Callaloo: the Caribbean Mix in Victoria

Community Exh
Exhibition Program
Callaloo
The Caribbean Mix in Victoria
Callaloo:
mixing it up
Callaloo is a leafy green vegetable grown
and eaten throughout the Caribbean.
Callaloo is a rich, blended soup, a spicy and nourishing
mix of callaloo leaves, okra, pumpkin, salt meat or
crab and coconut milk, all seasoned with thyme and
hot pepper.
Callaloo is an idea, a word to describe the wonderfully
diverse mixture of races and cultures that define
Caribbean people.
From the earliest days of European settlement, West
Indians have been present in Australia in very small
numbers. Because there are so few of us, we seek
each other out and ‘mix’ socially, regardless of our
cultural differences or country of origin. We also choose
partners from many other ethnic groups, ‘mixing it up’
even further.
Celebrate with us the richness and diversity that is the
West Indian experience, the Caribbean callaloo.
below
Members of the Caribbean community dressed as the
‘Four Seasons’ in the Moomba Festival Parade, 1997.
Source: Museum Victoria Caribbean Community Photographic Collection.
The chattel house
Chattel house is one name for modest,
often brightly coloured, little houses
found all over the Caribbean islands.
opposite, clockwise from top left
A typical chattel house in the style found
throughout the islands of the Caribbean.
Artist and date unknown.
The home of Elvira Lambert reflected
some of the typical architectual features
of chattel houses. Here mourners pay their
respects at her home after her funeral.
Kingston, Jamaica, 1931.
The Smith children, who migrated to
Australia in the late 1960s with their
parents, are pictured standing in front of
Aunt Hettie’s chattel house in Trinidad,
c.1 956.
Source: Museum Victoria Caribbean Community
Photographic Collection.
right
En route to Australia in 1975, Ingrid Jarvis
revisited what was left of her family’s chattel
house in Barbados, where she was born.
Source: Museum Victoria Caribbean Community
Photographic Collection.
In the post-slavery plantation economies, these were
originally houses for tenant workers. ‘Chattel’ is a legal
term meaning moveable property and these houses
often were not set on permanent foundations. In the
event of a dispute with the landowners, in some islands
it was not uncommon for workers to simply pick up their
house and move it to another location.
Some of the architectural features of chattel houses
are found in other houses in the Caribbean. The living
rooms of West Indian migrants are often decorated with
paintings, sketches or even miniature reproductions of
chattel houses. They are a strong shared reminder of
home, and a unifying symbol for West Indian migrants
from all backgrounds.
This idea of a home you take with you is reminiscent
of the migration experience and of West Indians
establishing lives in a new country.
Who are
West Indians?
The Caribbean Sea is bordered by North America,
South America, Central America to the west
and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. It takes its
name from the indigenous Caribs who inhabited
this region.
The name West Indies was coined by Christopher
Columbus in 1492, who mistakenly thought he’d
reached India. The British used it to describe their
colonies on the islands and coastlines of the Caribbean.
Today, the ‘West Indies’ refers to a group of mainly
English-speaking dependencies, territories and
independent Caribbean countries, many of which
are members of the Commonwealth. Because most
Caribbean migrants to Australia are West Indian,
the terms ‘Caribbean’ and ‘West Indian’ are used
interchangeably here.
Most West Indian people have a complex ancestry
including African slaves, Indian indentured workers and
the region’s colonisers from Britain, France, Spain and
the Netherlands. Some of our heritage also comes from
indigenous Amerindians, as well as European Jews and
later settlers from China, Madeira, Lebanon and Syria.
No wonder we believe ours were among the first
multicultural societies in the world!
Due to our ethnic diversity, even West Indians from
the same country do not usually look alike, and migrants
don’t always recognise each other. Often we only
stumble across another West Indian by overhearing
a familiar accent.
Limin’
Relaxed and informal hospitality is an
important part of West Indian culture.
It is normal for visitors to drop in
unannounced and be welcomed with
an enthusiastic ‘Come in, man!’ Food
and drink are always offered during these
spontaneous visits.
A feature of daily life in the Caribbean is liming
(pronounced limin’ ) when a group of people get together
informally and share conversation, jokes and laughter,
often for hours at a time. This is also called bussin’ a lime.
top to bottom
Sundown drinks in Kate Lasalle’s backyard in
Trinidad, 1978.
The ‘whole lime’, a large gathering at Ingrid and
Rodney Jarvis’ home at Yarra Junction, c.1988.
Mixing it up with newfound friends and family
in Upwey, Victoria, 1979.
Liming in a Trinidad kitchen, Caribbean style,
1987.
Source: Museum Victoria Caribbean Community
Photographic Collection.
A popular pastime at any time of day or night, liming
is usually accompanied by drinks (such as local rum or
beer) and tasty tidbits, known as cutters. Liming takes
place anywhere: at home in kitchens or on verandahs,
in sports clubs, in ‘rumshops’ or just sitting around
outdoors and on street corners.
When Caribbean people migrate to places like
Melbourne, the faster pace of life, colder climate and
longer travelling distances all combine to make such
informal get-togethers more difficult. West Indian
migrants maintain this vital aspect of their culture in new
ways by organising frequent parties, cultural picnics and
events such as the annual Australia Day ‘Cricket Lime’
in Victoria.
Caribbean food:
historically delicious!
Caribbean food is a vibrant fusion of
cultural influences reflecting our rich
and complex history.
The indigenous Caribs and Arawaks made bread, grew
corn, cassava, sweet potatoes, arrowroot, tomatoes,
chillies and other crops, and ate a wide variety of fruit,
shellfish, turtle and game. The Arawaks, grilling their
meat over open fires using frames of thin sticks called
barbacoa, gave the world the word ‘barbeque’.
above
A selection of popular West Indian dishes,
including stew, curry and rice.
opposite, clockwise from top
Serving coo coo, a popular dish made
with cornmeal and okra, at the West Indian
Cultural Day, 2008.
Pone, pineapple up-side-down cake and
sweetbread.
The children got the best, the adults ate the
rest.’ Spicy food was a normal part of their fare.
Coo coo and fish; rice and peas.
A favourite soup throughout the Caribbean,
callaloo cooked with spinach, crabs and spices.
(See recipe overleaf).
‘Cutters’ or light snacks with doubles and souse.
Photographer: David Loram.
Source: Museum Victoria Caribbean Community
Photographic Collection.
Sugar cane was the basis of the Caribbean economy
and required intensive labour. European colonisers
introduced many foods from around the world to
supplement the local food sources: breadfruit, taro,
ackees, okra, yams and plantains from Africa as well
as salt fish and rice, to name just a few. Indentured
workers from China and India brought their chow meins,
curries, rotis and snack foods. West Indian cooks created
many cross-cultural or ‘creolised’ dishes, which were
eaten by everyone.
Caribbean recipes continue to evolve in Australia as
West Indian immigrants experiment with local
ingredients. For example, we now substitute spinach
leaves when making our ‘crab and callaloo’ dish. We are
passionate about passing down our food traditions for
the next generation to enjoy!
this page, from top to bottom
Rupert ‘Monty’ Montague, with Jim
Vlassopoulos, inside the second Jamaica
House restaurant, Carlton, 1971.
Source: Museum Victoria Caribbean Community
Photographic Collection.
Mortar and pestle.
A range of practical and decorative swizzle
sticks traditionally used for blending
Callaloo soup and dhal, whisking eggs
and other blending.
Jamaica House menus and recipe book.
The restaurant was the first in Australia
to serve Caribbean food, opening in 1966.
Photographs: David Loram
Crab ‘n’ Callaloo
Recipe courtesy Jacqueline Dedier
2 fresh crabs
3 boxes frozen spinach
20 okra
½ kg pumpkin, preferably Jap
1 can Thai brand coconut milk
4 cloves garlic
4 spring onions
1 brown onion
1 whole red chilli (optional)
small handful fresh thyme
small handful parsley
salt & black pepper to taste
METHOD
Dasheen (taro) leaves can be substituted with frozen spinach.
Remove tops of okra and slice in rounds. Chop pumpkin in
small pieces.
Chop all other ingredients except chilli. Place frozen spinach
in deep saucepan with okra, pumpkin and chilli (optional),
steam slowly. Add seasoning and coconut milk, stir.
Place crab claws on top, add water to cover and simmer for
30–45 minutes until crab is cooked and looks red in colour.
Lift crab out and set aside in serving bowl. Remove whole chilli
pepper and set aside.
above
Souvenir cricket bats signed by West Indian
visiting team members.
Photographs: David Loram
Add small amounts of hot callaloo mixture at a time into food
processor or blender and puree, with a small piece of chilli
pepper (optional).
Add to crab in bowl and repeat until all the callaloo is pureed.
Return to pot and cook slowly. Add salt and black pepper to taste.
Melbourne’s daily newspapers gave extensive
coverage of the thrilling conclusion to the 1961
West Indies cricket tour including commentary
on the migration policy of the day.
Serve over rice or eat as a soup with the crab claws. Finger bowl
and side plate necessary.
Courtesy: the Age and Herald Sun.
Useful Tip: Never use a metal spoon in Callaloo or Hot Pepper Sauce.
top to bottom
above and at left
Steelpan drum left behind when the Amral
Cavalliers band toured Victoria in 1978.
Details of Persian-themed Trinidad
carnival costumes brought back by
West Indian migrants.
The cuatro, four-stringed mini guitar, popular
in Trinidad and used to play parang music.
Chac-chac, a Caribbean percussion
instrument that accompanies parang music.
at right
Iron brake drum used as a percussion
instrument in Caribbean music.
Photographs: David Loram
A West Indian folkloric costume used
in cultural performances.
Photographs: David Loram
The West Indies
and Australia
Connections between the West Indies
and Australia began in the early days
of European settlement.
Australia’s first newspaper publisher, and founder of the
Sydney Gazette in 1803 was George Howe, a white convict
from the island of St Christopher.
clockwise from top right
Ralph de Boissiere, of the Realist Writers
Group, arrived in Australia from Trinidad
with his family in 1947.
Source: Museum Victoria Caribbean Community
Photographic Collection.
Cocoa Jackson Lane, was named as a
tribute to respected local identity, West
Indian Fred James, who lived in Edward
Street Brunswick from 1930 to 1979.
Source: Museum Victoria Caribbean Community
Photographic Collection.
Portrait of Peter Felix, taken between
1895 and 1899. Peter Felix, a West Indian
migrant from St Croix who settled in
Melbourne, became Australian Boxing
Heavyweight Champion in the late 1890s.
Courtesy National Library of Australia,
Image No. NLA 3638961
Farewell dinner for visiting AfricanAmerican heavyweight boxer Jack Johnson
(centre back in light suit), held by the
Coloured Progressive Association, Sydney,
1907. Those pictured include West Indian
boxer, Peter Felix (large man to Johnson’s
left) and Aboriginal activist Fred Maynard
(seated in front of waistcoated man).
Source: Courtesy John Maynard.
At the height of the British Empire, officers and
administrators moved freely between far-flung colonies.
Many came to Australia from the West Indies while others,
like Edward Eyre, left Australia to take up appointments
there.
Black convicts, servants and sailors from the West Indies
also arrived in Australia and many of them later integrated
into Aboriginal communities. These relationships, and links
forged through the sport of boxing, contributed to later
alliances between the Black Consciousness movements in
Australia, the USA and the West Indies, including a branch of
Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association
in Sydney in the 1920s.
Caribbean people were also among the many nationalities
flocking to the Victorian goldfields after 1851. One of
the thirteen miners killed at the Eureka Stockade was a
Jamaican. Arthur Windsor, editor of the Age newspaper
from 1872 – 1900 was born in Barbados.
Especially since the abandonment of the White Australia
policy, West Indians have arrived from many countries of
the Commonwealth. From honky-tonk pianist Winifred
Atwell to environmental engineer Ken Potter and writer
Ralph de Boissiere, they have brought wide-ranging skills,
experience and cultural richness to Australia.
Few and far away
Caribbean migrants are often asked
why they left their tropical homes to
travel across the world and live in
temperate Melbourne. The reasons
why West Indians came to Victoria
are as varied as the people themselves.
During the many years of the White Australia Policy,
it was extremely difficult for non-white West Indians
to migrate to Australia. Many early migrants were middleclass ‘white-enough’ West Indians from some Caribbean
countries where political unrest and economic uncertainty
accompanied independence around the 1960s. Following
the abolition of the White Australia Policy in 1975, West
Indians of all races were gradually able to migrate more
freely.
top to bottom
Letter received by Michael Ward, who
migrated from Jamaica shortly before the
abolition of the White Australia Policy.
Love frequently brought West Indians to Australia. Many
marriages occurred in the 1960s and 1970s, when young
Australians on their ‘rite of passage’ trips to Great Britain
met West Indians, with whom they shared similar attitudes
to life, education, values and sense of humour.
The Phillips family at home in Georgetown,
Guyana, 1976, gathered to farewell eldest
sister Joan Buchanan (second right) the day
before she and husband George (third right)
left for Australia.
Michael and Adrienne Ward, at their home
in Melbourne, 2009.
The Thomas family from Tabago, posed
for this photograph to accompany their
immigration application for migration to
Australia in 1962.
above
Tony and Schavana Phillips followed Joan
Buchanan, Tony’s sister, to Australia,
arriving in Perth in 1978.
Rupert ‘Monty’ Montague migrated to England
from Jamaica in 1943. In 1964 he married
Stephanie Burchett (later Alexander), an
Australian who was temporarily living in
London. Monty then embarked on a ‘second
migration’ to Australia where he and Stephanie
opened the first West Indian restaurant in
Melbourne, Jamaica House in Carlton, in 1966.
Source: Museum Victoria Caribbean Community
Photographic Collection.
Source: Museum Victoria Caribbean Community
Photographic Collection.
Gordon Veerasawmy received a warm
welcome from his family upon arriving
at Melbourne Airport in 1996.
The Caribbean community has grown in recent years as
younger and second-generation immigrants born in Britain,
the USA and Canada have started migrating to Australia.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics Census
2006, around 1200 Victorians claim West Indian ancestry.
Calypso cricket:
losing the series
but winning hearts
Cricket is a passion among many
West Indians. From the mid-1970s
to early 1990s, West Indies cricket
teams were the strongest in the world.
Keen rivalry produced many thrilling encounters with
Australia over the years. The traditional Boxing Day Test
held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground is a popular meeting
place whenever the ‘Windies’ come on tour. West Indians
in Victoria always turn out to meet ‘the boys from back
home’ and each other.
One famous tour of Australia was the 1960– 61
Test series. Both Frank Worrell, the first black man
to lead the West Indies team abroad, and his opposing
captain, Richie Benaud, encouraged their teams to play
attacking cricket.
clockwise from top left
Karen Greenidge, migrated from Tinidad
in 1989 shortly after being named
Sportswoman of the Year for her golf and
tennis prowess. Pictured here with cricketer
Brian Lara who later won the same award,
at a party held for him by the West Indian
community, Melbourne 2006.
The first Test match produced the only ‘Tied Test’ in 123
years, and the subsequent close contest electrified the
entire cricket world. The series climax at the MCG broke an
international crowd record of 90,800. A ticker tape parade
drew 20,000 cheering fans to downtown Melbourne to
farewell the West Indies team, who had lost 2–1.
The first Australia Day cricket match and
West Indian Family Day, in 1992.
Tony Phillips, Malcolm McDonald and Ivan
Veerasawmy at a West Indies match at the
MCG, c.1995.
Members of the Caribbean community look
forward to hosting the visiting West Indies
cricket team when they are in Australia.
Here they are at dinner with Clive Lloyd.
West Indians enjoying a day at the cricket.
Source: Museum Victoria Caribbean Community
Photographic Collection.
above
Melbourne’s daily newspapers gave extensive
coverage of the thrilling conclusion to the
1961 West Indies cricket tour including
commentary on the migration policy of the day.
Courtesy: the Age.
At the height of the White Australia Policy, these stylish,
articulate and multi-racial West Indian players aroused the
curiosity and admiration of the public. The success of this
tour added to mounting calls to repeal Australia’s racist
immigration law.
West Indian music
and carnival
top to bottom
Musicians in the making: the next
generation of West Indians in Victoria
learn the basics of playing the bottle and
spoon and the ‘iron’ brake drum.
The West Indian theme for the 2008
Moomba parade was Pirates of the
Caribbean.
West Indians, accompanied by friends, take
part in their first Moomba Parade, 1975.
The West Indians entry in the Moomba
Festival parade, 1975.
Primary school students learn about
Caribbean music from Charles Blakeman
who is playing the steel pan drum, 2006.
Carnival is a major Caribbean festival,
when revellers from every social class
throw off all inhibitions. To play mas’
(participate in Carnival) is to don a
colourful costume, become anonymous
and dance in the streets to the pulsating
rhythms of the steelpan.
Trinidad Carnival originated with slaves dressing up in finery
to mimic their Catholic masters on the two days before Ash
Wednesday. On other islands, carnivals occur at different
times. In Barbados, ‘Crop Over’ marks the end of the
sugarcane harvest.
West Indian migrants have transported Carnival to their new
homes overseas, such as London’s Notting Hill Carnival and
Toronto’s Caribana. Melbourne’s tiny Caribbean community
has also continued its Carnival traditions by participating in
the Moomba parade since 1975.
opposite page
The Amral Cavaliers band toured Australia
in 1978 and left their steel pans behind for
the local community to play.
Source: Museum Victoria Caribbean Community
Photographic Collection.
Reggae and calypso are the most well-known musical
styles originated in the West Indies. Others, less famous,
include traditional folk songs such as those popularised by
Harry Belafonte, and soca, kaiso, chutney, parang, dub, ska,
dancehall, toasting and more.
Famous Caribbean musicians have toured Melbourne over
the years, from Bob Marley and Khan’s Trinidad Cavaliers
in the 1970s, to Calypsonian The Mighty Sparrow in 2007
and Lady Saw in 2008. These rare visits provide other
opportunities for West Indian migrants to get together,
celebrate their culture and reminisce.
Settling in stories
The West Indians who came to Australia
had different experiences from those
who joined established immigrant
communities in the UK, USA or Canada.
These migrants chose Australia because the lifestyle and
culture sounded familiar: a beautiful country with plenty of
outdoor space and sporty, ‘laid-back’ people. Many wanted
to avoid cold climates and competitive, urban ‘rat race’
existences. Some were also fearful of the racial tensions
prevalent in many English and North American cities in the
1960s. Melbourne was a popular destination because jobs
were readily available.
top to bottom
Lloyd Watson-Jones, shown here with his
parents at Guyana airport, before boarding
a plane to Australia, 1974. He came on a
scholarship to study music at the Melbourne
Conservatorium.
Early West Indian migrants faced extreme isolation, in
what sometimes felt like a clean, pleasant and efficient,
but slightly dull and parochial place. Victoria also proved
unexpectedly cold. Even small cultural differences required
some adjustment: the ‘footy’ obsession; ‘bring-a-plate’
entertaining culture; casual dress codes; lack of domestic
help or extended families; and outdoor toilets in the 1960s
and 1970s!
Family and friends gathered on the front
lawn of the Jarvis home, to celebrate a
double christening, c.1983.
The Limbo dance is popular at many West
Indian parties in Victoria, 2007.
Gordon Veerasawmy received his Australian
citizenship in 2001 from the Mayor of Knox,
Cr Jenny Moore.
Later, migrants from more diverse social backgrounds also
found these cultural differences challenging. Discrimination
was also an issue, sometimes resulting in different
experiences for members of the same community – or even
family – depending on their physical appearance.
Orlando and Lenford chillin’ at the West
Indian community’s annual Australia Day
Cricket Lime, 2009.
The DeFreitas brothers (second left and far
right) migrated from Trinidad in 1966 and
immediately volunteered for the Vietnam
War. They remained in touch with their good
friends, the Thomas brothers, who migrated
in 1967. They are shown here at one of their
regular reunions, 1999.
Source: Museum Victoria Caribbean Community
Photographic Collection.
above, top to bottom
After the children moved out, Pat and
Kester Thomas downsized to a Melbournestyle chattel house! The fretwork and sound
of the rainfall on the tin roof especially
reminded them of their house in the
West Indies.
Soon after Rodney and Ingrid Jarvis’ arrival
in Melbourne in 1975, they celebrated their
wedding with their Australian family.
Source: Museum Victoria Caribbean Community
Photographic Collection.
Despite these problems, West Indians generally felt
welcomed and accepted, and were able to build productive
and comfortable new lives in Victoria. Although we are
deeply nostalgic for what we left behind, we also celebrate
our Australian identities.
Acknowledgements
Callaloo – the Caribbean Mix in Victoria
was inaugurated at the Immigration Museum
at Old Customs House, Melbourne, Australia.
The museum explores the stories and
experiences of people from all over the
world who have migrated to Victoria.
The Immigration Museum is part of Museum Victoria
which is Australia’s largest museum organisation.
It is the State Museum for Victoria, responsible for the
care of Victoria’s collections, conducting research and
providing cultural and science programs. It also operates
Melbourne Museum, Scienceworks and the Royal
Exhibition Building.
THANK YOU
We gratefully acknowledge those who have provided
support for this exhibition, the individuals and families
who have contributed their personal stories, artefacts
and memorabilia. This exhibition is an achievement that
will record the valuable contribution of the Caribbean
community to making Australia a rich and diverse society.
Stephanie Alexander
Body text
Through its Community Exhibition program, the
Charles Blakeman
Immigration Museum explores the different communities
Dr Serdar Boztas
that have contributed to the making of modern Australia.
Jigzie Campbell
Callaloo was developed by Immigration Museum in
Jimmy Chinnama
collaboration with CaribVic representing the Caribbean
Jacqueline Dedier
community in Victoria.
Jayne & Brian DeFreitas
COMMUNITY EXHIBITION COMMITTEE
Orlando Gibson
Ingrid Jarvis
Jennai Lee Fai
Lisa Montague
Tony Phillips
Joe Singh
Dr. Karina Smith
Patricia Thomas
Leslyn Thompson
Gordon Veerasawmy
Maria Tence
Peg Fraser
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL COURTESY OF
National Library of Australia
The Age
The Herald Sun
Cover image: Jigzie Campbell,
Jamaican-born performing artist.
Photographer: J Augier, MV Collections.
Photograph: David Loram
Maureen & Frank DeFreitas
Henry, Carla & Celeste Dolphin
Lincoln Edwards
Jacqueline Fitch
Dennis Gonsalves
Jacquie Grant
Tony & Karen Greenidge
Dr. Annie Greet
Harry Jackson
Rodney Jarvis
Nigel Maharaj
Professor John Maynard
Tim & Gail Mew
Spurgeon Montague
Sue Montague
Robert Moore
Roger & Robyn Phillips
Schavana Phillips
Dr Lesley Potter
Gerri Singh
Madeleine Smith
Maria Stratford
Cathy & Brian Thomas
Kester Thomas
Phillip Lyons
Ivan Veerasawmy
Marco Vellekoop
Jim & Melita Vlassopoulos
Arthur & Arlete Waite
Trish Wakeford
Mike & Adrienne Ward
Lloyd & June Watson-Jones
Kenoll Wilson
Callaloo – the Caribbean Mix in Victoria 3 December 2009 – 7 March 2010
Community Exhibition Program
at the Immigration Museum,
Melbourne, Australia
The Community Gallery presents exhibitions created by Victoria’s
culturally, linguistically and religiously diverse communities. By working
in collaboration with the Immigration Museum, these communities share
their culture and heritage through their immigration stories.
The histories and experiences of many groups have contributed to the
making of modern Australia. The museum has collaborated with many
of Victoria’s communities to develop and present exhibitions.
For further information please visit our website
museumvictoria.com.au/immigrationmuseum/
or the Immigration Discovery Centre on the ground floor.
Design: Elizabeth Dias, MV Studios Museum Victoria
Printed on Sovereign Silk – FSC certified paper,
manufactured with elemental chlorine free pulps.