First Day in Guadeloupe is celebrated on December 24 in remembrance of the first indentured Indians that arrived in 1854. Since 2004, year of commemoration of the 150th anniversary of Indian arrival, Guadeloupeans have a tangible reminder of this day in the form of a monument in Pointe-Pitre, Monument du Premier Jour [First Day Monument], erected near the sea-side spot where the indentured workers landed between 1854 and 1889.
The plaque reads:
“On December 24, 1854, the sailing ship “Aurelie”, after a dreadful three-month passage, disembarked on this spot 314 East Indians, requested by the Colony to cope with the loss of labour resulting from the abolition of slavery in 1848. Thus began a long period of transplantation that brought 42,326 East Indians to Guadeloupe, of which 24,891 were to perish, particularly because of the ill-treatment they received, and 9,460 returned to India.
In memory and homage to the contribution of those from India who founded the multicultural Guadeloupe of yesterday and today, the Regional Council, the General Council, the City of Pointe-a-Pitre, in accord with the Bharat-Gua Federation, have erected this First Day monument, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the first Indians in Guadeloupe.”
The more than 600-kilogram bronze monument was made by Indian-born sculptor residing in France Indrajeet Sahadev. It is a combination of symbolic representations of the long Kalapani journey: a boat with Lord Ganesha at the prow, masts with Lord Siva’s trident, and damaru engraved in gold obliquely sectioned at the top to form a golden OM. On the four sides of the rectangular base block are figures of a conch, a golden sun with the date 1854, and sugar cane shoots—the bitter reason that brought the Indians to the island. It also features the letter G (the auspicious Indian symbol for water) representing the Universal Master, the initial of Lord Ganesha, and that of Guadeloupe.
The contributions of the Indians to the evolution of Guadeloupe are incalculable but have received very little attention. Today Indians in Guadeloupe are to be found in all sectors of society, from agriculture to politics but their painstaking integration was achieved at the expense of great cultural loss (languages, religion, and diverse cultural practices). Today, many cultural associations, under the federative banner of Bharat-Gua (“From India to Guadeloupe”) are reawakening Indian awareness. Rituals that had been kept clandestinely are being revived and scholars are researching and documenting the past.
For full articles and photos of the First Day commemoration in 2004, see http://www.indocaribbeanheritage.com/content/view/43/64/
