Origins

The Guyanese in Canada trace their origins to Guyana, the former colony of British Guiana located east of Venezuela along the northern, Atlantic coast of South America. Guyana’s population is diverse, consisting of about 50 percent of people of Asian Indian descent; 30 percent of African origin; 12 percent “coloured” (mixed African and European origin); 4 percent Amerindian; and the remainder European (primarily Portuguese) and Asian (Chinese).

The country’s diversity is also reflected in language and religion. Although English is the official language, virtually everyone speaks Creole (Creolese), an amalgam of African dialects with a strong influence of European vocabulary. Many Guyanese of Asian Indian background speak either Hindu, Tamil, or Telagu. Finally, the descendants of the indigenous Amerindian peoples, who for the most part live in the interior of the country and are not integrated with the rest of Guyanese society, speak various Carib, Arawak, or Warrau dialects. About half the entire population is Christian (predominantly Roman Catholic and Anglican), 35 percent Hindu, and 9 percent Muslim.

Guyana is part of a larger, historic territory known as Guyana (an Amerindian word meaning “the land of waters”) that is a roughly triangular-shaped region between the Orinoco, Amazon, and Negro rivers. Today that territory is divided into the independent countries of Guyana (formerly British Guiana), Suriname (formerly Netherlands Guiana), and the overseas territory of French Guiana.

Although Spanish explorers reached Guyana during the last years of the fifteenth century and the English (Sir Walter Raleigh during his search for El Dorado – the mythical land of gold) a century later, it was the Dutch who in 1616 established the first permanent colony. As the colony expanded, the Dutch set up plantations to grow coffee, tobacco, cotton, and eventually sugar. To work the fields, the Dutch brought in thousands of African slaves. The British and French also established colonies along the coast, and throughout the rest of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the three European states struggled with each other for control of the entire region. Finally, as a result of the agreements in 1814 that ended the Napoleonic Wars, historic Guyana was divided into British, Dutch, and French colonies more or less according to the present boundaries of Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana.

In 1834 slavery was abolished throughout British colonies. When the former slaves of Guyana generally chose not to work under the new wage labour system, the authorities implemented a program of indentured labour, whereby an immigrant would repay his or her passage to Guyana by working on plantations for a fixed wage during a five-year indenture period. Between 1835 and 1882, over 30,000 immigrants came from Portugal and the Azores, followed by 15,000 more immigrants from China between 1853 and 1912. After the indenture period was completed, both the Portuguese and Chinese tended to leave the plantations and set up small businesses. Hence, to fill the ever-growing need for plantation labour, the Guyanese colonial authorities between 1838 and 1917 brought from the British colony of India (present-day India and Pakistan) over 240,000 Asian Indians.

Despite their small number, the British administrators and plantation owners set the tone for social relations in Guyana. Before the abolition of slavery in 1834, the field slave had the lowest status, and the newly arrived African slave invariably was assigned the most menial tasks in the fields. House slaves enjoyed better living conditions and were the most assimilated to European values. When slavery ended, the ex-slaves abandoned the plantations and set up free villages.

During the period of the indentured labour system, which functioned from the abolition of slavery until 1917, living and working conditions remained harsh. The Asian Indians were encouraged, however, to retain their Hindu and Muslim religions and therefore a sense of cultural identity. On the other hand, their traditional caste system was changed, since plantation owners treated all Asian Indians equally as general labourers. By the outset of the twentieth century, the social, economic, and demographic structure of Guyana consisted of a socially dynamic and culturally pluralistic society dominated by Asian Indians and Africans, with smaller representations of Portuguese, Chinese, British, and Amerindians.

After World War II, Guyana moved along a difficult path from colony to independent state. The process was marked by frequent political turmoil. In 1953 a new constitution allowed for the colony’s first elections, which resulted in victory for the Communist-oriented People’s Progressive Party. Led by the Asian Indian Cheddi Jagan, this party favoured independence and was Communist in orientation. The British responded by suspending the elected government and the constitution; the latter did not take effect until 1961.

In the interim, the co-founder of the People’s Progressive Party, Linden Forbes Burnham, of African background, set up the rival People’s National Congress, which came to power in 1964 with the help of the British colonial authorities. Two years later Burnham became prime minister of an independent Guyana. Under his direction for the next two decades, the country was transformed into a “Cooperative Republic,” that is, a socialist country in which local and formerly foreign-owned companies were nationalized. Today, most of the country’s economic activity remains directed by the state.