Research Theme: Emancipation Immigrant Labor on the Sugar Estates

Research Area: Local History

Research Question: What were social conditions of East Indians on a settlement in Vieux
Fort after the implementation of Indentureship up until 1900?

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 Rationale

This SBA is based on the East Indian arrival and settlement patterns in the community of Augier
located in the town of Vieux Fort. I particularly choose this area of research for several reasons.
One such reason being the lack of information published about East Indians in St. Lucia. Much
documentation is done on East Indians in larger countries such as Guyana and Trinidad &
Tobago. There is also a personal interest since I am of East Indian descent and want to find out

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how my ancestors came to the Caribbean and how they adjusted to the conditions. The final
reason for my pursue of this study is to be able to help educate my friends and family on the
conditions that our forefathers faced whilst going through Indentured Labor.

Aims

Aims:

Investigate an East Indian settlement pattern in Vieux Fort from 1850 1900.

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 Interview locals in the community of Augier, to gather information on their ancestry.
Discuss what aspects of the East Indian culture survived up to 1900.

Methodology
Several methods were deployed for collecting data for this School Based Experiment. The first
method used was documentary research which involved visiting the archives, and reading
literature relevant to the study area. The next method which was used was the observations.
Since I currently live in the vicinity to the study area; it was quite easy to make observations on

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the lifestyle and social habits of the residents. Lastly, several Interviews were done both informal
and formal. A formal Interview was conducted with an elderly woman in the community of
Augier.

East Indians set foot in the St. Lucia, West

Indies

The abolition of slavery created a shortage of laborers in the colonies and sugar planters put
acute pressure on the British government, as their economic fortunes went into temporary
decline. To combat the depressed sugar industry market, Britain decided to emigrate a large

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number of East Indian indentured laborers to the sugar producing colonies at the time; such as St.
Lucia. Meanwhile, Thomas Hillham

Conclusion
Slavery was abolished in 1838, creating a dearth of cheap labor on the sugar plantations. To meet
the shortage, East Indian labourers were introduced as indentured workers. In the Vieux Fort area
the Indians eventually settled in village pockets with names like Augier, Pero and Cacoa. Today
the area has the highest concentration of East Indian population on the island, and through
intermarriage and cultural assimilation the Indians have added their sway to St. Lucias cultural
and ethnic mix.

The collected data gives an account of the culture and events of the lives of the East Indians. It
highlights the events which took place in the different communities which they settled in. This
gives evidence that there were settlements of early East Indians in parts of St.Lucia which
Include; Foresteirrie, Marc and Vieux-Fort. It also states that there are remnants of their culture
which still remain today.

Most of the Indians never returned to their mother land

Most of the Indians who left their motherland, had no concept of where they were going, the
length of the journey at sea or the harsh conditions they would endure crossing the great oceans.
They did not realize that they would never see their motherland and their families again as many
had planned to return home with their savings. Unlike the Africans who were kidnaped, chained
and forced into slavery, most of the Indians boarded the ship by choice, however, many were also
tricked and lied to, as quotas had to be met by the recruiters recruiting laborers for the British to
work in the New World.

The Indians arriving in the New World called themselves Jahan or People of the Ship,
referring to the ships that brought them across the oceans to the Americas. The British had
labeled the indentured Indians as coolies, instead of Indian contract workers. In general,
Coolie is a word used for indentured laborers or cheap labor. In places like Cuba, California and
China, the word coolie was used for contract laborers, such as the Chinese coolies who had
worked under the indentured system in these countries. Generally speaking, all indentured
laborers to Guyana, which includes the Germans, Irish, English, Portuguese, Chinese and East
Indians are coolies, however, the world coolie got stuck with the East Indians who were by
far the largest of the indentured laborers. These laborers out lasted all the other groups on the

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sugar plantation, due to their ability to endure the heat and the ability to work extremely hard
under the given conditions.

Living conditions on the Plantation was harsh

The living conditions for the Indians on the sugar plantation were appalling and workers were
compelled to work 12 hours a day, whether it rained, or shined or whether they were sick. The
Indians lived in barrack type buildings, 100 feet long and divided into 10 feet long sections
where there was an extra 6 feet added on to the width to put a kitchen area. One family was

Appendix
Autobiography on Elderly Women residing in the Augier Community

I was born in 1927 to parents which were former Indentured Laborers. Both my
parents came from Calcutta, India. As a young girl growing up in Vieux Fort I always
realized that people of East Indian descent within the southern part of the island
mainly resided in the community of Augier; the same area in which I have lived all
my life. Our forefathers came mainly from the lower castes but amongst them were
a small percentage of the artisan and agricultural castes. A very small percentage
from the Brahmans and higher castes came and it must be noted that a very small
number of Muslims found themselves amongst their Hindu compatriots. I also found
that us Indians or coolies as we were called by the negroes were shunned by
African persons, but this is not so anymore. Up until my late adolescent years my
family and I lived small house mainly comprising of wood and galvanize sheets
obtained from the ruins of some plantations. This was the case with several of the
residents.

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In the Augier area houses were a fair distant apart and everyone used a outdoor
toilet and bath. Roads were virtually non existent since persons were too poor to
afford vehicles. The primary mode of moving large objects would be a donkey cart.
As a little girl I remember icicles would be sold from a vender who used a donkey
cart. Pipe Borne water and electricity were foreign to my area. When dishes had to
be washed, I would normally go down to the river to fill up two buckets. The river
would sometimes be a place of gathering. My mother along with other East Indian
women in the community would go there to wash clothes. Here East Indian women
used the time to chit chat and exchange the daily gossip.

Since there were barely any schools on Island my Education life stopped at a
Primary School level. The school I went to was not really a building dedicated to
academic purposes. It would be at some ones house and a session for a day would
be no greater than three hours. Notes were never taken since we couldnt afford
anything to write on. After finishing school I worked at my mothers seamstress
shop which was just a small extension of our house. Most girls assumed a role which
assisted their mother until marriage. We did not have arranged marriages but our
parents blessing played a strong role in determining our future spouse.

After getting married, I stopped working at my mothers shop and became a full
time house wife whiles my husband was a farmer. Together we had four children
which was normally the average amount for persons in the community.

Prior to the 1950s there were plenty of East Indians in the area but, as more
educational and job opportunities arose elsewhere quite a number of persons
migrated and the community of Augier now has a more diverse racial profile.

Bibliography
William Claypole, John Robottom, Caribbean History: Independence,
Book 2. Pearson Education Limited, England: Edinburgh Gate, Harlow,
Essex, 2009.

Grayman Folsman, Colony to Third World. Royals Publishing House, Dublin, Ireland,
2003.

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 Jolien Harmsen, Sugar, Slavery & Settlement. St. Lucia National Trust,
St. Lucia: Pigeon Point, Gros-Islet, 1999.

St. Lucia National Archives Authority

St. Lucia National Trust

Thelma Chitole, Augier Resident

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