‘They Came in Ships...’ Indo-Caribbean Women and their Construction of Safe Spaces in the Caribbean

Abstract

The perception of the Indian woman in the Caribbean has been one of docility, placidity and subservience, limited by notions of victimhood and subjugation. Much emphasis is often placed on the fact that the women who left India as ‘bound coolies’ were prostitutes, dancers and low caste women. Almost from the beginning of their indentureship, there has been an erroneous assumption that these women were kidnapped en masse or duped into ‘this new system of slavery’ by unscrupulous arkatis. Closer examination of the history has shown that these women who crossed the kala pani or ‘black waters’ were among the most resilient of human beings. Desperate women, in great acts of defiance, resistance and independence, demonstrated their resourcefulness by choosing to travel unaccompanied by relatives to places like Fiji, Mauritius and parts of the Caribbean as indentured labourers. Because of the received perception of Indian women in the Caribbean, there has been a tendency to focus on the fact that they were lured into this ‘new system of slavery’ as well as on their subsequent exploitation on the plantations. As a consequence we have never really considered what the journey meant for these women.