Country: Jamaica

Group: Indians

Date Finalized: 4/26/2020

Team: Johanna McCombs (lead), Leilani Alva, Maya Shrikant

From 1845 to 1915, Indians travelled to British-controlled Jamaica on indentureships, with intentions to return to India with more wealth (Sohal, 1981). The British empire used them as slaves to care for their estates and crops (Shepherd, 1986). This was supported and controlled by the Indian government, but the ‘protector’ of the Indians going to Jamaica was not an Indian national, and therefore did not prioritize the Indians’ welfare. The Indians in Jamaica worked long hours, with little medical access, little food, and poor living situations (Sohal 1981). When their contracts were up, the government offered them land to persuade them to stay in Jamaica but this incentive was short lived (Sohal 1981). Many of these immigrants then moved to find work in rural areas, and they became dispersed in the population, where their culture was suppressed and ridiculed by Europeans and Afro Caribbeans in the region (Kumar, 1999). In the mid 1990’s one of the most significant repressions was of the Indians religion, Hinduism and Islam. The marriages performed under these religions were not recognized so if the father died, the assets owned by the family would be confiscated by the government (Kumar, 1999).

Currently Indians in Jamaica preserve their culture through festivals, food and local businesses (Tortello, n.d.). The data quality for this code is a 2 because although there is a lot of information available, some do not consider it ethnocide.

Sources

  1. Kumar, M., Kumari, R. (1999). INDIAN CULTURE IN JAMAICA — PAST AND PRESENT. Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, 60, 1027-1033.
  2. Shepherd, V. (1986). The dynamics of Afro-Jamaican – East Indian relations in Jamaica, 1845-1945: A preliminary analysis. Caribbean Quarterly, 32(Sep/Dec 86), 14-26.
  3. Sohal, H. S. (1981). THE EAST INDIAN INDENTURESHIP SYSTEM IN JAMAICA 1845-1917. Dissertation. University of Waterloo
  4.  Tortello, R. (n.d.). Jamaica Gleaner: Pieces of the Past:The Arrival Of The Indians. Retrieved April 11, 2020, from http://old.jamaica-gleaner.com/pages/history/story0057.htm