DID YOU KNOW?
This section contains motley group of Jamaican Heritage trivia. Items that we think are important but fall into no particular category. We hope you will enjoy browsing them.
The People Who Came
Our rich Jamaican heritage is depicted by our motto "Out of Many One People". Although over 90% of our population is comprised of individuals of African descent, the contribution of other ethnic groups such as the Indians, the Chinese, the Germans, the Jews, and the Syrians/Lebanese to the social and economic development of the country cannot go unnoticed.
AFRICANS
The first Africans arrived in Jamaica in 1513 as servants to the Spanish settlers. These Africans were freed by the Spanish when the English captured the island in 1655. They immediately fled to the mountains where they fought to retain their freedom and became the first Maroons.
With the advent of the Sugar Revolution, there was an acute labour shortage. This need was met by large scale importation of enslaved Africans. The result of the slave trade was that the majority of the Jamaican population was of African descent. From the time of the Africans arrival to the New World, there was miscegenation, leading to the rapid development of a coloured population.
The abolition of the British slave trade in 1807 did not mean that people of African origin no longer came to the island. In fact during the apprenticeship period (1834-1838) and in 1839, a number of persons of African descent came to Jamaica as free labourers. Also, in the following 25 years about 10, 000 free labourers of African origin came to the island.
The chief survivals of African culture are said to be in the parishes which had the largest number of these voluntary workers. For example, the kumina ritual of St. Thomas is one of the best known surviving rituals.
INDIANS
The East Indians are the largest ethnic minority in Jamaica. They arrived as indentured labourers between 1845 and 1917. The Indians came to Jamaica to earn a "fortune" for starting a better life back in India.
It has been noted that the religious sentiments of the Indians were not considered by the recruiting authorites, because, the majority of these immigrants were Hindus, followed by Muslims, yet priests were never recruited to satisfy the religious needs of the Indians. The priests who arrived came as indentured labourers and practised their preisthood as a part-time profession.
At the end of the indentureship contract, many Indians reverted to their ancestral occupations, some became farmers or fishermen, while others returned to the trades - barber, goldsmith and ironsmith. Some became money lenders.
The traditional Indian practice of naming the the boys after gods and heroes and the girls after godesses, rivers, flowers, seasons, moods, or words of great significance have now been completely abandoned. Almost every Indian regardless of his or her religion has anglicized first and second names; the surnames too have been changed except for names such as Maragh and Singh.
The Indians introduced several plants and trees in Jamaica, the most common being betel leaves, betel nut, coolie plum, mango, jackfruit, and tamarind. The food habits of Indians have a distinctly Indian flavour and taste. A typical Indian dinner consists of curried goat, roti, pulses usually cooked with mangoes, curried potato, eggplant, bitter gourd and okra.
CHINESE
The Chinese represent a very small proportion of the Jamaican population, nevertheless, their impact has been great particularly in the area of commerce.
The first Chinese arrived in 1849. The Chinese were brought as indentured labourers to work on the sugar estates following the the emancipation of the slaves. However they disliked the nature of the work and soon left the left the estates and set up small grocery shops all across the island. Eventually they were able to develop their businesses until the small grocery shops grew into large enterprises embracing not only retailing, but also wholesaling and other types of activities.
Although some Chinese went back home to marry Chinese wives who they brought back to Jamaica, others inter-married with non-Chinese Jamaicans contributing to the island's racial mixture.
Apart from the development of commerce, the popularity of Chinese food among Jamaicans is a lasting contribution to the island.