The Indian Diaspora in St. Vincent, Grenada, St. Kitts and Guyana

Indian Arrival Day commemorative magazine 2019

Indo-Caribbean Cultural Centre (ICC) is proud to announce the publication of its latest magazine commemorating Indian Heritage Month (May 2019) in Trinidad and Tobago (Caribbean). The theme of the magazine which marks the arrival of East Indians/South Asians from India to the Caribbean during indentureship (1838-1917) is “The Indian Diaspora in St. Vincent, Grenada, St. Kitts and Guyana.”

After the abolition of slavery in the West Indies/ Caribbean, India became a source of cheap, abundant labour under a semi-slave contract system known as indentureship. By the time the recruitment of indentured workers ended in 1917, about 400,000 Indians came to the Caribbean colonies, most of whom chose to settle in the islands.

2,474 Indians went to St. Vincent between 1861 and 1880, and 1,441 (42%) remained after their contract ended. Today, they comprise only 5,500 (5%) persons of the population. 3,200 Indians went to Grenada from 1857 to 1885 and about 2,720 (85%) of them made the spice island their home. Today, they comprise only 2,157 (2%) nationals.

Only 337 Indians went to St. Kitts in 1861. Their small number was a major contributor to their disappearance, physiologically and culturally. Guyana received the first and largest number of immigrants (239,909) in the Caribbean between 1838 and 1917. Of these, 164,362 (69%) remained after their contract. Today, they play a significant role in the economic, political and cultural life of the country.

May-June 2019

11 x 8 ½ inches

32 pages with advertisements and articles

ISSN 1683-4143

Glossy pages and cover

About Indian Arrival Day in Trinidad and Tobago
Greetings from the Minister of Community Development, Culture and the Arts - Dr the Honourable Nyan Gadsby-Dolly
Greetings from the Acting High Commissioner of India - Charge d’ Affaires Raj Kamal
Indo-Vincentians number about 5,000 (5%) - St. Vincent
“The Argyle Seven” - St. Vincent
93-year-old James Seetaram Woods - St. Vincent
The 2012 Indian Diaspora Conference - St. Vincent
They were left to die in the estates - Grenada
Losing one’s ethnic identity - Grenada
Song of sorrow - Grenada
The 2016 Indian Diaspora Conference - Grenada
Only 337 went – smallest in the Caribbean - St. Kitts
Almost all of the Indians left - St. Kitts
The last ship returned to India in 1955 - Guyana
Highest emigration rate in the world - Guyana
Cricket in the sugarcane plantations - Guyana
The Hindu College in West Coast - Guyana

Kumar Mahabir

is a full-time anthropologist at the University of Guyana (UG) and Fellow of The Eccles Centre for American Studies, British Library (2022-23). He is a former Assistant Professor at the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT). He obtained his Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Florida (UF). As a doctoral student, he won a Florida Caribbean Institute Award, an A. Curtis Wilgus Grant, and an Organization of American States (OAS) Fellowship.
Mahabir received a National Award (Hummingbird Silver Medal) for his contribution to education in his country in 2011. He was among 50 recipients who received a Distinguished Alumni Award from the UWI Alumni Association.
Mahabir is the author of 12 books to date.