AFRICAN SLAVERY IN SAINT
LUCIA WAS REPLACED BY INDIAN
INDENTURED LABOR
.
Photo Credit:
14
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/blackhistory/india/docs/coolies.htm
Following the abolition
of slavery, the British
colonies switched to
Indentured Labor from India and
China to replace the African slaves.
Indentured labor is a cheap labor
program where workers are bound by
contracts stipulating that their labour
is given to a specific employer for a
fixed period of time.
So, in the 19th century, Indian
laborers started arriving in the
Caribbean to work on the sugar
plantations. On May 6th, 1859, the first
Indians arrived in Saint Lucia to begin
their typically 5-10 year
apprenticeship. During that period, a
total of 4,427 Indians were brought in.
https://repeatingislands.com/2009/05/07/s
t-lucia%e2%80%99s-indian-arrival-day/
With promises of riches, what they got
instead was much abuse and low
wages.
At the end of their contracts, some
Indians made St.Lucia home, 2,075
were repatriated to their native India
and some others migrated to other
colonial territories with larger Indian
populations. By 1895 there were only
721 indentured Indians in St. Lucia.
Today, Indians make up about 2.4% of
the island's population.
The system of indentured labour was
abolished in 1917.
Indian Arrival Day is observed all over
the Caribbean from May - June. In
Saint Lucia, Indo-Caribbean Day is
May 6th.