thing unexpected, St. Croix.

On the morning of Nov. 1, 1492,

Columbus landed on St. Croix,

according to “Emancipation: The Vir-

gin Islands of the United States cel-

ebrates its 150 Year Anniversary

1848 • July 3 • 1998,” by Erik J.

Lawaetz.

The Caribs and Arawak Indians

were devastated during the Spanish

colonization of the territory and plan-

tation owners chose to use African

slave labor in their sugarcane fields.

When the enslaved Africans were

brought to the Virgin Islands they

brought with them a culture that

can still be seen today.

The West African slaves brought

with them the dance form bamboula.

Bamboula is a dance that accompa-

nies the music of the bamboula,

which is a kind of drum made from

bamboo with skin stretched over the

end. The dancers shake their skirts

out to get rid of evil spirits and shake

them inward to bring in good spirits.

Some Virgin Islands historians claim

that bamboula dancers participated

in the 1848 St. Croix slave rebellion

by leading the way as enslaved

Africans demanded their freedom.

Although it plays a smaller roll in

Virgin Islands culture today, it is still

being performed and taught.

The diets of Virgin Islanders today

is similar to the diet of their West

African ancestors. Like their West

African ancestors, Virgin Islanders

enjoy a starchy, meat heavy, spiced

diet. Roots like yams and cassava

are a staple in the Virgin Islands.

The prominence of the Protestant

religion in the Virgin Islands is also a

remnant of the sugarcane industry.

The Moravian Brethren missionaries

came to the Virgin Islands to preach

to the salves who worked in the sug-

arcane industry. They were the first

Protestant denomination to minister

to slaves. The first Moravian mission

was established on St. Thomas in

1732, according to “Zinzendorf and

the early Moravian Mission Move-

ment,” by Robert L. Gallagher. The

Moravian Church is still a promi-

nent fixture in Virgin Islands cul-

ture.

While many Virgin Islanders prac-

tice the religion brought to them by

Christian missionaries some practice

a religion closer to the one the

African slaves brought with them

to the territory.

Obeah, a form of folk magic, sor-

cery and religious practice was

brought to the Virgin Islands by

West African slaves. Whether used

for good or bad, Obeah is still prac-

ticed in Virgin Islands society.

The sugarcane industry has

shaped Virgin Islands culture

through immigration. On St. Croix

there is a large population of people

of Puerto Rican decent due in large

part to the immigration of Puerto

Rican sugarcane workers in the

1930s through the 1950s. Since the

sugarcane industry on Puerto Rico

collapsed, many Puerto Ricans came

to St. Croix to cut cane.

According to the 2010 census,

Puerto Ricans make up 10.3 percent

of the Virgin Islands population.

Along with the decline of cane on

Puerto Rico there also was an exo-

dus of agriculture workers on

Vieques due to the U.S. Navy’s pur-

chase of two-thirds of the island

during World War II.

With the immigration of Puerto

Ricans to the island of St. Croix

came a unique blending of cultures.

In modern day St. Croix it is not

uncommon to find families of non-

Puerto Rican decent enjoying a

meal of pasteles or carne guisada,

also known as stewed beef. On the

island of St. Croix, the combination

of Puerto Rican and Crucian cul-

ture have merged in a way that is

unique to the island. Puerto Rican

music is a staple at many family

functions just a calypso is.

For many Virgin Islanders, rum

is still king. Rum has become a

part the territory’s global image.

The molasses derived from sugar-

cane is the main ingredient of rum

production. Beyond the images of

pirates and rum barrels that many

think of when they think of the

Virgin Islands, there is the image

that Virgin Islanders have. The

image of their grandfather enjoying

a Cruzan Rum and Coke at a fam-

ily function. A small amount of

rum is used to sooth teething tod-

dlers, its added to traditional hol-

iday rum cakes and a fixture at

celebrations. For many Virgin

Islanders, rum is the spirit of

choice. It makes sense that rum

would play a large roll in social

events in the territory. Cruzan Rum

has been produced by the

Nelthropp family in the Virgin

Islands since 1760. The rum has

remained king since the days of

early sugarcane production.

Today, while large-scale sugar-

cane production might be long

gone, many Virgin Islanders still

grow a patch of cane in their yard

for their own consumption. Munch-

ing on raw sugarcane is something

most Virgin Islanders have fond

memories of growing up.

PAGE 11THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014 The Avis

2014 Black History Month

CULTURE:FROM PAGE 7

Photo courtesy of St. Croix Landmarks Society from the Rinehart Collection

Women at work in a sugarcane field.

PAGE 12 The Avis THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

2014 Black History Month

Sugarcane prospects todaySHAUNA TUCKER

ST. CROIX — The Virgin Islandswill not be relying on sugarcane asa source of large profitability inthe near future, as things havechanged since the industry fadedout in the 1960s, according toCommissioner of AgricultureLouis Petersen.

The giant grass was a primarysource of income and culture forthe territory for over 200 years,but became less beneficialthrough the high cost of produc-tion.

In 1777 to 1807, about 22,000acres of sugarcane was plantedannually with 0.75 tons per acre,according to “Sugarcane in St.Croix,” by Longfield Smith.

Smith’s book documented indetail the economical interest ofsugarcane prior to 1921.

By 1835 to 1897, about 8,696tons of sugar was exported in anaverage area of 18,100 acres,exported at 0.48 ton per area,according to Smith.

Currently, the government ofthe Virgin Islands has assigned2,800 acres of land for agricul-tural development, according toPetersen. He said, however, thatout of that portion of land somehas already been designated tofarmers.

“We in the Virgin Islands needto be realistic about our land andspace,” Petersen said.

“A lot more land now is private

acreage and the government hasno control on that land,” the com-missioner said.

He said the vision of dependingon sugar in the future should bebased on the government’sresources.

“I don’t anticipate the VirginIslands growing sugarcane com-mercially anytime in the nearfuture,” Petersen said.

Petersen’s suggestion for com-mercializing sugar was based on

small amounts by land owners,who may want to utilize the plant.

Currently, only a few individu-als use sugarcane in the territo-ry to make a profit, but LemuelSmithen has made an entire busi-ness out of his sugarcane plotthat appears to be quite lucra-tive. Smithen makes a living grow-ing and juicing sugarcane to sup-ply his loyal customers from allover the Virgin Islands.

“Cane is easy to work with, but

the past process of slavery wasbased on intimidation,” he said.Smithen said with the advent ofmore advanced cane technology,the process of sugar productionhas become easier.

He also began utilizing solarpanels three years ago to poweran automated pump to water hiscane in an effort to make his worka bit lighter.

Smithen said he would like ifthe territory went back to utilizing

sugarcane, however, it should notbe for sugar.

“We should turn to ethanol asa source of energy from the canejuice, but we would have to havea major factory to do so,” he said.

Smithen noted that if sugar-cane was used primarily for sugarthe primary issue would be in thelack of manpower necessary for itsproduction as well as limited landspace.

Using Petersen’s approximationof agricultural land allocated,compared to past acreage of landused for substantial sugarcaneproduction, St. Croix would needat least another 20,000 acres ofavailable land.

President of the St. Croix Farm-ers in Action Inc. BethlehemSugar Factory Restoration Pro-ject Percival Edward agreed withthe commissioner and Smithen’sreasoning of lack of land space.

“We simply do not have theacreage and the infrastructure forthat,” he said, adding that amajority of the land utilized inthe past for cultivation of sugar-cane is now developed.

Percival Edwards’ perspectiveon sugarcane production was tosimply offer an alternative.

“Instead of thinking about turn-ing to sugarcane, we need to turnto the coconut,” Edwards said,explaining that coconuts can

Shauna Tucker

Jewel Hendrickson sells sugarcane juice and coconut water to customers during the recent Valentine’s Day Jump

Up in Christiansted.

Sugarcane takes on new purpose for F’sted farmerSHAUNA TUCKER

ST. CROIX — Lemuel Smithen,a 59-year-old farmer on St. Croix,stood guard of his precious juiceas if protecting liquid gold, as hegrinded giant cane stalks on abright Tuesday morning.

He is a carpenter by trade, buta farmer at heart, who was deter-mined to discover more lucrativemethods of utilizing his thrivingsugarcane plots on SmithenFarms.

Smithen is one of the few VirginIslanders who have found a prac-tical use for the historical-cropthat dominated a better part of200 years of the territory’s and theCaribbean’s history.

“The real reason I started juic-ing the cane was to find some-thing else to support my five chil-dren,” he said, while inserting alarge stalk into his juicer. Smithenbegan juicing his cane between1994 and 1996.

“I used to break the cane andeat it while farming,” Smithensaid.

He quickly realized he couldnot eat all of the cane on his landand started researching ways of

VI lacks resources for resurgence in industry

Shauna Tucker

Lemuel Smithen, 59, is a farmer who repurposed his sugarcane field into a juicy profit with his popular cane juice

from Smithen Farms

Smithen

SMITHEN, PAGE 13

PROSPECTS, PAGE 15

PAGE 13THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014 The Avis

2014 Black History Month

using the sugarcane.“It took me a while to get a

machine because I could not findone to juice the cane,” Smithen said.

“I went off island to Puerto Ricoand a man gave me one but it wasopen with all the gears exposed, soI did not buy it,” he said. Smitheneventually got a machine from themainland, but found it too expen-sive to maintain.

“In 2008, the deputy commis-sioner at the time went to a factoryprocessing sugarcane in St. Kittsand saw the machines that juicedthe cane,” Smithen said, addingthat this inspired him to go to St.Kitts to find a similar machine.

“I ordered the machine from Tai-wan and in three months I got themachine,” he said.

By this time, Smithen’s contain-er became full with cane juice andwith natural skill he turned aroundto 24 bottles lined in his shed to fillthem to the brim with fresh canejuice.

His cane juicing device from Tai-wan cost him $4,000 and Smithenstill uses it today to supply his threegallons of juice per day.

When he was done filling bottles,he began toting giant stalks of caneand begins cleaning using his canecleaner that he got from SouthAmerica.

“At first I used to use the sharpedge of the water trough, but it

would take a long time,” Smithensaid.

“If you do not clean the cane,when you pour the juice into thebottles the cane particles settles,” hesaid.

In addition to the cleaning,Smithen uses two strainers whilejuicing to catch any other particles.

Smithen works 12 hours, sixdays a week on his farm, cuttingcane, cleaning it and eventuallyjuicing it.

He sells his bottles at $1.50 eachwith an average of 192 bottles aday. Smithen blends his cane juicewith other fruit juices, but avoidsusing alcohol in his mixture.

“Right now I do everything man-ually, but eventually I would like tohave an assembly line to make theprocess faster,” he said, while wel-coming his assistant Edna Alfredwho takes over filling the bottleswith juice.

As popular as Smithen’s juicemay be, he has no plans at themoment to commercialize his canejuice by marketing it to supermar-kets.

“I don’t know if I want to go thatroute because I would have to thenadd preservatives for shelf life,” hesaid.

Smithen plans to work until he is65, when he would be able to receivehis full Social Security benefits.

And as if looking into his distantfuture of uncertainty, Smithendeclared, “Ten years from now I seemyself sitting under a mango treesomewhere.”

SMITHEN:FROM PAGE 12

Shauna TuckerLemuel Smithen cleans hundreds of sugarcane stalks on Feb.24 in his South American cane cleaner, as part of hisdaily rituals before juicing the giant grass.

PAGE 14 The Avis THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

PAGE 15THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014 The Avis

2014 Black History Month

serve a multitude of purposesincluding coconut oil, coconutwater, coconut tarts, coconut milkamong other byproducts.

Sen. Terrence Nelson also offeredan alternative to sugarcane pro-duction.

“We need to turn to marijuana,not solely, but to take into consid-eration the $400 to $500 an ouncethat is sold. We are not going to getthe same yield with sugarcane,” hesaid.

Nelson said sugarcane produc-tion is not practical unless the ter-ritory collaborated with otherislands.

“We need more acreage to evenconsider being competitive,” Nel-son said.

Another obstacle as stated bythe senator was the processing thatcomes with sugar production.

“We should focus on other lowstart up commodities,” he said.

With the influx and sustainabil-ity of the two major rum companiesin the Caribbean; Diageo USVI andCruzan Rum, the possibility of sug-arcane production for molasseswould seem feasible. However, theacquisition of molasses only comesfrom the crystallization of the sugarparticles, according to assistantdirector of ANR Programs for Coop-

erative Extension Station at theUniversity of the Virgin Islands,Stafford Crossman.

“It is not a simple process andmolasses is a byproduct of the sug-arcane as a result of sugar pro-duction,” he said.

Crossman said if sugar was to beproduced it would have to be high-ly mechanized for planting andreaping. He also mentioned thatthe topography of the VirginIslands may not support the use ofsome of the machines used, sincethe land would have to be flat.

Crossman worked for severalyears in the sugarcane industry inSt. Kitts as well as with the Depart-

ment of Agriculture in the VirginIslands once he relocated.

Marketing officer for the Depart-ment of Agriculture in St. Kitts,Alistair Edwards, said in hisisland, people still use the sugar-cane for juicing and making bagsof sugarcane pieces to sell.

He said the cane juice is alsosold now in the supermarkets andjuicing machines are leased fromthe government, therefore creatingan area of revenue for the govern-ment.

“I think the Virgin Islandsshould only resort to sugarcaneprocessing in a small scale facto-ry,” Edwards said, adding that the

production should be limited tospecialty sugars like Splenda.

“Regardless, the sugarcaneprocess would have to be highlymechanized,” he said.

When The Avis reached out toCruzan Rum and Diageo USVI forcomment, both companiesdeclined to provide information ontheir molasses consumption andimportation. The Virgin Islandsgovernment provides a molassessubsidy for the rum companies asan incentive to operate here. In2010, Cruzan Rum was purchas-ing molasses for approximately$1.60 per gallon from suppliersin Nicaragua and Guatemala, butthey only pay $.16 per gallon asthe rest is covered by the excisetaxes they pay to the VI govern-ment.

Besides the lack of land andpossibilities for using sugarcanefor alternative products, recruitinga labor force for cutting cane doesnot seem worth the hassle withthe advent of the SupplementalNutritional Assistance Programand subsidized housing, accordingto Crossman.

“The jobs that will come fromthe sugar industry will be machineoperation, factory jobs and quali-ty control labs,” Crossman said.

Percival Edwards also said“These young people today will notbe going to work eight hours in thefield cutting sugarcane.”

One of Smithen’s assistants,Edna Alfred, said she was willing towork cutting cane for a living.

“I would like to see a factory andworkers. I believe people wouldcome out and cut the cane,” shesaid.

Although Alfred said she waswilling to work in the field in presentday, according to Crossman, farmworkers make between $10 and$12 an hour.

In 1915 and 1916, the wages ofsugarcane workers was 30 centsper day.

Sugarcane as a primary cropbecame less profitable for islandslike St. Kitts, before they removedit completely as a revenue source in2005, according to AlistairEdwards.

“The cost of production was $30US per ton to produce and it wasbeing sold for $18 a ton at the timeit was stopped in St. Kitts,” AlistairEdwards said.

The cost of sugar production onSt. Croix was $251.64 from 1914-1916, according to Smith. Afteradditional costs were added, theprice of production went up to$754.92 at a selling rate of$1,291.20 for a field producing 273tons of cane, Smith documented,with a profit of $4,446.78.

Crossman said because of thehigh subsidies of sugar in the U.S.,it would not be profitable to producesugar in the Virgin Islands.

PROSPECTS:FROM PAGE 12

Shauna TuckerBunches of blue sugarcane are stacked and ready to clean before juicingat Smithen Farm, in Estate Bethlehem.

Taste ofCulture

Photos by Wyndi Ambrose