ABSTRACT
Globally, ethnicity continues to be a central feature in social foundation and commonplace collective action. By analysing the historical relationship between the coloniser, the Indian indentured immigrants and the ex-slaves, one can trace the roots of the legacy of the Indians and the impact they had on the various Caribbean islands in which they were domiciled. The indentured Indian immigrants held India as their cultural and spiritual home and that helped them to shape and keep their identity alive even on the sugar estates. Indians, in the larger evolving communities, turned inwards for self-protection, preservation and to find meaning to their existence in those colonies. The legacy that the indentured labourers have handed down to their descendants has changed the Caribbean landscape forever in terms of the flora and fauna, songs, music, dance, dress, religion and ethnic composition.
