Guyana Indians of Minnesota Oral History Project - Part A
To document in 10-15 oral history interviews the history of the Guyanese Indian community in Minnesota.
To document in 10-15 oral history interviews the history of the Guyanese Indian community in Minnesota.
$5,846,000 in fiscal year 2020 and $7,004,000 in fiscal year 2021 are for statewide historic and cultural grants to local, county, regional, or other historical or cultural organizations or for activities to preserve significant historic and cultural resources. Money must be distributed through a competitive grant process. The Minnesota Historical Society must administer the money using established grant mechanisms, with assistance from the advisory committee created under Laws 2009, chapter 172, article 4, section 2, subdivision 4, paragraph (b), item (ii).
Available upon request. Contact, grants@mnhs.org
Short Term:
-Project was successfully completed on 10/15/2022.
-Oral History Audio recordings, Transcripts and Video recordings are now available at Minnesota Hindu Dharmic Sabha (MHDS) Vishnu Mandir, which represents a significant portion of the Guyanese East Indians in Minnesota. These transcripts and/or recordings will be stored at MHDS Vishnu Mandir and will be available on request for reference or research purposes.
-The progress of this project was shared at the IAM Oral History Booth at IndiaFest on Aug 13, 2022.
-All narrators who participated in the project were invited to attend IndiaFest 2022 at the State Capitol Grounds, and those who did attend, were congratulated by the IAM President.
-Announcement on the MHDS Vishnu Mandir website by end of Nov 2022.
-On Nov 6, 2022, a formal announcement is being made at the MHDS Vishnu Mandir about the completion of the project. All the narrators and community leaders who supported the project will be recognized and presented with a digital copy of the interview and its transcripts, as well as a printed copy of the book with all the interviews.
-A meeting between MHDS Vishnu Mandir board and the President of India Association of Minnesota (IAM) is being facilitated to look for areas of possible engagement going forward.
Medium Term:
-An announcement is being made in the IAM Newsletter - Scheduled for Nov 2022 edition.
-An announcement is being made on the IAM Website - To be completed before end of Dec 2022.
- We anticipate moderate usage of the Oral histories
Long Term:
-We are already seeing increased engagement with the wider Indian community in Twin Cities. We hope for greater understanding of the challenges faced by the Guyanese Indian community in coming to and integrating within the larger Minnesota community, to continue growing over time.
-Publication of the transcripts on IAM website: Coordinating to publish these Oral Histories on the IAM OHP website by end of Q1, 2023 to whomever is interested for research or reference purposes.
-Usage of the Guyanese East Indians of Minnesota Oral Histories from the IAM website and / or the Indo-Guyanese community'site.
-Visibility beyond MN by sharing the Oral Histories with other institutions and libraries such as with our partner South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA).
Available upon request, grants@mnhs.org
President - Sreeni Checka
Vice-President - Kiran Bandi
Treasurer - Suyash Jain
Secretary - Srividya Vaidyanathan