 Carib family (byJohn Gabriel Stedman 1818) | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Dominica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago; formerly throughout theLesser Antilles | |
| Languages | |
| English,Dominican Creole French, formerlyIsland Carib | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Garifuna (Black Carib),Taíno |
TheKalinago, also calledIsland Caribs[5] or simplyCaribs, are anIndigenous people of theLesser Antilles in theCaribbean. They may have been related to theMainland Caribs (Kalina) of South America, but they spoke an unrelated language known asKalinago or Island Carib. They also spoke apidgin language associated with the Mainland Caribs.[6]
At the time ofSpanish contact, the Kalinago were one of the dominant groups in the Caribbean (the name of which is derived from "Carib", as the Kalinago were once called). They lived throughout north-eastern South America,Trinidad and Tobago,Barbados, theWindward Islands,Dominica, and possibly the southernLeeward Islands. Historically, it was thought their ancestors were mainland peoples who had conquered the islands from their previous inhabitants, theIgneri. However, linguistic and archaeological evidence contradicts the notion of a mass emigration and conquest; the Kalinago language appears not to have beenCariban, but like that of their neighbors, theTaíno.Irving Rouse and others suggest that a smaller group of mainland peoples migrated to the islands without displacing their inhabitants, eventually adopting the local language but retaining their traditions of a South American origin.[7]
In the early colonial period, the Kalinago had a reputation as warriors who raided neighboring islands. According to the tales ofSpanish conquistadors, the Kalinago werecannibals who regularly ate roasted human flesh,[8] although this is considered by the community to be an offensive myth. There is no hard evidence of Caribs eating human flesh, though one historian points out it might have been seldomly done as means of taunting or even frightening theirArawak enemies.[9][10] The Kalinago and their descendants continue to live in the Antilles, notably on the island ofDominica. TheGarifuna, who share common ancestry with the Kalinago, also live principally in Central America.
TheexonymCaribe was first recorded byChristopher Columbus.[11]: vi One hypothesis for the origin ofCarib is that it means "brave warrior".[11]: vi Its variants, including the English wordCarib, were then adopted by other European languages.[11]: vi Early Spanish explorers and administrators used the termsArawak andCaribs to distinguish the peoples of the Caribbean, withCarib reserved for Indigenous groups that they considered hostile andArawak for groups that they considered friendly.[12]: 121
TheKalinago language endonyms areKarifuna (singular) andKalinago (plural).[13][14] The name was officially changed from 'Carib' to 'Kalinago' in Dominica in 2015.[15][16]
William F. Keegan andCorinne L. Hofman have outlined two major models for the origin of the Kalinago.[17] The traditional account, which is almost as old as Columbus, says that the Caribs were a warlike people who were moving up the Lesser Antilles and displacing the original inhabitants.[17][18] Early missionary texts suggested the original inhabitants of the islands were theIgneri, while the Kalinago were invaders originating in South America (home to themainland Caribs or Kalina) who conquered and displaced the Igneri.[19] As this tradition was widespread in oral testimonies, and internally consistent, it was accepted as historical by Europeans.[20][21]
The second model proposes that the Kalinago developed out of the indigenous peoples of the Antilles.[17] While the Caribs were commonly believed to have migrated from theOrinoco River area in South America to settle in the Caribbean islands about 1200 CE, an analysis ofancient DNA suggests that the Caribs had a common origin with contemporary groups in the Greater and Lesser Antilles.[22] The transition from Igneri to Island Carib culture may have occurred around 1450.[23]
Archaeological evidence in support of either model is sparse, with "no confirmed Carib sites [known] prior to the 1990s."[17] However, Cayo-style pottery found in the Lesser Antilles, and dated between 1000 and 1500, is similar to the Koriabo complex from which the mainland Carib orKari'na pottery tradition is descended. Cayo pottery was once thought to have preceded Suazoid pottery (associated with the Igneri) in the Lesser Antilles, but more recent scholarship suggests that Cayo pottery gradually replaced Suazoid pottery in the islands.[17] Cayo-style pottery has been found in the Lesser Antilles fromGrenada toBasse-Terre, and, possibly,Saint Kitts. Cayo pottery also shows similarities to the Meillacoid and Chicoid styles of the Greater Antilles, as well as to the South American Koriabo style.[24]
Upon his arrival in the Caribbean archipelago in 1492, theMaipurean-speakingTaínos reportedly toldChristopher Columbus that Caribs were fierce warriors and cannibals, who made frequent raids on the Taínos, often capturing women.[21][25] According to Columbus, the Taínos said the Caribs had spent the last two centuries displacing the Taínos by warfare, extermination, and assimilation.[26]
The French missionaryRaymond Breton arrived in the Lesser Antilles in 1635, and lived inGuadeloupe andDominica until 1653. He took ethnographic and linguistic notes on the native peoples of these islands, includingSt. Vincent, which he visited briefly. Breton was responsible for many of the early stereotypes about Kalinago.[27]
Later, the Kalinago occasionally allied with the Taínos to repel European invaders. When the Spanish attempted to colonize Puerto Rico, Kalinago from St. Croix arrived to aid the local Taíno.[28] Daguao village, initially slated to be the Europeans' new capital, was destroyed by Taínos from the eastern area of Puerto Rico, with the support of Kalinago from neighboringVieques.[29] By the middle of the 16th century, the resistance of Taínos and Kalinago alike was largely quashed across the Greater Antilles. The survivors were enslaved to work in agriculture or mining.[12]
The Kalinagos were more successful in repelling the Spanish—and later the French and English—in the Lesser Antilles, retaining their independence. The lack of gold in the area and the large numbers of casualties inflicted upon the Spanish contributed to their survival.[12]
In the seventeenth century, the Kalinago regularly attacked the plantations of the English and the French in the Leeward Islands. In the 1630s, planters from the Leewards conducted campaigns against the Kalinago, but with limited success. The Kalinago took advantage of divisions between the Europeans, to provide support to the French and the Dutch during wars in the 1650s, consolidating their independence as a result.[30] Such wars led to a geopolitical boundary separating theLesser Antilles, inhabited by the Kalinago, from theGreater Antilles, inhabited by theTaíno. This boundary became known as the "poison arrow curtain".[12][31]
In 1660, France and England signed theTreaty of Saint Charles with Island Caribs. It stipulated that the Kalinago wouldevacuate all the Lesser Antilles except forDominica andSaint Vincent, which were recognised as reserves. However, the English later ignored the treaty, and pursue a campaign against the Kalinago in succeeding decades.[32] Between the 1660s and 1700, the English waged an intermittent campaign against the Kalinago.[6]
By 1763, the British had annexed St Lucia, Tobago, Dominica and St Vincent.[30] On Saint Vincent the Kalinago intermarried with runaway slaves, forming the ‘Black Caribs’ or Garifuna who were expelled to Honduras in 1797. The British colonial use of the termBlack Carib, particularly inWilliam Young'sAccount of the Black Charaibs (1795), has been described in modern historiography as framing the majority of the indigenous St. Vincent population as "mere interlopers from Africa" who lacked claims to land possession in St. Vincent.[12]: 121–123 [33]: 182 On Dominica the runaways formed distinct Maroon communities while the Caribs remained distinct. A remnant of these Caribs lives on in the Kalinago Territory.[citation needed]
As of 2008[update], a small population of around 3,400 Kalinago survived in theKalinago Territory in northeast Dominica, of whom some 70 "defined themselves as 'pure'".[35] The Kalinago of Dominica maintained their independence for many years by taking advantage of the island's rugged terrain. The island's east coast includes a 3,700-acre (15 km2) territory formerly known as theCarib Territory that was granted to the people by theBritish government in 1903. The Dominican Kalinago elect their own chief. In July 2003, the Kalinago observed 100 Years of Territory, and in July 2014, Charles Williams was elected Kalinago Chief, succeeding Chief Garnette Joseph.[36]
Several hundred Carib descendants live in theU. S. Virgin Islands,St. Kitts & Nevis,Antigua & Barbuda,Guadeloupe,Martinique,Dominica,Saint Lucia,Grenada,Trinidad andSt. Vincent. "Black Caribs," the descendants of the mixture of Africans live inSt. Vincent whose total population is unknown. Some ethnic Carib communities remain on the American mainland, in countries such asGuyana andSuriname in South America, andBelize in Central America. The size of these communities varies widely.[citation needed]
During the beginning of the eighteenth century, the Island Carib population inSt. Vincent was greater than that in Dominica. Both the Island Caribs (Yellow Caribs) and the Black Caribs (Garifuna) fought against theBritish during theSecond Carib War. After the end of the war, the British deported theGarifuna (a population of 4,338) toRoatan Island, while the Island Caribs (whose population consisted of 80 people) were allowed to stay on St. Vincent.[37] The 1812 eruption ofLa Soufrière destroyed the Carib territory, killing a majority of the Yellow Caribs. After the eruption, 130 Yellow Caribs and 59 Black Caribs survived onSt. Vincent. Unable to recover from the damage caused by the eruption, 120 of the Yellow Caribs, under Captain Baptiste, emigrated to Trinidad. In 1830, the Carib population numbered less than 100.[38][39] The population made a remarkable recovery after that, although almost the entire tribe died out during the 1902 eruption ofLa Soufrière.[citation needed]
Canoes are a significant aspect of the Kalinago's material culture and economy. They are used for transport from the southern continent and islands of the Caribbean, as well as providing them with the ability to fish more efficiently and to grow their fishing industry.[40] Canoes, constructed from theBurseraceae,Cedrela odorata,Ceiba pentandra, andHymenaea courbaril trees, serve different purposes depending on their height and thickness of the bark. TheCeiba pentandra tree is not only functional but spiritual and believed to house spirits that would become angered if disturbed.[41] Canoes have been used throughout the history of the Kalinago and have become a renewed interest within the manufacturing of traditional dugout canoes used for inter-island transportation and fishing.[42]
In 1997Dominica Carib artist Jacob Frederick andTortola artist Aragorn Dick Read set out to build a traditional canoe based on the fishing canoes still used in Dominica,Guadeloupe andMartinique. They launched a voyage by canoe to theOrinoco delta to meet up with the local Kalinago tribes, re-establishing cultural connections with the remaining Kalinago communities along the island chain, documented by theBBC inThe Quest of the Carib Canoe.[43]
Historically, scholars assumed that Island Carib men and women spoke different languages. To explain this phenomenon, scholars proposed that the Island Caribs may have killed the men and kept the women, allowing the Igneri language to survive among women.[44] This assumption arose from the fact that by at least the early 17th century, Carib men spoke a Cariban-basedpidgin language in addition to the usual Arawakan language used by both sexes. This was similar to pidgins used by mainland Caribs when communicating with their Arawak neighbors. Berend J. Hoff and Douglas Taylor hypothesized that it dated to the time of the Carib expansion through the islands, and that males maintained it to emphasize their origins on the mainland.[45]
Linguistic analysis in the 20th century determined that the mainIsland Carib language was spoken by both sexes, and wasArawakan, notCariban. Scholars adopted more nuanced theories to explain the transition from the earlier Igneri to the later Island Carib societies in the Antilles.Irving Rouse proposed that a relatively small scale Carib force conquered but did not displace the Igneri, and the invaders eventually took on the Igneri language while still maintaining their identity as Caribs.[45] Other scholars such as Sued Badillo doubt there was an invasion at all, proposing that the Igneri adopted the "Carib" identity over time due to their close economic and political relations with the rising mainland Carib polity.[46] Both theories accept that the historical Island Carib language developed from the existing tongue of the islands, and thus it is also known as Igneri.[47]
By the early twenty-first century, a combination of bush medicine and modern medicine was used by the Kalinago of Dominica. For example, various fruits and leaves are used to heal common ailments. For a sprain, oils from coconuts, snakes, and bay leaves are used to heal the injury.[dubious –discuss] Formerly the Caribs used an extensive range of medicinal plant and animal products.[48]
The Caribs are believed to have practicedpolytheism. As the Spanish began to colonise the Caribbean area, they wanted to convert the natives toCatholicism.[49] The Caribs destroyed a church ofFranciscans inAguada, Puerto Rico and killed five of its members, in 1579.[50]
Currently, the remaining Kalinago in Dominica practice parts of Catholicism through baptism of children. However, not all practiceChristianity. Some Caribs worship their ancestors and believe them to have magical power over their crops.[citation needed]
In 1492, whenChristopher Columbus arrived in the Caribbean, theMaipurean-speakingTaínos reportedly relayed stories of the Caribs' war-like nature and cannibalism to him.[21][25][26] When he arrived in the Lesser Antilles in 1635, the French missionaryRaymond Breton made ethnographic and linguistic notes on the "Caribs", which also informed many of the early stereotypes about the Kalinago.[27] Other missionaries, such as Cesar de Rochefort, would refute the common conception of the Caribs as cannibals.[51]
Early European accounts describe the taking of human trophies and the ritual cannibalism of war captives among both Arawak and other Amerindian groups such as the Carib andTupinambá, though the exact accuracy of cannibalistic reports still remains debated without skeletal evidence to support it.[52][53][10] Scholars such as Hilary McD. Beckles have instead suggested that the stories of "vicious cannibals" may have comprised an "ideological campaign" against the Kalinago to justify "genocidal military expeditions" by European colonizers.[28]
TheIsland Carib wordkaribna meant "person", although it became the origin of the English word "cannibal" after Columbus shared stories of flesh-eating Kalinago, apparently heard from their historicTaíno enemies.[54][26] Among the Caribs,karibna was apparently associated with ritual eating of war enemies.[52][53]
The Caribs reportedly had a tradition of keeping bones of their ancestors in their houses.Missionaries, such as PèreJean Baptiste Labat and Cesar de Rochefort, described the practice as part of a belief that theancestral spirits would always look after the bones and protect their descendants. The Caribs have been described by their various enemies as vicious and violent raiders. Rochefort stated they did not practice cannibalism.[51]
During his third voyage to North America in 1528, after exploringFlorida,the Bahamas and theLesser Antilles, Italian explorerGiovanni da Verrazzano was killed and allegedly eaten by Carib natives on what is nowGuadeloupe, near a place calledKarukera (“island of beautiful waters”).[55] Historian William Riviere has described most of the cannibalism as related to war rituals.[56]
Chief Kairouane and his men fromGrenada jumped off the "Leapers Hill" rather than face slavery under the French invaders, serving as an iconic representation of the Kalinago spirit of resistance.[57][58][59]
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