rodriguez, a Portuguese sailor whose brief visit in 1528 heralded the coming of the Europeans. There is some evidence that Chinese Mariners, Arab and Malay traders, and Pirates may have stumbled on the island as far back as the tenth century. No record of any indigenous population exists. By 1638, a council on nearby Reunion Island was already administering Rodrigues as a French possession. It remained a French colony until British troops stormed the island in 1809. It was then governed as a separate British territory until May 30, 1814, when its administration was transferred to Mauritius.
During the Second World War, 300 of our compatriots, from our tiny active population, supported the British in Tobruk and El Alamein. Yet, in March 1968, we were bound to Mauritius against our will, and marooned in the colonially imposed ‘forced marriage’ of unitary rule. Having offloaded Mauritius, the British in Rodrigues simply packed their bags, shot their dogs, and took off. In effect, we became the whipping boy, left behind at the mercy of new masters, to foot the bill for the transgressions of others.
Our history has been one long painful struggle against non-consensual governments: from French possession, French colony, English possession, dependency of the colony of Mauritius, ‘district’ of Mauritius, to Island region of Mauritius today. Neo-colonial labels replaced colonial tags; alien masters took over from foreign rulers, but for our people – the dysphoric cycle grinds on: Adieu l’esclavage – Bonjour l’esclavage (farewell slavery – good morning slavery.)
By 1960, the decolonization of Mauritius and Rodrigues islands had already been decided. When subsequent negotiations and constitutional conferences were held in London and Mauritius in 1961, ‘65 and ‘67, Rodriguans were deliberately excluded. The pretext was that we did not have any political parties or organizations.
During that epoch, the ultraconservative Mauritian party, PMSD (Parti Mauritian ‘Social Democrat’), had been running a campaign of scaremongering, along ethnic lines in Rodrigues. Besides promises of freedom, its leader, Duval, had managed to convince our people that the Devil and his Dam would descend on Rodrigues after the British pulled out. Not surprisingly, in their first contact with the ballot box in 1967, an overwhelming ninety-eight percent of Rodriguans voted against being attached to Mauritius. Sadly, the express views of our people did not take precedence over the urgent conspiracy to annex our homeland.
Of note, in 1967, Rodriguans were not offered a choice between freedom and colonialism; we had to face the horns of this dilemma: British colonization or Mauritian occupation … a foreign ruler or an alien master. Not too dissimilar to Indochina’s quandary: Japanese occupation or French colonization.
Rodriguans did not wish to continue living under a British heel, anymore than we craved the prospect of living under a Mauritian one. And we certainly did not fancy the idea of uprooting our families, leaving the bones of ten generations of our ancestors buried in Rodrigues, to sail into exile in foreign lands. Nonetheless, in those blood-curdling days in Mauritius, people were dying in the streets; we feared being carved up next. The chilling reality of the times saw many discard their possessions, homes and lands, to escape to Canada, Australia, France, England, South Africa and other parts of the World. For some, this still cuts close to the bone.
In 1968, before the ink was dry on a unilaterally drafted Independence constitution; baton-wielding police hoisted the Mauritian flag atop Port Mathurin under a cloud of tear-gas. Rodriguans became unwilling Mauritian citizens overnight. On occasions when our stout-hearted brothers and sisters resisted, British troops were summoned to put down our protest.
Admittedly, after the British left in 1968, our hands were not cut off. All the same, Rodrigues was reduced to a Mauritian fiefdom, where marginalization soon became institutionalized. We found ourselves with higher unemployment, higher cost of living, higher infant mortality, higher primary education drop-out rate and lower literacy and living standard than Mauritius. Discrimination, domination and exclusion became the norm. Today, force majeure continues to buttress the status quo.
In 1976, a separate ministry was set up to deal with Rodrigues’ specificities. So far, only a handful of ‘moderate’ Rodriguans, with their wings clipped, have ever been co-opted to this portfolio. What’s more, no Rodriguan has filled this post in the past ten years, and the likelihood of it ever being different, seems remote. Mauritian politicians arbitrarily choose the minister for Rodrigues and politically-appointed Mauritian bureaucrats govern Rodrigues by proxy – irrespective of our votes.
In 1991, when Rodriguans, had the temerity to demand more control over their own affairs, a token island Council was put in place to placate them. Fellow travellers and party hacks were handpicked and allowed to make recommendations on local matters. But, when the Council, though toothless, began to fuel nationalist pride among those with ‘ideas above their station’ – it was unceremoniously disbanded in 1996.
In 2001, following a long sustained struggle, the idea of Autonomy for the ethnically diverse people of Rodrigues, was first mooted. Finally, 170 years after the abolition of slavery, far reaching devolution from the centralized rigidities of Mauritian control came into sight … albeit briefly.
In 2002, after much fanfare, after the spin-doctors had recited their precision-tooled sound bites, after the pig-headed and the big-headed had had their photo opportunities – ‘Autonomy’ arrived. The names were changed from Island Council to Regional Assembly and from Councillors to Commissioners. A few buildings were erected here and there, a few factotums got to fly to Mauritius, there to sit, silent and still, on government back-benches and a plague of introduced Chameleons overran Rodrigues. That was roughly the extent of it.
Mauritian ministers continued to micro-manage our affairs and we got to elect the lackeys who run their errands. The central government retained all legislative and executive powers and practically everything else. Eventually, even its rusted-on supporters had to concede that our promised ‘Autonomy’ was a dud.
The colonial legacy of authoritarian bureaucratic dictatorship was never dismantled in Rodrigues – it was reinforced. External bureaucratic-warlords command and our people obey without question. The chief of police, the judge, the minister for Rodrigues, all the principal heads of department, all the lawyers, all the policy makers, all those who actually govern Rodrigues – all come from Mauritius.
When our Creole language, in which is stored the experiences and struggles of our people, is spurned in our Assembly – when seventy percent of our people are disqualified from political office, because they do not speak a foreign language – when half-nourished, half-educated and half-free schoolchildren are forced to learn three languages – when there is a dearth of educational material on our African culture in a curriculum designed for us, by others – when our children mimic cultures, beliefs, languages and traditions dissimilar to their own, in order to validate their sense of self-worth – when our civil service which represents ninety percent of our educated, is effectively gagged from political discourse – when our people speak of Independence in tentative muffled whispers, for fear of government spies – when everything is controlled by external forces, there is no freedom … only domination.
Constitutional guarantees of no ruling caste, of no second class citizens, of consent of the governed to govern, seem to apply to all, except in respect to Rodriguans.
Mauritius speaks of human rights at the United Nations, pledges solidarity with SADC (Southern African Development Committee) and the African Union – yet retains its own Colonial Dominion. The double-edged morality is staggering.
Natural history
Rodrigues is a volcanic island arising from a ridge along the edge of the Mascarene Plateau. Estimated to be from 1-4 million years old, in this time Rodrigues has developed a unique environment including many endemic species: 42 species of trees; the Rodriguan bat; two species of bird, the Rodrigues fody and the Rodrigues warbler; and a species of coral. Other endemic animals such as Rodrigues giant tortoises and Rodrigues Solitaires are now extinct.
The coral reef of Rodrigues is of particular interest due to it having to self-seed. That is it receives no coral zooplankton from elsewhere. This has led to the development of the above mentioned coral and a small number of species being present.
The coffee plant, café marron, was thought to be extinct until it was rediscovered in 1979.
Interesting places
Notes and references
- "Convention on Biological Diversity - Third National Report for the Republic of Mauritius, Section 5.2.1, p. 26" (DOC). Ministry of Environment and National Development Unit in collaboration with the UNEP/GEF. October 2006. Retrieved 2007-01-19.
- http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/plants/islandplants/marron.html
- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5307047
External links
- The Little Coffee Plant that Wouldn't Die
- Images of Rodrigues
- Travel guide of Rodrigues
- Activities in Rodrigues
- Map of Mauritius
- Shoals Rodrigues
- All About Rodrigues
- Mauritius & Rodrigues Travel guide
- Weather in Rodrigues
- Transportation in Rodrigues
- Practical Informations on Rodrigues
| Districts of Mauritius | ||
|---|---|---|
| Districts | .svg){kind=small} | |
19°43′S 63°25′E / 19.717°S 63.417°E / -19.717; 63.417
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