The complexity of slavery issues seems calculatingly unending – with slaves being sold and resold, hired out to other isles; runaways who are resold or the random distribution of slaves - I ask a question, are some of your family relatives really your ‘blood’ relatives, or simply an additional slavery regime inheritance? Furthermore, if the complexity of slavery is anything to adher to, one may find that some of our dearly beloved, even angelic relatives may not be ‘blood’ relatives. And who would, of course, if the possibility arose, be willing to take a DNA test to prove that some beloved Great-Great-Gran Aunty or Great-great-Gran Uncle or whoever, is really a ‘non blood’ relative? And does it matter? Should I shift my limits of childhood loyalty, if I found out that they were ‘non blood’ relatives?

I was privileged to have some ‘salt of the earth’, gentle, extremely loyal and kind Great-Gran Aunts and Great-Gran Uncles who were selfless when it comes to their devotion for the wellbeing of their own words ‘my good good family’ and I hope and pray they have all seen the face of God. But, were they true ‘blood’ relatives, were some of them from this ‘distributed slaves’ regime part of the slavery game?

The matter that underpins my questions, is based on the fact, that when slaves were purchased, especially children from the slave ships, (some maybe as young as ten years) the plantation owners would distribute the slaves especially the boys and girls to ‘creole slaves’ – for example, the established plantation creole slaves had to look after the allocated children out under their care , feed them, teach them the local language and tasks required, eg planting sugar cane etc – this placed a huge burden on the ‘creole slaves’ as no extra saltfish or plantains rations were given to the family for the new intakes. This distribution enactment by the slave owners may have been the start of the ‘communal Caribbean loyalty, that was once so imminent and highly valued within the community and is seemingly diminishing’.

Hence, I am left pondering - overtime, the slave boys and girls growing up undoubtedly becomes part of what folks nowadays will refer to as the extended family, but during slavery time, I suppose they literally became part of this ‘blood’ family, ie additional ‘automatic’ brothers and sisters for other ‘real blood’ siblings in the creole slave family, or for the adult slaves if they did not yet have a family of their own. Then I suppose, these ‘non-blood’ slaves became part of the ‘creole slave family’, with the young slave girl or boy, starting to call the ‘adult slave’ mother or father, or sister or brother, if the slave have her own ‘blood’ children they would just grow up together as normal ‘brothers and sisters’.

So, backtracking say - three generations from my great-grandmother, down the generation line, my beloved Great-Gran Aunts and Great-Gran Uncles may not be ‘blood’ relatives, but hustled together as part of the ‘distributed non-blood family’ members. And does it matter? I think Jesus, the Wonderful Counsellor, answered this moral question well……”Anyone who does God's will is my brother and sister and mother." For I do believe that due to the harsh realities of slavery any ‘non blood’ relatives down our family lines deserves my highest loyalty, especially if its circumferencing ‘obi setting’!

>>>So, backtracking say - three generations from my great-grandmother, down the generation line, my beloved Great-Gran Aunts and Great-Gran Uncles may not be ‘blood’ relatives, but hustled together as part of the ‘distributed non-blood family’ members. And does it matter?<<<<<<<

My answer to the above question is NO, it does not matter.
Prior to the research of the human genome, Medical experts were interested in using bloodlines to determine certain charistics related to health, and life expectancy. today technology can tell you all of that without knowing your mudder farless your great great grand aunt.

I would not blame slavery for our penchant for communal livimg, because this is practiced all over the mother continent today, and those folks are not the progeny of Middle Passage Slavery. I have spoken to many Africans who grew up in a compound where the father had multiple wives, and where there were several aunties brothers and sisters all mixed in, a system which can easily accommodate a few that was not fathered by the main man.

One hundred years after the abolition of slavery, we find in the Caribbean the kind of mixing of ethnicities, and races which turns your question on its head, it is not
"Is this great aunt really my blood relative" But "Could this total stranger, actually my true blood great aunt?" Crazy as it may seem the answer more often than not, is "Hell Yeah"

This emerged out of a game I used to play with my Grand father who was seventy five years , when I was about 4.He was born in the village and virtually knew everyone. As we looked over the main road on evenings I would pick out folks who were never associated with the long punkin vine of the family, not even far far far cousin, and I will ask him, how is he or she related to us. Without haeitation he will say well on your mothers side......and on your fathers side......Very soon you understand that there are virtually zero degrees of separation, and your old grand aunt is really your blood relative, if you trace the vine long enough.