DOMINICA JOTTINGS
The sisserou, more formally known as the Imperial Amazon or the Imperial Parrot (Amazona imperialis), is found only in Dominica, mainly in the Morne Diablotin area in the northern part of the island. The birds nest in pairs in cavities of tall trees, feeding on fruits, blossoms, shoots, seeds and nuts. The colors of their feathers blend well with the leaves of the trees in which they feed, making them difficult to see. The sisserou is a shy bird and is not easily approached. Its reproductive rate is not high. It tends to produce a clutch of two eggs every two years. The birds are seen either in pairs or in small flocks, sometimes together with the Jaco or Red-necked Amazons. The size of the sisserou population is not known. One estimate is 200. The bird represented in the red disk on the flag of Dominica is the sisserou.
THE JACO
The noisy parrot called the Jaco is found only in Dominica, primarily in the forests around Morne Diablotin in the north of the island . Jaco is the name Dominicans gave it. It is more formally known as the Red-necked Amazon (Amazona arausiaca). The bird is mostly green in color, but also features black, violet-blue, yellow, and the red which gave it the name red-necked. Mature birds are approximately 40 cm (16 in) in length. A number of factors including changing habitat, hunting, trade and hurricanes, have reduced the Jaco’s numbers. However, it has benefited from preservation efforts by the government of Dominica and non-government organizations and the population is growing again. The Jaco has been featured on several of the stamps of Dominica.
KALINAGO AND Wai'tukubuli
The early Carib people of Dominica called themselves the 'Kalinago.' They also called their mountainous country 'Wai'tukubuli' meaning 'Tall is Her Body.
VALLEY OF DESOLATION
This valley, located in south-central Dominica, is curious because it is so harsh. It's name is understandable. The valley floor varies in color between purple, mustard yellow, black, green, orange, silver and whatever mostly drab combinations are possible. The colors of the hot springs everywhere are determined by minerals which are being heated. Hot water and steam take the form of fumaroles, hot boiling mud and geysers. Animal life in the valley consists of lizards, cockroaches, stoneflies, mayflies and ants. Plant life comprises mainly grasses, mosses and lichens. Wherever one goes in Dominica, one is close to hot water from the earth. Yet the only recorded volcanic acitivity on the island was a steam explosion in the Valley of Desolation in 1880. Other spots people go to see are Boiling Lake, Trafalgar, Wotten Waven, Champagne, White River, Layou River, Soufriere, and Morne Aux Diables. Dominica's hot water is worth seeing.
ROSIE DOUGLAS DIES
Roosevelt (Rosie) Douglas, Prime Minister of Dominica, died at his home on
Sunday, October 1, 2000 at age 58, hours after returning home from visits
overseas. He became Prime Minister following the January 31, 2000
election at which his party won 10 seats.
He was the second son of the 15 children of R.B.D. Douglas and Burnadette
Douglas.
IRON LADY OF THE CARIBBEAN
That's what people called Mary Eugenia Charles who was was the prime
minister of Dominica from 21 Jul 1980 to 14 Jun 1995.
She was born in Pointe Michel. She studied law, entered the Inner Temple, London in 1947 and returned to the West Indies to practice. Both lawyer and businesswoman, she began her political career in 1968 as co-founder of the Dominica Freedom Party (DFP). She was elected to the Dominica Parliament in 1975 and led the opposition until 1980. After the 1980 elections she became Prime Minister (the first female to hold this office in the Caribbean) and was returned to power in 1985 and again in 1990. The "Iron Lady of the Caribbean," as she came to be known, aligned with the Reagan administration during the 1983 regional crisis.
She served as Foreign minister from 1980 to 1990 and Defence minister
from 1985 to 1995 too.
She is now Dame Eugenia Charles.
See an interesting report
on the Iron Lady dated November, 1997
SIFFLEUR MONTAGNE (SIFFLEUR DE LA MONTAGNE)
The siffleur montagne or mountain whistler is a bird whose song has been
described as one of striking clarity and sweetness. You are likely to hear
it on a steep climb up the mountain on your way to Dominica's Boiling
Lake. It is also claimed that this bird is heard only in Dominica.
It has been described as the Rufous-throated Solitaire (Myadestes
genibarbis), a bird of the higher-elevation forest.
Dominica's popular folk singers proudly call themselves the Siffleur
Montagne Chorale.
ROSIE DOUGLAS AND THE SIR GEORGE WILLIAMS COMPUTER RIOT
This much-discussed incident has also been called The Compute Centre
Crisis and the Sir George Williams Affair occurred in 1969 when Roosevelt
(Rosie) Douglas was 28, a 16-year resident of Canada, a landed immigrant
and a student of McGill University.
A protracted dispute over charges of racism against a professor resulted
in the occupation of several floors of the Henry F. Hall Building (part of
the Sir George Williams University). The occupation, intended to force the
administration to bring disciplinary action against the professor,
followed the dismissal of the students' complaints by a judicial board in
late January 1969. Douglas was regarded as the leader of the occupiers,
among them many sympathetic white students.
The student action erupted into violence on February 11, 1969 and the
ninth floor of the Hall Building was badly damaged by fire. Much of the
university's records were lost, and the damages mounted to $2.5 million.
Over 90 students were arrested. Douglas was charged with obstructing the
use of private property, and found guilty in a jury trial. In 1973-74, he
served 18 months of a two-year prison sentence. He was then labeled a
terrorist threat by the Canadian government and deported in 1975.
The riot still remains the most serious student disturbance on a Canadian
university campus in history.
The professor concerned was exonerated after an inquiry, and continued his
career at Sir George Williams and Concordia.
Douglas, who was refused re-entry into Canada since then, later said that
he may have been "over-zealous" in 1969. He was able to visit
Canada after becoming Prime Minister of Dominica.