The colony of the colonized: the Duchy of Courland's Tobago colony and contemporary Latvian national identity

Abstract

This paper examines the legacy of the Duchy of Courland's overseas colony of Tobago as it relates to present-day Latvian national identity using the ethno-symbolist approach of Anthony D. Smith and comparative cases. As Latvia is a small nation that has been an independent nation-state for only two short periods, national legitimacy and pride pose particular problems for Latvians. To this end, Latvian historians have worked to reinterpret the Baltic German-dominated Duchy of Courland as a positive period of Latvian national history and have sought to emphasize ethnic Latvian involvement in the Duchy's colonial endeavors, especially on the island of Tobago. Their efforts have then filtered into the general Latvian consciousness through books, film, plays, and place names. Since Latvia's independence from the USSR, the former colony of Tobago has gained renewed importance for Latvians who are experiencing a widely perceived notion of postcolonialism. This paper concludes that the appropriated colony of Tobago will continue to rise in importance as a component of Latvian national identity.

Keywords:

• Latvia
• Tobago
• Duchy of Courland
• historiography
• colonialism

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Dr. Aviel Roshwald for his assistance with this project. His advice and encouragement were very valuable. The Library of Congress has also been an invaluable resource and the staff in the European and Hispanic reading rooms were friendly and helpful.

Notes

Alternatively spelled the Kurs and Semgallians. Their names correspond to two of contemporary Latvia's four regions: Courland and Semigallia (Latv.: Kurzeme and Zemgale). The Duchy of Courland or Courland for short (Latv.: Kurzemes un Zemgales hercogiste; Ger.: Herzogtum Kurland und Semgallen). The English term Courland and adjective Courlander (as opposed to Couronian, Courish, etc.) shall be used unless quoting a source.

Also known as Jacob or Jacobus (Latv.: Jēkabs Ketlers; Ger.: Jakob von Kettler). James will be the name used unless quoting a source.

For an exhaustive account of Duke James's colonial policy, see Mattiesen.

(Latv.: Jaunkurzeme; Ger.: Neu Kurland.)

“CARIBS: A tribe of the aboriginal peoples of the Americas … they did inhabit Tobago, where they grew the tobacco which they traded with Caribs of the other islands” (Anthony 102).

(Latv.: Jaunzemgale; Ger.: Neu Semgallen.)

The word tauta means both “nation” and “people” in Latvian (cf. Volk, narod). “Nation” will be the English equivalent used in this paper.

Today named Tartu (arch. Latv.: Tērbata) and located in Estonia as it is situated in the northern half of Livonia.

Alternatively known by the Latvian spelling of Edgars Andersons.

Kalps is the Latvian word for “servant” or “farmhand.”

Under proper Latvian orthography the names would be “Jānis Muļķis,” “Burvim/Burvis,” “Jānis Bruveris,” “Ķeniņš,” and “Pērkons.”

(Latv.: “Tobago” maina kursu; Rus.: «Тобаго» меняеm курс.)

Kārlis Ulmanis, the interwar leader of the Latvian Farmers' Union, overthrew the parliamentary system in a coup d'état in 1934. He then built an authoritarian regime centered on Latvian ethnonationalism, agrarianism, and corporatism.

In Latvian, “Tirdzniecības centrs TOBAGO” (T/C TOBAGO). The slogan of the mall, appropriately for the theme of imagined communities and national identity, is “Let loose your imagination!” (Atraisi savu iztēli!).

“Jānis” and “Baiba” are both typical ethnic Latvian names, and the word used for “song,” “daina,” has a special connotation toward folklore and national identity in contrast to “dziesma,” a more general word for song.

Kārklis, Streips, and Streips indicate that a number of Latvian colonists in Tobago emigrated as the island slipped out of Courlander control, resettling in New England and along the southern Atlantic coast of the present-day US. Thus, the connection to Tobago may be even more direct than assumed.

Midsummer, consisting of Midsummer's Eve (Latv.: Līgo) and Midsummer's Day (Latv.: Jāņi), is by far the most important holiday on the Latvian calendar, celebrated on 23 and 24 June, respectively. Latvians observe Midsummer with numerous folk traditions retained from the pre-Christian era.