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- Indo-Trinidadian people or Indo-Trinidadians is a generalized term used to describe Trinidadian people who appear to have and/or are the descendants of either Indian indentured servants, or migrants and immigrants from the Indian subcontinent who are citizens or nationals of Trinidad and Tobago. Contrary to the assumption of the term Indo-Trinidadians, it is somewhat inaccurate considering the racial/ethnic diversity of the group. There were two major migrations of people from India. Following the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1833, indentured servants were transported to Trinidad from India on May 30, 1845. The first group of Indian indentured servants quickly integrated into the Trinidadian populace. This is believed to have happened because the conditions of slaves and indentured servants were almost identical, this created a similar social/economical class. This first group mixed into the Trinidadian populace which was already a mixture of people: Amerindians, West Africans, Spaniards, French, Catalans, Creoles, Chinese, Germans, Swiss, Portuguese, Scottish, British, Irish, Italian, Mexican, Dutch, Norwegian, Polish, Arab, Lebanese, African American, Other Caribbean islands, and Venezuelans. This first group combined their Indian culture with the pre-existing Creole/Hispanic/African/European culture. Some of the most notable cultural influences are Roti, the use of curry, Paratha and numerous other Indian foods, as well as musical and linguistic influences. The second group arrived after the abolishment of indentured servitude in 1917. Most arrivals were skilled workers, Doctors, Businessmen, and other professions. Most of this "new" group of Indians maintained their original culture. Like many Indo-Caribbeans, many have roots from all over the Indian subcontinent, as the present-day states of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh were all part of the British Raj. Indo-Trinidadians are a plurality of the population of Trinidad and Tobago (40.3%). An additional 18.4% of the population describe themselves as being of mixed race; many of them are also of Indian descent. Many Indian customs have been lost such as arranged marriages, which are very rare in Trinidad. Indo-Trinidadians also dress in western fashions and participate in carnival and other non Indian festivals. Indo-Trinidadian as a term seems to acknowledge the just demands of the descendants of indentured plantation laborers brought over from India under a colonial system This local term was overlooked and substituted with ethnic categories by the best-known texts of Caribbean history, and especially by anthropologists and other foreign social scientists. People of Indian descent who emphasized their Trinidad roots and contributions began writing letters to newspapers in the 1880s already, suggesting alternate terms such as "Indo-Trinidadian. "Most Indo-Trinidadians however have no knowledge of India having being separated from the continent for so many generations. Most Indo-Trinidadians also only speak the local creole English. Indo-Trinidadians has now become interchangeable with Indians or East Indians. Settlers brought over by Britain from colonial India were called "Coolies", an insulting term.
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