Indenturedship Database Project

42 Cedar Lane

Apt 7A

Ossining, NY 10562



August 21, 2003



Dear Editor:



Indenturedship Database Project (IDP) is a non for profit organization registered in New York that is keen in digitalizing the indentureship records of the Chinese, Indian and Portuguese Immigrants who came to Guyana. We hope to again educate the government and people of Guyana about our aims and objectives and have outlined the benefits this will be to the country.



After at least three correspondents and meeting with Ms. Gail Texeira whose portfolio falls within this sphere, there is no approval or disapproval of the project. Thus, we can’t proceed however, the indentureship records (immigration passes, marriages certificates, birth of immigrants and land allotted to immigrants) are perishing at GPO and the National Archives. I am aware that the Archives is doing all it can to protect these treasures, and it is much appreciated by the public.



Ms. Texeira first sent us to the Archives Committee, and we had a conversation with Dr. Rose who saw the merits of the project. We were told that due to the size of this project we need government’s approval. When I met with Ms. Gail Texeira in 2002 she did have “problems” with the project. To be specific, she found an “Indian” project a problem, and quickly I reminded her that we are interested in digitalizing all the records. She then indicated that these are private information and this issue will be taken to cabinet. She wanted more details. Another correspondence was sent to her full of details (see attached). Again in 2003 we wrote to the government again. We are still waiting to hear from the government. 





The benefits of this project to Guyana is enormous. Briefly, by digitizing the data a shadow archive would be created, just in case the original documents are misplaced or damaged so that there will be a backup version that can be copied as many times as is needed. Also, digitizing the data would preserve the existing records in a much more enhanced format and for a longer period. This medium would mean that users do no necessarily need to refer to the original documents, so the natural deterioration of the archive materials can be delayed.



Project Dossier/MOU
IDP is not an Indian Project@ as clearly shown in our Project Dossier. A copy of the Dossier was left with your Secretary by our IDP representative when she visited your office in early April 2002 seeking an audience with you, but she was informed by your Secretary that you were busy since you were preparing for the contingent of visiting UK officials and that she should speak with Dr. James Rose since he was in charge of the Archives (our IDP representative complied with your suggestion). One correspondence from me may have had the world Indian@. Our Dossier explains the project in detail. We also forward copies of a Memorandum of Understanding in May 2002 indicating our intention to undertake this venture. And another letter in September of 2002.




Private/Public Information
These records are public information and anyone can access them by going to the National Archives in Guyana. After 160 years of Indenturedship, these records are not private. Are there backup copies of these records? God forbids that something horrible should happen to these records at the Archives. In Suriname, these records are now on line and we hope that ours will be too just as soon as we get your approval (and the Cabinet=s) and the project can commence without any further delays or glitches.



Your letter to us
In your letter to us, you inform us that you have referred our project to the Archive Committee. Dr. Rose is familiar with our project and has been in contact with our representative in Guyana.



Funding
Funding will come from public donations, and we can only commence mobilizing funds after we receive precise answers from your government. We are not seeking money from the Government of Guyana for this project, just approval to gain access to the Indentureship records. This is not a moneymaking business for us but an academic mission mainly to create a shadow archive using the technology available to us today. (Nothing is going to be sold to the public). Also, I am pleased to inform you that we have finally received confirmation of the US Department of Education=s approval of the IDP B non-profit status.





Questions
I have tried to answer some of your questions, if you have any additional questions or need further clarification please feel free to convey them to us as soon as possible. We are willing to accommodate your needs and to work with you to the best of our ability given some of the constraints that we might be faced with, please let us know what they are. Many Cabinet Members are familiar with our goals. We would like to begin this project as soon as possible and look forward for a timely response. Time is not a luxury for us since these records are fast deteriorating.


Sincerely Yours,





I went to guyana and I did an inventory of our records:

At the GPO are:

Birth of Indian Immigrants in British Guyana
Marriages of Indian Immigrants in British Guyana
Land Allotted to Indian Immigrants in British Guyana

National Archives

Immigration Certificates

NOTE:

By going to GPO and getting your grand or great grandparents info u can get the rest that came from India; its easy people don't know; just give them the names, place and date of birth of your grandparents or if your father is above 70 is will be helpful.

ray

please post this

thanks

ray s. chickrie 
Analysis of sample data taken from two ships' logs of the Indentured records revealed the following portrait of some of the individuals who boarded the ships bound for Guyana. Upon registration, the Indentured laborers were assigned two identification numbers - (1) a depot number; and (2) a number in the ship's register.

a) SS Ganges: sailed from Calcutta in the latter half of 1909
The records for twenty-nine (29) laborers were extracted from this log. Of these 29 individuals - 21 were males and eight (8) females, including one husband and wife (Autar - age 19; and Banyadi - age 18; depot numbers 1159 and 1158 respectively) and a married female - the record of her husband was not extracted, (the male/female ratio was close to 3:1). Among this group of laborers, there were six (6) children, of whom 4 were boys and 2 girls, their ages ranged from one (1) to nine (9) years old. Of the 23 adults, the majority were in their early 20s - 13 of whom were between the ages of 20 to 24 years old; three (3) were in their late 20s (i.e., 26; 27 and 28); and four (4) were teenagers -- two 18 years old and two 19 years old. Also, almost all of these adults were very short, with only five of them reaching between the height of 5' 6½" to 5' 9½" and the other 18 reaching from 4' 11" to 5' 5".

The majority in this sample group were Muslims, totaling eight (8) one of whom was a Pathan - Abdulla Khan, age 21, depot number 889, from Allahabad. There were four Ahirs (herders); three chamars; one Thakur (landowner); one Brahmin and a mix from these other castes - Dom, Jat, Kachhi, Kewat, Kahar, Koiri, Kunbi and Musahar. (NOTE: the musahars were field laborers whose wages were paid in cash or in kind according to the traditional custom in the villages in India - in other words one can conclude that the Indians by nature of the work in their new "homeland" were musahars in the true meaning of the word). With the exception of five of the six kids all of the adults suffered from scars on various parts of the body (the questions that first came to my mind when I noticed this trend was -- is this an indication of some ritual of passage into adulthood or were these as a result of "tribal" warfare?).

Finally, these 29 individuals came from the following villages -- 7 from Cawnpur; 5 from Gorakhpur; 3 from Gonda; 2 from Delhi; 2 from Basti and one each from - Agra, Alipur, Bahraich, Barabanki, Benares, Bitapur, Fyzabad, Jaipur, Kheri and Lucknow.

b) The Bruce: sailed from Calcutta in the latter half of 1889
In this case, thirty-one (31) names were culled from The Bruce's log. Of these records, twenty-three (23) were males and eight (8) were females (the male/female ratio was close to 4:1). In this group, there were two children, both female ages two and 10. Again only two persons were married, the records - one male (Lilla, age 22, height 5' 2", wife's name Chamni, Caste Kumhar, from the district of Gaya, depot number 3271, number 24 in ship's register); and one female (Kunti, age 30, height 4' 10½", husband's name Mangru, Caste Kurmi, from the district of Basti, depot number 3386, number 713 in ship's register). The records for their wife and husband respectively, were not extracted. In this group of 29 adults - five were 18 years old; seventeen of them were in their early 20s; three in their late 20s; and four were 30 years old. The height for four of the adults were not stated, and the height for the other 25 adults range from 4' 5" to 5' 7½" the majority of them measuring up on the shorter side.

The caste for two persons were not recorded - that of Sewtohul, age 30 from the district of Shahabad, depot number 3806, number 7 in ship's register; and Shiwdar, age 20 from the district of Barabani and whose next of kin was stated as Ahmad Hossain (which is a Muslim name and does not mesh with Shiwdar this is probably a case of a child from one of the Hindu caste who was raised in a Muslim household). Of the remaining laborers, four were Muslims, four were Kurmi, three were Koiri, three were Ahir; three were Thakur; two were Mali, and the rest were from the following castes - Gararee, Kachhi, Karan, Khandoo, Kumhar, Kunbi, Lodha, Mallah, Musahar, and Pasee. Just like the laborers on the SS Ganges, 21 of the adults on The Bruce also displayed scars on various parts of their body (back, palm, belly, elbow, forehead, arm, calf, cheek, eye, finger, foot, knee, shoulder, thigh, lip, shin, and chest). Also, six of the adults showed signs of having suffered from either smallpox or chicken pox.

NOTE: The weight of the laborers was not stated in either of the ships' log, however, based on the available information the images drawn from the sample data of these men and women conjured up a portrayal of very small-framed people and one can easily picture them in their mind's eyes toiling in field in the hot sun cutting/loading the sugarcane … no easy task for such "weak" people according to some people's definition.

By BK
2002
IDP