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48-493: The novel moves between a first-person narrator and a third-person narrator who tell the story of Tan-Tan, the Robber Queen. She lives on planet Toussaint with her father Mayor Antonio and mother Ione. The Midnight Robber is young Tan-Tan’s favorite Carnival character, and she practices Robber Queen speeches and antics for hours at a time. Toussaint is a planet peopled by the descendants of Caribbean immigrants from Earth. Its society

96-469: A "beast in bigness of a pig and in taste alike," while Smith recorded it "hath an head like a swine ... tail like a rat ... of the bigness of a cat." The Powhatan word ultimately derives from a Proto-Algonquian word ( *wa·p-aʔθemwa ) meaning "white dog or dog-like beast." Following the arrival of Europeans in Australia , the term possum was borrowed to describe distantly related Australian marsupials of

144-576: A barrel with fresh or rotten fruit to attract opossums that would feed on the fruit or insects. In northern/central Mexico, opossums are known as tlacuache or tlacuatzin . Their tails are eaten as a folk remedy to improve fertility. In the Yucatán peninsula they are known in the Yucatec Mayan language as "och" and they are not considered part of the regular diet by Mayan people, but still considered edible in times of famine. Opossum oil (possum grease)

192-486: A defense mechanism, allowing a rare reversal of an evolutionary arms race where the former prey has become the predator, whereas others have suggested it arose as a predatory adaptation given that it also occurs in other predatory mammals and does not occur in opossums that do not regularly eat other vertebrates. The fer-de-lance , one of the most venomous snakes in the New World , may have developed its highly potent venom as

240-508: A douen tree-village. Soon, she realizes she is pregnant with her father's child. Hiding among the trees, Tan-Tan learns the secrets of the douen and gradually transforms into another figure out of Caribbean folklore, the Midnight Robber, who dresses in black, spouts poetry, steals from the rich, and gives to the poor. Tan-Tan is kept on the run by Antonio's jealous widow, Janisette, seeking vengeance for her husband's death. When she discovers

288-707: A douen whose name is "Chichibud", a reference to a mento song by Max Romeo . Chichibud's partner is named Benta . In the end, Tan-Tan names her child Tubman, after Harriet Tubman . Midnight Robber was nominated for a Hugo Award and shortlisted for the Nebula Award , the Tiptree Award , and the Sunburst Award . Gary K. Wolfe praised Midnight Robber , characterizing it as "an inventive amalgam of rural folklore and advanced technology" and commending Hopkinson's distinctive narrative voice, which "reminds us that most of

336-452: A lower rate, even as the birth-rate sharply dropped to levels typical of industrialised countries. Largely because of this phenomenon, as of 2011, Trinidad and Tobago has been experiencing a low population growth rate (0.48 per cent). Opossum Several; see text Opossums ( / ə ˈ p ɒ s ə m z / ) are members of the marsupial order Didelphimorphia ( / d aɪ ˌ d ɛ l f ɪ ˈ m ɔːr f i ə / ) endemic to

384-677: A means to prey on or a defense mechanism against large opossums. Opossums are found in North, Central, and South America . The Virginia opossum lives in regions as far north as Canada and as far south as Central America, while other types of opossums only inhabit countries south of the United States. The Virginia opossum can often be found in wooded areas, though its habitat may vary widely. Opossums are generally found in areas like forests, shrubland, mangrove swamps, rainforests and eucalyptus forests. Opossums have been found moving northward. Until

432-502: A more recent epoch, the early Miocene (roughly 20 million years ago). The last common ancestor of all living opossums dates approximately to the Oligocene -Miocene boundary (23 million years ago) and is at most no older than Oligocene in age. Many extinct metatherians, such as Alphadon , Peradectes , Herpetotherium , and Pucadelphys , were once considered to be early opossums, but it has since been recognized that this

480-497: A narrow braincase , and a prominent sagittal crest . The dental formula is: 5.1.3.4 4.1.3.4  × 2 = 50 teeth. By mammalian standards, this is an unusually full jaw. The incisors are very small, the canines large, and the molars are tricuspid . Didelphimorphs have a plantigrade stance (feet flat on the ground) and the hind feet have an opposable digit with no claw . Like some New World monkeys , some opossums have prehensile tails . Like most marsupials, many females have

528-474: A pouch. The tail and parts of the feet bear scutes . The stomach is simple, with a small cecum . Like most marsupials, the male opossum has a forked penis bearing twin glandes . Although all living opossums are essentially opportunistic omnivores , different species vary in the amount of meat and vegetation they include in their diet. Members of the Caluromyinae are essentially frugivorous ; whereas

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576-416: A prison planet for exiles. Life on New Half-Way Tree is much harder, a primitive and dangerous world inhabited primarily by Toussaint's exiled criminal class and the douen, an alien race reminiscent of creatures from Caribbean folklore. Here Tan-Tan is beaten and raped by her father Antonio. On her 16th birthday, she kills her father in self-defense. Aided by a douen, Tan-Tan flees from the human settlement to

624-465: A reproductive system that includes a bifurcated vagina and a divided uterus ; many have a marsupium , the pouch. The average estrous cycle of the Virginia opossum is about 28 days. Opossums do possess a placenta , but it is short-lived, simple in structure, and, unlike that of placental mammals, not fully functional. The young are therefore born at a very early stage, although the gestation period

672-594: Is a substantial number of Trinidadian expatriates, dual citizens and descendants living worldwide, chiefly elsewhere in the Anglosphere . The total population of Trinidad and Tobago was 1,328,019 according to the 2011 census, an increase of 5.2 per cent since the 2000 census. According to the 2012 revision of the World Population Prospects the total population was estimated at 1,328,000 in 2010, compared to only 646,000 in 1950. The proportion of children below

720-582: Is born is called Toussaint, after the Haitian revolutionary hero Toussaint L'Ouverture . The municipality where Tan-Tan's father is mayor is called Cockpit County , after a region in Jamaica . There is a statue of Mami Wata in the middle of the town. A local group of pedicab runners calls itself the Sou-Sou Collective, a reference to a West-African-specific form of credit union or collaborative. A nearby quarry

768-449: Is commonly referred to as a possum ( / ˈ p ɒ s əm / ; sometimes rendered as ' possum in written form to indicate the dropped "o"). The Australasian arboreal marsupials of suborder Phalangeriformes are also called possums because of their resemblance to opossums, but they belong to a different order. The opossum is typically a nonaggressive animal and almost never carries the virus that causes rabies . The word opossum

816-504: Is derived from the Powhatan language and was first recorded between 1607 and 1611 by John Smith (as opassom ) and William Strachey (as aposoum ). Possum was first recorded in 1613. Both men encountered the language at the English settlement of Jamestown, Virginia , which Smith helped to found and where Strachey later served as its first secretary. Strachey's notes describe the opossum as

864-631: Is named Shak-Shak Bay. The company that landed the settlers on Toussaint is called the Marryshow Corporation, after T.A. Marryshow . The book also references Jonkanoo Week celebrations. The planet Toussaint is regulated by the A.I intelligence called the Grande Nanotech Sentient Interface, which the locals nickname Granny Nanny, a reference to Nanny of the Maroons , a leader in the early 18th century guerrilla wars now known as

912-514: Is present around the Santa Rosa Carib Community . There is also a Cocoa panyol population who are of Spanish, indigenous, and African descent who came from Venezuela between the late 19th and early 20th century to work on the cocoa estates. Emigration from Trinidad and Tobago, as with other Caribbean nations, has historically been high; most emigrants go to the United States, Canada, and Britain. Emigration has continued, albeit at

960-570: Is similar to that of many other small marsupials, at only 12 to 14 days. They give birth to litters of up to 20 young. Once born, the offspring must find their way into the marsupium, if present, to hold on to and nurse from a teat. Baby opossums, like their Australian cousins, are called joeys. Female opossums often give birth to very large numbers of young, most of which fail to attach to a teat , although as many as thirteen young can attach, and therefore survive, depending on species. The young are weaned between 70 and 125 days, when they detach from

1008-400: Is technologically very advanced, with Granny Nanny, the ultimate A.I. guiding and directing the fate of humanity as a whole (or at least the citizens of Toussaint). Similarly, each person has "nanomites" injected into them at birth, which allow them to hear the voice of all the A.I. as needed. After killing Ione’s lover, Antonio escapes with Tan-Tan to an alternate world called New Half-Way Tree,

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1056-945: Is the bifurcated penis of the male and bifurcated vagina of the female (the source of the term didelphimorph , from the Greek didelphys , meaning "double-wombed"). Opossum spermatozoa exhibit sperm-pairing, forming conjugate pairs in the epididymis . This may ensure that flagella movement can be accurately coordinated for maximal motility . Conjugate pairs dissociate into separate spermatozoa before fertilization. Opossums are usually solitary and nomadic, staying in one area as long as food and water are easily available. Some families will group together in ready-made burrows or even under houses. Though they will temporarily occupy abandoned burrows, they do not dig or put much effort into building their own. As nocturnal animals, they favor dark, secure areas. These areas may be below ground or above. When threatened or harmed, they will " play possum ", mimicking

1104-741: The Americas . The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere , it comprises 126 species in 18 genera . Opossums originated in South America and entered North America in the Great American Interchange following the connection of North and South America in the late Cenozoic . The Virginia opossum is the only species found in the United States and Canada. It is often simply referred to as an opossum , and in North America it

1152-518: The First Maroon War . The planet to which the main characters are exiled is called New Half-Way Tree, a reference to the Half Way Tree neighbourhood of Kingston, Jamaica . Settlements include Sweet Pone, named after a sweet potato dessert, and Chigger Bite. One of the native creatures has been named the "manicou rat" by settlers, which is a Caribbean term for an opossum . Tan-Tan befriends

1200-446: The ecological niches presently occupied by opossums were occupied by other groups of metatherians such as paucituberculatans and sparassodonts . Large opossums like Didelphis show a pattern of gradually increasing in size over geologic time as sparassodont diversity declined. Several groups of opossums, including Thylophorops , Thylatheridium , Hyperdidelphys , and sparassocynids developed carnivorous adaptations during

1248-461: The lutrine opossum and Patagonian opossum primarily feed on other animals. The water opossum or yapok ( Chironectes minimus ) is particularly unusual, as it is the only living semi-aquatic marsupial, using its webbed hindlimbs to dive in search of freshwater mollusks and crayfish. The extinct Thylophorops , the largest known opossum at 4–7 kg (8.8–15.4 lb), was a macropredator. Most opossums are scansorial , well-adapted to life in

1296-827: The Caribbean, and later migrated to Trinidad and Tobago for various reasons, especially Martinique, Guadeloupe, Saint Vincent and Grenada. Other Afro-Trinidadians trace their ancestry to American slaves recruited to fight for the British in the War of 1812 or from indentured labourers from West Africa. Chinese , Amerindians , Europeans , Arabs , Hispanic / Latinos , Douglas (mixed Indian and African), multiracial people, and Jews , reside in Trinidad and Tobago. White Trinidadians are descendants of Spanish, British, French, Corsican, Portuguese or German settlers. A small mixed indigenous Carib population

1344-459: The Grenadines , the common opossum or manicou is popular and can only be hunted during certain times of the year owing to overhunting. The meat is traditionally prepared by smoking, then stewing. It is light and fine-grained, but the musk glands must be removed as part of preparation. The meat can be used in place of rabbit and chicken in recipes. Historically, hunters in the Caribbean would place

1392-447: The age of 15 in 2010 was 20.7 per cent, 71 per cent was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 8.3 per cent was 65 years or older. The ethnic composition of Trinidad and Tobago reflects a history of conquest and immigration. While the earliest inhabitants were of Amerindian heritage, since the 20th century the two dominant groups in the country were those of South Asian and of African heritage. Indo-Trinidadians and Tobagonians make up

1440-421: The appearance and smell of a sick or dead animal. This physiological response is involuntary (like fainting), rather than a conscious act. In the case of baby opossums, however, the brain does not always react this way at the appropriate moment, and therefore they often fail to "play dead" when threatened. When an opossum is "playing possum", the animal's lips are drawn back, the teeth are bared, saliva foams around

1488-452: The country's largest ethnic group (approximately 35.43 percent). They are primarily descendants from indentured workers from South Asia and India, brought to replace freed African slaves who refused to continue working on the sugar plantations from other Islands. Through cultural preservation residents of Indian descent continue to maintain the religions and traditions from their ancestral homeland. Afro-Trinidadians and Tobagonians make up

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1536-551: The country's second largest ethnic group, with approximately 34.22 percent of the population. Afro-Trinidadians are the descendants of enslaved West and Central Africans brought to the Trinidad and Tobago in the last few years of the Spanish colonial era and the beginning of the English colonial period through the trans-Atlantic slave trade . However, a good percentage of the Black population are descendants of people enslaved on other islands of

1584-730: The early 20th century, the Virginia opossum was widely hunted and consumed in the United States . Opossum farms have been operated in the United States in the past. Sweet potatoes were eaten together with the opossum in the American South. In 1909, a "Possum and 'Taters" banquet was held in Atlanta to honor President-elect William Howard Taft . South Carolina cuisine includes opossum, and President Jimmy Carter hunted opossums in addition to other small game. In Dominica , Grenada , Trinidad , Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and

1632-465: The forest. It is revealed that a Toussaint A.I. makes contact to Tan-Tan’s baby, named Tubman. Midnight Robber (named after a Trinidadian traditional Carnival/Mas character) incorporates a number of characters and stories from Caribbean and Yoruba culture, including Anansi , Dry Bone, Papa Bois , Duppy , Obeah , J'Ouvert (from Trinidad Carnival), Tamosi (Kabo Tano), douens , and Eshu . The planet on which Tan-Tan (Trinidad Carnival Character)

1680-577: The late Miocene- Pliocene , before the arrival of carnivorans in South America. Most of these groups, with the exception of Lutreolina , are now extinct. It has been suggested that the size and shape of the ancestral Didelphid’s jaw would most closely match that of the modern Marmosa genus. Didelphimorphs are small to medium-sized marsupials that grow to the size of a house cat. They tend to be semi- arboreal omnivores , although there are many exceptions. Most members of this order have long snouts ,

1728-421: The mouth, the eyes close or half-close, and a foul-smelling fluid is secreted from the anal glands . The stiff, curled form can be prodded, turned over, and even carried away without reaction. The animal will typically regain consciousness after a period of a few minutes to four hours, a process that begins with a slight twitching of the ears. Some species of opossums have prehensile tails , although dangling by

1776-423: The people who are identified with the country of Trinidad and Tobago . The country is home to people of many different national, ethnic and religious origins. As a result, Trinidadians do not equate their nationality with race and ethnicity , but with citizenship , identification with the islands as whole, or either Trinidad or Tobago specifically. Although citizens make up the majority of Trinidadians, there

1824-479: The secret douen village, the douens exile Tan-Tan and the young douen woman Abitefa. Tan-Tan seeks a new home, travelling between villages with her douen companion, continuing to act as the Robber Queen when the need arises. She is forced to flee upon seeing Janisette already looking for her, having followed the rumors of “Tan-Tan the Robber Queen.” Tan-Tan arrives in a new town, looking for clothes to hide her pregnancy. She reconnects with her friend Melonhead, whom she

1872-421: The suborder Phalangeriformes , which are more closely related to other Australian marsupials such as kangaroos. They similarly have didelphimorphia, two ( di ) wombs ( delphus ). Opossums are often considered to be " living fossils ", and as a result they are often used to approximate the ancestral therian condition in comparative studies. But this is a mistake, because the oldest opossum fossils are from

1920-424: The tail is more common among juveniles. An opossum may also use its tail as a brace and a fifth limb when climbing. The tail is occasionally used as a grip to carry bunches of leaves or bedding materials to the nest. A mother will sometimes carry her young upon her back, where they will cling tightly even when she is climbing or running. Threatened opossums (especially males) will growl deeply, raising their pitch as

1968-408: The teat and leave the pouch. The opossum lifespan is unusually short for a mammal of its size, usually only one to two years in the wild and as long as four or more years in captivity. Senescence is rapid. Opossums are moderately sexually dimorphic with males usually being larger, heavier, and having larger canines than females. The largest difference between the opossum and non-marsupial mammals

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2016-433: The threat becomes more urgent. Males make a clicking "smack" noise out of the side of their mouths as they wander in search of a mate, and females will sometimes repeat the sound in return. When separated or distressed, baby opossums will make a sneezing noise to signal their mother. The mother in return makes a clicking sound and waits for the baby to find her. If threatened, the baby will open its mouth and quietly hiss until

2064-407: The threat is gone. Opossums eat insects, rodents , birds, eggs, frogs, plants, fruits and grain. Some species may eat the skeletal remains of rodents and roadkill animals to fulfill their calcium requirements. In captivity, opossums will eat practically anything including dog and cat food, livestock fodder and discarded human food scraps and waste. Many large opossums (Didelphini) are immune to

2112-502: The trees or on the ground, but members of the Caluromyinae and Glironiinae are primarily arboreal, whereas species of Metachirus , Monodelphis , and to a lesser degree Didelphis show adaptations for life on the ground. Metachirus nudicaudatus , found in the upper Amazon basin , consumes fruit seeds, small vertebrate creatures like birds and reptiles and invertebrates like crayfish and snails , but seems to be mainly insectivorous . As marsupials, female opossums have

2160-556: The venom of rattlesnakes and pit vipers ( Crotalinae ) and regularly prey upon these snakes. This adaptation seems to be unique to the Didelphini, as their closest relative, the brown four-eyed opossum , is not immune to snake venom. Similar adaptations are seen in other small predatory mammals such as mongooses and hedgehogs . Didelphin opossums and crotaline vipers have been suggested to be in an evolutionary arms race . Some authors have suggested that this adaptation originally arose as

2208-641: The world does not speak contemporary American middle-class vernacular, . . . raises questions about the highly conventionalized way that SF has always treated language, [and] mak[es] us question the hegemony of American culture in SF worlds." Locus reviewer Faren Miller praised the novel, saying "Hopkinson take[s] potentially downbeat material and compel[s] the reader's attention with vigorous narrative, vividly eloquent prose, and forms of magic which may actually be SF." Trinidadian Trinidadians and Tobagonians , colloquially known as Trinis or Trinbagonians , are

2256-414: Was planning to partner with before she killed her father. Preparations for Carnival are underway, and Tan-Tan joins as a successful Robber Queen masque. Janisette arrives in town, now driving a tank, and confronts Tan-Tan. Tan-Tan confesses everything in a Robber Queen speech, cowing Janisette and winning the adoration of the entire village. Melonhead wants her to stay, but Tan-Tan leaves to have her baby in

2304-486: Was solely on the basis of plesiomorphies ; they are now considered to belong to older branches of Metatheria that are only distantly related to modern opossums. Opossums probably originated in the Amazonia region of northern South America, where they began their initial diversification. They were minor components of South American mammal faunas until the late Miocene, when they began to diversify rapidly. Before that time,

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