ON THE PLANTATIONS
Life in the lines
What we know
- Labourers lived in rows of barrack rooms called “lines”, with little privacy.
- Work was set by daily tasks, and wages could be cut by fines and penalties.
- Far fewer women came than men, and women faced particularly hard conditions.
The story
Workers lived in barrack rows known as lines. Demanding tasks, poor accommodation and punishment shaped plantation life. Women faced labour demands alongside particular forms of violence and pressure.
Yet Girmitiyas were not only victims. They formed relationships, supported one another and resisted abuses. Women’s histories include individual and collective action as well as suffering. Keeping both in view restores agency to people often reduced to an anonymous labour force.
Words in this chapter
the lines — this chapter is where the museum explains this word. See the whole glossary →
Pictures in this chapter
Indian Women, Fiji (2013)
Indian women, Fiji (2013)
Sugar cane plantation with two labourers and a bullock team, Fiji
Sugar cane plantation with two labourers, Fiji — second view
Fijian men, an Indo-Fijian man and boys beside cut sugar cane
Fijian men, an Indo-Fijian man and boys beside cut sugar cane — second view
Indian girl, Fiji (2013)
Indian ladies, Fiji (2013)
Indian boy, Fiji (2013)
Indian couple, Fiji (2013)
Indian community, Fiji (2013)
Indian community, Fiji (2013)
South Sea Islander cane cutters on a sugar cane plantation in Queensland, Australia, about 1900.
Sources
More in Girmit
Tell the museum something
A memory, a correction, or a question. Nothing you send appears on the site. It goes to the museum’s own queue, a person reads it, and they decide. If you teach, know this place, or remember it, your correction is worth more than a compliment.
This chapter’s text is awaiting cultural and historical review. Pictures keep the credit and licence of the collection that holds them.