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Created by: Bachan, Abigail. "Family Tree". 10 Feb., 2017.

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Figure 2 & 3: Pictures of myself wearing traditional Indian clothing.                  

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Figure 2 & 3: Pictures of myself wearing traditional Indian clothing.                  

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Figure 2: Bachan, Abigail. Original Picture. 19 Feb., 2017
Figure 3: Bachan, Abigail. Originial Picture.Diwali. 29 Oct., 2016
Figure 2                                                Figure 3

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Figure 4: Picture brought from India by an Indian Indentured Labourer

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Figure 4: Picture brought from India by an Indian Indentured Labourer

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Bachan, Abigail. Original Picture. 12 Nov. 2017

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Figure 6: Selfies of UWI students from the Caribbean Civilization WhatsApp Group currently doing this course.

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Figure 6: Selfies of UWI students from the Caribbean Civilization WhatsApp Group currently doing this course.

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Bachan, Abigail. Caribbean Civilization WhatsApp Group. 21 April 2017

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"Susan Mains Caribbean Dancing Girls." Susan Mains Gallery. N.p., 13 Sept. 2012. Web. 21 Apr. 2017. <https://artandsoulgrenada.com/2012/09/13/susan-mains-caribbean-dancing-girls/>.

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The first sets of people that were brought by the Europeans into the Caribbean were White Indentured Labourers, African Slaves, and Indian Indentured Labourers. "Indentured labourers were brought into the Caribbean to provide a workforce that would replace the African slaves" (The Impact of Indentured Labourers on Caribbean Society). The identity of Indians was shaped by the traditions/cultural norms that they brought with them from India. The Identity of Indian Indentureship in the Caribbean is characterised by their ancestry, shaping the caribbean identity, religion, education, and music.

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Entry #1: Unit 2: Defining a Caribbean Civilization                        February 8, 2017  

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Entry #1: Unit 2: Defining a Caribbean Civilization                        February 8, 2017  

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Self-evaluation of learning for the semester.
Learning Objective: Appreciate Caribbean Civilisation as a unique and equal world civilisation.(Incorporated part of Learning Activity 2.1)
"I am the sum total of my ancestors"
2. Family Tree
From doing this family tree, refer to figure 1, I've learned the names of my great grandparents. I learned that my maternal grandfather's last name was actually Jaglal but he took Ramlakhan as his last name. In Hindu culture the oldest son was supposed to take their father's first name as their last name.
I also learned that my paternal grandmother doesn't know her father's real name. My grandmother's father died when she was only 7 years old. She had to learn about her parents through oral history. My grandmother told me that when her father was young, his brothers used to beat him, so he ran away. He started working somewhere and he changed his name to Ram Samaroo, so if anyone came to look for him and ask for him by name, they wouldn't be able to find him.

The Indians who migrated from India, brought with them their religion and culture (East Indians in Trinidad). During this period, they handed down their rituals and lifestyles to their children and hundreds of years later, the Indian culture is still flourishing in the Caribbean. I have come to realize that I may have many other relatives that I am unaware of because of the name changes that occurred in my family's history. The family tree has given me a sense of where I came from, this leads me to figure out who I am.

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Entry #2: Unit 6: Caribbean Identity: Defining a Caribbean Self. Learning Activity 6.1: Who Am I?                                                                      March 8, 2017 

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Entry #2: Unit 6: Caribbean Identity: Defining a Caribbean Self. Learning Activity 6.1: Who Am I?                                                                      March 8, 2017 

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Application of learning in Caribbean Civilisation, to students’ understanding of their social or geographical environment.
Learning Objective: Analyse how four issues surrounding the formation of the Caribbean may relate to yourself.
Self identity is defined as a global understanding that a person has on himself (Andrew Dobson). Four main issues that surrounded the formation of the Caribbean were differences in race, class, gender, and ethnicity.
Four words that would describe my identity would be Trinidadian, Female,  Indian, and middle-class.  Learning about my ancestry has given me a bit more information of my identity. Being a female in an Indian family is challenging at times because unlike males, females are not allowed to go out freely and are monitored closely by parents. Being middle-class allows me to have certain opportunities and live a certain lifestyle that lower-income families cannot provide. As a Trinidadian, my lifestyle is influenced by both the Western culture and by my East Indian culture.
Figures 2 & 3 are pictures of myself wearing traditional Indian attire. These types of clothing are sold in Trinidad by Indians from India. We call these places expos. The expo is very popular in Trinidad because it is one of the few places where you will find this kind of clothing and Indian accessories. When we, as Trinidadians, go to the expo we are easily identified from the Indians. We are not only different in the way we speak but in the way we behave and what we are accustomed to.
Caribbean Identity is different from an Indian or African Identity.  If an Indian from the Caribbean goes to India, we would feel out of place, in the same way as if an African from the Caribbean goes to Africa they would also feel out of place. We will feel this way because even though our ancestors were originally from these places, we've created our own lifestyle and we have a mixture of different races and religions which has created a unique culture for ourselves in the Caribbean.

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Entry #3: Unit 7: Religion, Education, and Caribbean Family Life: Foundation of 'Respectable' Caribbean Society.                                                                              March 17,2017

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Entry #3: Unit 7: Religion, Education, and Caribbean Family Life: Foundation of 'Respectable' Caribbean Society.                                                                              March 17,2017

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Critical thinking on an issue of importance to Caribbean Civilisation.
Learning Objective: Examine the use of Religion and Education socializing Agents.

The Europeans brought Indians to Trinidad and Tobago as indentured labourers. Many of my ancestors came on the boat from India. Figure 4 is a picture of the Hindu God, Hanuman, that my great, great grandfather brought with him on the boat from India, in his "jaji" bundle, or meager belongings. When Indian Indentures came to the Caribbean, not only they bring belongings but they also brought their culture and religion.
Their religion was a big part of their life. This played a big role in the shaping of their identity in the Caribbean. Three of the religious socializing agents are family, church and peers (Religious Studies Center). The religion of the Indian Indentures had a big impact on the Caribbean, especially in Trinidad.
"During Indian Indentureship a total of 143,939 Indians migrated to Trinidad and Tobago approximately 88 percent of whom practised various facets of Hinduism" (Sherry-Ann Singh). Indians built many temples all over Trinidad that are now historical sites such as the temple in the sea in Waterloo, the hanuman murti in Orange Field and many others. Many Hindu religious observation days are now public holidays like Diwali. These religions had such an impact on the country that they decided to open religious schools to educate children and teach them about these religions.
However,  Hinduism is not the only religion that impacted the Caribbean. The Spanish introduced Roman Catholicism to the Caribbean. Their purpose was to educate and convert the 'natives' to Christianity. Many churches and schools were built. Many Indians, including myself, have converted to other religions after being educated about them (East Indians in Trinidad).        Today, while there is a large number of Hindus, there is even a larger amount of Christians particularly Roman Catholics with 26% of the population in Trinidad. There is now 22.6% of the population that follow Hinduism (Trinidad and Tobago). Religion has impacted the Caribbean but our music has impacted the world.

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Entry #4: Unit 8: Caribbean Cultural Expression: Festivals, Music and Sports.                                         March 22, 2017

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Entry #4: Unit 8: Caribbean Cultural Expression: Festivals, Music and Sports.                                         March 22, 2017

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Application of learning in the course to understanding
a problem of regional importance as reflected in news
and current affairs literature/programs in the region.
Learning Objective: Contextualise Caribbean Music.
Over the years Caribbean people have developed their own genre of music known as soca, parang, calypso, chutney, reggae, salsa, merengue, and many others (Jessica Kitt). This type of music is not only popular in the Caribbean, but internationally. Figure 5 shows a group of, what appears to be, Caribbean women parading and dancing.

Many people from different countries enjoy these types of music that Caribbean people have created. "Chutney music is a derivative of traditional East Indian music into which the Indentured and their descendants injected their expressions to create a completely new music form" (The Making of Trini Chutney). From this chutney evolved chutney-soca music. This was a mixture of their folk dance, music, and calypso of the Creoles.
In the Caribbean, chutney-soca music is a big contribution to Caribbean life/identity. There is even an event called Chutney-Soca Monarch which is a competition that displays all the chutney-soca music that came out for the year and what was most popular/most played in that time. This event is now not only a cultural gathering but over the years it has turned into a profitable event. Although the event is very profitable it is also very expensive. The government has decided to cut the funding by 75 percent. The first prize will now be $500,000 for this years' show. (Gov't Slashes Chutney Soca Monarch Funding).
"Today’s widespread popularity of chutney soca among Trinidadians of all backgrounds can be credited in part to the introduction of the Chutney Soca Monarch competition in 1995, open to all performers of the genre"  (Caribbean Soca Succession). One key artist in the Caribbean today, Drupatee Ramgoonai who is a Chutney-Soca singer in Trinidad, has become very popular along with Rikki Jai in this competition.

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By taking this course, not only will it teach you about the Caribbean but it will open your eyes to thinking about issues in a different way. This course will make you think critically and raise issues in the country you live in. Caribbean civilization will teach you about your country and the entire Caribbean geographically and historically. This course also helps to examine stories and present new information about past events, for example Columbus'"discovering" the Caribbean.
This course will form how you think, not only during the semester but long after. Personally, I've never done Caribbean history because I lived in New York for 17 years and only moved here last year. It was actually the first time that I even heard the term "Caribs" and "Arawaks". This course has taught me and deepened my thoughts about what it means to be Caribbean.

This course has not only brought the people of Trinidad together but it brought the entire Caribbean together. In every lecture there is a chat box, in the chat box for the first lecture a group of people decided that there should be a WhatsApp group created. This WhatsApp group has about 150 people from all over the Caribbean. Figure 6 shows selfies of a few selected people that were in this group, next to their picture there is a flag placed representing what country in the Caribbean they're from.
This group and these people have made my Caribbean Civilization experience worthwhile!  Especially coming from New York, it has truly been a pleasure interacting with these people from all over the Caribbean. These discussions were very informative, not only were they about the coursework and lectures but discussions about their cultures, dialects, and norms in their countries. These conversations helped me deepen my views about all the different cultures, music, and religions there are in the Caribbean as a whole.

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"Chutney Soca Succession." Caribbean Beat Magazine. N.p., 08 Sept. 2014. Web. 08 Apr. 2017. <http://caribbean-beat.com/issue-123/chutney-soca-succession#axzz4drqhQrGp>.

Dobson, Andrew. "What Is Self Identity? Understand the Question "Who Am I"?" Mindfit Hypnosis and Subliminal Message MP3 Downloads. N.p., 17 Dec. 2016. Web. 21 Apr. 2017. <http://www.mindfithypnosis.com/who-am-i-self-identity/>.

"East Indians in Trinidad - Religion and Expressive Culture." Countries and Their Cultures. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2017. <http://www.everyculture.com/Middle-America-Caribbean/East-Indians-in-Trinidad-Religion-and-Expressive-Culture.html>.

"Gov't Slashes Chutney Monarch Funding: By 75 per Cent." Daily Express. N.p., 01 Feb. 2017. Web. 21 Apr. 2017. <http://www.trinidadexpress.com/20170201/news/govt-slashes-chutney-monarch-funding-by-75-per-cent>.

Kitt, Jessica. "A History of Soca Music in the Caribbean | Caribbean Luxury News." Luxury Caribbean News. N.p., 28 Oct. 2015. Web. 18 Apr. 2017. <http://www.luxury-caribbean-news.com/a-history-of-soca-music-in-the-caribbean/>.

"PortCities Bristol." Before the Europeans Came | West Indies | The Places Involved | Slavery Routes | Bristol and Transatlantic Slavery | PortCities Bristol. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2017. <http://www.discoveringbristol.org.uk/slavery/routes/places-involved/west-indies/before-europeans/>.

"Religious Studies Center." Chapter 11: The Influence of Three Agents of Religious Socialization: Family, Church, and Peers | Religious Studies Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Apr. 2017. <https://rsc.byu.edu/archived/religion-and-family-connection-social-science-perspectives/chapter-11-influence-three>.

Singh, Sherry-Ann. The Ramayana Tradition and Socio-religious Change in Trinidad, Ian Randle. Jamaica: Ian Randle, 2012. N.p <https://www.amazon.com/Ramayana-Tradition-Socio-Religious-Trinidad-1917-1990/dp/9766373612>

"The Impact Of Indentured Labourers On Caribbean Society History Essay." UKEssays. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2017. <https://www.ukessays.com/essays/history/the-impact-of-indentured-labourers-on-caribbean-society-history-essay.php>.

"The Making of Trini Chutney." Daily Express. N.p., 13 Aug. 2012. Web. 15 Apr. 2017. <http://www.trinidadexpress.com/featured-news/The_making_of_Trini_chutney-166066556.html>.

"Trinidad and Tobago." U.S. Department of State. U.S. Department of State, n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2017. <https://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2006/71476.htm>.