换妻俱乐部 students in Cuba at the Angerona plantation
A one-of-a-kind partnership is shedding new light on Cuba's history, and creating all-new opportunities for Atlantic Canadian students.
In May 2015, part-time Professor of Anthropology Aaron Taylor was in Wolfville, on an archaeological field school. There was still snow on the ground, his exposed fingers were numb from cold, and he was he was eager to be inside鈥攐r anywhere that was warm.Kneeling on the frozen ground, a student asked him, 鈥淚f you could dig anywhere, where would it be?鈥�
Taylor didn鈥檛 hesitate: 鈥淐uba.鈥�
The answer wasn鈥檛 just a wish for a more hospitable work environment. Taylor鈥攁 graduate of Saint Mary鈥檚 Anthropology and Atlantic Canada Studies programs鈥攈ad been a frequent visitor to the country, and was fascinated by its history and culture. His curiosity piqued, he contacted the Cabinet of Archaeology for the City of Havana鈥攁nd within weeks, the ball was rolling.
鈥淲hen the Cubans realized we wanted a real collaboration鈥攂ecause they鈥檝e had a lot of requests from people who just want have access, but not work with them鈥攖hey responded really positively,鈥� he says. The resulting collaboration is the only one of its kind between a North American university and a Cuban institution, creating a unique opportunity for local students.
This summer, a full cohort of students from Atlantic universities travelled to Cuba for the first in what will hopefully become an annual field school at the Angerona coffee plantation, a Cuban national historic site 60 kilometres southwest of Havana. It鈥檚 almost entirely archaeologically untouched, and Taylor hopes that he and his students鈥攚orking in partnership with Cuban students and professional archaeologists鈥攚ill help to uncover the history behind the site, and help reveal something about the lives of slaves, which have otherwise been lost to time.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important to give voice to those who have had no voice,鈥� says Taylor. 鈥淎ngerona is the Roman goddess of silence, and the plantation owner had a statue of Angerona on the site, holding a finger to her closed mouth. The message was, 鈥榳hat happens on the plantation stays on the plantation鈥�. People were born, lived, and died there without any access to the outside world, and archaeology is one way to give them a voice.鈥�
The plantation, which was in operation for most of the 19th century, housed more than 450 slaves at its peak, and was among the largest slave plantations in the Carribbean. What鈥檚 buried under its soil may reveal a great deal about not only Cuban history, but about the globe-spanning Atlantic slave trade as well.
There are even connections to the Cuban field school right here in Nova Scotia. 鈥淭he Cubans weren鈥檛 aware that Canada even had African slaves,鈥� says Taylor. 鈥淟ots of fish caught off Nova Scotia waters went to feed slaves. Finding those parallels was really interesting to them, and they鈥檙e doing work in their archives to find more connections.鈥�
Students lived in the town of Artemisa, staying with local families and experiencing Cuban culture in their off hours. They also spent two days in Havana, touring museums and historical sites, and cutting loose a bit: 鈥淭here was a lot of fun and mojitos,鈥� says Taylor. 鈥淏ut when it was time to work, this level of professionalism came over everyone. These weren鈥檛 just artifacts to be bagged鈥攖hey were the remains of people鈥檚 lives.鈥�