Dr RITA PEMBERTON

Although a significant part of Tobago's history revolves around women, their contribution is not recorded in official sources, the focus of which, under the patriarchal imperial system, was the activities of the males who dominated administration: members of the House of Assembly and Island Council, large landowners and merchants, managers, professionals and religious leaders.

The emphasis was on the fortunes of the dominant planter class, and the larger section of the population is mentioned only when issues of resistance and labour non-compliance with planter dictates reared their heads - and even those matters were primarily male-centred.

However, despite its economic problems, a society separate from but related to plantation society was evolving. Oral sources amend the information deficit and reveal the reality of community life and everyday experiences on the island.

Women's History Month is an appropriate time to give exposure to the roles of women in the history of Tobago.

After emancipation, Tobago was isolated because the decline of the sugar industry also led to imperial lack of interest and reduced trade and communication. Despite administrative juggling in 1889 and 1898, this continued well into the 20th century, despite the unrelenting appeals and lamentations of James Biggart and APT James.

Life was extremely difficult. Employment opportunities were limited and the few opened up in the government service were directed to the males. Wages were low and even those in the government service were aligned to the paltry wages on the estates. Employment was not readily available for women, some of whom, especially in the windward districts, continued to labour on the estates, as they had done during enslavement.

Since these earnings could not support their families, the women created avenues to support their families which displayed their strength and creativity. In so doing they empowered themselves and performed a significant role in the survival and development of the society. The population of Tobago survived through this elongated period of challenge because of the strength and creativity of its womenfolk. Tobago's society evolved despite a deficit of trained personnel to provide nurturing and training for the nascent society. Women assumed roles to fill it.

Medical care was scarce and expensive and for some communities in the north, notably absent. Women utilised knowledge and skills passed from their African ancestors, who also obtained knowledge from the First Peoples, from those women who worked as assistants to doctors in the heyday of the estates and those who served as nursery caregivers and wet nurses during and after enslavement.

This combination spawned a generation of women devoted to childcare. Some became healers, using traditional medical practices, who ensured the next generation had a safe entry into the world.

Tobago's lone hospital was in Scarborough, and women in labour had to trek across hill and dale, usually in the wee hours of t