Bermudians who did not know about their ‘Dark Bottom,’ now have a chance to learn all about it in a fascinating new book that was released recently.Entitled “The Legend of Dark Bottom,” written by Dr Rosalyn Howard, who is an Associate Professor of Anthropology and Director of the North American Indian Studies Program at the University of Central Florida (UCF). She specialises in Cultural Anthropology and her primary area of research is ethno-historical studies of the African Diaspora with a focus on the interrelationships formed by African and Indigenous peoples in the Americas, Bermuda and the Caribbean.Two years ago Prof Howard conducted an ethnohistorical research study in Bermuda, focusing on the St David’s Island community with their mixture of North American Indian, African, and European cultural and genetic heritage. In addition to intensive work in the Bermuda Archives, she conducted oral history interviews with more than 40 persons in Bermuda followed by additional interviews with their “relatives” in various tribal nations in the United States. It was the advent of Reconnection ceremonies in 2002 between the Bermudians and North Americans that stimulated Prof Howard’s interest in exploring their cultural memories and the experience of ‘reconnection’ for members of both communities.Those efforts have resulted in the publishing of The Legend of Dark Bottom. It focuses on one of the narratives that St. David Islanders related to her about their childhoods. It features her primary cultural consultant, St Clair “Brinky” Tucker, a published author in his own right, and his grandson Cainan Sean Tucker.The book has a glossy cover and is written with an intriguing style of a power-point presentation in print as opposed to an audio visual one. The photographs are colourful, some deliberately produced out of focus for unusual effect. The book should commend itself to children and adults alike with its rich history not to many Bermudians know about. The story is profoundly conveyed in dialogue between young Cainan Sean Tucker and his grandfather Brinky.Part proceeds from the sales of this book are being donated to the charity, St David’s Islanders and Native Community.Prof Howard has also conducted extensive research among mixed Native-African populations in The Bahamas. Another of her publications is the book entitled Black Seminoles in the Bahamas, an ethnographic study of the Black Seminole descendant community of Red Bays, Andros Island, Bahamas.Prof Howard is also a member of a multidisciplinary, public anthropology research project entitled “Looking for Angola” that is compiling archaeological, cultural, and archival evidence of an early 19th century Florida maroon community, formerly located near present-day Sarasota, Florida, that has a direct connection to the Red Bays, Bahamas community.