Indian Heritage Day 2023: Remembering the struggles of indentured Indians and their contribution to the development of SVG

by Dr Arnold Thomas

In 2007, the Parliament of St Vincent and the Grenadines passed a Resolution recognizing two very important dates for Indo-Vincentians in the national calendar, first, June 1 as Indian Arrival Day, and October 7 as Indian Heritage Day.

As the first date suggests that was the day when the first Indians landed in St Vincent in 1861 to work on sugar estates as indentured workers. The second commemoration of Heritage Day was adopted from the date in 1882 when some 50 barefooted Indians from Argyle Estate joined by others from nearby estates downed cutlass and hoe and marched to Kingstown to bring their grievances directly to the Governor, which included maltreatment and the failure of the Government to keep the promise of returning them to India on completion of their contract service.

Following the protest march over 900 Indians were repatriated to India between 1884-1885. A detailed account of the protest march on Kingstown was given in a booklet titled ‘The Argyle Chronicles: From home to the East Indians to the Argyle International Airport’, which was published for the occasion of the opening of the Argyle International Airport in February 2017.

The protest march on October 7, 1882 was also very significant for the labouring classes in St. Vincent for it directly led to the ending of Indian indentureship here by 1890, long before indentureship universally ended in 1917.

Following this massive departure ,Argyle Estate became the major home for the remnants of Indians.

Moreover, as a direct result of the protest march, we can also date the decline of the sugar industry in St Vincent from this time and the emergence of other agricultural crops such as arrowroot.

So what happened to those Indians who remained in St Vincent? In a word, the Indians had to adapt to local conditions in order to survive. This meant that the heritage and culture of persons of Indian origin went through some very fundamental changes within a short space of time, such as religion, language, cultural festivals, dress and cuisine. What did survive however were aspects of family values – India remained a state of mind.

On this occasion of Heritage Day it would be fitting to reflect on what the terminology ‘Indo-Vincentian’ means to both people of Indian origin as well as to other Vincentian citizens. Unlike Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Suriname with much larger Indian populations who have maintained culture and religion and links with India, for us we have been in the melting pot, the pot has indeed melted over the years, so much so that we are in a distinctly fully integrated society in every sense of the word, except the way we look, which unfortunately sometimes continues to evoke the racial slur of being a ‘coolie’. I have to say this: when someone of Indian appearance says or does something that the other person does not like, that person often lashes out with that ‘coolie’ racial slur. And believe me this bigotry is not confined to people ‘who don’t know better,’ but sometimes emanates from ‘those who should know better.’ Racial prejudice from all groups and individuals is something endemic in our society against which we must constantly fight.

The story of how Indians came to SVG has been told before in these pages. Indians came here by boat as indentured workers between the years 1861-1880, from south India and north India. In all, eight ships brought 2474 Indians between 1861 and 1880, most of whom were Hindus.

It must have been a sight to the natives to watch the scores of strange looking people coming on shore, dressed differently, men in dhotis and loincloth and carrying their meagre possessions tied in a sack. Some would have brought with them their own mementoes from India, a jar, a drum, maybe some seeds like mango and other native plants, oh yes and ganja, the herb of the Ganges! However by 1885, 1141 had returned to India.

The remnants moved off the estates in the early years of the 20th century to establish their own villages.

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 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 St Vincent; absence of Indian school and temple/mosque; change in eating habits; change in dress styles.

In the first place, of the 2474 who came, 1141 returned to India by 1885, and in the post- indenture years (1890s) the Indian population was further reduced by the twin disasters of the devastating hurricane of 1898 and the volcanic eruption of 1902.

As the number of Indians increased in the island, various groups and individuals began to take an interest in their religious welfare and by the late 1860s, Christianity had gained some ground among the Indians so that in 1868, an Indian had risen to be superintendent in a church, and was preaching to his countrymen on Sundays. 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.

Attempts were deliberately made for breaking ties with India several ways and 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. Then too because of limited number there was no Indian school, temple or mosque 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. 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.

Then too 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 up their loincloth. The end result was that very early in the immigration experience Indians were re-socialised into Creole culture and thoroughly Christianised, with the children retaining hardly any Indian names.

These were the changes that were necessary in order to survive and become part of Vincentian society, so today when one identifies as Indo-Vincentian it is simply to say that one is of Indian origin, but in popular talk the Indian is still identified with having certain values and traits such as commitment to family, thrift, and being law abiding.

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 of the hyphen, Vincentian first and foremost. As people of Indian origin we are part of a global network (Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin- GOPIO) 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.

(thomasarnold 025@gmail.com)