Global Girmit Museum
 Sugar cane cutting and gathering by labourers | |
| Type | Museum |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Origins | Global Girmit Museum Project Team |
Area served | Fiji |
| Services | Research and curation of Fiji's Girmitiya national heritage |
| Website | globalgirmitinstitute |
The Global Girmit Institute (GGI) Museum is co-located with the GGI Library at its headquarters in Saweni, Lautoka, Fiji. Girmit is a corruption of the English word, “agreement” from the indenture agreement the British government made with Indian labourers that consisted of specifics such as the length of stay in Fiji.[1] The labourers came to be known as Girmityas.[2][3]
Background[edit]
Under the GGI Organisation,[4] the Museum records Girmitiya history in Fiji from 1879 to 1916 when some 60,500 labourers came to Fiji.[5] One of the outcomes of the first conference organised by the GGI in 2017 was the establishment of a girmit museum.
History[edit]
The museum has been in the current location in Lautoka since the opening in May 2018 with the introduction of a library.
Collections[edit]
The museum will hold a collection of Fiji Indian artefacts as well as recordings of oral history of peoples from different linguistic backgrounds and cultures.[6] Objects relating to farming and the sugar industry, lifestyle, music, food preparation, clothing and religious events[7][8] will be displayed as well as objects that record the impact of colonialism on the islands.[9][10]
See also[edit]
- Girmityas
- Indian indenture system
- Arya Samaj in Fiji
- Fiji Hindi
- Indo-Fijians
- South Indians in Fiji
- Gujaratis in Fiji
- Hinduism in Fiji
- Islam in Fiji
- Sikhism in Fiji
References[edit]
- ^ Long, Maebh (November 2018). "Girmit, postmemory, and Subramani" (PDF). Pacific Dynamics: Journal of Interdisciplinary Research. 2 ( 2 ): 161–175. ISSN 2463-641X.
- ^ Lal, Brij V. (1998). Crossing the Kala Pani: A Documentary History of Indian Indenture in Fiji. Canberra: Australian National University. ISBN 9780731528912.
- ^ Tinker, Hugh (1993). A New System of Slavery: Export of Indian Labour Overseas, 1830-1920 (2nd ed.). Hansib Publishing.
- ^ "Global Girmit Museum". FBC News. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
- ^ Lal, Brij V. (2012). Chalo Jahaji: On a journey through indenture in Fiji. Canberra: ANU Press. ISBN 9781922144607.
- ^ Siegel, Jeff (2009). Language Contact in a Plantation Environment: A Sociolinguistic History of Fiji. Cambridge University Press, UK. ISBN 978-0521106160.
- ^ Lal, Brij V., ed. (2004). Bittersweet: the Indo-Fijian Experience (PDF). Canberra: Pandanus Books. ISBN 1-74076-117-0.
- ^ Chand, Asha (2007). "The Fiji Indian chutney generation : the cultural spread between Fiji and Australia". International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics. 3 (2): 131–148. doi:10.1386/macp.3.2.131_1.
- ^ Gillion, Kenneth L. (1977). The Fiji Indians: Challenge to European dominance, 1920-1946. Canberra: ANU Press. ISBN 978-0708112915.
- ^ Prasad, Rajendra (2014). Tears in Paradise: Suffering and Struggles of Indians in Fiji 1879-2004. Glade Publishers. ISBN 978-0473171148.
External links[edit]