The Lost Indians of St. Kitts

Wilbur Adams
President of the Indo-Grenadian Heritage Foundation

Surinam has a lotta Hindus as well ..

but they are Dutch ..

Hmm.... now most of them (~ two-thirds) speak Dutch as their mother tongue. Earlier the majority used to speak the Sarnami language, which is related to Hindi. Now Sarnami is only spoken by the elderly and the middle aged, mostly in the rural areas.


In Suriname, out of the population of some 495,000 around 33% are East Indians (declining due to emigration). There was no organized religious conversion programs by the Dutch, so the Surinamese Hindus represent some 80% of the East Indians. Another 15% is Muslim, while 5% have converted to Christianity. Atheism is growing in number.

Out of the 62 sub-districts in Suriname, 8 are having Hindu majority: Groot Henar (74.71%), Oostelijke Polders (60.59%), Westelijke Polders (62.34%), Calcutta (60.71%), Jarikaba (71.63%), Wayambo (75.52%), Houttuin (53.87%), & Saramacca Polder (62.75%).

There are three sub-districts with Muslim majority: Bakkie (51.00%), Margaretha (56.16%), & Nieuw Amsterdam (54.47%).

In Suriname, not only the East Indians, but also most of the Maroons (escaped slaves) adhere to the traditional religions. There is a large immigration wave from Brazil, and the proportion of Christians have risen dramatically as a result in the Maroon regions.


According to the last census, only around 40% of the population was Christian.

I once read that in Surinam the Dutchman actually learned the language and customs of the Indians in order to 'rule' them.

whereas in Guyana the Englishman forced the Indians to learn english and give up all customs so that they can become like slaves
It's a wonder that Hinduism and Islam did survive in Gy.

Sounds about the same %age for Guyana ! 

I once saw a Brazilian Indo that led me to assume that there was Indo indenture to Brazil as well.

that Indo was a soccer player by the name of AIRTON..who was a member of a Brazilian team brought to Trinidad by Americo Brunner, who was the central figure in a very popular but controversial sports development in Titty in the late 19-sixties.

Brought to Trinidad as coach of the St Benedicts College of Dom Basil Mathews a Trinidad catholic Priest, founder and principal of that college, Brunner literally revolutionized Soccer in Titty, producing a St Benedicts college powerhouse and several outstanding players.

the controversy unfolded when Brunner had to deal with the Titty FA.  Brunner ultimately left but not before he had brought that team with Airton.

I dismissed the Idea of Indenture to Brasil, assuming that Airton must have been a descendant of some disparate Indo migrant to Brasil, probably through GOA...Portuguese India.  but I shud look up probable Indenture to Brasil to if it actually went on ::confused::

Well a lotta escaped Indentureds in Essequibo could have ended up in Brazil  :-\

I recall reading Walter Rodney somewhere said when the escapees were rounded up

and asked where they were headed , they simply answered :

Madras , now renamed Chennai !

[color=rgb(26, 26, 26)]Madras , now renamed Bobice ! [/color]

Nope. It is lower in Guyana.

Guyana:

1980 Census: 
East Indians - 389,760
Hindus - 281,119 (72.13%)
Muslims - 66,122 (16.96%)

1991 Census: 
East Indians - 351,939
Hindus - 251,211 (71.38%)
Muslims - 57,246 (16.27%)

2002 Census: 
East Indians - 326,277
Hindus - 213,282 (65.37%)
Muslims - 54,050 (16.57%)

65 % versus 17 %

dddaaaammmnnnn....

no wonder Guyana in such a mess ...hehehehehe