2A00:23C7:5F01:8900:DDE1:A993:52C:E6A6 at 19:37, 15 June 2021

2021-06-15T19:37:58Z

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{{Infobox ethnic group
| group = Indo-Martiniquais
| population = 37,530<ref>{{cite web |title=Martinique Population 2020 |url=http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/martinique-population/ |website=World Population Review |publisher=World Population Review |access-date=16 May 2020}}</ref>
| popplace = [[Fort-de-France]]{{·}}[[La Trinité, Martinique|La Trinité]]|
| flag = {{flagicon|India}} {{flagicon|Martinique}}
| langs = [[Tamil language|Tamil]], [[Telugu language|Telugu]], [[French language|French]], [[Antillean Creole]], [[English language|English]], [[Hindi]], other Indian languages
| rels = [[Hinduism]], [[Islam]], [[Catholicism]]
| related-c = [[Indo-Caribbean]]{{·}}[[Tamil people]], [[Dravidian people]]
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| related_groups =
}}
'''Indo-Martiniquais''' are an ethnic group of [[Martinique]], compromising approximately 10% of the population of the island. The Indo-Martiniquais are descendants of indentured labourers of the nineteenth century from [[India]] of primarily [[Tamil people|Tamil]] and of other [[Indian people|Indian]] origin. They are primarily most concentrated in the northern communes of [[Martinique]], where the main plantations are located.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZOlNv8MAXIEC&q=indian+Martinique&pg=PA594|title=The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: South Asia : the Indian subcontinent|last1=Nettl|first1=Bruno|last2=Stone|first2=Ruth M.|last3=Porter|first3=James|last4=Rice|first4=Timothy|date=1998-01-01|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=9780824049461|language=en}}</ref> The Indo-Martiniquais speak [[Antillean Creole French|Antillean]] a French-based creole.

==Migration history==
In 1851 the Martinique authorities, seeking to replace former slave labourers who had abandoned plantation work on being given their liberty, recruited several thousand labourers from the Indian French colonial settlements of [[Madras]], [[Pondicherry district|Pondichéry]], [[Chandernagor]] and [[Karaikal]]. Workers were offered free passage and pay in exchange for serving a five-year period of labour.<ref>[http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/category,COI,,,MTQ,4954ce38c,0.html : World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples - Martinique : Overview]</ref> Despite initial experiences of racial discrimination and labour exploitation, many of the immigrants were subsequently well-integrated into the population,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://membres.multimania.fr/fdl/e-histo.htm |title=A SHORT HISTORY OF MARTINIQUE |access-date=2010-10-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120610022323/http://membres.multimania.fr/fdl/e-histo.htm |archive-date=2012-06-10 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and by the late 20th century the labourers' descendants were broadly assimilated into Martiniquais culture.

The past two decades have seen Indo-Martiniquais people increasingly asserting the distinctively Indian aspects of their heritage (a phenomenon known as "indianité"). People of Indian descent have paid renewed attention to the history and culture of India, and local groups have established contact with peoples of Indian descent from throughout the Caribbean and further afield. One token of this has been the recent revival of a traditional Hindu annual [[mela]] on the island, sustained by the Hindu temples and shrines that were introduced by the migrant labourers and remain operational today.<ref>[http://www.everyculture.com/Ma-Ni/Martinique.html : Countries and their Cultures: MARTINIQUE]</ref>

==Culture==
{{See also|Hinduism in Martinique}}
The majority of Indo-Martiniquais follow [[Christianity]] with the minority following Islam and Hinduism. The Hinduism in [[Martinique]] consists of a variation of popular Tamil Hinduism, which was characterized by the practice of animal sacrifice, the veneration of village deities and the use of the [[Tamil language]] as the ceremonial language, although the language has lost its usage in the plantation and post-plantation society.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XOyYCgAAQBAJ&q=hinduism+in+martinique&pg=PA356|title=The Encyclopedia of Caribbean Religions: Volume 1: A - L; Volume 2: M - Z|last1=Taylor|first1=Patrick|last2=Case|first2=Frederick I.|date=2013-04-30|publisher=University of Illinois Press|isbn=9780252094330|language=en}}</ref>

One of Martinique's most famous dishes, the '''Colombo''', derives from Indian cuisine. The word Colombo derives from the Tamil word ''குழம்பு- kulambu'' meaning curry sauce. The dish is a unique curry of chicken, meat or fish with vegetables, spiced with a distinctive masala of Tamil origin, acidulated with tamarind and often containing wine, coconut milk, and rum.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://theculturetrip.com/caribbean/martinique/articles/top-10-martinican-dishes/|title=Top 10 Martinican Dishes You Just Have to Try|last=Rabikowska|first=Suzy|newspaper=Culture Trip|access-date=2017-01-09}}</ref>

==Notable people==
* [[Serge Letchimy]] - President of Martinique Regional Council
* [[Lord Kossity]] - Ragga-zouk musician

==See also==
* [[Asian Latin Americans]]
* [[Indo-Caribbean]]
* [[Indians in French Guiana]]
* [[Indians in Guadeloupe]]
* [[Tamil Diaspora]]
* [[Hinduism in Martinique]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Tamil diaspora}}
{{NRI-PIO}}

[[Category:Ethnic groups in Martinique]]
[[Category:Indian diaspora in France|Martinique]]
[[Category:Indo-Caribbean]]
[[Category:Tamil Caribbean|Martinique]]

Indo-Martiniquais - Revision history

2A00:23C7:5F01:8900:DDE1:A993:52C:E6A6 at 19:37, 15 June 2021