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Jamaica: ?Jamindians?
Between 1845 and 1916, approximately 38,000 Indians were relocated - some voluntarily, some through coercion - to Jamaica through the Indian labour migration trade.
Between 1845 and 1916, approximately 38,000 Indians were relocated (some voluntarily, some through coercion) to Jamaica through the Indian labour migration trade.
In 1845 the first group arrived at the Old Harbour Bay. They came from Northern India, 200 men, 28 women under 30 years old and 33 children under 12 years. The next year, five times more arrived.
The Indians were made to work for five to six days a week for one shilling a day and lived in abominable conditions. Two shillings and six pence were deducted weekly for their food requirements.
The last set of Indian indentured immigrants arrived in Jamaica in 1914 and the last repatriates left in 1929 with legal repatriation ending in 1930. After 70 years 53 per cent of Indians who arrived in Jamaica between 1845 and 1916 remained.
After the expiry of the indentureship contract, many Indians reverted to their ancestral occupations, some became farmers or fishermen, while others returned to the trades - barber, goldsmith and ironsmith.
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A group of Indians re-enact their arrival at Old Harbour, Jamaica |
Today, by contrast, the descendants of Indian indentured labourers express a local Jamaican identity.
This is different from the "nationalistic Indianness" of recently-arrived and settled Indian nationals, many of whom are diplomats, professionals and business people.
The Indians introduced several plants and trees in Jamaica, the most common being betel leaves, betel nut, coolie plum, mango, jackfruit, and tamarind.
Their food habits have a distinctly Indian flavour and taste. A typical Indian dinner consists of curried goat, chapati, pulses usually cooked with mangoes, curried potato, eggplant, bitter gourd and okra.
There is an estimated number of close to 70,000 Indians living in Jamaica. They maintain their own cultural organisations, aspiring to keep links to their roots whilst still managing to assimilate into the national scene.
