Nelson Island is one of six small islands west of Port-of-Spain in the Gulf of Paria. For thousands of our Indian migrant family forebears, it was their very first taste of Trinidad.
After a three-month voyage from India in often cramped, difficult conditions, the newcomers must have welcomed this landfall. Disembarkation at Nelson Island let them rest. It also let colonial authorities quarantine the sick, cremate the dead, and organise the new labour force for allocation to different estates across T&T. A medical doctor would inspect all immigrants on arrival, a "Protector of Immigrants" would inspect them, too. Authorities also inspected the ship, food stocks and stores, and fumigated the immigrants' bundles and blankets.
After two weeks on Nelson Island, the new arrivals would then be sent out in small boats to Port-of-Spain, and from there, they would be taken to estates to start their "indentureships"–five-year work contracts that, for many, became the start of a lifelong home in Trinidad.This weekend, the National Trust of T&T is helping us explore this slice of immigration history through several tours via water-taxi, as we get set to celebrate Indian Arrival Day on May 30.
Between 1845 and 1917, 143,939 Indians came here to work as contract labour on agricultural estates after the abolition of African slavery, according to historian Bridget Brereton. Initially, from 1845 to 1865, the new Indian immigrants were brought straight to Port-of-Spain in a confused, chaotic mass, with no-one to understand their languages or immediate needs.
But from 1865, a rudimentary system of immigrant processing developed, as the Indian migrant labourers were first brought to Nelson Island for some recuperation and medical care, said Dr Winston Suite. Dr Suite is chairman of the National Trust of T&T. He was speaking in an interview with the T&T Guardian on Monday at the Trust's Wrightson Road offices.
The National Trust tours this weekend are part of efforts to make this part of our history more accessible and fun for locals and tourists alike. A range of talk sessions, cultural performances and exhibitions will be set up in Nelson Island as part of the tour experience. From talks on immigrant language problems, to mehendi demonstrations, to sari-wrapping sessions, and maybe even a paratha display, activities will be varied, promised Dr Suite. All are welcome.
"We are not duplicating what may be at Divali Nagar," said Dr Suite. "Rather, we are stressing the actual arrival and initial processing of the migrants, that initial encounter. And we've invited a wide cross-section of Indian organisations to share the arrival experience with the population."
Nelson Island plans
Nelson Island has had a colourful history. In addition to being an Indian immigrant decanting centre, it was also, at different times, a playground and holiday venue for the elite, and a prison for those who offended the colonial (or neocolonial) business class.Fiery labour leader Tubal Uriah "Buzz" Butler, for instance, who was also a Spiritual Baptist preacher and the founding father of the Oilfield Workers Trade Union, led strikes in the oilfields in 1937, protesting against poor working conditions, poor wages, racism and exploitation.
When the strikes spread from the oilfields to the sugar factories, the British government responded by arresting Butler, and he was imprisoned on Nelson Island from September 1937-May 1939, and imprisoned again on Nelson Island that same year, after the outbreak of WW2 in September 1939, right until the end of the war in 1945.
Much later, in 1970 following the Black Power mass protests by thousands of disaffected citizens at a time of continued institutional racism, unemployment and general hard times, Nelson Island became a detention centre for those who had challenged the Eric Williams government. Detainees included Oilfields Workers' Trade Union president George Weekes, National Joint Action Committee leader Geddes Granger, Apoesho Mutope, Winston Suite and Clive Nunez.
Dr Suite referred to these historic events as he explained the National Trust's plans to develop future heritage projects at Nelson Island. The National Trust, he said, would like to develop three permanent heritage exhibition sites on Nelson Island, based on the themes of Indian immigration, Butler's late 30s imprisonment, and the 1970s detentions which happened there.
Power needs, and staff training
But first, some site-specific and other factors must be addressed, he said.A key constraint at Nelson Island is electricity, said Dr Suite. So far, electricity is only available on site from generators, and from some solar-powered sources, he said. A more reliable power source would be needed for certain kinds of sustained heritage and cultural tourism development, said Suite.
The Trust will be looking for possible help from UWI and UTT to study wind power possibilities for power generation, said Suite. Also, to truly realise the site's potential as a form of revenue-earning sustainable heritage tourism, said Suite, we would need qualified, knowledgeable tour guides with panache–and so far, we don't really have the right training programmes to develop such expertise, noted
He commented that in many tourist sites abroad, you can find even highly trained university lecturers as tour guides–but knowledge is not enough–one also needs to be a good communicator to audiences of all ages and backgrounds, able to hold people's interest and give them an entertaining experience while educating them.
Suite is hoping that our postsecondary and tertiary institutions will see the possibilities and start developing new kinds of curricula and research to meet this need."We have so many treasures here in T&T, that are like well-kept secrets to even those of us living here. We want to unwrap the cellophane paper around these 'secrets' and have them accessible to everyone," said Suite.
MORE INFO
�2 WHAT: Indian Arrival tour–The Nelson Island Experience
�2 WHEN: Saturday May 23 & Sunday May 24
�2 DEPARTING TIMES:
�2 SATURDAY (one tour): Water Taxi South Terminal–10.30 am/Water Taxi North terminal–11.30 am
�2 SUNDAY (two tours): Water Taxi South Terminal–6.30 am/Water Taxi North terminal–7.30 am
and Water Taxi South Terminal–10.30 am/Water Taxi North terminal–11.30 am
�2 COST: Adults $200, children $100.
�2 TICKETS: From National Trust office, 35A Wrightson Road (behind Ceramic Tiles)
�2 CONTACTS: 623-9311 ext 2073/2075; cell: 308-8197/390-6521
Who is Prof Winston Suite?
Dr Winston Suite is the current chair of the Council of the National Trust of T&T. He is an engineer by training with expertise in concrete technology, contract law, infrastructure planning and development, and natural hazard management.He has been a construction engineer and educator for more than 30 years, and a consultant in disaster management for over 20 years. Suite began his career in 1965 working as an engineer for the T&T government.
In 1976 he started his own firm, Suite Engineering Services. He joined the faculty of UWI in 1983, and from 1997 to 2006 he headed the school's construction engineering and management programme. He later lectured at UTT.