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J:AF

Caribbean region

Hindus first entered the Americas from India as

settlers in the Caribbean region in the 1840s,

in what are now known as Guyana, Suriname,

and Trinidad/Tobago. Most were poor lower-caste

workers from the states of Eastern Uttar Pradesh

and Western Bihar who were hired as indentured

laborers to work on the British and Dutch sugar

plantations. After their contracts of indenture

ended, most of these workers remained. The

British and the Dutch treated their workers dif-

ferently. The Dutch tended to keep a hands-off

policy toward their Hindu workers, with the

result that Hindus in Suriname tended to main-

tain Hindi as their primary language. The British

attempted to convert Hindus to Christianity and

to change their culture. The result is that Hindus

in Trinidad, Tobago, and Guyana speak primarily

English rather than Hindi. In Trinidad a form of

language known as Plantation Hindi developed,

as expressed in oral histories. Missionaries from

the ARYA SAMAJ countered the Christian mis-

sionaries in the 1940s. In Suriname a small num-

ber of immigrants from Java in INDONESIA, also

introduced as indentured servants, converted to

Hinduism. Today, approximately 27 percent of the

population of Suriname, 34 percent of Guyana,

and 24 percent of Trinidad and Tobago are Hin-

dus. Smaller populations of Hindus live on the

islands of Jamaica, Grenada, St. Lucia, Martinique,

and Guadalupe. All are descendants of indentured

servants and have faced evangelization by Chris-

tian missionaries.

Hinduism in the Caribbean is primarily Vaish-

navite and centers around devotion to the monkey

warrior HANUMAN. Other deities such as SHIVA,

DURGA, KALI, and GANESHA are also recognized. The

primary sacred texts recognized by the laity are not

the VEDAS or the UPANISHADS, but the RAMAYANA and

the BHAGAVAD GITA. Most homes have a small shrine

or prayer house that serves as a site for offerings,

devotion, chanting of BHAJANS, and meditation.

Because of the schedule of plantation work, the

Hindu communities have adopted Sundays as the

weekly time for PUJA. Once a year the communities

gather for the Ramayana Yajna and DIVALI. Arranged

marriages have become the norm among some

communities and serve to join Hindus around tra-

ditional culture. Apart from recognition of BRAHMIN

families and endogamy norms, caste observance has

largely disappeared from the region.

See also AFRICA; DIASPORA.

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