Indigenous and enslaved African horticulture and medicinals, & Anderson

In transcribing the manuscripts written by Alexander Anderson (d.1811), notably two extended plant catalogues, the importance of local plant knowledge comes across strongly. Not only did enslaved African men work the St Vincent Botanical Garden (more about that in another post), but Anderson noted some of their plant cures, including for a very nasty disease called Yaws. He also designed his version of the Garden around their horticultural knowledge of maximising tree cover. In a letter Anderson is very clear that in the Tropics gardening as in Europe is not sensible as tree cover helps shade the plants from the burning sun. He notes how the provision grounds of enslaved African were full of plants, whilst the provision grounds of those men and women who claimed ownership over the enslaved people, were virtually barren; of course Anderson didn't use those terms (I'll write a blog about language use at some point).

Anderson also collected plants from the gardens of St Vincent's indigenous peoples; now peoples called Garifuna/Garinagu, and Kalinago. He writes about how they used some plants to catch fish; by putting leaves from a plant that contains a toxin into a river or pond, the fish floated to the surface - the people now known as the Garifuna and Kalinago used different plants; again, these are not the terms Anderson used as in the eighteenth century, these people were given different names.

The importance of indigenous and enslaved African people's plant knowledge, both in terms of general horticulture and medicinal cures, is clear in Anderson's writings. His comments provide a contemporary record that shows us today that although during the period Anderson lived, non-Europeans were typically understood as inferior to White men, the hade knowledge that was important, even vital to the continuation of colonial endeavours.

The photo (screen shot from the Facebook site of the St Vincent and Grenadines National Rivers, Parks and Beaches Authority) shows visitors to the St Vincent Botanical Garden looking at the Medicinal Plant boards from the pop-up exhibition about the Garden in Anderson's day; the exhibition is currently in the Curators House as part of the 260th anniversary events to mark the establishment of the Garden; the oldest in the Western Hemisphere established in 1765.