On this Tuesday, March 12, 2024, Mauritius celebrates the 56th anniversary of its access to independence. However, for many this independence was paid at a high price: that of the excision of the Chagos archipelago from Mauritian territory. This tragedy still haunts memories.
View of the Chagos archipelago. Photo: Jeff Laitila, Flickr, CC.
This note has two stamps! While I was mechanically checking my mail (and yes, the Postal mail still exists :-)), two stamps side by side on the same envelope suddenly caught my attention. The first, on the left, blue, illustrating the Chagos archipelago; the second, on the right, orange in color, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the independence of Mauritius.
These two stamps caught my attention. Photo: CR.
This juxtaposition was not only that of two stamps, but above all that of two events inscribed in the DNA of Mauritius. The country gained independence from Great Britain in 1968. But for many, it was paid at a high price: that of the excision of the Chagos archipelago from Mauritian territory. The archipelago is now named British Indian Ocean Territory by the British, who rented it to the United States of America. The latter built a major military naval base there. Nevertheless, in 2019, theUnited Nations recognized the sovereignty of Mauritius over the Chagos Archipelago. However, the archipelago is still occupied and the US military base is still active.
To make such a project a reality, it was necessary to depopulate the Chagos archipelago of all its inhabitants. This is how the natives were gradually expelled from their native islands towards the end of the 1960s. They were forcibly deported to Mauritius or the Seychelles. According to several accounts, it is the Nordvaer, a Norwegian cargo ship, which took the last inhabitants of Chagos far from their islands of origin. THE Nordvaer had been sold to the British government around 1968. She resupplied the Chagos every two months, carrying mail, timber and other crucial supplies.
Chagos and silence
Stories and oral transmission played a large role in what we know today of the drama experienced by the Chagossians. Furthermore, there seems to exist a sort of taboo, of omerta when it comes to discussing the excision and depopulation of Chagos, which are nevertheless indeed part of the history of Mauritius. This is perhaps what inspired the writer Shenaz Patel to write the title of her novel. The silence of Chagos. This is undoubtedly what also pushed the Regional Center for Current Music from Reunion to be recorded the songs of Chagossian activist Charlesia Alexis in 2003. The album produced as a result of this initiative is entitled Charlesia, the voice of Chagos.
I too wish to highlight these voices, these stories, this music. Giving voice to voices. Let us transmit them, let us hear them, let us listen to them. Below each video, there is an extract of the lyrics in Creole, followed by a translation into French.
1. Claude Lafoudre – Donkey word uncle
My uncle tells about his life uprooted, he did not expect that one day he would leave his native land. The Nordvaer ship came to take them away. Embark on a ship, regret in the heart, tears flow.
My uncle’s donkey and the animals that he had are left there. So the rap that he used to rap coconut, so the pot that he used to be serez leather, everything has been left behind.
The Nordvaer ship is blowing to leave the Chagos. My uncle, his ass, ran into the house, he thought he was going to leave. When we imagine that we have arrived in the islands of the ocean, those who know history know themselves, those who don’t know don’t know at all.
My uncle talks about his life as an uprooted person; he would never have believed that he would have to leave his native land. The boat Nordvaer had come to take them and leave. Embarked on the boat, hearts full of regrets, tears in their eyes.
My uncle’s donkey and all the animals he owned remained there. The grater with which he grated the coconut, the pot in which he prepared the serazeverything stayed there.
The boat Nordvaer breath to leave Chagos. My uncle’s donkey got into the water because he thought it would leave too. When we think that all this happened on our islands in the ocean, those who know the story know it, those who don’t know it know nothing.
2. Cassiya – Diego
I am very sad that we have lost a beautiful little island of Diego, far away from where money was not necessary. The healthy teeth were protected, (…) the coconut cooled, the beauty of the natural life. They had to go, go even, even if the island of their birth is not behind (…) a great uncle told how it was beautiful there, it didn’t complicate people’s lives. Wow, there’s no shortage of food here, here is the shop, if you don’t have enough money to eat, there’s no shortage of food, your paradise is sold, give them what they need!
Look at the beauty of the lost island, let the big family down there, the culture has disappeared. This time makes the heart ache when the holiday of death has arrived, a tired flower of sorrow for you!
I’m very sad that we lost a beautiful little island, Diego, way out there, where money wasn’t much needed. Their health was protected (…), the coconut which refreshed, it was a beautiful natural life. They had to leave, move forward, leave their native island and not look back (…). A great uncle talked about how beautiful it was there, it wasn’t complicated, people lived normally. There was no shortage of food there. Here, sir, at the store, if you don’t have money you don’t eat. No, there was nothing missing there. Their paradise has been sold, give them what they need!
Look at our beautiful little lost island, we left our ancestors there, our culture is disappearing. Truly, it breaks our hearts, when All Souls’ Day comes, there isn’t even a bouquet of flowers for them!
3. Double K – No Day
Return to our island, return to our country, Peru Banhos, Salomon, Diego Garcia. My grandma says no need to cry, I tell you I care about you, one day I know what will happen, you will find your island and live happily. Whatever the grandfather is telling, I know it’s true, it’s the truth, it’s true that even you live a small life there (…) uprooted, embarked, our culture there has been abandoned, that’s why the great- father when he tells about his heart hurts because he is uprooted.
Give us back our islands, give us back our country, Peros Banhos, Salomon, Diego Garcia. Grandma, no, don’t cry, dry your tears. I know that one day it will happen: you will find your island again and you will live happily. Everything that grandfather said… I know it’s true, it’s the truth. Your life was really good there (…). We were uprooted, we were taken away, our culture was abandoned. That’s why grandfather is heartbroken when he tells it, it’s because he was uprooted.
4. Your Life – Peros Vert
Peros Vert is all around him, it’s black people, it’s black people, it’s black people. (…) We had our house in the country, our pirogue three places, the whole day the word life ended by the sea. Enough, we imagine where our rich people ended up leaving on our little island, in the ocean. Peros Vert, Peros Vert, so black people, our black people, our black people uprooted (…) Zozo cries, Lisien zape, the world lost my island. Goodbye Peros Vert, goodbye Salomon, goodbye Diego, more words to find your word lil, word lil. Sun, earth, my navel, my lil, my lil, my lil.
Peros Vert all around her, her black people, her black people, her black people (…) We had our straw huts, our three-seater canoes, all day long, I spent my life by the sea. Let’s sit down -we imagine where all our riches are that we have already left on our little island in the ocean. Peros Vert, Peros Vert, its black people, our black people, our black people, we have been uprooted (…). The birds are screaming, the dogs are barking, I have lost my island. Goodbye Peros Vert, goodbye Solomon, goodbye Diego, I will never see you again, my island, my island. The sun, the earth of my navel, my island, my island, my island.
Tear
Heartbreak, dismay, distress, sadness… these are the feelings that invade me when I listen to these segas. I feel all the nostalgia of a paradise forever lost, all the heartbreak of a people forever expelled from their islands, an entire culture forever erased. And yes, because long before depopulation, these islands had a life, habits and customs. The main activities were mainly linked to coconut processing and copra production.
Former plantation and coconut plantation in ruins on Diego Garcia aux Chagos, in 1970. Photo: Steve Swaye, Wikicommons.
Spiritan in Chagos
I was very moved while reading Sinking of the barque Diégo on Aigle Island in Chagos, June 20, 1935, by Father Roger Dussercle, Spiritan missionary stationed in Chagos. Certainly, his story is imbued with the ideologies of his time, but above all he manages to describe in detail daily life in the archipelago. The Chagos were self-sufficient, notably thanks to the aptly named Diamond Island:
“Diamond Island, which lives up to its name, is a real gem. There are no rocky plains there, like in the other places; the greenery of the coconut trees and the fine grass that covers the ground takes on the warm hues of abundant life. This is the garden of the Peros Banhos group; there are indeed plenty of fruits and vegetables: bananas, giraumons, brindles, candy apples, peppers…”
Sinking of the barque Diégo on Aigle Island in Chagos, June 20, 1935by Father Roger Dussercle
Book by Father Roger Dussercle, Spiritan missionary in Chagos. CR
Typical Chagos dish
He also describes the seraz or seragetypical Chagos dish: “It’s a serage of seabirds: fricassee of yayés, mariannes and mandarins, seasoned with coconut milk.” And here is what he says about the coconut trees and the toponymy of the islands of the archipelago:
“Aigle Island is entirely planted with coconut trees, most of them called Bon Dié coconuts because they grew without any care, gifts of nature or brought by the currents to the coasts of the Island. (…) Each reef point, each path, each corner of the coconut grove bears its particular name transmitted by the tradition of the elders.”
Sinking of the boat Diégo on the Island of Aigle in Chagos, June 20, 1935, by Father Roger Dussercle
Today in 2024, most of the members of the first generation of Chagossian natives who were deported have sadly died. However, similar to a cycle, everything brings us back to the theme of voice, the stories of elders and transmission. I will therefore conclude this post, by listing, like a litany, these names transmitted by the tradition of the ancients. Let their voices echo in mine.
Diamond Island
Salomon
Vache Marine Island
Diego Garcia
Ile Boddam
Péros Baths
Coin Island
Six Islands
Eagle Island
Pointe Marie Louise
Hen Island
Point in the South
Grand Coquillage Island
Little Shell Island
Pointe Marianne
Big Sister Island
Little Sister Island
Moresby
Northern Islands
Point Noroit
Ile Tatamaka
Eastern Point
Pierre Island