Anyone seeking to trace their family in Trinidad or India can contact Shamshu Deen, Trinidad. In my continuing look at the Caribbean Indian diaspora, I examine this week the documentation on indentured Indians in Nevis. Nevis is a fascinating island, geographically and historically. Volcanic in origin the towering Nevis Peak hovers over this whole island and clearly visible from just about anywhere. Historically, Nevis has had some impressive settlers and visitors over its road of time.
Archaeological excavations show that the first inhabitants went there about four thousand years ago.
In 1907 the explorer, Captain John Smith, whose memory was recently revived in the movie, Pocahontas, spent several days at Nevis on his way to found the Virginia colony in North America. Nevis was the birth place of Alexander Hamilton who later went to America and became the Secretary of the United States Treasury. Africans also came in large numbers to work as slaves. Today they form the largest population group. And in 1874, the lone voyage of Indian indentured workers arrived from Calcutta.