Slaves, maroons, ex-slaves and their early descendants exchanged stories and recalled life in Africa and during the Middle Passage. Their reminiscences were passed on to children and grandchildren. This oral history which was unrecorded occurred in an informal atmosphere, usually on evenings and during celebrations and festive occasions. These historical sources comprised legends of animal folklore, jokes, myths, riddles, songs and medical remedies. Furthermore, accounts of slave revolts, rebellions, conspiracies and insurrections throughout the Caribbean were graphically detailed to anxious listeners.
             The resistance among slaves in the Caribbean was gender-free and thus both sexes participated in anti-slavery activities. The leadership and rebel/warrior-woman traits of slaves were partly conceptualized in Africa: "Many African women arrived in the West Indies with an anti-slavery consciousness already forced by activist resistance to capture and sale....The extreme brutalization popularly associated with European slavers, and total alienation from kinship structures provided the basis of anti-slavery resistance"(Beckles, 2000:1002). There was a sub-division of slave societies into various classes and castes. The membership in each caste, which was legally defined and also hereditary, corresponded with ethnicity. The top of the hierarchy, comprising three tiers, was reserved for Whites, the middle occupied by the free coloureds and the slaves were relegated to the base of the social pyramid (Knight,2000:398).
             Dionne Brand, who resides in Canada, deserves credit as one of the few Caribbean novelists who delved into the historical wealth of slavery and weaved a story which spanned almost two hundred years. Previous novelists have overwhelmingly focused on twentieth century Caribbean or the West Indian immigrants in North America and Britain. The novel– At the Full and Change of the Moon, is based in Trinidad, an...