The Fluid Lives of First Generation Indo-Guyanese. (2009) Directed by Dr
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CHOWTHI, NATASSAJA M., M.A. Changing Places and Questions of Identity: The Fluid Lives of First Generation Indo-Guyanese. (2009) Directed by Dr. Stephen J. Sills. 105 pp. In the United States today, ‘new immigrants’ are incorporated into American society differently than immigrants of previous migrant waves. These new immigrants are ‘transnationals’ and they are increasingly migrating from the global South, especially from the Caribbean. Shaped by a history of colonialism and globalization that engenders a culture of constant migration, Caribbean identity is fluid, contextual, hybrid and hyphenated. For twice-migrant groups such as Indo-Guyanese--a group that migrated from East India to Guyana, then to the United States--identity must be further redefined. This study explores how the transnational experience shapes the culture and identity (the attitudes, roles, values and beliefs, as well as ethnic identification) for first generation Indo-Guyanese immigrants in Queens, New York. This study utilizes ethnography and in-depth interviews of English-speaking first generation Indo-Guyanese immigrants in Little Guyana, an Indo-Guyanese transnational community in Queens. Findings focus on the experiences of migration and adjustment, community issues in Little Guyana, and the liminal identity of Indo-Guyanese. CHANGING PLACES AND QUESTIONS OF IDENTITY: THE FLUID LIVES OF FIRST-GENERATION INDO-GUYANESE by Natassaja M. Chowthi A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of The Graduate School at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Masters of Arts Greensboro 2009 Approved by _______________________________ Committee Chair © 2009 by Natassaja M. Chowthi APPROVAL PAGE This thesis has been approved by the following committee of the Faculty of The Graduate School at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Committee Chair _______________________________________ Stephen J. Sills Committee Members ____________________________________ Ken Allan ____________________________________ Steve Kroll-Smith ____________________________ Date of Acceptance by Committee ____________________________ Date of Final Oral Examination ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge the faculty of the Sociology Department at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro for their contributions, support and guidance. I would especially like to thank my thesis committee: Dr. Stephen Sills, Dr. Steve Kroll- Smith and Dr. Kenneth Allan. Finally, to Mr. Ralph Tamesh, whose dedication and hard work helped to make this project possible. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES ...............................................................................................................v LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... vi CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................1 II. BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW .....................................6 Historical Background ........................................................................7 Indo-Guyanese Social Identity..........................................................14 Transnationalism ...............................................................................25 III. OUTLINE OF PROCEDURES .................................................................34 Research Design ...............................................................................35 Coding ...............................................................................................38 IV. FINDINGS .................................................................................................41 Little Guyana ....................................................................................41 Migration Experience .......................................................................43 The Ideal America vs. the Reality ....................................................48 Adjusting, Cultural Differences and Race Relations ........................54 Identity ..............................................................................................72 V. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION .......................................................89 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................96 APPENDIX A. INTERVIEW PROTOCOL....................................................................101 iv LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1. Code List..............................................................................................................39 v LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1. Social Processes in Guyana ................................................................................24 Figure 2. Guyanese-Chinese Food on Liberty Avenue ......................................................42 Figure 3. Liberty Avenue ...................................................................................................44 Figure 4. 2000 Census States with the Highest Guyanese Populations .............................46 Figure 5. Women Serving Food at a Phagwah celebration ................................................66 Figure 6. Adults Watch Phagwah Celebration at the Park.................................................68 Figure 7. Youth Celebrating Phagwah at the Park .............................................................68 Figure 8. Young Man on his Cell Phone during Phagwah Celebration .............................71 Figure 9. Rediscovery Tour Banner ...................................................................................78 Figure 10. Teenager Wearing a Guyanese Flag .................................................................79 Figure 11. Man Celebrating Phagwah ...............................................................................81 Figure 12. Traditional Indian Dance Performance during Phagwah .................................82 Figure 13. Powder Shower at the Park...............................................................................82 vi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION From the street, an unusual commotion stirs at the building front on the corner of 138th and 101 Avenue. The melody of a high-pitched harmonium and rhythmic tassa drums, the lingering aroma of tumeric and gheera, and the hum and bustle distinctive of a crowd emerges from beneath a tented arena amidst this usually quiet New York City neighborhood. This stirring festivity signals Phagwah, a Hindu celebration of Holi, the coming of spring. At this time and place each year, Indo-Guyanese immigrants, neighboring residents, and relatives from Canada and the Caribbean congregate in the way that American families come together at Christmastime. Inside the tent, a large audience is gathered. Their faces bear the red-powder that marks the traditional Phagwah celebration. Plates of Guyanese-styled Chinese food rest on their laps. Between eating and watching the dance and musical performances on the stage before them, they greet friends and family with similarly powdered faces and hair. Vivid red and orange colored streamers stretch across the high-vaulted ceiling. Just outside the main performance area, a buffet table awaits hungry newcomers, and a group of teenagers bang large drums in a West-Indian-meets-Indian style rhythm. Several older men join in dance, laughing and motioning for others to join. Tourists and visitors to this scene find a religious and cultural celebration, dance performances, food, music, saris, costumes, flying red powder. The onlooker is 1 momentarily set into an exotic experience of Indo-Guyanese culture, which is a blending of disparate and diverse cultural elements from East India, the Caribbean, Europe and even China. For a moment underneath this tented arena the people bring together the pieces that make up the culture of Indo-Guyanese: a transnational population that migrated from India to Guyana, a culturally-Caribbean, English-speaking South American country, to New York City. These Indians twice removed have made this community their new home-away-from-home. This community known as Little Guyana is situated near the heart of Queens, home to the many ethnic neighborhoods in New York City. Little Guyana provides the services, resources and institutions, the networks, family, familiar food, music, and outlets for local and international news. It has become the largest Indo-Guyanese receiving transnational community in the United States. Victor, a writer whose office sits between the various shops that line the main avenue that forms the backbone of Little Guyana, migrated from Guyana over twenty years ago. From Victor’s office window, one can witness all of the activity on the street. He reflects on the changes he has seen in the community. Every summer I sit on the stoop out there and I would see, I would count, at random, 100 people and 80% of those are new faces. So where they come from, I don’t know but they have been coming, constantly, whether you have local migration from Brooklyn or Manhattan coming to Queens, or from Guyana or Trinidad or wherever. So this society is in real flux. A few blocks down, a neighboring business owner, Paul, is enjoying the company of his co-workers. Paul agrees with Victor. “I see this particular area here as a transient 2 point. Nobody stays here.” Paul and Victor are among the first-generation of Indo- Guyanese who migrated in the early 1970’s, having settled and helped to create