engleski

Leaving the island of Olib is just a first step towards return

In this paper I deal with the migrations from the island of Olib (Croatia) to the USA and with the inhabitants' return migration. The focus is on the historical, social and political context of the fourth wave of emigration in the 1960s and 1970s. My data are based on fieldwork carried out on the island in 2011. Although the causes of migrations are generally determined by economic, political and other social factors, how an individual will adapt to life in a foreign culture depends primarily on his own abilities, skills, ingenuity and flexibility. Emigration from Olib had started at the end of the 19th century and 29 reached it peak after World War II. The reasons were economic and political, but poverty was the primary cause. People had lived off sheep herding, agriculture and forestry, but that was not sufficient to survive. The lack of resources forced the islanders to go «stomach after bread» to the United States. While in the first half of the 20th century emigration was limited exclusively to the young, male, able bodied islanders, in the second half of the century women from Olib were taking an equal part. Most had planned a temporary stay in America, up to five years, but because of their jobs and better standards of living they ended up staying until retirement. After spending all of their working years in the «foreign lands», at the beginning of this century most of the emigrants choose, upon retirement, to return to the native island. Their children who were born in the USA, however, remain there.

emigration ; Olib island ; return migration

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