Digitally Documenting The Surinamese Indian Diaspora By Francis C. Assisi

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Scholar-activists, such as Hira Sandew in The Hague, who are involved in the database project, say that it provides the foundation for the process of excavating, reclaiming and reconstructing the history of peoples whose voices have been virtually silent in the traditional historiography.

That’s because most of the historical accounts of "migrating" peoples tend to be depersonalized, alienating and elitist, with many reducing the "migrants" to mere statistics. Personal details on different ethnic groups can assist in sociological analysis; this can help in the reconstruction of ethnic identity and also enable genealogical research by descendants into their family background, thus ultimately facilitating the forging of links between "home" and "Diaspora".

It was with this is mind that those interested in the diaspora project met on November 4th 2005 in a brainstorming session at the home of Sitla and Hira Sandew in The Hague.

In practical terms, the ongoing Netherlands-based Indian Diaspora project initiated by Amrit Consultancy, a Dutch-based private company in IT consultancy, may be viewed as a harbinger of future projects in all countries where PIOs are a significant component.

According to Hira Sandew the projects aims are threefold: Develop a digital infrastructure while providing a theoretical framework for the analysis of ethnic identity in the Diaspora and, sustain a network of people and organizations who are interested in the Indian Diaspora -- researchers, businessmen, organizations and interested individuals.

Already, this historical database has become an important source for those who wish to perform genealogy studies. In addition, for Indian diaspora scholars who wish to study Surinamese Indians, the database forms a source of information that will enable them to perform new studies. Also, statistical analyses may provide a wealth of information on the era concerned.

Truly inspiring is the fact that PIOs in Netherlands, with the help of Amrit Consultancy in the Hague, the Dutch government, and the University of Surinam, have digitized primary documents relating to the Indian diaspora in that part of the world.

Along with Amrit Consultancy, the database is an initiative of the General Public Record Office, and the Institute for Social Scientific Research of the University of Surinam. On this site you will find personal data on Indian contract workers or indentured laborers who came to Surinam in the period between 1873 and 1916.

It turns out that after slavery was abolished in 1863, Surinam urgently needed workforces for the plantations. Between 1873 and 1916, over 34,000 Indians chose to leave their native soil to work in the fields and factories in Surinam. Upon arrival, the personal details of these immigrants were recorded in Immigration Registers. Later on, these registers were provided with additional data.

As part of the Historical Database Surinam Project, the Immigration Registers are being made digitally accessible.

It is a commemoration of the fact that 132years earlier, in 1873, the first ship arrived from British India, bringing the first immigrants to Surinam. The database containing personal details on these immigrants was completed in 1998. At the same time, a publication was issued based on this database. Initially, the database was made available for perusal to visitors of the General Public Record Office only. Today, the database can be accessed from anywhere in the world.

Within the database, the details of each registered immigrant form one record. Each record consists of a number of fields, corresponding to the various types of data that were recorded in the Immigration Registers. Besides physical features such as height, skin color, sex, distinguishing features etc, the following data were recorded for each immigrant: contract number, family name, first or given name, gender, age, Immigration Register, sign-up number, family connection, contract number relative, family connection, contract number relative, family connection, religion / caste, profession, country of origin, district, police station, village, place of departure, name of the ship, date of departure, date of arrival, inception of contract, recruitment agency, place of arrival, planter, plantation, resistance activities, children. In addition, there are a number of data on changes, marriage, family data, departure, bonus received, etc.

The database allows you to search according to personal name, contract number, name of the ship, place of origin in India, or phrases which occur in the memo field. In searching according to personal name, the database reminds users to remember that they may have to try alternate spelling variations, for example: Babu Ram / Baboeram.

The data recorded in the Immigration Registers are partly based on data obtained from the so-called muster-rolls of the ships. The muster-rolls were filled out and kept by the emigration officer in India and handed over to the ship captains in duplicate. The muster-rolls contained the following data: name, given name, gender, age, profession, religion, and the last place of residence of the immigrant.

Unfortunately, not all of the Immigration Registers have been preserved. A number of registers were lost due to the poor circumstances under which the archive records were and are still stored in Surinam today. Moreover, some parts were damaged to the extent that part of the data are illegible. The gaps were filled as far as possible using the information from the folders corresponding to names that occur in the Immigration Registers.

INDIANS IN GUYANA PROJECT

The Surinamese Indians database is already an inspiration for Indians in Guyana. The NY-based Indentureship Database Project (IDP) Secretariat has formulated a working agreement with the University of Suriname for their collaboration on this project.

After slavery was abolished in 1834, to resolve the labor shortage problem on their sugar plantations, the colonial masters in the West Indies (in particular Guyana, formerly British Guiana) turned to different parts of the world - Madeira, the Azores, Malta, Southern United States, Europe, China, West Africa and India - for a cheap source of labor. During the period of indentureship (1935 to 1917) it is estimated that well over 300,000 indentured servants were transported to Guyana from the above-mentioned countries/colonies. The majority of them (approximately 240,000) came mainly from northern India. Most of the records for these immigrants are contained in bound volumes (about 200 volumes in total) and housed at the National Archives, Main Street, Georgetown and are deteriorating rapidly, with the pages coming apart and the ink becoming less visible with the passage of time. If something is not done in the immediate future to preserve these aged records a valuable piece of the history of the Guyanese people would be lost forever.

Digitization (or, scanning) can save these priceless collections. Digital imaging is the process of converting readable materials into a format that can be stored and retrieved electronically. In other words, it is a photocopy of the original document which a person can view on his/her computer screen.

With the revolutionary advances made in information technology today people across the globe can trace their ancestral roots in India and other places of origin. The [archival] records of an increasing number of governments are being created and stored in electronic format, thus making them easily accessible to people regardless of their physical location in the world or the time of day.

Digitizing archival records is important for many reasons. In the first place, digitization provides the opportunity to present the information in a more innovative way - most notably over the Internet. The digital images would enable the Guyana National Archives to share this valuable collection with the Guyanese diaspora and other people around the world. Digitizing makes it possible to bring the sources to the user instead of the user going to the sources.

In the second place, by digitizing the records a shadow archive is being created. If the original sources are lost, there will be another version that can be copied as many times as necessary. Thirdly, digitizing data is a technologically advanced way to preserve the existing records and to ensure their longevity. Users do not have to use the original documents in which case the natural deterioration of the original documents would be delayed.

The IDP has expressed its interest to the National Archives to catalogue, store and preserve the indentureship records digitally. The IDP also indicated its intention to have printed copies of the database for use by those individuals in Guyana who might not have access to the Internet. These can be housed in several locations for easy access - the National Archives, the Public Library, the University of Guyana, to name a few.

Scholars say that the historical database is a key element for individuals (historians, social scientists and students) who wish to carry out genealogy research/studies and patterns of migration. They hope too that statistical analyses would provide a wealth of information to researchers. Another phase of the IDP is expected to focus on an in-depth analysis of the data.

WILL OTHER INDIANS IN THE DIASPORA FOLLOW?

Now that Surinamese Indians and other Indo-Caribbeans are showing the way, will others in the Indian diaspora follow?

For example, the 2.5 million People of Indian Origin in America can make a beginning by charting an Indian-American Historical Society towards the collection, identification and preservation of materials related to the Indian-American experience -- along the lines of the Chinese Historical Society of America and the Japanese American Historical Society.

In setting up their Historical Society, Chinese-Americans explain that they are guided by the following principles: · to establish, maintain, and operate a scientific, literary, and educational organization;

· to study, record, acquire, and preserve all suitable artifacts and such cultural items as manuscripts, books, and works of art or their facsimiles which have a bearing on the history of the Chinese living in the USA;

· to establish a headquarters to enable the display of such items as are acquired;

· to issue papers and publicity pertaining to the findings of the Society; and to promote the contributions that Chinese Americans have made to the USA.

Considering this situation, Indian-Americans -- despite their material wealth -- have yet to come to grips with their history in a systematic and significant way.

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