West Indian?

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Query

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Simple question....
Do you guys (Dominicans) consider yourselves "West Indian"
 

CarpeDReam

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No. Neither do Cubans or Puerto Ricans (at least I've never heard). I'd agree with Rocky in that the reason might be is because there aren't really any indigenous people but many Haitians consider themselves West Indian as well (and they too do not have indigenous). I just think that the reason why the Spanish-speaking caribbean identifies themselves more with the rest of Latin America than the rest of the caribbean.

In addition, there isn't really a spanish term for "west indian"...the term itself is in English so it's common for jamaicans, trinidarians, etc. So the only dominicans that would know of the term would be those who speak english.
 

nikke

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West Indian is a misnomer

Simple question....
Do you guys (Dominicans) consider yourselves "West Indian"

My family originates from Antigua, West Indies...I was always taught that the term was a misnomer. Christopher Columbus thought he had circled the world and was west of India. This name has stuck over the years. I believe the Spanish and French started calling the islands the Antilles, however, the former British colonies may have held on to the name in hopes of becoming an independant state from Britain...that would not have included the Dominican Republic.

Antigua, Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados, St. Vincent, St. Kitts, The Bahamas etc. I'm not sure about Haiti. The only indigenous connection there might be is the fact that Christopher Columbus probably saw the brown indigenous people further solidifying his assumtion that he was in India?
 
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shadInToronto

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West Indies is a misnomer ....

We all know Columbus got lost on the way to India and thought he was in India when he landed (not discovered since Arawaks lived there before Europeans) on Hispaniola (not the Arawak's name for their island). Therefore, this part of the world has no relationship to India. Currently the term West Indies is loosely used to refer to former British colonies in the Caribbean, including Guyana, which is in South America, but is a former British colony.:glasses:
 

A.Hidalgo

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Apr 28, 2006
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What do you mean?
As In the following 2 posts are mine???

Its just that there are two other members named Salsassin and Fiyah that asked the same question you asked in the op. Salsassin asked the question in spanish in the "General forum" and Fiyah posted in the "Living forum" Whats up with that.
Coincidence. I don't think so.
 

Trupti

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West Indians is generally a term referring to Indian people from India, who relocated to the Carribean. For example, you will find that many people in Trinidad & Guyana who trace their roots back to India. There are lots of Indian people in St. Maarten, Jamaica, etc. Though I have yet to meet one in the DR!
 

bob saunders

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My neighbours are from Greneda and are of mixed black and Irish descent and they consider themselves to be west indian.
 

Rocky

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West Indians is generally a term referring to Indian people from India, who relocated to the Carribean. For example, you will find that many people in Trinidad & Guyana who trace their roots back to India. There are lots of Indian people in St. Maarten, Jamaica, etc. Though I have yet to meet one in the DR!
You've got to be kidding.
It has nothing to do with people from India, other than Columbus thinking he had landed around India.
WEST INDIES,
An archipelago between southeast North America and northern South America, separating the Caribbean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean and including the Greater Antilles, the Lesser Antilles, and the Bahama Islands. The original inhabitants were Caribs and Arawaks. Several of the islands were sighted and explored by Columbus during his voyages of 1492?1504. The first permanent European settlement was made by the Spanish on Hispaniola in 1496. During the colonial period the English, French, and Dutch also laid claim to various islands, and the United States acquired Puerto Rico and part of the Virgin Islands in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
 

Trupti

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Rocky, It has everything to do with India. FInd yourself a Trini or Guyanese friend with Indian roots, and they will call themselves West Indian. But funny, nobody in Cuba, Haiti, or the DR calls themselves West Indian, regardless of the fact there may have been Aboriginal Indians there.

I'm not talking about the West Indies islands, I'm talking about West Indians, and East Indians. Yah, Columbus made a mistake in calling them Indians, but if you go to any multi-cultural city, and you find Trini's and Guyanese, or Indo Jamaicans, they call themselves West Indians to differentiate between East Indians.

I think I would know, I am Indo Canadian and have family in Trinidad.
 

Rocky

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Rocky, It has everything to do with India. FInd yourself a Trini or Guyanese friend with Indian roots, and they will call themselves West Indian. But funny, nobody in Cuba, Haiti, or the DR calls themselves West Indian, regardless of the fact there may have been Aboriginal Indians there.
In Cuba and the DR, people speak Spanish, so are not likely to use an English term.
Haitians speak French or Creole, and are no more likely to use an English term.

I'm not talking about the West Indies islands, I'm talking about West Indians, and East Indians. Yah, Columbus made a mistake in calling them Indians, but if you go to any multi-cultural city, and you find Trini's and Guyanese, or Indo Jamaicans, they call themselves West Indians to differentiate between East Indians.
You may not be talking about the West Indies Islands, but everybody else here is.
According to your logic, if I moved to Asia, I would be an East Canadian?

I think I would know, I am Indo Canadian and have family in Trinidad.
You would think that you would know what you are talking about, but how can you deny dictionnary definitions of the words?
This is grade school material.
Everybody knows where the term came from and you can balk at it as much as you want, it will not change the fact that the name came from Columbus mistakely thinking he had arrived in India.
 

nikke

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Evolution of West Indian? Maybe

West Indians is generally a term referring to Indian people from India, who relocated to the Carribean. For example, you will find that many people in Trinidad & Guyana who trace their roots back to India. There are lots of Indian people in St. Maarten, Jamaica, etc. Though I have yet to meet one in the DR!

I have to disagree. The term West Indian did not originate from the Indian diaspora. I think that this is the "new meaning"...It's like saying "African-American" in that Caribbeans of Indian decent are acknowledging their Indian heritage, however long before Indians came to the Caribbean, the islands were known as the West Indies.

My family is of black and Irish descent from Antigua which did not have an Indian population until the last few decades but they consider themselves West Indian. Now in Antigua, lots of Indians and those of Indian descent from Guyana and Suriname have migrated to Antigua...

Many others may not know that once slavery was abolished in the islands in the 1830s the colonialists looked to India, China and other countries in which to bring indentured labour to the Caribbean...The islands were known as the West Indies long before that.




In fact most Indians do not understand the term West Indian - they think that means the western regions of India - like Goa!

That said, it doesn't mean that the meaning can't change to refer to the folks that have true Indian background.
 

M.A.R.

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Many others may not know that once slavery was abolished in the islands in the 1830s the colonialists looked to India, China and other countries in which to bring indentured labour to the Caribbean...The islands were known as the West Indies long before that.




In fact most Indians do not understand the term West Indian - they think that means the western regions of India - like Goa!

That said, it doesn't mean that the meaning can't change to refer to the folks that have true Indian background.

exactly Indians didn't come to that area until later.
 

shadInToronto

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Great recap of WI History class ....

Simple question....
Do you guys (Dominicans) consider yourselves "West Indian"
It was the most boring class in high school :bored: ... not sure whether the OP's question was answered ???

I know Dominicans in TO participate in Caribana, perhaps because it's the only event to showcase DR culture to a mainstream Canadian audience :ermm:
 
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