The Dominica mas band, Larry’s Place, is paying tribute to the native Carib Indians with “Waitukubuli” this Labor Day.
According to band leader Larry Balthazar, “Waitukubuli” is the Carib word for “tall is her body.”
Dominica is the only island in the Eastern Caribbean with a large Carib reservation.
Other islands, such as St. Vincent and the Grenadines, have Carib or indigenous settlements, but they are not considered “reservation” per se.
Most of the descendants of the Garifuna, or Black Caribs, in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, reside along the north eastern coast of the mainland – above the Rabacca Dry River.
“Waitukubuli” is also one of the sections in Larry’s Place.
We visited the mas camp last week, at 282 E, 40th St., between Snyder and Church avenues in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, and took photos of potential masqueraders ready to strut their stuff, while representing the largest of the Windward Islands — Dominica — on the Parkway.
Here is just a sample. Balthazar can be reached at (917) 865-6393.