Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

In Caribbean history, the European colonial plantocracy created a cultural diaspora in which African slaves were torn from their ancestral homeland. In order to maintain vital links to their traditions and culture, slaves retained certain customs and nurtured them in the Caribbean. The creation of lace-bark cloth from the lagetta tree was a practice that enabled slave women to fashion their own clothing, an exercise that was both a necessity, as clothing provisions for slaves were poor, and empowering, as it allowed women who participated in the industry to achieve some financial independence.

This is the first book on the subject and, through close collaboration with experts in the field including Maroon descendants, scientists and conservationists, it offers a pioneering perspective on the material culture of Caribbean slaves, bringing into focus the dynamics of race, class and gender. Focussing on the time period from the 1660s to the 1920s, it examines how the industry developed, the types of clothes made, and the people who wore them. The study asks crucial questions about the social roles that bark cloth production played in the plantation economy and colonial society, and in particular explores the relationship between bark cloth production and identity amongst slave women.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

In his excellent study of the intersection of the social lives of people and trees, Buckridge (African and Caribbean history, Grand Valley State Univ.) focuses on women's roles in colonial and emancipation Jamaica in the production and use of lace-bark from the tree Lagetta lagetto. The author suggests that the restrictive clothing options available to African Caribbean slave women in Jamaica, Cuba, and Haiti contributed to their use of the "natural lace" material made from the lace-bark tree's inner bark. Unlike other types of bark cloth used in Africa, which were pounded, layers of the inner bark of lagetto trees were separated and washed. After drying, women made the resulting lacy cloth into a range of items that included shawls, dresses, caps, and collars. Examples of Jamaican lace-bark clothing may be seen in museum collections, but few present-day Jamaicans know of lace-bark, its production, or the tree itself. Because of deforestation and mining, the lace-bark tree is rarely seen in Jamaica today. One hopes that this fascinating volume will contribute to the tree's revival and to an appreciation of women's creativity in developing its many uses in Jamaica and elsewhere in the Caribbean. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. --Elisha P. Renne, University of Michigan