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Gender Negotiations Among Indians in Trinidad 1917-1947 :I¥ Gender Negotiations among Indians in Trinidad 1917-1947 :I¥ | v. I :'l* ^! [l$|l Yakoob and Zalayhar (Ayoob and Zuleikha Mohammed) Gender Negotiations among Indians in Trinidad 1917-1947 Patricia Mohammed Head and Senior Lecturer Centre for Gender and Development Studies University of the West Indies rit in association with Institute of Social Studies © Institute of Social Studies 2002 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T4LP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2002 by PALGRAVE Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE is the new global academic imprint of St. Martin's Press LLC Scholarly and Reference Division and Palgrave Publishers Ltd (formerly Macmillan Press Ltd). ISBN 0-333-96278-8 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Cataloguing-in-publication data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. 10 98765432 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 Printed and bound in Great Britain by Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham, Wiltshire For my parents Ayoob and Zuleikha Mohammed and for Elisabeth Mulder This page intentionally left blank Contents L ist of Tab les and Figures x i Glossary xiii Acknowledgements xx 1 Introduction 1 Introduction 1 Indian Migration to Trinidad 4 The Idea of an Indian Community in Trinidad 6 The Centrality of Gender in Identity Formation 9 The Concept of Gender Negotiation 12 ^ Crossing the Black Water: 1 From India to Trinidad, 1845-1917 17 Introduction 17 Ideological Hegemonies of Gender in India 19 Contestation of Ideological Hegemonies in India 23 Anti-colonial and Anti-patriarchal Struggles in India 25 The Context of Migration from India 29 The 'Indian Woman Question' 37 The First Negotiations 40 Caste and gender pollution 40 Female reproduction and production 42 Freedom and constraints within estate life 44 Interracial liaisons and violent retaliations 44 Female responses 46 The Twice Outcaste Sex 47 vn viii Contents ^ Gender in the Definition of Indian Identity in Trinidad 54 Introduction 54 The Colonial Order 55 Statutory Definitions of Difference within the Colonial Order 59 The Anti-colonial Discourse in Trinidad 62 The Indo-Trinidadian Nationalist Struggle 63 The Markers of Indian Ethnic Difference in Trinidad 69 Entrances and exits 69 Indian attitudes to the new society 73 Visual markers 75 Language and identity 77 Cultural Stereotypes 79 The Home versus the World: The Centrality of Gender 80 Preservation of the Race 83 4 Gender Dynamics in the Making of Community 92 A Steady Labour Force 92 From Estate Labour to Land Acquisition: Relocating Community 104 Family Strategies 115 Conclusion 125 Appendices 4.1 Map of lots sold to villages of Lengua Village and surrounding areas 127 4.2 Map of sugar and cocoa estates in Trinidad in the 19th and early 20th centuries 128 4.3 Map of main towns and villages in the 19th and early 20th centuries in Trinidad 129 4.4 Report of the Wages Committee of 1920 131 c The Reconfiguration of Masculinity and Femininity: Negotiating with Myth and Symbols 134 Introduction 134 Continuities and Correspondence 13 7 Transmitters of Myth and Symbol 142 Ritual religious occasions 142 Contents IX Orality and transmission of gender ideology 149 Transmission through literary sources: Newspapers, lectures and debating societies 154 Heroes and heroines of the silver screen 159 Negotiating with Symbols of Patriarchy 165 Patriarchal Symbols 168 Conclusion 174 Renegotiating Sexuality 175 Introduction 175 Colonial Attitudes to the Sexuality of Indians 177 Christian Missionary Attitudes to Indian Morality and . _- Sexuality Colonial and Christian Morality 185 The Attitude to Indian Sexuality in Creole Trinidad 186 Negotiation of Sexuality among Indians 188 Violent confrontations 188 Village sanctions and control 190 Female Responses 194 Male Responses to a Subverted Patriarchy 202 Male Control of Female Sexuality 208 Conclusion 213 Family, Marriage and Love 215 Introduction 215 Nata Ke Bhai to Pariwaar: The Recreation of Family and Kinship Systems 217 Internal Affairs: Marriage Negotiations in the Indian Community 226 The arrangement of marriages 227 Negotiating intimacy and gender relations in child marriages 231 Breakdown in arranged marriages 233 Successful arrangements 234 Education and the deferral of arranged marriages 238 From Respect to Romantic Love 247 Compromises Between Parents and Children 258 Conclusion 260 x Contents 8 The Troubled Legacy of History and Love 262 Notes 270 Bibliography 299 Index 312 List of Tables and Figures Tables No. Title Page 1.1 Main components of the population of Trinidad, 1911 and 1921 3 2.1 Percentages of male and female arrivals for each decade, 1840-1917 37 2.2 Sex ratio of males per 1000 females, 1891-1946 38 2.3 Proportion of women to every 100 men among emigrants from Calcutta to Trinidad, 1900-17 38 4.1 Birth, death and natural increase rates, per 1000 of population, 1921-45 101 4.2 Local and Indian-born Indian population in Trinidad 102 4.3 Settlement of free Indians on land and nature of cultivation (selected years) 117 4.4 Domestic and subsistence expenditure for single and married men per fortnight in Trinidad dollars 124 6.1 Prosecutions for crimes related to sexual misdemeanours (selected years) 180 6.2 Distribution of male and female Presbyterian, Hindu and Muslim Population, 1911 and 1921 197 6.3 East Indians and East Indian Creole population 206 XI Xll List of Tables and Figures Figures No. Title Page 1.1 Distribution (as a percentage) of the Trinidad population and of the Indian sector, 1921 2 1.2 Postcard of Indian village hut and field in British West Indies circa early 20th century 5 2.1 Map of India in 1856 showing British Territory, major divisions and main towns and rivers 32 2.2 Areas of origin of Indian migrants in Trinidad 33 2.3 Love's New Victim and model of middle-class propriety 42 3.1 Examples of East Indian dress 76 5.1 Shiva Lingam - Stone phallus in front of a house in Felicity 135 5.2 Traditional Ohrni worn with western-style dress by the two women 138 5.3 Indian pundit 140 5.4 An Indian film advertisement 159 6.1 The control of female sexuality in the post-indenture period was effected by males as well as by older females 191 7.1 Traditional Indian wedding 228 7.2 Indian couple married in the western style 235 Glossary Aaja/Aja. Paternal grandfather. Ahir. Caste of gardeners. Anchar. Hot pickle. Anuloma. Refers to marriage between an upper-caste boy and lower-caste girl. Arya Samaj. A Hindu reform movement. Asubh. Inauspicious. Baigan. Eggplant. Bania. Hindu merchant caste. Barahi. Celebration observed on the 12th day after the birth of a baby. Barka. Husband's eldest brother. Bed. Daughter. Bhagwat. Colloquial reference to a series of public meetings in which the sacred text, the Bhagavad Gita, is read and interpreted. Bhaji. Any cooked leafy vegetable, e.g. spinach. Bhai. Brother. Bhania. Hindu merchant caste. Barat/Baraat. Wedding procession. Bhowji. Wife of one's older brother. Bodi. Variety of string beans. Brahma. God of Creation. Together with Vishnu (the God of Preservation) and Shiva (the God of Destruction) this trinity is known as the Trimur- thy. Brahmin. Priestly caste. Brahministic mythology. On which metaphysical and ritual culture was built in India. xin XIV Glossary Carhi. Sauce made of gram flour. Caste endogamy. Marriage within one's caste. Caste system. An organization of social life which ranks individuals hier­ archically according to an ascribed ritual status. Chachi. Father's sister. Chamar. Caste of leather workers, held in very low esteem since it was linked with the killing of the sacred animal, the cow. Channa. Chick peas. Chhatti Celebration observed on the sixth day after birth of a baby. Child Marriage Prevention Act. Passed in India in 1928, as a result of agitation by women at the first session of the All-India Women's Con­ ference held in Poona in 1927. Chillum. Pipe in which cannabis is smoked. Chuhras/Sudras. Members of a lowly caste. Conchshell. Seashell used for ritual purposes. Coolie. In Trinidad, this was the colloquial, derogatory term of reference applied to Indians. Cuchela. A form of pickle. Dahi. Yoghurt. Datwan. A piece of strong vine (or twig) used as a toothbrush. Dayabhaga. Dated around the 12th century AD. Deyas. Small clay lamps filled with oil and a wick. Dal. Lentils cooked as a sauce to accompany rice. Staple food of Trinidad Indians. Dharma. Set of moral obligations set out in the Hindu scriptures, which lay out guidelines for caste-related behaviour. Dharmashastras. Ancient texts. Dhoti. Loincloth used by Indian males in place of trousers. Divali. Hindu festival of lights. Dougla. Person of mixed Indian and African descent. Dua. Prayer (Arabic-Islam). Duhsasana. Character from the sacred text, the Mahabharata, the most wicked of the Kaurava brothers. Dulaha. Bridegroom. Glossary xv Dulahin. Bride.
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