Dr Arnold Thomas reflects on the identity of St Vincent citizens of Indian origin, or Indo-Vincentians
The history of Indian immigration to St Vincent and the Grenadines is now well documented although not fully published as yet. But since we are marking June 1 as Indian Arrival Day it is useful to recap its significance. But first I would like to deal with a popular mythology: that the mutineers of the 1857 Indian Mutiny were sent to St Vincent. The facts are: following the Mutiny in 1857, the London-based West India Committee representing the planter interest in the West Indies proposed to St Vincent Lieutenant Governor Eyre a scheme whereby mutineers would be apprenticed in the island. The West India Committee got its protocol wrong and Eyre had to remind them that the decision was not his to make. It is very likely that some mutineers did find their way to British sugar plantations as indentured workers, but not en masse as is sometimes suggested.
When the way was finally cleared for Indian immigration to St Vincent, Travancore the departed from Madras (now Chennai) on the 26 February 1861 with a total of 258 Indians made up of 160 men, 62 women, 18 boys, 13 girls and 5 infants, arriving St Vincent on 1 June 1861 after a voyage of 92 days. It was to be the one and only shipment from Madras. From an analysis of the Register of Indians they came mainly from the districts of Vizagapatam, North Arcot, Madura, Chittoor, Vellore, Bangalore, and Barempore; only a few came from Madras city.
This first shipment of Indians was unique because it arrived with two more Indians than it had left Madras, thanks to no deaths on the voyage and two births: a remarkable achievement in an age when mortality aboard emigrant ships was often very high. In all 7 ships brought just fewer than 2500 Indians between 1861and 1880, however by 1884, 1100 had returned to India.
Indian population growth was affected by two calamitous events, a hurricane in 1898 and a volcanic eruption in 1902 after which many who survived emigrated to Trinidad and Demerara or Guyana, as it is known today. Before the volcanic eruption large numbers of Indians lived on the estates surrounding the Soufriere volcano, on Lot 14, Tourama, Waterloo, and Orange Hill. Many who survived moved further down the windward side.
The remnants moved off the estates in the early years of the 20 Century to establish their own villages. Emigration to metropolitan centres depleted the Indian population so that today Indo-Vincentian communities can be found in High Wycombe in the UK and parts of and Canada.
What happened to the Indians in St Vincent? Why are they different from say, the Indians of Guyana, Trinidad and Suriname? The answer must lie in their historical experience in St Vincent and I would like to suggest the following reasons.
My focus in this article is on being an Indo-Vincentian and I will try to argue that appearance not withstanding, we are part of a fully integrated Vincentian society, unlike Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Suriname where the survival of cultural and religious practices including language have given the appearance of pluralistic societies. What were the conditions that made Indians in St Vincent so different from our brothers and sisters elsewhere in the Caribbean? I would like to suggest some of the underlying reasons and conditions that contributed to our situation. These include:
No critical mass
Competition to save heathens
Breaking ties with India to make them feel at home in SV
Absence of Indian school and temple/mosque
Change in eating habits
Change in dress styles
No critical mass
As was observed above less than 2500 came, some 1100 returned to India and in the post- indenture years the Indian population was further reduced by the twin disasters of the devastating hurricane of 1898 and the volcanic eruption of 1902.
The conversion race
As the number of Indians increased in the island various groups and individuals began to take an interest in their religious welfare. By the beginning of the second wave of immigration Christianity had gained some ground among the Indians; on one estate it was reported in 1868 that an Indian had risen to be superintendent in a church, and was preaching to his countrymen on Sundays; apparently the majority on this estate showed a preference for attending the adjacent Wesleyan Chapel. By then too, infants were being baptised in Christian churches and given Anglo-Saxon names after the manner of planters, managers and overseers as part of the Christianisation process.
The churches were so active in baptising Indians that it was not uncommon for one church to re-baptise someone who was already baptised in another church. The Anglicans in particular were incensed at the progress being made by the Wesleyans, and with the support of the Anglican Bishop in Barbados, Laborde the Anglican minister declared baptism by the Wesleyan Church to be invalid. The farcical situation came to a head when the Wesleyans lodged a formal protest to Lieutenant- Governor Berkeley against the local Anglican ministers. The controversy was brought to the attention of the Archbishop of Canterbury who ordered the recognition of baptism performed by any of the Christian churches. The matter should have ended there but following this directive from the Archbishop the Laborde hit out against the Lieutenant Governor in one of his Sunday sermons for bringing the matter to the attention of the authorities in England; competition among the churches for Indian converts had taken on a new political dimension.
While it was recognized under the immigration acts that the Indians would be left free to practice their own religion and culture the churches were given a free hand in St Vincent, as elsewhere in the West Indies, to convert the Indians.
Breaking ties with India
This was done in several ways: given the distance from the motherland it was not easy to communicate with relatives; letters often took several months to arrive or not all; and meagre remittances were often held in a bank until returnees were ready to leave. Meanwhile every attempt was made to create loyalty to St Vincent, often by spreading rumours of the outbreak of famines and diseases, which acted as a powerful disincentive to return.
Absence of Indian school and temple/mosque
This was directly linked to the absence of a critical mass unlike the three larger Caribbean territories where temples, mosques and schools for Indians were established. A school was established at Argyle for Indian children in 1884 but it closed a year later primarily because of the rush to get back to India and the poor turnout of children.
Change in eating habits
Very early in the indenture experience Indians were forced to change their eating habits from curried dishes to Creole foods, as it was not easy to obtain the ingredients for these dishes. Fish and ground provisions soon became the norm among the Indians.
Change in dress styles
As early as the first indentured lot the Immigration Agent reported that the Madrasees had taken to wearing civilized dresses and the men had given their loincloth.
The end result was that very early in the immigration experience Indians were re-socialised into Creole culture and thoroughly christianized, with the children retaining hardly any Indian names.
The matter of identity
I once bemoaned the loss of Indian culture in St Vincent and the Grenadines to an Indian colleague of mine and his remark was very interesting: look at where you are now, you haven’t done so badly after all. May be he’s right in the sense that the loss of Indian religion and culture does not necessarily mean the loss of identity, for in the long process we of Indian origin have played our part in the creation of a uniquely racially integrated Vincentian society. Today we are proud of our Indian heritage and ancestry, but more important we are irrevocably part of the Vincentian social and cultural tapestry. That means our identity remains right if the hyphen, Vincentian first and foremost. As people of Indian origin we are part of a global network and more importantly for our future development we now have the opportunity together with our other Vincentian brothers and sisters to forge stronger links with India which could only redound to our development.
The author is Former Diplomat at Brussels-based OECS Mission; Development Consultant; Founding Member of the SVG Indian Heritage Foundation.
