The Pluralism Project at Harvard University

Michele Verma

Teachers College, Columbia University
Indo-Caribbean Hindus in Queens

Queens is one of the most ethnically diverse counties in the nation. It is home to a large Indian immigrant population which is made up of not only Indians from India, but Indians from the Caribbean who can be termed "twice migrants" (Bachu 1985). Indo-Caribbean immigrants living in New York City are third, fourth and fifth generation people of Indian descent. Their ancestors were Indian emigrants who went to Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and Surinam between the years 1932 and 1917 under indentured labor contacts (Samaroo 1987, 2004; Tinker 1974, 1977). Due to the political, racial and economic climate in these countries, large numbers of Indo-Caribbeans have immigrated to the United States for permanent settlement. Gosine estimates that there are about 210,000 East Indians from Trinidad and Guyana in the United States, but that undocumented immigrants may bring the number to 300,000 (2002:38-39). I would guess that this number is even higher now in 2006 given the extensive chain migration pattern of Indo-Caribbean settlement. According to Gosine (2002) Richmond Hill, Queens, New York City has the largest Indo-Caribbean population, with smaller numbers in the Bronx, Washington D.C., Virginia and Miami. The Indo-Caribbean population in Queens is religiously plural with Christians, Muslims and Hindus; Hindus are most numerous. In Queens, New York City there are approximately sixty Hindu temples which have been founded by Indo-Caribbeans and serve an Indo-Caribbean population.

I hope to contribute to the Pluralism Project by submitting an updated list of Indo-Caribbean temples in Queens. I have already sent out letter of introduction, a written questionnaire, and interview request to forty temples in Queens with addresses listed Online at http://www.yica.org/queens.html). I have found that some of these addresses are correct and others are not. It is my goal to update this list and to complete as many profiles of Indo-Caribbean temples in Queens as possible. I will submit these profiles and accompanying photographs to the Pluralism Project Online Archive. This work will also contribute to my own personal data collection for my dissertation research.

I am currently conducting a one year exploratory ethnographic study investigating how Indo-Caribbean Hindu practices and identifications are constituted through 'religious instructional scenes.' While many studies of diasporic Hinduism emphasize the construction of identity and tradition, few studies examine how informal and formal forms of Hindu education contribute to such constructions. Informed by Garfinkel's (1967, 2002) ethnomethodology and conversation analysis (Psathas 1995; Coulon 1995; Hutchby and Wooffitt 1998), I aim to produce analytic descriptions of 'religious instructional scenes' in institutional and domestic settings in Queens, New York City with the aim of analyzing how people, together through their talk and actions, produce activities and identifications labeled as 'Hindu.' For each 'religious instructional scene' I will be concerned with what kind of speech and behavior is prescribed as properly Hindu, what core competencies are taught (curriculum) and how this is accomplished (pedagogy). My research will consist of:

1. Finding out where and when subjects from my selected research population are engaged in educating Hindus. I anticipate that I will find this educational work in two primary settings: the temple and the home.
2. Identifying 'religious instructional scenes' in these settings.
3. Documenting the following observable and auditory details for each 'religious instructional scene': participants, setting, material artifacts used by participants, what is said, and what is done.

Previous project:
Hindu Religious Education: Two New Jersey Sites