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GUADELOUPE'S INDIAN ARRIVAL MONUMENT

INAUGURATED IN GUADELOUPE, FRENCH WEST INDIES

In Guadeloupe in the French West Indies, 2004 brought a whole year of commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the first indentured Indian workers in 1854 to a close with the inauguration of a First Day monument in the business capital, Pointe-a-Pitre, near the sea-side spot where the indentured Indians alighted between 1854 and 1889.

The plaque on the monument carries an eloquent and very pedagogical text, which is  necessary  considering that almost no mention of the history of the Indians and their contributions have been made so far in the French school text books.

The plaque reads:

"On December 24, 1854, the sailing ship "Aurelie", after a dreadful three-month passage, disembarked on this spot 314 East Indians, requested by the Colony to cope with the loss of labour resulting from the abolition of slavery in 1848.

Thus began a long period of transplantation that brought 42,326  East Indians to Guadeloupe,  of which 24,891 were to perish, particularly because of the ill-treatment they received, and 9,460 returned to India.

In memory and homage to the contribution of those from India who founded the multicultural Guadeloupe of yesterday and today, the Regional Council, the General Council, the City of Pointe-a-Pitre, in accord with the Bharat-�-Gua Federation, have erected this First Day monument, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the first Indians in Guadeloupe."

The more than 600-kilogram bronze monument by Indrajeet Sahadev, an Indian-born sculptor residing in France, is a combination of symbolic representations of the long Kalapani journey, a boat with  Lord Ganesha's figure at the prow, masts with Lord Siva's trident and damaru engraved in gold obliquely sectioned at the top to form a golden OM.

The art piece stands on a circular lotus mandala base, the whole monument resting on a marble yantra. On the four sides of the rectangular base block are figures of a conch, a golden sun with the date 1854 in the middle, and sugar cane shoots - the bitter reason that brought the Indians to the island. The auspicious Indian symbol for water also turns out to be the letter G, representing the Universal Master, the initial of Lord Ganesha, and that of Guadeloupe. Guadeloupe was called  Kalaoukera, meaning "island of beautiful waters" by the original, now decimated, Amerindian inhabitants.

As Dr.  Henry Bangou, Mayor of Pointe-a-Pitre and a renowned historian, and all the official speakers said, the contributions of the Indians to the evolution of Guadeloupe and its population is incalculable. Today Indians in Guadeloupe are to be found in all sectors of society, from agriculture to politics. Their painful integration, in spite of all the hardships and persecutions, is considered today a success. This is due to their non-violent attitudes and determination in the work place, since the time of the sugarcane fields.

Their integration was achieved at great expense - the almost total loss of their original languages from South and North India, replaced by French and Creole, the forced abandonment of their religion to Catholicism, and the transformation of their customs and culture to becoming Europeanized.  However, in the crucible of change, they have managed to do much more than just influence the local cuisine, costume and folklore.

Many cultural associations, under the federative banner of Bharat-a-Gua ("From India to Guadeloupe") are reawakening the Indian awareness. Rituals clandestinely kept across time are being revived, scholars are researching and documenting the past. Interestingly enough, people of all cultural heritage, Indian or mixed ethnic backgrounds, are attracted and are participating  in these activities.

People of all origins also took part in the year long commemoration events.

Originally scheduled for December 23rd, 2004, the inauguration of the monument took place on January 23rd, 2005, due to an earthquake in Guadeloupe in December 2004. After the official discourses and the unveiling of the monument at the sound of the "tapu" (a flat Indian tambourine drum), flower petals were thrown by Guadeloupeans of mixed ancestral heritage, onto the nearby sea.

This homage was accompanied by moving prayers that the offering may reach ancient ancestors, across the sea of time.

Visitors are kindly requested to leave their comments.

See Photographs accompanying the French version of this text.

JUSTICE MARCH COMMEMORATED IN ST. VINCENT

article in
The Vincentian
2006/10/06

The events of Saturday October 7th, 1882, will be commemorated here in honour of those East Indian estate workers, who marched from Argyle to Kingstown, in protest against harsh and unjust treatment handed out to them on the Argyle estate.

Come Saturday October 7th, 2006, the SVG Indian Heritage Foundation will host a cultural rally to commemorate this courageous feat, from 6:30pm at the Pitani Resort. Members of the Foundation, other supporters and well-wishers are expected to gather in celebration of the anniversary of the event.

A number of government officials are expected to make short addresses at the ceremony, including Hon. Rene Baptiste, Minister of Culture who will also present a digital copy of the Immigrant Register of Indians. 

President of the Foundation Mr. Elmore Gaymes will receive the register and address the gathering. 

The feature address will be delivered by Dr. Arnold Thomas. The India ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago will attend and bring greetings.According to Historian Dr. Arnold Thomas; fifty (50) Indians marched, October 7, 1882 to Kingstown in protest against the abuse and loss of wages on the estate.  Some also claimed that they had been cheated out of their return passage (seventeen pounds as per their contracts) back to India.

The SVG Indian Heritage Foundation (SVGIHF) has taken the decision to celebrate this protest march in recognition of the courageous stance of those 50 Indian indentured workers.  They demanded justice in times of adversity. They followed the example of Mohandas Gandhi and succeeded in the end.

An invitation is extended to all Vincentians to join in solidarity, by participating in the celebration at Argyle on Saturday.

The SVGIHF is a non-political, non-religious, non-gender, non-racial, and non-biased organization which seeks to preserve Indian heritage, and foster continued amicable cultural relations with the wider community.

----------------

St. Vincent's East Indian Diaspora

This article was written by Steve S. Bullock, a descendant of indentured Indians on St. Vincent.  Bullock is the Associated Press reporter on St. Croix in the United States Virgin Islands.  He is also a part time professor at the University of the Virgin Islands.

"The following is based on my research into the origins and settlements of indentured east Indians on St. Vincent between 1860's and 1920's.

At least four brothers with the last name Ram Ballack Singh were part of a contingent that came to St. Vincent from the Bihar province.

Each was assigned to separate estates in Argyle (southeast coast of the island), Calder-Escape (five miles away), Fountain, south of the island (four miles from the current location of the E.T. Joshua Airport, and in the Yambou-Acers-Dickie area, located six miles inland from the Argyle estate.

The Indians who settled in Argyle-Calder-Escape-Yambou areas worked on the Argyle Estate, which was one of the largest sugar cane plantations on the island.

Many subsequently befriended King Jaja, (1821-1891) the exiled king of Opobo (Opobu), Niger Delta, who was banished to St. Vincent in the early 1880's after he opposed British interference and colonial attempt to monopolize the lucrative palm oil industry in the delta regions of Nigeria, which his Ana Pepple Trading House (tribe) controlled.

King Jaja was taken to St. Vincent and lived for about three or four years on the Spring Estate, located to the north (on the outskirts) of the Argyle Estate.

King Jaja and the Indians of the day shared and learned from each other's agriculture and culinary traditions before the British agreed to repatriate him to Africa.

He died en route to his native country, according to the British.

He was so loved and adored by his Opobo people that they offered to pay the British to return his body to Nigeria, where he was buried.

My research and interviews with ancestors of the four brothers indicate that all four came with their wives from India.

Their last name Ram Ballack Singh was changed by the plantation owners to Bullock, which is a popular Anglo-American (Caucasian) last name. For example Sandra Bullock, the American movie star and Mayor/Councilman Steve Bullock of Lewisham, London, England

The Bullock's family and lineage is now one of the more prominent Indian families on St. Vincent. Their extended family number about 500 and they continue to live in or adjacent to their original settlement locations.

The Bacchus family is another prominent Indian family who settled in the Richland Park area of the island (five miles north of Marriaqua located in the middle of the island).

Many descendants from the Bacchus and Bullock families subsequently married and are now closely related by marriage.

Other indentured Indians who were brought to St. Vincent were also given (assigned) Anglo-Saxon surnames including Deane, Lewis, Laban, Woods, Jack, Latchman, Baptiste, Carr, Harry, Sutherland and Leisure.

One or two families were allowed to keep) retain their Indian names. For example, the Singh family of Dickie.

Today the descendants of Indian indentured servants in St. Vincent number between 3,000 and 4,000 out of a total population of 115,000.

Many are prominent government employees, including doctors, dentists, bankers, and educators, while others are involved in commercial and entrepreneurial activities.

One prominent Indian, Dr. Sinclair Thomas, an ENT Specialist, was a senator and minister of Health in the former James Mitchell administration between 1996 and 2000.

Dr. Junior Bacchus, another indentured Indian descendant is a prominent optomologist on the island.

Murray Bullock is the director of the government run St. Vincent & the Grenadines National Lotteries.

Indian owned businesses include JAX (Jack's) Enterprises, Summer Ware, Linmur, Murray's Ville, Deane's Pharmacy, Eatrite, Ken's Enterprises.

Many have intermarried with other races including the indigenous Carib Indians, Afro-Caribbean and Garifuna extractions.

Garifunas or black Caribs are descendants of Carib Indians who intermarried/ interbred with African slaves who were shipwrecked or brought to the island.

Most of the original Garifunas (4,300) were captured/abducted by the British colonial powers and banished to two barren/uninhabited islands (Baliceaux and Battoweia) located a few miles south of St. Vincent in 1797.

The Garifunas were later taken to Roatan, an island off the coast of Central America near  Honduras and were subsequently resettled in present day Belize.

Many of the remaining Garifunas who escaped British capture live today in the north and northeast coastal areas of Sandy Bay, Owea and Fancy in an unofficial Carib reservation.

Many descendants of indentured Indians and Garifunas have intermarried.

Today, Indians live in other areas of the island, including, Georgetown, Dixion, Caratal, Park Hill, South Rivers, Colonaire, Dorsetshire Hill, Biabou, Rosehall and Mesopotamia."

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