I think the term "West Indian" is loosely used, many people from Guyana consider themselves West Indians even though they are South Americans. My father is from Curacao and he never considered himself West Indian. I think its an english term used for inhabitants of english speaking carribean islands and since he didn't speak english, he didn't know the term or its meaning.
- Thread starter Query
- Start date
West Indian?
- Status
Truth!, and to the people who clearly have Indian traits within the Caribbean, they really don't care. They certainly do not claim to be the originals or the "true" West Indians. Majority of the islands people are descendants of African slaves, some are mixed with the rapist(sorry) or it was voluntary(I'm also of Scottish and French decent),Arawaks, and the indentured servants from China and India and so on, as mentioned. Nonetheless, it is one love on the islands. We also refer to ourselves as Caribbean(from the isalands).If you're born there, regardless of your background or race, it doesnt matter. You're still a West Indian, all day, every day!
It is mainly about the culture. I am from Grenada, Granny's a Trini, and Daddy was born in Guyana and raised in Grenada as well. There aren't many differences between the three. Majority of the islands share the same West Indian culture. It may be slightly different but close enough in general. Including Curacao,Belize and Hati as well. You will ALWAYS see them on the Parkway(Eastern Pkway in Brooklyn for those who may not know) on Labor Day. Cuba , DR and Puerto Rico have a different culture and had different ruling(Non British).
Princessa~
Last edited:
I agree currently it's a cultural relationship among former British colonies - swaying hips, music, food (cook-up, roti, curry, pepper pot, .... etc.).
Btw, you're not West Indian, you are United Nations
I agree currently it's a cultural relationship among former British colonies - swaying hips, music, food (cook-up, roti, curry, pepper pot, .... etc.).
Btw, you're not West Indian, you are United Nations
Holla at the cook -up and wukin' (working/whining) up the waiste line. LMAO, (UN)so I've been told many a times. Last labor day, on my car, I was repping all of my flags and was asked repeatedly about them. I've been influenced by all,lol. I'm just proud:cheeky:
You know you're WI, if ....
You call your parents Mommy and Daddy :laugh:
Lol, and your aunts are Tante(the great french influence). I only claim Sparrow for Grenada despite the stake Trinidad has on him. I don't wuk up stink to him though. Lol, not my generation.
Princessa~
OK. Let me put it in perspective. There is no word for West Indians in French. The word is "antillens" Neither is their an exact word for it in SPanish, but there is the use of "antillanos", and it refers to the same people in English we call West Indian (Notice we don't say Antillians). The West Indies was a misnomer, but one that was used to refer to Spanish colonies for a long time. Las indias, or las indias occidentales.
So the question is do you see yourself as a people apart from West Indians or, like Francophone "antillens" do you see yourself as a part of the West Indian/Antillano cultural diaspora?
What do we call Jamaicans, Trinis, etc? Antillanos. There is a term Spanish. So do you consider yourselves a part of that diaspora or apart from it?
I never said that they don't identify with the latino culture as well. You can belong to more than one sphere of influence. I am just asking if Dominicans see themselves as part of the antillano cultures with certain cultural traits in common with other islands and caribbean coastal nations.
No, it is not a term of East Indians living in the Caribbean. It is based on one of the names given to a region. Indias Occidentales/West Indies.
Caribbean - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Spanish West Indies - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Spanish West Indies (also known as "Las Antillas") consist of Cuba, Hispaniola (present-day Dominican Republic and Haiti), Puerto Rico, Jamaica (until the 1655) , the Cayman Islands, Trinidad (until 1797) and Bay Islands (until 1643).
The debate this question springs from:
Would you consider Puerto Ricans and Dominicans West Indians??? - IslandMix
Of course, I'm just a gringo who moved to the Caribbean, so they call us people, "Luckies", but I am glad we got the West Indian thing straight.
One, it was not the name for the original inhabitants. And two, who says the original inhabitants, albeit mixed now, are not there?
Lynne Guitar said:
Baracutay12@aol.com said:
No, it is not a term of East Indians living in the Caribbean. It is based on one of the names given to a region. Indias Occidentales/West Indies.
Caribbean - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Spanish West Indies - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Spanish West Indies (also known as "Las Antillas") consist of Cuba, Hispaniola (present-day Dominican Republic and Haiti), Puerto Rico, Jamaica (until the 1655) , the Cayman Islands, Trinidad (until 1797) and Bay Islands (until 1643).
The debate this question springs from:
Would you consider Puerto Ricans and Dominicans West Indians??? - IslandMix[/url]
No they are not West Indian in terms of culture. If they were, PRicans's wouldn't have their own parade. They are obviously Caribbean because of location( especially since Jamaica is right there and we know they are WI'S) and I did see PR and Dominican flags at J' VEUT (JU-VEh , I forgot the spelling). However, when referring to West Indians, it is more about the culture than just the location. We're all Caribbean(all dem islands deh), but some of us are West Indians and some of us are Hispanic. It's not a big deal because we all still live on sexy islands. We all know that PR, DR and Cuba are of Spanish influences and are of a different culture. We have Hispanic/Latin culture, West Indian culture and even French culture in the Caribbean.We have so much to offer, lol. We too busy keeping it irie to give a d***.
Last edited:
Before the Europeans realized that the world consisted of more than Europe, Africa, and Asia, the islands off Southeast Asia were known as "The Indies".
Due to the confusion created by Columbus's belief that he was near Cipango when he arrived to the Caribbean (btw, Cipango was the old name for what today is Japan, in fact he actually believed the Cibao to be a local variation of the name Cipango.... my my). In any case, his arrival to the Caribbean lead the islands to be referred as "the Indies" as well, which in Spanish would be "las indias". However, to differentiate the "two" indies in the world, the term West Indies was applied to the islands of the Caribbean and East Indies applied to the tropical islands off the southasia landmass.
Such names of each two regions are Eurocentric terms given that from the European point of view, the Caribbean is towards the west and the pacific islands are towards the east.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Regarding what Dominicans consider themselves in relation to the rest of the Caribbean islands.... it would have to be Hispanos.
The term "West Indian" was not used to denote native indigenous (Arawaks, Caribs, etc), but rather anyone who was born in the British West Indies. In fact, today the english speaking islands of the Caribbean are still referred to collectively as the British West Indies (also, the French speaking islands (except Haitit) are collectively referred as the French West Indies and there is as well the Netherland West Indies). Notice, however, there is no such thing as the Spanish West Indies. When ever the Spanish island nations are being referred, the term used is "the Spanish Caribbean".
It would make sense that the english speaking islands of the Caribbean would refer themselves as West Indians given the term British West Indies used to denote the english speaking caribbean.
However, there has been (and to a certain extent continues to this day) a distrust between the Spanish and the British. Such distrust spilled into their colonies, the Caribbean being ground zero outside of Europe for the feud to be practiced. The constant British raids on Spanish colonies and the greatest theft of all being the capture of Jamaica by the British and their attempts to capture Cuba and Santo Domingo simply re-inforced the anti-British sentiment that existed in the Spanish Caribbean.
Such distrust exist today, accentuated by the different languages and customs of the British islands vs the Spanish islands that would lead the Spanish islands to accentuate their cultures and identities with the other Spanish speaking nations of the hemisphere.
There also exist a distrust between the Spanish Caribbean and the French, the Dutch, you name it. However, the British were the most dispised.
A good example of this would be Sir Francis Drake. In the British West Indies he is considered to be a hero. Just go and ask a Dominican who knows his history to see what his opinion of Sir Francis Drake is.... it will not be favorable in any sense of the word.
BTW, there is an educational institution in the Caribbean known as the University of the West Indies (or something along those lines). They have campuses exclusively on several English speaking islands. Interesting, no?
-NALs
Due to the confusion created by Columbus's belief that he was near Cipango when he arrived to the Caribbean (btw, Cipango was the old name for what today is Japan, in fact he actually believed the Cibao to be a local variation of the name Cipango.... my my). In any case, his arrival to the Caribbean lead the islands to be referred as "the Indies" as well, which in Spanish would be "las indias". However, to differentiate the "two" indies in the world, the term West Indies was applied to the islands of the Caribbean and East Indies applied to the tropical islands off the southasia landmass.
Such names of each two regions are Eurocentric terms given that from the European point of view, the Caribbean is towards the west and the pacific islands are towards the east.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Regarding what Dominicans consider themselves in relation to the rest of the Caribbean islands.... it would have to be Hispanos.
The term "West Indian" was not used to denote native indigenous (Arawaks, Caribs, etc), but rather anyone who was born in the British West Indies. In fact, today the english speaking islands of the Caribbean are still referred to collectively as the British West Indies (also, the French speaking islands (except Haitit) are collectively referred as the French West Indies and there is as well the Netherland West Indies). Notice, however, there is no such thing as the Spanish West Indies. When ever the Spanish island nations are being referred, the term used is "the Spanish Caribbean".
It would make sense that the english speaking islands of the Caribbean would refer themselves as West Indians given the term British West Indies used to denote the english speaking caribbean.
However, there has been (and to a certain extent continues to this day) a distrust between the Spanish and the British. Such distrust spilled into their colonies, the Caribbean being ground zero outside of Europe for the feud to be practiced. The constant British raids on Spanish colonies and the greatest theft of all being the capture of Jamaica by the British and their attempts to capture Cuba and Santo Domingo simply re-inforced the anti-British sentiment that existed in the Spanish Caribbean.
Such distrust exist today, accentuated by the different languages and customs of the British islands vs the Spanish islands that would lead the Spanish islands to accentuate their cultures and identities with the other Spanish speaking nations of the hemisphere.
There also exist a distrust between the Spanish Caribbean and the French, the Dutch, you name it. However, the British were the most dispised.
A good example of this would be Sir Francis Drake. In the British West Indies he is considered to be a hero. Just go and ask a Dominican who knows his history to see what his opinion of Sir Francis Drake is.... it will not be favorable in any sense of the word.
BTW, there is an educational institution in the Caribbean known as the University of the West Indies (or something along those lines). They have campuses exclusively on several English speaking islands. Interesting, no?
-NALs
So are you claiming all West Indian cultures celebrate with Parades? What about Venzuela and Paraguay. Are they West Indian because they have parades? And who says certain parts of the DR and PR don't have parades?No they are not West Indian in terms of culture. If they were, PRicans's wouldn't have their own parade. They are obviously Caribbean because of location( especially since Jamaica is right there and we know they are WI'S) and I did see PR and Dominican flags at J' VEUT (JU-VEh , I forgot the spelling). However, when referring to West Indians, it is more about the culture than just the location. We're all Caribbean(all dem islands deh), but some of us are West Indians and some of us are Hispanic. It's not a big deal because we all still live on sexy islands. We all know that PR, DR and Cuba are of Spanish influences and are of a different culture. We have Hispanic/Latin culture, West Indian culture and even French culture in the Caribbean.We have so much to offer, lol. We too busy keeping it irie to give a d***.
Spanish West Indies - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
spanish-west-indies - Google Search
Las Antillas o Indias Occidentales
Gobernantes pre-virreinales en Nueva España - Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre
Indias Occidentales - Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre
Amazon.com: Historia general de las Indias Occidentales y particular de la gobernaci?n de Chiapa y Guatemala (Biblioteca Porr?a): Books: Antonio de Remesal
Amazon.com: Antonio de Herrera, Historia general de las Indias Occidentales: Books: Henry Raup Wagner
Gonzalo Fern?ndez Pontes
CORNERSTONE OF ANY AMERICANA COLLECTION
Herrera Antonio de Descripci?n de las Indias Occidentales de Antonio de Herrera, cronista mayor de su magestad de las Indias y cronista de castilla. Madrid Nicolas Rodriguez 1726
4 volumes.folio. Third edition augmented and corrected.the work is organised in 8 works or decadas each one with a engraved frontispiece showing portraits and battle scenes.in the first book it is the Descripcion de las Indias with 14 double page maps that are exact copy of the maps published in 1601(this very rare first ed is the second atlas of the Americas after Wytfliet).This ed from Madrid was printed between 1726-30 and corrected by Andr?s Gonzalez Barcia. Vellum early XX c binding. Fine copy
This work is an encyclopedia in itself. herrera was appointed " Cronista" in 1596 and he managed information provided by the West Indies Council.Also other chronist supplied him with details and information published in the work.The Atlas with the maps are rare items for collectorsRef: Palau 114288, Medina II 455.
LANIC-Fundaci?n Tavera: Biblioteca Nacional (Espa?a)
Look at this thread and scroll down to the DR
Canarias 7. Monográficos: Carnaval 2006
No parades? Since when?
Canarias 7. Monográficos: Carnaval 2006
No parades? Since when?
perhaps you need to reread her post; at no time does she say only west indians have parades. RE-READ, then quit trying to pick an argument.
Lmao...shambles!
Thank you very much . I thought I was seeing things, then I had to shake my head and laugh. Like I said, too busy keeping it irie to give a d***
Princessa~
Thank you very much
. I thought I was seeing things, then I had to shake my head and laugh. Like I said, too busy keeping it irie to give a d***Princessa~
- Status