 Kalina schoolchildren fromBigi Poika,Suriname, 2002. | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 44,741 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Venezuela | 33,824 (2011)[1] |
 Suriname | 3,000 (2002)[1] |
 Guyana | 3,100 (2020)[2] |
 French Guiana | 3,000 (2002)[1] |
 Brazil | 1,817[3] |
| Languages | |
| Carib Various local languages | |
| Religion | |
| Animism,Christianity,Native American religions | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Island Caribs | |
TheKalina, also known as theCaribs ormainland Caribs and by several other names, are anIndigenous people native to the northern coastal areas ofSouth America. Today, the Kalina live largely in villages on the rivers and coasts ofVenezuela,Guyana,Suriname,French Guiana, andBrazil. They speak aCariban language known asCarib.[4] They may be related to theIsland Caribs of theCaribbean, though their languages are unrelated.
TheexonymCaribe was first recorded byChristopher Columbus.[5]: vi One hypothesis for the origin ofCarib is that it means "brave warrior".[5]: vi Its variants, including the EnglishCarib, were then adopted by other European languages.[5]: vi Early Spanish colonizers 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.[6]: 121
The Kalina call themselvesKalina orKarìna[kaɽiɁnʲauɽaŋ], spelled variously.[7] Variants includeKaliʼna,Cariña,Kariña,Kalihna,Kalinya; other native names includeMaraworno andMarworno. Kalina may distinguish themselves asKaliʼna tilewuyu ("true Kalina"), partly to differentiate themselves from the mixedMaroon-Kalina inhabitants ofSuriname.[8] Use of "Kalina" and related variants has become common practice only recently in publications; many sources continue to use "Caribs" or associated names.[7]
Lacking a written form of language before the arrival of Europeans, Kaliʼna history was passed down orally from one generation to the next through tales of myth and legend.
For a long time, the few Europeans studying the history of the Amerindian people of this area did not distinguish between the various Caribbean tribes. Once the period of exploration was over, interest in the study of these people diminished greatly and did not re-emerge until the end of the 20th century, when a few French expatriates, notably Gérard Collomb, became interested in the Kaliʼna, and the Kaliʼna themselves began to relate their history, in particular Félix Tiouka, president of the Association of Amerindians of French Guiana (AAGF), and his son Alexis.
For the reasons given, historical information regarding the Kaliʼna is rare and incomplete.
Making up for lack of written records,archaeologists have to date uncovered 273 Amerindian archeological sites on only 310 km² of the land recovered from theSinnamary River by thePetit-Saut Dam. Some date back as far as two thousand years, establishing the antiquity of the Amerindian presence in this area.[9],[10]
The weak historical clues available indicate that before 1492, the Kaliʼna inhabited the coast (from the mouth of theAmazon River to that of theOrinoco), dividing their territory with theArawak, against whom they fought during their expansion toward the east and theAmazon River.[11],[12]
They were prolific travelers even though they weren't nomads. They often traveled by land and by sea as far as the area around the Orinoco river to visit family, trade, and marry.[13] They often went to the area surrounding the Essequibo river (now in Guyana) to collect pebbles of red porphyry (takuwa), which Kaliʼna women prized for polishing their pottery.[14] The termtakuwa also refers to jade, which was often traded in the Americas in general.[15]
In their first contact with Europeans, the Kaliʼna thought they were dealing with the spirits of the sea, Palanakiłi, a name they use to this day when referring to whites.[16][17]
One of the first consequences of the arrival of Europeans, as in the case of many other Native American peoples, was a decrease in population due to violence inflicted by European soldiersgenocide, anddiseases brought over by the Europeans. The Kaliʼna quickly succumbed in large numbers, because theirimmune systems were not adapted to the viruses and bacteria of the Old World.
At that time, the Kaliʼna knew only stone axes and hardwood machetes. These men brought with them axes and machetes of iron, they showed that they cut much better ... This time, the Palanakiłi had brought good things.[18]
The second half of the nineteenth century saw the heyday ofWorld's Fairs, in which European countries were displaying their wealth with colonial "villages" representing the colonized cultures. Although the World's Fairs of Paris did not have "Amerindian villages", public curiosity was such that Kaliʼna were sent to the capital twice - once in 1882 and again in 1892 - to be exhibited as oddities at theJardin d'Acclimatation.[19],[20]
Fifteen Kali’na, all members of one family living inSinnamary andIracoubo, were sent toPau:wa ("The Land of the Whites") in July 1882.[19] Almost nothing is known about them, except their names[21] and the fact that they were housed inhuts on the lawn of the Jardin d'Acclimatation. The trip lasted four months, including three in Paris and a month's journey by boat (round trip). They were accompanied by a Creole who acted as intermediary and, presumably, interpreter.[22] There are several portraits of them, taken by photographerPierre Petit.[23]
The part of South America where the Kaliʼna live is very sparsely populated. However, the people of this ethnic group are such an extreme minority in all of the countries in which they are well established that locally they are a majority only in certain very secluded areas. Their current geographic distribution covers only a small fraction of their Pre-Columbian territory.
The Kaliʼnas in Brazil are localized in two groups.[3] The Galibi do Oiapoque can only be found inSão José dos Galibi, a village founded in 1950 on the right bank of theOyapock River by several families who came from the region of the Mana River.[24] The Galibi Marworno or Uaçá Galibi mainly live along theUaçá River further land inwards. The main settlement isKumarumã. The Galibi Marworno were originally from French Guiana, but mixed with the Arua and Marworno Amerindians. The term Galibi Marworno is a recent self-designation of the group.[3]
Still present in significant numbers in their original territory, the region between theMaroni and the Mana rivers (in particular, the communities ofAwala-Yalimapo, the only one where they are a majority,Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni,Mana andIracoubo), and the Amerindian village ofKourou as well as, in fewer numbers, the island ofCayenne.
Kaliʼna are a strong presence on the left bank of the Maroni River and on the banks of theCoppename River. A large proportion of the population lives in thePara District often in villages shared with theLokono people. The main settlements areBernharddorp,Wit-Santi,Galibi,Powakka andBigi Ston.[25] The Kaliʼna lived in the same area as the colonizers, and have a peace treaty with Suriname since 1686.[26] A Kaliʼna member of theNational Assembly,Sylvia Kajoeramari,[27] successfully led efforts to recognize theInternational Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples as a public holiday in Suriname.[28]
In Guyana, Kaliʼna are stereotyped as the most "proud, aggressive, and warlike" of the Amerindian groups. Kalina were paid by plantation owners to capture indigenous slaves as well as recapture African slaves who escaped.[29] One of the smaller indigenous groups in Guyana, Kaliʼna are settled on theBarama andPomeroon Rivers, and in the Northwest of the country.[30]
Malaria has had a detrimental impact on the population of Kalina in Guyana, and is exacerbated by hinterland mining that creates still-water pools that serve as vectors for the disease. Many Kalina are also employed in the mining sector.[31]
The country where their numbers are the greatest, Kaliʼna can be found in two distinct zones: in theLlanos of theOrinoco river valley and on theCuyuni River valley part of which is inGuyana. See alsoChimire, Venezuela.
Kasiri, a cassava-derived beer, is an important part of traditional Kalina celebrations.[32]
For Kalina ofthe Guianas, the death of family members initiates a period of mourning that can last for a year or more, and is concluded with a celebration known asEpekotono. Preparations are made by a respected member of the village, and can take several months to assemble. Collecting money is a more contemporary addition to the responsibilities.Epekotono is a public event that draws attendance from neighboring villages, including body-painting, music, dancing, and symbolic burning of the deceased's belongings to mark their spirit leaving. At the conclusion, mourning ends and normal social behaviors resume, along with the option for widows to remarry. While non-Kalina can attend as guests, the event serves to reinforce the Kalina identity, marked by explicit use of theKalina language. Nowadays, theepekotono is the only occasion for such gatherings among the Kalina.[32]
They use mostlypercussion instruments. Theirsanpula (orsambula) is a largedrum with two skins stretched over either end of the shell by hoops pulled together with cord and is played with amallet. They also have two kinds ofmaracas, called akalawasi (orkalawashi) and amalaka.
Their flute, thekuwama, is still made but is more and more often replaced by the Europeanflute. There is also a terra cotta horn called akuti'
They speakKaliʼna, belonging to the family ofCariban languages, which today is still spoken by above 10,000 people in the coastal strip that stretches from Venezuela (5,000 speakers) to Brazil (100) passing through Guyana (475), Suriname (2,500) and French Guiana (3,000 people).
Thanks to the relatively significant number of speakers, it is one of the most likely Amazonian tongues to survive. Some experiments with written transcription were undertaken inFrench Guiana.[33]Linguistic standardization of a Kaliʼnawriting system however is plagued by the diversity of the many different forms of the written language currently in use, which have been influenced by the languages of thecolonists of the countries in which the Kaliʼna live,Spanish,Portuguese,Dutch,French andEnglish. Thus, even as far as theirethnonym is concerned, Kaliʼna, there are no fewer than nine different writing systems. Kaliʼna therefore remains a primarily oral language.
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