How Major Migrations Have Impacted Society and Culture in the Caribbean(Akshay Maharaj6S1)

The Caribbean Basin is a multicultural milieu found no where else. Waves of migration culture by the various ethnic groups have shaped its internal dynamics and. From the Indentured servants, forced African migrants to the Indigenous inhabitants, each of these groups has contributed aspects of their cultures that have merged to shape Caribbean society and culture today. The first ethnic group to arrive in the Caribbean was the Ameridians. Their impact on modern day Caribbean society still resonates in places like Trinidad where Ameridian language is still used. This is in reference to areas that they named such as Chaguanas, Baraton and Arima. Practices like basket weaving and body piercings in addition to pepper pot, barbeques, open fire cooking pits and other food styles can still be seen in numerous Caribbean islands. Musical instruments such as flutes and drums which the Indigeans used for religious celebrations and songs are used for the same purposes today in the Caribbean by many mainstream and syncretic religions When Columbus came into the Caribbean, he set in motion a wave of colonization, genocide and slavery. As Europeans colonized the islands, their culture became integrated into society, displacing that of the Indigeans. Europeans created a stratified society in which the whites controlled, keeping the blacks at the bottom even in a parliamentary democracy. Barbados is still a parliamentary system today, in which Britain is the Sovereign Head of State. Their norms also became imbued into society and still reflect in the Caribbean Society today, this includes tea drinking. An education system was also constructed where Christianity was taught to the Ameridians. With their settlement, their languages like Spanish was spread and adopted by people residing in the Caribbean. Other languages that were used include French, Dutch and Portuguese which stem from their colonial masters and they stand as the official languages of these territories today. At the time of the sugar revolution the demand for labour grew astronomically. To accommodate this Africans were forced into the Caribbean by the Europeans in the slavery system of production. Although African culture was strictly prohibited, it still managed to propagate due to the enslaved secretly practicing their ways. As a result religions like voodoo still exist in Haiti. Folklore like Anansi the spider stories were shared through their native tongue along with foods like coo-coo and yam as well as practices like Sou-Sou and best village. When slavery was abolished a new source of labour was used to bring whites and then Indians to work. Indian culture was not banned so it proliferated with greater ease and hence became one of the major cultural influences in the Caribbean. Religions like Hinduism and Islam were freely practiced and still are. Indian Cuisine like sahana and curry are widely popular, in addition to games like chess and clothing like Shalwar, kurtas and saris.

Hybridization took place resulting in a unique form of creolisation synonymous with the Caribbean. This facilitated the creation of syncretic religions like Shouter Baptistism and Orisha in Trinidad and Tobago. Naturally language followed this pattern augmenting the diversity of the region with Hindi, Urdu and even Creole dialect like Patois. Words such as chunkay, neemakaraam hence became part of Trinidadian dialect. Ethnicity of the settlers in The Caribbean Basin also varied even further varied with the settling of Indians in society after Indentureship, alongside the Africans and Europeans. Additionally rice and irrigation procedures were brought by the East Indian. Guyana today cultivates rice for global export. The presence of all these distinctive ethnic groups has constructed a unique sense of Caribbean Identity. The way that the various cuisines, styles of dress, languages, religions and practices of the Ameridians, Europeans, Africans and Indians are intricately woven and mixed together has resulted in a complex cultural web that coherently binds Caribbean society.