Dougla people
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Caribbean (notably in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Grenada,Guadeloupe, and Martinique) Diaspora in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the Netherlands | |
| Languages | |
| Caribbean English (predominantly Trinidadian Creole, Guyanese Creole, Sranan Tongo, Jamaican Patois, Saint Lucian Creole), French, Dutch, Papiamento, Caribbean Hindustani | |
| Religion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Afro-Caribbeans, Indo-Caribbeans |
Dougla (English: /ˈdoʊɡlə/ – from Caribbean Hindustani dugalaa 'mixed') is a term used to describe people who are of mixed African and Indian descent.
Definition
The word Dougla originated from dogala (दोगला), which is a Caribbean Hindustani word that literally means "two-necks" and may mean "many", "much" or "a mix" (literally bastard, of two fathers).[1] Its etymological roots are cognate with the Hindi "do" meaning "two" and "gala", which means "throat". Within the West Indies context, the word is used only for one type of mixed race people: Afro-Indians.[2]
The 2012 Guyana census identified 29.25% of the population as Afro-Guyanese, 39.83% as Indo-Guyanese, and 19.88% as "mixed," recognized as mostly representing the offspring of the former two groups.[3]
In the French West Indies (Guadeloupe, Martinique), Afro-Indian people used to be referred to as Batazendyen or Chapé-Kouli.
History
There are sporadic records of Indo-Euro interracial relationships, both consensual and nonconsensual, before any ethnic mixing of the African and Indian variety.[4]
Other Indo-based types of mixed heritage (Indo-Chinese (Chindians), Indo-Latino/Hispanic (Tegli), Indo-English (Anglo-Indians), Indo-Portuguese (Luso-Indians), Indo-Irish (Irish Indians), Indo-Scottish (Scottish-Indians), Indo-Dutch, Indo-Arabs and Indo-Amerindian) tended to identify as one of the older, unmixed ethnic strains on the island: Afro, Indo, Amerindian or Euro or passing as one of them.[5]
Notable Douglas
See also
- Indo-African (disambiguation)
- Indo-Trinidadian and Tobagonian
- Afro-Trinidadian and Tobagonian
- Indo-Caribbean
- Afro-Caribbean
- Marabou (ethnicity)
References
- ^ Wilk, Richard; Barbosa, Livia (2013-05-09). Rice and Beans: A Unique Dish in a Hundred Places. Berg. ISBN 9781847889058.
- ^ Winer, Lise (2009). Dictionary of the English/Creole of Trinidad & Tobago. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 311. ISBN 978-0-7735-3406-3.
- ^ Bureau of Statistics, Guyana (July 2016). 2012 Census Compendium 2: Computation Composition (PDF) (Report). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-01-05. Retrieved 2022-12-04.
- ^ Regis, Ferne Louanne (17 August 2016). The Trinidad Dougla: Identity, Ethnicity and Lexical Choice. Cambridge Scholars. ISBN 9781443898997.
- ^ "Dougla dilemma". www.trinidadandtobagonews.com.
Further reading
- Barratt, Sue A, and Aleah N. Ranjitsingh. Dougla in the Twenty-First Century: Adding to the Mix. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2021. ISBN 9781496833709. See also CUNY Asian and Asian American Research Institute author interview on 19 November 2021.