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Legacy of a Nation: One People, One Family, One Identity.
During the celebration of a Diamond Anniversary, couples or organizations typically reflect on the journey of how they reached such a pivotal milestone. In the context of a country, we should look back on the journey of what makes us Jamaican, a unique and highly visible people globally. In commemoration of 60 years of Independence,…
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African
Africans came to Jamaica during the Spanish Conquest, and in a loosely arranged slave system on the island, many lived as herders, roamed the hinterland and were intimate with the surviving Taíno. After the British captured Jamaica, they expanded the slave trade and brought thousands of Africans with their diverse heritages to Jamaica. The majority…
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East Indians and Chinese
The East Indians and Chinese came to Jamaica in the post Emancipation period to work on the sugar plantations as indentured labourers. The first group of East Indian indentured labourers arrived in 1845, their ships docked in Old Harbour, St. Catherine and the first group of Chinese arrived in 1854 from Hong Kong. Both groups…
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The Syrians and Lebanese
Syrians and Lebanese immigrants to Jamaica started arriving in the latter half of the 19th century. Many came to Jamaica after fleeing religious and political persecution in the Levant region of the Middle East seeking new opportunities to gain a better life for their families. They became prominent members of the business the community in Jamaica…
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The Indigenous Jamaicans
Taíno Over the several hundred years of Jamaica’s recorded history, several groups of people have been acknowledged as having their origins in our island. The Taíno are regarded to have emerged as a distinct ethnic group in the Greater Antilles, firstly in Española and Puerto Rico, then Cuba, Jamaica and the Bahamas. While Taíno language…
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The Europeans
Spanish The arrival of the Europeans to Jamaica started in 1494 on Christopher Columbus’ second voyage to the Caribbean. The Spanish established formal control of the island from 1508 up to 1660 which had far reaching and devastating consequences, such as the destruction of the indigenous Taino population, enslavement of Africans and the introduction…
