Table Of ContentCHOWTHI, NATASSAJA M., M.A. Changing Places and Questions of Identity:
The Fluid Lives of First Generation Indo-Guyanese. (2009)
Directed by Dr. Stephen J. Sills. 105 pp.
In the United States today, ‘new immigrants’ are incorporated into American
society differently than immigrants of previous migrant waves. These new immigrants
are ‘transnationals’ and they are increasingly migrating from the global South, especially
from the Caribbean. Shaped by a history of colonialism and globalization that engenders
a culture of constant migration, Caribbean identity is fluid, contextual, hybrid and
hyphenated. For twice-migrant groups such as Indo-Guyanese--a group that migrated
from East India to Guyana, then to the United States--identity must be further redefined.
This study explores how the transnational experience shapes the culture and identity (the
attitudes, roles, values and beliefs, as well as ethnic identification) for first generation
Indo-Guyanese immigrants in Queens, New York. This study utilizes ethnography and
in-depth interviews of English-speaking first generation Indo-Guyanese immigrants in
Little Guyana, an Indo-Guyanese transnational community in Queens. Findings focus on
the experiences of migration and adjustment, community issues in Little Guyana, and the
liminal identity of Indo-Guyanese.
CHANGING PLACES AND QUESTIONS OF IDENTITY:
THE FLUID LIVES OF FIRST-GENERATION
INDO-GUYANESE
by
Natassaja M. Chowthi
A Thesis Submitted to
the Faculty of The Graduate School at
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Masters of Arts
Greensboro
2009
Approved by
_______________________________
Committee Chair
© 2009 by Natassaja M. Chowthi
APPROVAL PAGE
This thesis has been approved by the following committee of the Faculty of The
Graduate School at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Committee Chair _______________________________________
Stephen J. Sills
Committee Members ____________________________________
Ken Allan
____________________________________
Steve Kroll-Smith
____________________________
Date of Acceptance by Committee
____________________________
Date of Final Oral Examination
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to acknowledge the faculty of the Sociology Department at the
University of North Carolina at Greensboro for their contributions, support and guidance.
I would especially like to thank my thesis committee: Dr. Stephen Sills, Dr. Steve Kroll-
Smith and Dr. Kenneth Allan. Finally, to Mr. Ralph Tamesh, whose dedication and hard
work helped to make this project possible.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
LIST OF TABLES ...............................................................................................................v
LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... vi
CHAPTER
I. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................1
II. BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW .....................................6
Historical Background ........................................................................7
Indo-Guyanese Social Identity..........................................................14
Transnationalism ...............................................................................25
III. OUTLINE OF PROCEDURES .................................................................34
Research Design ...............................................................................35
Coding ...............................................................................................38
IV. FINDINGS .................................................................................................41
Little Guyana ....................................................................................41
Migration Experience .......................................................................43
The Ideal America vs. the Reality ....................................................48
Adjusting, Cultural Differences and Race Relations ........................54
Identity ..............................................................................................72
V. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION .......................................................89
REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................96
APPENDIX A. INTERVIEW PROTOCOL....................................................................101
iv
LIST OF TABLES
Page
Table 1. Code List..............................................................................................................39
v
LIST OF FIGURES
Page
Figure 1. Social Processes in Guyana ................................................................................24
Figure 2. Guyanese-Chinese Food on Liberty Avenue ......................................................42
Figure 3. Liberty Avenue ...................................................................................................44
Figure 4. 2000 Census States with the Highest Guyanese Populations .............................46
Figure 5. Women Serving Food at a Phagwah celebration ................................................66
Figure 6. Adults Watch Phagwah Celebration at the Park.................................................68
Figure 7. Youth Celebrating Phagwah at the Park .............................................................68
Figure 8. Young Man on his Cell Phone during Phagwah Celebration .............................71
Figure 9. Rediscovery Tour Banner ...................................................................................78
Figure 10. Teenager Wearing a Guyanese Flag .................................................................79
Figure 11. Man Celebrating Phagwah ...............................................................................81
Figure 12. Traditional Indian Dance Performance during Phagwah .................................82
Figure 13. Powder Shower at the Park...............................................................................82
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
From the street, an unusual commotion stirs at the building front on the corner of
138th and 101 Avenue. The melody of a high-pitched harmonium and rhythmic tassa
drums, the lingering aroma of tumeric and gheera, and the hum and bustle distinctive of a
crowd emerges from beneath a tented arena amidst this usually quiet New York City
neighborhood. This stirring festivity signals Phagwah, a Hindu celebration of Holi, the
coming of spring. At this time and place each year, Indo-Guyanese immigrants,
neighboring residents, and relatives from Canada and the Caribbean congregate in the
way that American families come together at Christmastime.
Inside the tent, a large audience is gathered. Their faces bear the red-powder that
marks the traditional Phagwah celebration. Plates of Guyanese-styled Chinese food rest
on their laps. Between eating and watching the dance and musical performances on the
stage before them, they greet friends and family with similarly powdered faces and hair.
Vivid red and orange colored streamers stretch across the high-vaulted ceiling. Just
outside the main performance area, a buffet table awaits hungry newcomers, and a group
of teenagers bang large drums in a West-Indian-meets-Indian style rhythm. Several older
men join in dance, laughing and motioning for others to join.
Tourists and visitors to this scene find a religious and cultural celebration, dance
performances, food, music, saris, costumes, flying red powder. The onlooker is
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momentarily set into an exotic experience of Indo-Guyanese culture, which is a blending
of disparate and diverse cultural elements from East India, the Caribbean, Europe and
even China. For a moment underneath this tented arena the people bring together the
pieces that make up the culture of Indo-Guyanese: a transnational population that
migrated from India to Guyana, a culturally-Caribbean, English-speaking South
American country, to New York City. These Indians twice removed have made this
community their new home-away-from-home. This community known as Little Guyana
is situated near the heart of Queens, home to the many ethnic neighborhoods in New
York City. Little Guyana provides the services, resources and institutions, the networks,
family, familiar food, music, and outlets for local and international news. It has become
the largest Indo-Guyanese receiving transnational community in the United States.
Victor, a writer whose office sits between the various shops that line the main
avenue that forms the backbone of Little Guyana, migrated from Guyana over twenty
years ago. From Victor’s office window, one can witness all of the activity on the street.
He reflects on the changes he has seen in the community.
Every summer I sit on the stoop out there and I would see, I would count,
at random, 100 people and 80% of those are new faces. So where they
come from, I don’t know but they have been coming, constantly, whether
you have local migration from Brooklyn or Manhattan coming to Queens,
or from Guyana or Trinidad or wherever. So this society is in real flux.
A few blocks down, a neighboring business owner, Paul, is enjoying the company
of his co-workers. Paul agrees with Victor. “I see this particular area here as a transient
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