Kinship Family Tree Assignment

SOCI1006: Introduction to Anthropology/ 620155511/ Dr. Moji Anderson/ Due: October 18, 2024

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Thank you!

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References

Anderson, P. (2021). Masculinity and Fathering in Jamaica. The University of the West Indies Press.

Maslow, A. (1965, May 22-28). Self-Actualization and Beyond. Conference on the Training of Counselors of Adults. Boston University, Massachusetts, United States. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED012056

Renaud, L. (2022). Beyond the nuclear: the Caribbean family. History Workshop. https://www.historyworkshop.org.uk/family-childhood/beyond-the-nuclear-the-caribbean-family/

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In conclusion, the sense of community that seeps from South Clarendon is infectious. It has kept my extended family locked in Hayes and refusing to leave. The Gayles and Cunninghams understood the need to be within arm’s length of each other. The need for self-betterment has always been emphasized, as an individual and a family unit. Lending a shoulder during hard times and a steady arm to guide each other has preserved and fostered lasting family values.

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She reflected the same values of education on me as her parents did for her and as my grandmother did for her. Education has always been a top priority for everyone, even when they missed out on it themselves. My grandaunts and older cousins made great efforts to further their education and ensured those younger than them did the same. My grandaunt and cousin, Geneve and Natoya, have taught at the kindergarten level to nearly every child in our family born after 2002. My great-grandparents instilled values of self-growth within my grandmother and grandfather who did well to pass those values down.

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My mother eventually settled in Mandeville with her now husband, Richard Reid, whom she met at work. After living there for so long she misses the community in Hayes. “I do not believe most people in Manchester are as family-oriented as I'm used to…What we have in our yard back in Hayes you do not see here.” Even from a mile away, she felt the support of her family on her back. My mother spoke to me about her goal of Self-Actualization. For her, that means furthering her education by completing her master’s degree. The photo below shows my mother graduating with her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration-Accounting.

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The photo on the left shows my grandmother holding her last child and only son Mekhi. The right shows my mother and her only child, Trenyece a year after her little brother was born. Finally, a photo showing my uncle and I in our younger years.

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During my mother’s high school years, her parents were busy working. Thelma was still engaged in her factory work and Gauntlett was a jack-of-all-trades. He had only finished his primary level education before learning various trade skills.  My mother recalls him learning and working as a Plumber and Cobbler. My mother left Clarendon after graduating high school. She moved to Manchester to get some space from her family while attending college. After giving birth to me in 2003, she was between Manchester and Clarendon. I was left with my extended family in Hayes with my grandmother, great-grandmother, cousins, grandaunts, and my uncle, Mekhi, born only a year before me. After moving to Manchester with my mother I continued to spend holidays in Hayes. I also returned to their care for a year of my primary school education. Below is a picture of my mother during her early 20s.

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Two other sisters decided to build their own home on Mama’s plot of land. They filled each home with children who depended on each other then and even now. While the 4 siblings lived together two were only a stone’s throw away. The third, their youngest and only brother Audley, moved to St. Elizabeth but vists occasionally. Mention photo. My grandmother enjoys her life as it is today, surrounded by her grandchildren, husband, son and of course her sisters and their family. This photo pictures a young Audley with his older sisters

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Our extended and immediate families have always been led by women. Renaud (2020) spoke on European Anthropologists referring to Caribbean family structures as “fractured” or “unstable” when women are the heads of the household (matrifocality). Renaud mentions the book ‘Family in the Caribbean: Themes and Perspectives by Christine Barrow (1996) where she explains how the Eurocentric views of the family unit, one male providing for his wife and children, perpetuates the Eurocentric thought of matrifocality being because of absent fathers. Their rhetoric also minimizes the efforts of men in their view of a family and in this case, the extended family.

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Both Gauntlett and Thelma’s siblings stayed close to home. They assisted each other where they could, with money for their parents or just pick-me-ups. My grandmother and her closest older sister, Millicent, were joined at the hip, as seen in the photo below. They planned for a new home on the land their mother had bought. Additions were made to Mama’s home on both sides, Thelma on the right and Millicent on the left. My mother, aunt and their cousins were tasked with spending time with their grandmother on the weekends. The children tried to overlook the missing amenities to focus on having fun with each other and getting closer to Mama. A bigger home and bigger yard cemented the dynamics of an extended family.

My grandmother (purple dress, black top) and grandaunt (white dress, red top)

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Seeking to change her economic standing, my grandmother began working for herself and her family when she was 23 or 24. She was a line worker then for The Jamaica Producer’s Group Ltd. sorting bananas and handling tools at their factory in Clarendon. My mother recalls that first family home being a blur for her and her younger sister. The second house they relocated to was not far from the last. Thelma seemingly followed in her parents' footsteps by staying close to home. Everyone’s home was within walking distance of each other. Not much was of worry to my mother and her sister. Being between the ages of 6 to 14 meant there wasn’t much for them to do. My mother was thankful for her parents when thinking back, remembering how they never really wanted much back then. The issues with the house were overshadowed but the fun they would have with their cousins was always over. My mother (back, right), and aunt Sherone (front, left) with their cousins pictured below.

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Around age 19 my grandmother met her husband and my grandfather, Gauntlett, who was 26 then. After having my mother and aunt Sherone, they settled at their first home in Savannah for about 5 years. Anderson (2021) mentions in her book Masculinity and Fathering in Jamaica a pattern called “progressive mating” characterized by non-residential visiting unions, common-law unions and legal marriage, which begins with a sexual relationship and family building with marriage as the final goal. Due to the casual nature of these relationships “outside children” or “outside relationships” were commonplace for males pursuing many relationships. My grandfather also displayed these behaviours, fearing a committed relationship with my grandmother which eventually led to 3 “outside children” down the line. The two did marry nonetheless late into their relationship, as seen below.

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Though not without hard times, Thelma thankfully made it through secondary school at Kemps Hill High School in Sedge Pond with Mabel. Today my grandmother gave proper education to all her families she could not go any further with her schooling. While focused on her family she was also limited by a learning disability caused by a head injury she received when she was less than nine months old.

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My grandmother told me, “Mama had cousins in England that sent clothes and other things for us. After a while, they asked to carry up three of us, including me. She didn't want that though. She didn't want to send away any of her kids.” This is a part of her life that my grandmother mourns even now. She lamented the possible prosperous life her sisters and their children could be living today if not for her mother’s decision. When my great-grandfather became abusive later in their relationship Lilla refused to put up with that treatment. She began constructing a home in the Savanah district, a short walk from Corn Piece. She made her money vending in the school districts in Hayes; she made enough to finance her house and look after her children.

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The home they were moving to was a gift to Austin from his place of work. My grandmother recalls that he made a living by cutting sugarcane, “a sugar worker” she called it. They moved ahead to Hayes with Thelma’s older sisters Violet, Geneve and Millicent, leaving her in the care of her grandmother until she was eight years old. Their family was poor. When Austin was away for work, they would have to make do with whatever money and food was available, making it stretch for at least seven people with their growing family. My great-grandmother never worked with Austin, which had its downsides later in life.

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My mother’s maternal grandfather and Thelma’s father, Austin Cunningham, had moved from Hanover to the parish. Neither woman can recall why he moved “I assume he was seeking a better life?”, my mother commented. The only information the family has on Austin is his relation to the Maroons in the Hanover countryside, with no names of potential relatives. Southwestern Clarendon was the birthplace and home of my great-grandmother, Lilla, affectionately called ‘Mama’ and her mother Mabel a Black and Syrian mixed woman. Lilla and her common-law husband, Austin, met and began their family in Sedge Pond in her mother Mabel’s home. Around age 22 in 1958-1961 the couple moved to Corn Piece Settlement in Hayes, Southeastern Clarendon. Pictured below is Lilla in her late adulthood. Below that is a photo of Austin in his later years.

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According to Mamacita, she fled Cuba due to what my mother believes to be civil unrest within the country with her parents as a child. Unfortunately, neither side of my family has ever been one to speak about themselves so many dates are lost in time. When her family eventually made their way to Clarendon she met a bubbly gentleman, Lionel Gayle, whom she decided to add to the Gayle family line. They had 9 children who went on to have their own families. Each sibling instilled a love and understanding of familial love within their children that I still witness today.