An historic day for East Indians

With dancing and drumming and much celebration, persons of East Indian descent from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Jamaica, as well as persons from India,{{more}} staged a re-enactment of the Arrival of Indians to St. Vincent in 1861 on the MV Travancore.

The re-enactment, which commemorates the 150th anniversary of the Indians’ arrival, took place at the Indian Bay Beach on the morning of Wednesday, June 1, 2011. The morning’s event began at the Young Island Dock as visitors from India, Jamaica, Trinidad, as well as members of the local Indian Heritage Foundation, boarded the catamaran Ragazza III, which played the role of the MV Travancore.

The group then sailed across to the Indian Bay were they were greeted by an official dressed in uniform. Stuart Gill, of Frenches, acted as the official who greeted the Indians when they arrived at the Bay 150 years ago.

According to history, the MV Travancore arrived in St. Vincent and the Grenadines with 260 Indian adults and children on June 1, 1861. They were first taken to Edinboro to be processed and then to Indian Bay.

After all the visitors and locals had arrived on shore and were greeted by the official, they celebrated as they danced to the music of drums, each taking turns dancing with the flag of India.

President of the SVG Indian Heritage Foundation Dr. Junior Bacchus speaking briefly at the event welcomed the regional, local and international participants to the re-enactment. Visitors from the Jamaica as well as Trinidad also brought greetings from the INDO Cultural Union of the Caribbean and Americas.

The SVG Indian Heritage Foundation also held several other events to celebrate Indian Heritage in SVG, including a banquet and award ceremony on May 29, 2011, a friendly cricket match on May 22, 2011 and a mass rally featuring Indian music, dance and cuisine on Wednesday ,June 1.