Dominicans

PRONUNCIATION: dah-men-EEK-uhns

LOCATION: Dominica

POPULATION: 72,000–82,000

LANGUAGE: English; kwéyòl (French-based dialect)

RELIGION: Roman Catholicism; small groups of Anglicans, Methodists, Pentecostals, Baptists, Seventh-Day Adventists, Baha'is, and Rastafarians

1 • INTRODUCTION

Dominica is a mountainous island in the Caribbean island chain known as the Lesser Antilles. Historically, the island's rugged terrain discouraged foreign settlement; more recently, it has slowed modernization. Today, Dominica—referred to as "the nature island of the Caribbean"—is one of the world's few locations with virtually untouched tropical rain forests. The island is also home to the Lesser Antilles' largest settlement of American Indians, the Caribs. They live on a reserve on Dominica's northeast coast. The Caribbean Sea is named after the Caribs.

The Caribs lived on Dominica, which they called Waitikubuli, when it was sighted by explorer Christopher Columbus (1451–1506) on a Sunday (dies dominica) in 1493. The Spanish did not attempt to colonize Dominica. Later, during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the French and British fought for possession of the island. During the struggle, both nations attempted to dominate the Caribs. In 1805 the French gave up its claims to Dominica. The island remained a British colony until it gained independence in 1978. However, due to the long French presence on the island and the proximity to the French islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique, the cultural influence of the French has endured.

Dominica remained relatively poor and undeveloped until recently. In 1951, universal adult suffrage (the right to vote) was granted by the British government. This was followed by a new constitution in 1960. The independent Commonwealth of Dominica was established on November 3, 1978. In 1980, Dame Mary Eugenia Charles (1919–), head of the Democratic Freedom Party, became the first female head of government in the Caribbean. Reelected in 1985 and 1990, Dame Charles retired in 1995 at the age of seventy-five.

2 • LOCATION

Dominica is at the midpoint of the Lesser Antilles island chain, near the Leeward Islands. It faces the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Caribbean Sea to the west. Dominica's area of 290 square miles (750 square kilometers) is slightly more than four times the size of Washington, D.C. Rainfall is extremely heavy. Much of the land is covered by dense, relatively untouched rain forests containing rare wild-life species. One of the island's most unusual features is the volcanically bubbling Boiling Lake, the second-largest lake of its kind in the world. An egg will supposedly boil within three minutes in its 198°f (92°c) waters.

Dominica is located just west of the chief point of origin of the hurricane belt. Hurricanes David and Frederick in 1979 caused more than 40 deaths and 2,500 injuries. Two-thirds of the population were left homeless, and crop damage was extensive.

Estimates of Dominica's population vary from 72,000 to around 82,000. With a population density of about 95 people per square mile (37 people per square kilometer), Dominica is one of the least populated countries in the Caribbean. The Carib population numbers approximately 3,400, most of whom live on a 3,700-acre reserve in the northeast called the Carib Territory.

The Caribs, whose language is no longer spoken, are working to preserve what little remains of their culture. They do not celebrate the nation's Independence Day (November 3) because the holiday also commemorates the date in 1493 when Columbus first sighted Dominica. That event ultimately led to the political, economic, and cultural decline of the Caribs. Today, most of Dominica's Caribs are of mixed ancestry; the population of full-blooded Caribs is estimated to be less than fifty.

3 • LANGUAGE

English is the official language of Dominica. Most of the population also speaks a French-based patois (dialect) called kwéyòl (derived from the word "Creole"). Kwéyòl has elements in common with dialects spoken on other islands in the area that were colonized by the French. Kwéyòl is a source of pride among Dominicans and its use in print is growing. A kwéyòl dictionary was published in 1991.

Cocoy, a type of pidgin English (a simple version of English mixed with other words), is spoken in the villages of Marigot and Wesley in northeastern Dominica. These villages were originally settled by freed slaves from the island of Antigua.

4 • FOLKLORE

According to a Carib legend, a giant boa constrictor (a kind of snake) called the Master Boa has lived for centuries in a hole on Morne Diablotin. The Escalier Tête-Chien (Master Boa's Staircase), a rock formation near Sineku, is believed to be the spot where the snake crawled onto the island from its original home at the bottom of the sea. Looking at the Master Boa is supposed to be fatal unless a person has abstained from both food and sex for a certain number of days beforehand.

Many Dominicans believe in obeah, a collection of religious beliefs and practices from Africa. Obeah is believed to have the power both to heal the sick and to harm one's enemies. Its practices include the use of herbal potions.

Flying witches called suquiyas are the subject of a number of Dominican proverbs.

5 • RELIGION

Because of the French influence on Dominica, the island's population is about 80 percent Roman Catholic. The rest belong to the Anglican, Methodist, Pentecostal, Baptist, and Seventh-Day Adventist churches. The Baha'i and Rastafarian religions are represented as well. The Caribs' religious practices combine features of Christianity—such as belief in Jesus, the saints, heaven, and hell—with the nature worship common among their ancestors.

6 • MAJOR HOLIDAYS

Dominica's public holidays are New Year's Day (January 1), Carnival (two days preceding Ash Wednesday), Good Friday and Easter Monday (late March or early April), May Day (May 1), August Monday (August 1), National Day—also called Independence Day (November 3), Community Service Day (November 4), and Christmas Day and Boxing Day (December 25 and 26). The most important religious holidays are Christmas and Easter.

Tou Saintes (All Saints' Day) is celebrated on November 1. The country's largest festival is Carnival, which occurs on the two days preceding Ash Wednesday. It is marked by masquerades, calypso (folksong) contests, feasting, street dancing (called "jump ups"), and parties.

Independence Day on November 3 commemorates the date in 1978 when Dominica became an independent nation. It is celebrated with speeches, parades, and calypso music. On Creole Day, usually the Friday before Independence Day, Dominicans celebrate and display their Creole heritage. They wear traditional costumes, conduct all business in kwéyòl (their native dialect), eat Dominican dishes such as crapaud (frogs' legs), and dance to Dominican folk music.

7 • RITES OF PASSAGE

Major life transitions, such as birth, marriage, and death, are each marked by religious ceremonies.

8 • RELATIONSHIPS

Dominicans are more reserved than some of their neighbors in the Caribbean. They place a high value on good manners. A common greeting is Cakafete, which means "How are you?"

9 • LIVING CONDITIONS

Dominica is one of the poorest nations in the Caribbean. Many Dominicans live in single-story wooden houses with iron roofs.

Average life expectancy is seventy-four years for males and eighty years for females. The infant mortality rate (proportion who die in infancy) is 9.9 deaths per 1,000 live births. Health care is provided at local clinics, twelve health centers, and the 136-bed Princess Margaret Hospital in Roseau. There are also hospital facilities at Portsmouth, Marigot, and Grand Bay.

10 • FAMILY LIFE

In addition to formal marriages, Dominicans also enter into common-law relationships (men and women living together—with or without children—without being married) and "visiting unions," where the man and woman live apart. Women are the heads of households in common-law relationships and visiting unions.

11 • CLOTHING

Dominicans wear modern Western-style clothing. However, on Creole Day and other special occasions, women still wear the traditional national costume. This includes the brightly colored jupe (a skirt with lace petticoats), la wobe douilette (a wide blouse), and a madras hat called tete case.

12 • FOOD

Dominican food combines French, English, and African influences. Basic dietary staples include fish, yams, and other vegetables. The ti-ti-ri, a tiny whitefish found in Dominican rivers, is eaten fried with garlic and lime. A unique local food is mountain chicken, which is not actually chicken but the legs of the crapaud, a local frog.

Other regional favorites include crab backs (stuffed crabshells); boija, a coconut-cornmeal bread; funchi, a cornmeal-andokra pudding; and pumpkin soup. A recipe for pumpkin soup follows.

Recipe

Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients

• 3 cups canned pumpkin or 2 pounds cooked fresh pumpkin
• 3 cups milk
• 1 Tablespoon buter
• 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
• Salt and pepper
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon cinnnamon
• ½ cup finely chopped ham or bacon

Directions

1. Put the milk in a large saucepan and heat it until it boils. Remove from heat.
2. Add the pumpkin to the milk and stir to combine.
3. Add remaining ingredients and return to the heat. Heat slowly until mixture is heated through, but do not boil.

Cassava bread is a staple among the Carib population. A popular beverage is a sea-moss drink—made from vanilla, algae, and milk—which is also a favorite in Grenada. Another local drink, Bwa bande (brewed from the bark of the tree of the same name), is believed to enhance male sexual potency.

13 • EDUCATION

The adult literacy rate (percentage of the population able to read and write) in Dominica is approximately 95 percent. Widespread access to public education was not provided until the 1960s. Children attend school from age five to age fifteen, at which point they are in the U.S. equivalent to eighth grade. Most students end their secondary schooling in the U.S. equivalent of the tenth grade. A few continue their studies in order to qualify for admission to a university. Many qualified Dominican students lack the financial resources to attend college. The United States, Great Britain, Canada, and France have made scholarships and other forms of financial aid available to Dominican students. Education is a high priority even though many young people must work to supplement the family income.

14 • CULTURAL HERITAGE

Dominican-born novelist Jean Rhys (1894–1979) spent much of her life in Europe. Caribbean scenes appear in her 1934 novel, Voyage in the Dark. Her last work, Wide Sargasso Sea (1966), is set in the Caribbean. Phyllis Shand Allfrey (1908–86), a poet and novelist, returned to Dominica in the 1950s after being educated in the United States and England. Lennox Honychurch (1952–), author of The Dominica Story: A History of the Island and Our Island Culture, is a well-known Dominican historian, folklorist, and painter.

Alwin Bully, a Dominican playwright, co-authored Speak Brother Speak and was a founding member of the Peoples' Action Theatre. He has also written radio plays and musicals. Dominica also has a School of Dance and a professional dance troupe, the Waitukubuli Dance Company. The Carib Territory is home to several famous artists, including Faustulus Frederick and Jacob Frederick.

15 • EMPLOYMENT

The Dominican labor force totals about 25,000 people. About 40 percent are employed in agriculture (including food processing), while industry and commerce employ 32 percent. The rest work in other areas of the economy. The standard work day is eight hours long. Unemployment is between 10 and 15 percent. Many Dominicans have sought work on St. Thomas and other nearby islands.

16 • SPORTS

The nation's most popular sports are cricket and soccer (called "football"). Major cricket games draw thousands of fans. The game is especially popular in the Carib Territory. Other popular sports include volleyball, basketball, and squash. Tourists, although relatively few in number, enjoy scuba diving and snorkeling.

17 • RECREATION

Dominican men, like men in other parts of the Caribbean, enjoy playing dominoes in one of the many rum shops on the island. Popular music on the island includes reggae, Zouk, and Cadance. In 1997, Dominica launched an annual music festival featuring performers from all over the Caribbean region.

18 • CRAFTS AND HOBBIES

A popular traditional Dominican dance is the "Jing-ping." Instruments used to accompany this dance include an accordion, a bass instrument called a "boom-boom," and a percussion instrument called a "shak-shak."

The Carib Territory has sixteen craft shops that turn out intricate, colorful straw hats, baskets, and other woven goods. The Caribs are also known for their carved canoes. Other crafts on Dominica include mats woven from a grass called vertivert.

19 • SOCIAL PROBLEMS

Dominica's limited water supply is threatened by pollution from agricultural chemicals, untreated sewage, and industrial waste. Dominica has been used by international drug traffickers as a shipping point for narcotics.

20 • BIBLIOGRAPHY

Booth, Robert. "Dominica, Difficult Paradise." National Geographic (June 1990): 100–120.

Cameron, Sarah, and Ben Box, eds. Caribbean Islands Handbook. Chicago: Passport Books, 1995.

Meditz, Sandra W., and Dennis M. Hanratty. Islands of the Commonwealth Caribbean: A Regional Study. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1989.

Myers, Robert A. Dominica. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Clio Press, 1987.

Schwab, David, ed. Insight Guides. Caribbean: The Lesser Antilles. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1996.

Walton, Chelle Koster. Caribbean Ways: A Cultural Guide. Westwood, Mass.: Riverdale, 1993.

WEBSITES

Caribbean Investments Ltd. [Online] Available http://www.delphis.dm/home.htm, 1997.

Dominica Festivals Commission. [Online] Available http://www.dominica.dm, 1997.

Microsoft. Expedia.com. [Online] Available http://www.expedia.msn.com/wg/Places/Dominica/HSFS.htm, 1998.

World Away Travel. [Online] Available http://www.worldaway.com/islands/dominica/home.html, 1998.

World Travel Guide. Dominica. [Online] Available http://www.wtgonline.com/country/dm/gen.html, 1998.

Dominicans

PRONUNCIATION: dah-MEN-ih-kuhns

LOCATION: Dominican Republic; United States (primarily New York City)

POPULATION: 7.8 million in the Dominican Republic; 0.5–1 million or more in New York City

LANGUAGE: Spanish

RELIGION: Roman Catholicism; Evangelical Protestantism; voodoo

1 • INTRODUCTION

The Dominican Republic occupies the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola, which it shares with the nation of Haiti. Hispaniola was sighted by Christopher Columbus (1451–1506) in 1492. Four years later, his brother, Bartolome (c.1444–1514), founded Santo Domingo, the present-day capital of the Dominican Republic and the oldest European-founded city in the Western Hemisphere. Because of its importance as a trading port location in the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic was ruled by several foreign powers, including France, Haiti, and Spain.

Under the leadership of national hero Juan Pablo Duarte (1813–76), independence from Spanish rule was declared in 1844, but the government remained unstable. The nation was again ruled by the Spanish between 1861 and 1865. The United States occupied the Dominican Republic from 1916 to 1924. The thirty-year rule of Rafael Trujillo began in 1930. Trujillo was assassinated (1891–1961) in 1961, and writer Juan Bosch (1908–) came into power briefly before being ousted by a military coup in 1963. The U.S. military intervened in 1965. Joaquin Balaguer (1907–) was elected president, a position he held into the 1990s. The country has basically been governed democratically since the 1960s.

2 • LOCATION

With an area of approximately 18,819 square miles (48,741 square kilometers), the Dominican Republic is about the same size as Vermont and New Hampshire combined. Bordered on the north by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the south by the Caribbean Sea, the island is separated on the east by a seventy-mile-wide body of water called the Mona Passage. The country includes rugged mountain peaks, rolling hills, rich valleys, lush sugarcane plantations, and fine, white beaches. The climate is tropical. Both the highest and lowest points in the Caribbean region are found in the Dominican Republic. Pico Duarte is the highest mountain, rising 10,417 feet (3,820 meters) above sea level. The barren area between the two southern mountain ranges is called the Culde-Sac and is the lowest point.

Almost 8 million people live in the Dominican Republic, 60 percent in the cities and 40 percent in rural areas. The capital city of Santo Domingo houses a population of a little more than 2 million people.

About one in seven Dominicans now lives outside of the country. New York City has more Dominicans—between 500,000 and 1 million—than any city in the world except Santo Domingo. Large numbers of Dominicans also live in Florida and New Jersey. The money sent home by these dominicanos ausentes (absent Dominicans), estimated to be about $500 million each year, is an important factor in their homeland's economy.

About 70 percent of the country's population is classified as mulatto (of mixed black and white ancestry), 16 percent as white, and 11 percent as black. The Dominican people actually use a more specific system of racial labeling. Blanco (white) refers to whites and persons of mixed white and Amerindian (native) descent (mestizos); Indio claro (tan) refers to mulattos, including those with Amerindian ancestry; Indio oscuro (dark Indian) describes anyone who is mostly black with some white or Amerindian ancestry; and Negro (not a derogatory term in the Dominican Republic) is reserved for persons who are 100 percent African.

3 • LANGUAGE

Spanish is the official and universally spoken language of the Dominican Republic. Compared with other Latin American countries, Dominican Spanish is considered close to classical (Castillian) Spanish, but has a distinctive accent and includes many local expressions. Some English is spoken in the capital city of Santo Domingo.

4 • FOLKLORE

Combining Catholic beliefs with African customs, formularios and oraciones are special chants that are used in the belief that they attract good luck or avoid the evil eye. Many Dominicans believe that the Catholic saints possess a kind of magical power, and express this belief in santos (saints) cults. Believers keep images of one or two saints in the house, and offer things to the images in the hope that their wishes will be fulfilled. On the "Night of the Saints" (Noche Vela), the saints are believed to be called to earth.

5 • RELIGION

Reverence for religion in the Dominican Republic is demonstrated by the cross and bible in the center of the nation's coat of arms. Although 93 percent of the population is Roman Catholic, many Dominicans do not attend church regularly. Religious customs among Catholics include rosarios, which are processions organized to pray for help from a patron saint or the Virgin Mary.

Evangelical Protestantism has become popular in recent years. Its emphasis on family values and condemnation of alcohol, prostitution, and wife-beating, have made this religion attractive to low-income Dominicans, who traditionally have had unstable family structures.

Followers of spirit worship and voodoo, which was introduced into the country by Haitian immigrants, are thought to number about 60,000.

6 • MAJOR HOLIDAYS

Many holidays in the Dominican Republic are religious ones. In addition to Christmas and Good Friday, the Day of Our Lady of Altagracia (January 21), Corpus Christi (June 17), and the Feast of Our Lady of Mercy (September 24) are celebrated. Secular, or non-religious, holidays include Día de Duarte, a commemoration of the birthday of national hero Juan Pablo Duarte (January 26), Independence Day (February 27), Labor Day (May 1), and Dominican Restoration Day (August 16).

Every town also holds a festival in honor of its patron saint, combining religious observance with non-religious activities; dancing, drinking, and gambling. The Dominican Independence Day (February 27) falls around the beginning of Lent. It is the occasion for a rambunctious Carnival celebration that draws more than half a million people each year to Santo Domingo.

7 • RITES OF PASSAGE

Major life events such as birth, marriage, and death, are marked by religious ceremonies according to each Dominican's faith community.

8 • RELATIONSHIPS

When greeting one another, Dominicans use the formal pronoun usted instead of the familiar form tu, unless the relationship is a very close one.

Compadrazgo, a relationship similar to that of godparents in the United States, is an important part of growing up in the Dominican Republic. The compadre (which literally means, "co-parent") is chosen when a child is baptized, and the special relationship of the compadre with the child and the child's parents is enduring, strong, and loyal.

9 • LIVING CONDITIONS

Traditional rural dwellings are made of wood with thatched or tin roofs and are often painted in bright colors. To keep the house cool, cooking is usually done in a separate structure that has slotted sides to release smoke and heat. The extensive rural-to-urban migration has created a severe housing shortage in the cities. Slums and squatter settlements have sprung up in the capital city of Santo Domingo.

The Dominican Republic's infant mortality rate in 1993 was forty-nine deaths per one thousand births, and average life expectancy was sixty-nine years. Hospitals and medical practioners are concentrated in the two largest cities of Santo Domingo and Santiago. There is a lower quality of health care in rural areas. Health programs are offered through the nation's welfare system, which covers between 70 and 80 percent of the population. The poor economy has resulted in shortages of doctors and nurses, medicine, and surgical supplies. Those who can afford it consult private physicians.

Very few Dominicans own a car. Most of the passenger cars are driven either by the very wealthy or tourists.

10 • FAMILY LIFE

Traditionally, the extended-family household with a dominant father figure has been normal among the middle and upper classes. In contrast, low-income families have less stable ties, and many of these households consist of either a couple (with or without children) living together in a common-law marriage, or a female-headed household with an absentee father. Women still consider the man the head of the household, but they have exerted more authority within the family, have won greater educational and employment opportunities, and exercised more control over the number of children they bear.

11 • CLOTHING

People in the Dominican Republic wear Western-style clothing suitable for their tropical climate.

12 • FOOD

The popular Caribbean dish of rice and beans (arroz con habichuelas) is a staple in the Dominican diet. It is nicknamed "the flag" (la bandera) and served with stewed beef. Another favorite dish is sancocho, a stew made with local meats and vegetables, often including plantains. Plantains, closely related to bananas and found throughout the Caribbean islands, are especially popular in the Dominican Republic. Ripe fried plantains are called amarillas, green fried ones are patacon pisao, and they become tostones when fried and mashed. Popular snack foods include chicarrones (pieces of fried pork) and empanadillas (tangy meat tarts). Dominican food is rather greasy since most of the dishes are fried. Puddings—including sweet rice, corn, and banana—are popular desserts.

Recipe

Banana Pudding

Ingredients

• 6 overripe bananas, peeled and mashed
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 Tablespoons melted butter or margarine
• 3 egg whites, beaten to stiff peaks
• 1 cup orange juice
• 2 Tablespoons of sweetened shredded coconut for garnish

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325°f.
2. Combine bananas, melted butter or margarine, orange juice, and sugar with mixing spoon or electric mixer.
3. Carefully fold in stiffly beaten egg whites and transfer mixture to buttered or nonstick casserole or baking pan.
4. Bake for about 40 minutes or until puffy and golden brown. Remove from oven and sprinkle top with shredded coconut.

13 • EDUCATION

In 1990 the estimated literacy rate (percent of the population who can read and write) was 83 percent. The law requires students to attend school for eight years, but many leave earlier to help support their families. Additional problems with education include a shortage of teachers, especially in rural areas, and a lack of adequate facilities. Institutions of higher learning include the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo and four private universities.

14 • CULTURAL HERITAGE

The Henriquez-Ureña family has been at the center of the Dominican Republic's literary heritage. Salomé Ureña de Henriquez (1850–97) was a nineteenth-century poet who established the country's first higher education facility for women, the Instituto de Señoritas. In the twentieth century, the critic Pedro Henriquez-Ureña was deeply involved in education. Many consider Gaston Fernando Delingue (1884–1946) the Dominican national poet. The country's best-known writer internationally is Juan Bosch, who served briefly as president. The Dominican Republic has a National Symphony Orchestra and a National School of Fine Arts, located in Santo Domingo.

15 • EMPLOYMENT

Agriculture has always been the main source of employment in the Dominican Republic, but today a growing number of Dominicans work in service-related jobs, especially in tourism. Most Dominican farmers do not own their land and are sharecroppers or tenant farmers. Those who do own their own farms generally have fewer than two hectares (five acres) and grow only enough food to feed their own families. The country suffers from an extremely high unemployment rate, one of the main reasons Dominicans leave the country. Race has traditionally been a significant factor in the employment options of Dominicans. Higher-status jobs in business, government, and the professions are usually held by lighter-skinned persons. Women's unemployment rate is also higher and many are denied full employment benefits.

16 • SPORTS

The Dominican Republic's national sport is baseball, with a season from October to February. Thousands of fans attend the games at Santo Domingo's stadiums. Major and minor league baseball teams in the United States have many Dominican players. Other popular Dominican sports include horse racing and cockfighting.

17 • RECREATION

Dance is a national passion in the Dominican Republic. The most popular dance is the merengue, traditionally accompanied by music played by a trio. Even the smallest towns have a dance hall. There are annual merengue festivals in Santo Domingo, Puerto Plata, and Sosúa. Salsa music is also very popular. The major cities, especially Santo Domingo, have numerous nightclubs and gambling casinos where patrons may legally play blackjack, craps, and roulette.

18 • CRAFTS AND HOBBIES

Dominican folk music reflects Spanish, African, and Amerindian influences. A native percussion instrument, the güira, is a legacy of the island's original inhabitants. With maracas, palitos (also in the percussion family), and guitar, the güira is used to accompany romantic decimas ( folk songs.)

Other popular folk instruments include the balsié (accordion) and pandero (tambourine). The national dance of the Dominican Republic is the merengue, which features a stiff-legged step that is something like a limp. Other folk dances include the yuca, the sarambo, the zapateo, and the fandango.

Local crafts include woodcarvings, pottery, handmade rocking chairs (which have been popular ever since one was given to U.S. president John F. Kennedy [1917–63] as a gift), ceramics, macramé, and handknitted clothing. Dominicans also produce hand-crafted jewelry of amber and larimar, also known as Dominican Turquoise, a light-blue stone unique to the region.

19 • SOCIAL PROBLEMS

The Dominican Republic suffers from serious economic and social problems, including an unemployment rate of 30 percent. Another 20 percent of the work force is underemployed. Migration from rural to urban areas has created a shortage in housing and a rise in urban crime. In the country's capital city, Santo Domingo, much of the housing is substandard and the quality of the water is poor.

20 • BIBLIOGRAPHY

Creed, Alexander. Dominican Republic. New York: Chelsea House, 1987.

Schoenhals, Kai P. Dominican Republic. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Clio Press, 1990.

Walton, Chelle Koster. Caribbean Ways: A Cultural Guide. Westwood, Mass.: Riverdale, 1993.

WEBSITES

Embassy of the Dominican Republic, Washington, D.C. Dominican Republic. [Online] Available http://www.domrep.org/, 1998.

Ruiz-Garcia, Pedro. The Latino Connection. [Online] Available http://www.ascinsa.com/LATINOCONNECTION/dominica.html, 1998.

World Travel Guide, Dominican Republic. [Online] Available http:/www.wtgonline.com/country/do/gen.html, 1998.

DOMINICANS

DOMINICANS, or Order of Preachers, are part of a worldwide Roman Catholic religious community of friars founded in 1216 by Saint Dominic. The Dominicans arrived in America with the Spanish explorers. Although the first two Catholic bishops of New York—Richard L. Concanen (1808) and John Connolly (1815)—were Dominicans, the first community (organized with a democratic constitution) was established at Saint Rose in Springfield, Kentucky, in 1806. Its founder, Edward Dominic Fenwick, also established the first Catholic school for boys west of the Alleghenies (1806) and the first Catholic church in Ohio—at Somerset in 1818. In California, community life was established by José Sadoc Alemany, who was appointed bishop of Monterey (1851) and later the first archbishop of San Francisco (1853). About the same time, the Dominicans established themselves in Washington, D.C. (1852) and New York (1867).

By the 1990s, there were three Dominican provinces in the United States, with more than 1,000 priests, brothers, and sisters engaged chiefly in parochial, educational, and missionary apostates. Dominicans staff Providence College in Rhode Island and teach at many other universities, some high schools, and their own seminaries. In 1909, they organized the Holy Name Society, which, by mid-century, had a membership of over 5 million and joined an expanding list of Dominican lay organizations, including the international Dominican Youth Movement. The Dominicans publish scholarly periodicals (The Thomist and Cross and Crown) and critical editions of the writings of Saint Thomas Aquinas. Significant foreign missionary work has been done by American Dominicans in Pakistan, Peru, Chile, China, Kenya, Bolivia, Nigeria, Ghana, and the Philippines.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Woods, Richard. Mysticism and Prophecy: The Dominican Tradition. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis; London: DLT, 1998.

Cornelius P.Forster,O. P./a. r.

See alsoCatholicism ; Franciscans ; Jesuits ; Missions, Foreign .

Dominicans , Roman Catholic religious order, founded by St. Dominic in 1216, officially named the Order of Preachers (O.P.). Although they began locally in evangelizing the Albigenses, before St. Dominic's death (1221) there were already eight national provinces. The rule and constitutions had novel features. For the first time the members of the order (friars) were accepted not into a specific house but into the whole order. The friar's life was to be one of preaching and study; the order provided houses of study at centers of learning. Unlike that of most orders, the Dominican plan of government is nonpaternalistic. Priors of houses and provinces are elected for specific terms, and they do not receive the honor and prestige accorded an abbot. Dominicans were prominent in the medieval universities; St. Thomas Aquinas was a Dominican, and the order has zealously propagated Thomism. It has been often called on to provide official theologians; this fact, as well as the coincidence of origin, accounts for the Dominicans being the order principally in charge of the Inquisition. In the 19th cent. the Dominicans had a revival in France and Great Britain, becoming leaders in Catholic social movements. Dominicans established themselves in the United States soon after 1800; their first U.S. province was founded in 1805. The Dominicans are especially attached to the rosary. Their habit is white, with a black mantle that is worn for preaching. They used to be called Black Friars. Dominicans are the seventh largest order. There is a contemplative order of Dominican nuns and a widespread third order, many of whose members are engaged in teaching.

Bibliography: See studies by R. F. Bennett (1937, repr. 1971), W. A. Hinnebusch (1966), and G. Bedouelle (tr. M. T. Noble, 1987).

Dominicans (the order of Preachers), established their first Irish house in Dublin in 1224 and by 1305 numbered 25 communities, all but five of which had Anglo‐Norman founders. In 1275 the Irish friaries were constituted a vicariate subject to a vicar appointed by the English provincial of the order. Subsequent attempts to gain independence were opposed by English interests and an independent Irish province was not established until 1536.

A further expansion occurred with the foundation of ten new houses, principally in the west of Ireland, between 1385 and 1507. Their isolated locations suggest a desire for reform and their foundation corresponds with the emergence of the Observant movement. In 1503 an Observant friar from Holland was appointed vicar of the reformed houses in Ireland but the number of these is difficult to determine as reformed and unreformed friars coexisted in many friaries.

In 1536 there were 38 friaries in Ireland, 20 of which were suppressed between 1539 and 1542. Some houses in Gaelic areas were not dissolved until the reign of Elizabeth I (1558–1603).

In the 17th and 18th centuries the friars lived in small communities in the vicinity of their former houses. Novices continued to be received in Ireland and were sent to the colleges at Lisbon (founded 1615), Louvain (1624), and Rome (1677) to pursue studies. The closure of the Irish novitiates in 1751 (see religious orders) initiated a process of decline which lasted until the mid‐19th century.

Colmán N. Ó Clabaigh

Dominicans. The ‘Order of Friars Preachers’, founded by St Dominic in 1215 and confirmed in 1216. From the first foundation in Toulouse it spread rapidly; today its members work in most regions of the world. The goal of the order is to proclaim the word of God by preaching and teaching. It espoused mendicant poverty, simplified conventual life and study as its main observances. There are also monasteries of enclosed nuns under the jurisdiction of the order, and a large number of congregations of active sisters attached to the order, though juridically independent. There are also Dominican lay fraternities and secular institutes.

Dominicans (officially Ordo Praedicatorum, Order of Preachers, O.P.) Roman Catholic religious order, founded (1215) by Saint Dominic. They are also known as Black Friars or Jacobins. Dominicans are one of the four great mendicant orders of Roman Catholicism. Devoted to preaching and study, the order operates worldwide and includes a contemplative order of nuns. Noted scholars include Saint Thomas Aquinas.