Ship Ahoy…. Ship Ahoy Americans are arriving Midst the hubbub of the quay There are tears of joy Fugitive crystals Lighting up the women’s eyes. All have passed by -Chinese, negroes, Americans, Dutchmen- All have passed by and casually left their race in the bellies of the harlots of the port. [link]

There were African immigrants in New England from the early 1800′s if not earlier and they were concentrated in the very seaport areas that the lascars would have frequented. So, anything’s possible.

Don’t listen to RC, best to err on the side of caution and cut down on the shrimp po’boys until you know you haven’t inherited Tamil arteries. If you’ve inherited French/Cajun genes, party on my fortunate Gallic-Dravidian friend laissez le bon temps rouler.

SM should host a contest to seek out desis with the longest ago Indian-come-to-America blood. And the winner of the contest will get a….pat on the back? Seriously, though, it would be fascinating to learn more about the stories of some of these decendants.

Back on topic Ananda K. Coomaraswamy was an early, i.e. before 1917, desi immigrant (part Sri Lankan Tamil & part English) in the US. He was a philosopher and curator at Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

Branch Dravidian, I think the above “advise” is completely BOGUS in my humble opinion. You dont look anything Desi because you are not completely Desi. So wouldnt you get any traits (I say most) from your european side of ancestory?? The whole logic of suggesting that you are at same a cardiological health risk as an FOB like me who has come from the “Des” into this completely different weather with totally different lifestyle, is as ABSURD as any comparison can be. So congrats on your healthy teeth (it is a sign of good eating habits which is an indicator of good health) and look forward to a long healthy life (without cardio risks).

And all the pictures in this part of her gallery – are of herself, in poses corresponding to those she saw in earlier-taken pictures of ‘American Indians’, featured side by side – and they are all Sepia-toned! Perhaps an ‘homage’ to a certain website we know and love (?) Very nice indeed.

It really annoys me that people refer to Native Americans as Indians. We are the Indians.

Names change significance over time to the people who use them. Many Native tribes call themselves American Indians today, as opposed to Native Americans, which they see as a PC term invented by academics who were mostly white.

An artist friend, Marguerite Houle, and I spoke together at a conference earlier this year. (She’s Huron/Metis from the Great Lakes Area, now lives in New Mexico; and I’m desi, born in India, now live in NM). Our talk was titled “Indian to Indian” and was about humor in picture books (as in we need more of it!)

Photographer Annu Palakunnathu Matthew has a cool exploration of stereotypes in imagery of “Indians” (them, with us as the “other”) on her web site.

Men can’t make descendants by themselves. In California, some punjabis married mexicans. These east coast people were probably not even migrants but worked on ships. They wouldn’t have left any descendents in the U.S.

Oh yeah, Abhi? And what about Sanjaya?