Stories the mangroves hold: reflections on Indo-Caribbean feminist community archiving

Abstract

This article invites the reader into conversation about silenced stories, intergenerational connection and what it means to reimagine Indo-Caribbean feminist histories. The authors of this article are coauthors of a digital archive, Ro(u)ted by Our Stories, which centres the stories of Indo-Caribbean women and those of marginalised genders in the US across generations. In this piece, we draw from historical material, our lived experiences as descendants of indenture, and a recorded conversation we had between members of our collective about our experiences working to create a community-owned digital archive. We share our visions for creating the archive and questions we have grappled with throughout the process, including our own limitations and reflections on archives as always unfinished and incomplete. Furthermore, we discuss the ways in which we see storytelling as a healing practice, our efforts to remain grounded in the needs and desires of community members and our hopes for the future of the archive. By including multiple voices in this piece, we hope to lift up the collaboration, interdependence and ‘weaving together’ of stories that informs the lens we bring to this work.