Cultural Presentation on East Indians

2. DONE BY:
Allen Miranda
Jesse Garcia
Saira Martinez
Stefphoney Grinage
Trisha Silva
Tania Hulse

3. OBJECTIVES:
(EAST INDIAN CULTURE)
Traditional way of life.
Socio-cultural influence of the
group.
Education past and present.
The impact of education on the
way of life.
The influence of school in the area
on the way of life.
The impact of religion.
The impact of the family on the
way of life.

5. Cultural heritage Transmission of Culture
 Beliefs  Creative art forms
 Ideas  Drawings
 Photographs
 Religion
 Paintings
 Music
 Sculpture
 Dance  Architecture
 Art  Story-telling
 Dress  Music
 Song
 Norms
 Drama and dance
 Values
 Technologies
Ideas and Values

8.  Came in 1858 to British Honduras when the
British Parliament decided to bring over a
thousand Indian mutineers with their wives and
families after the suppression of the Indian
mutiny in India
 However Some were already in the west Indies
since 1838 as indentured workers to fill in for
the freed slaves.
 They were given contracts for up to 5 years after
which they were free to go back or remain.

9.  Most of the East Indian
workers brought to
British Honduras were
from Jamaica.
 They settled in Toledo
where they worked at
the sugar estates
owned by rich
Americans.
 By the 20th
century, many had also
settled in Corozal
working on their own
farms.

10.  Extended Family
 Arranged Marriages (Inter-racial- no courtship)
 Patrilocal residence
 Monogamy is widely practiced
 Patriarchal authority
 Matriarchal household
 Patrilineal
 Male were primary breadwinners
 Gender divide

11. SOCIALIZING
 Language
 The namaste is the traditional greeting
used.
 The early East Indians  It is performed by pressing the palms
used to speak mainly together (fingers up) below the chin, and
Gujariti and Marathi saying “Namaste”
but parents were  To greet superiors or to show respect, a
ashamed of speaking it slight bow is added.
to their children and it  “Hello” and “Hi” are also acceptable
was lost. greetings.
 Out of respect for a woman’s
privacy, East Indian men do not usually
 English is now most shake hands with or touch women in
widely spoken. formal or informal gatherings.
 East Indian men will, however, shake
hands with Westerners, and educated
women may do so as a courtesy.
 It is polite to use titles such as Shri for a
man, Shreemati for a married
woman, Kumari for an unmarried
woman, or the suffix -ji with a last name
to show respect.

12. MARRIAGE

13.  Legal
 Social
 Libidinal
Tying the knot
 Emotional
 Economic
 Spiritual
 Religious

14.  Arranged marriages
were widely practiced
and accepted.
 After marriage the
woman would wear a
red dot on her
forehead called a Mati
but today it is called a
bindi (vermillion –
sindoor).
 Interracial marriages
were originally not
allowed.

15.  They believe the spirits can harm
relatives so the younger children and
family are passed across the coffin three
times.
 On the ninth day a puja, ceremony for the
dead, is held where seven men take food
to the grave and upon their return they
would eat drink and sing until daybreak.

16.  After working on the
sugar plantations they
began growing rice as
well.
 There were several
mills in the Toledo
district but after sugar
prices fell, most
Americans abandoned
the estates.
 Some continued to
produce sugar but on a
small scale.
 Rice became the much
better crop because of
the soil and rainfall in
Toledo.

17.  East Indian food is aromatic
and traditional, employing
flavorings such as Tacari
made from yellow ginger or
curry powder.
 Cohune Cabbage and Dahl
Roti are used as festival
foods.
 Many of the early East
Indians were vegetarians and
ate leaves such as
Maka, meranga, serosee and
greens like siembi and yard
beans.
 They also make Parsad, made
out of flour and
suger, considered holy food
that is shared during worship

18.  Dress
 The Early East Indians
would wear more
traditional clothing but
have now become more
westernized.
 The female would wear
a long skirt, a long
sleeve blouse with a
large headscarf coming
across her shoulders.

19.  Dress
 Chemise – long slop and a
pair of long breeches.
 Sari – which is a single piece
of cloth about six or seven
yards long, which is wrapped
around the waist and thrown
around the shoulder.
 Bindi - Traditionally it is a dot
of red color applied in the
center of the forehead close to
the eyebrows, but it can also
consist of a sign or piece of
jewelry worn at this location

20.  Dress
 The men dress in western
clothing, but a hat is usually
worn to protect them from
the sun.
 For
men the bindi is
known as the tilak
 Menwear it on
auspicious occasions
such as Puja (ritual
worship), or marriage.

21.  The early East Indians had a popular dance called the “Who
se me se” which was performed on special occasions.
Another dance is the Hussein-Hassan, which referred to the
deadly combat between two brothers of the same name.
 Here in Belize, they decorate a temple made from
bamboo, coconut palm and brightly colored paper. Two men
impersonating Hussein and Hassan would dance and fight with
sticks, then they would use machetes and it would end when
Hussein pretended to kill Hassan.
 The music is normally played on drums cymbals and
tambourines.

24.  Early
east Indians found it difficult to
maintain their original culture.
 Themore recent immigrants have been
able to retain some of their culture and
worship in Hindu temples.
 Thebelieve in many gods including the
protector and preserver, the
destroyer, goddess of love, beauty and
wealth.

25. Vishnu
Shiva
Brahma The Destroyer /
The Preserver
The Creator Transformer
Vehicle: garuda (bird)
Vehicle: swan Vehicle: bull
has 4 arms, a blueish
has 4 heads, 4 arms, and a complexion, and rests on a has matted hair, a third
reddish complexion snake eye, a blue throat and a
not commonly worshipped was incarnated (born as an trident in his hand
not to be confused with animal or human) nine times
with one more still to come often worshipped in the
Brahman (the ground of all
being) or the Brahmin is the main god of featureless lingam form
(priestly caste) Vaishnavism is the main god of
Saivism

26. Parvati
Saraswati Lakshmi The Divine Mother
Goddess of Goddess of wealth Vehicle: lion
knowledge, music, and prosperity the reincarnation of
and the arts Vehicle: owl
Shiva's first wife
has many forms, such as
Vehicle: swan wife of Vishnu the popular Durga and
wife of Brahma usually shown Kali (see below); often
sits on a white bestowing coins shown together with
lotus playing a and flanked by Saraswati and Lakshmi
veena elephants as the tridevi ('triple
goddess')

27. KALI
DURGA Goddess of time and
A fiercer form of Parvati
death
Vehicle: tiger
has ten arms holding many Vehicle: donkey
weapons usually portrayed as
dark and violent
Ganesh MURUGAN
God of the intellect God of war
and the remover of Vehicle: peacock
obstacles son of Shiva & Parvati
Vehicle: mouse popular in Tamil areas
son of Shiva & Parvati also known as Skanda
has an elephant's head
KRISHNA
The 8th avatar (incarnation)
SURYA
RAMA
The 7th avatar (incarnation) of of Vishnu God of the Sun
Vishnu usually portrayed as a child pulled on a chariot by
the central figure in the epic story and a prankster; often horses
Ramayana shown playing the flute

28. Swam Sarasvati Puja

29. EDUCATION

30.  Inthe 1800s very few children were attending
school so it was made compulsory for children
up to the age of 14.
 The East Indians opposed these movements
because most schools were Christian and they
feared their children would be converted.
 Another reason for opposing was that it
removed children from working on the estates
which helped to increase family earnings.

31. POSITIVES
 Opened up the doors of the knowledge
 Highlighted evil practices
 Attracted attention of social reformers
 Realization of the worth of liberty and freedom
 Opened doors of education for all
 Given birth to National movement

32. NEGATIVES
 Disintegration
 Rise to unhealthy competition
 Marginalization of males
 Masses remained illiterate
 Discredited traditional occupations
 More stress on rights
 Breakdown of family values