Caribbean History
Created by : Suresh Bedasee
Group Members :
Rachael John
Dannah Smart
Krystal Sookdeo
Tiffany Ragoobir
Rachel Friday
The Caribs

OBJECTIVES
 INTRODUCTION
 PATRIARCHY AND THE MEN
 THE WOMEN Kalifuna (female Kalinago)
 RELIGION
 FOOD
 MUSIC
 Cannibalism
 Genocide of 1626
 Carib Expulsion
 Languages
 Santa Rosa Carib Community
 REFERENCES

INTRODUCTION
THE CARIBS (THE KALINGOS )
 The Caribs are indigenous people of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean
 Caribs were believed to have migrated from the Orinoco river, in South
America to settle in the Caribbean
 They Arrived in the Caribbean through Venezuela/Trinidad route.
 They were the last group to settle in the Caribbean before the arrival of
Columbus and his crew
 They were said to be Extremely warlike and ferocious, they practiced
cannibalism and took pride in scarification (ritual cutting of the skin) and
fasting.

THE CARIBS (THE KALINGOS ) CON’T
The Kalinagos lived in villages near a river or creek, always strategically located in case of
an attack from other tribes, such as the Tainos.
The huts were oval-shaped, and their living arrangements also reflected the strong
patriarchal culture, since men and boys lived in their larger buildings and the females in a
smaller house.
Fishing, agriculture, and basket making were the chief domestic activities. The Caribs
were expert navigators, crisscrossing a large portion of the Caribbean
They do not address them self as Carib Indians which was giving to them by Columbus
but by their righteous and pre Columbus name Kalinago.
(later known as carifuna) Black Caribs
Village chief was the Ouboutou he was selected based on physical strength

Patriarchy and The Men
 The men were usually armed with a club and long knife, and bows and arrows.
 The men were skilled fishermen, who used small nets, hooks and line made
from vines or cotton and even their bows and arrows.
 Skilled in making dugout canoes and basket weaving. It is even possible that
this warrior tribe brought the technique of cotton spinning to the Guianas
 Carib men lived together in a large rectangular house receiving food from
woman and slept in hammocks.
 The Kalinagos had a patriarchal (Male Dominated) culture.
 Kalinago women weren't even allowed to eat their meals in the presence of the
men.
 Leaders in war were responsible for planning raids choosing boatmen captains
and distributing prizes including women.
 Men hunted and protected the woman and children from attacks.

The Women aka Kalifuna (female Kalinago)
 The woman reared children, processed and produced food
and clothing, sowed and harvested the land
 The women with the children lived in separate houses from
the men.
 Kalinago women were crucial to the tribe’s diet, since they
cultivated the crops.

Religion
 They were believed to be polytheists.
 They worshiped their ancestors and nature and believed in evil spirits
called Maybouya.
 The key functions of their Shamans called Buyeis, was to heal the sick with
herbs and cast spells (Piai). The ceremonies were accompanied by
sacrifices and tobacco played a large part in their religious rights.
 They kept bones of their ancestors in their houses. part of a belief that the
ancestral spirits would always look after the bones and protect their
descendants.

Food
 Cassava, sweet potatoes, yams, beans, peppers, guava and
papaya which sustained
 Iguanas, lizards, crabs, snakes, birds and agouti provided
meat.

Music
 Garifuna music from the Garafuna people, the progenies of Carib, Arawak and
West African people
 The most famous form of is Punta. Its associated musical style, which has the
dance moves of their hips in a circular motion.
 Punta was popular across the region especially in Belize; drums played a very
important part in Garifuna music (the primero the tenor drum and the
segunda the bass drum).

Cannibalism
 The Carib word karibna meant "person". It became the origin of the English
"cannibal". Although, among the Carib, it was apparently associated with
rituals related to the eating of war enemies,
 Some Europeans believed the Carib practiced general cannibalism. these
claims prove to be unsubstantiated
 Claims of the practice were based on European misconceptions.
 No evidence, either archaeological or from first hand observations by
Europeans conclusively proves that Island-Caribs Ever consumed human
flesh, and second hand accounts cannot entirely be trusted. For example...
 Christopher Columbus writes in his diary, "far from there, there are one-
eyed men, and others, with the snouts of dogs, who ate men, and that as
soon as one is captured they cut his throat and drink his blood."

Genocide of 1626
 As the European population on Saint Kitts continued to increase,
Ouboutou Tegremante grew suspicious of the foreigners
 In 1626, after a secret meeting with Kalinago heads from neighboring
Waitikubuli (Dominica) and Oualie, it was decided that in a secret raid they
would ambush the European settlements on the night of the next full
moon
 The secret plan was revealed to the Europeans by an Igneri woman named
Barbe who was recently taken as a slave wife after a raid on the Arawaks.
She despised the Caribs and had Fallen in love with an English explorer.
 The entire tale of the Kalinago Genocide however, was told exclusively
from the perspective and writings of the Europeans and modern scientists
estimate that many of their claims were fraudulent or exaggerated in order
to justify the killings.
 Only the most beautiful Carib women spared death to serve as slaves

Carib Expulsion
 The Carib Expulsion was the French-led ethnic cleansing that terminated
most of the Carib population in 1660 from present-day Martinique. This
followed the French invasion in 1635 and its conquest of the people on the
Caribbean island that made it part of the French colonial empire.
 In 1635 the Carib were overwhelmed in turn by French forces led by the
adventurer Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc and his nephew Jacques Dyel du
Parquet
 The French colonists imposed French Law on the conquered inhabitants,
and Jesuit missionaries arrived to convert them to the Roman Catholic
Church.

Languages
 The Carib language was spoken only by the men, while the women spoke
Arawak. This was so because Arawak women, captured in raids, were taken
as wives by the Carib men.
 The oldest Carib language materials can be found in documents dating
from the mid-seventeenth century.
 The Jesuit missionary Pelleprat wrote an account of his experiences in
Venezuela from 1653 to 1654, which was published in 1655 and included a
30-page introduction to the Carib language.

Santa Rosa Carib Community
 The SRCC is the major organization of indigenous people in Trinidad and Tobago. The
Caribs of Arima are descended from the original Amerindian inhabitants of Trinidad;
Amerindians from the former encomienda's of Tacarigua and Arouca were resettled to
Arima between 1784 and 1786.
 The SRCC was incorporated in 1973 to preserve the culture of the Caribs of Arima and
maintain their role in the annual Santa Rosa Festival
 Starting from 1976,with formal incorporation as a limited liability company organized
under the Companies Act, the Santa Rosa Carib Community has developed into a formal
organization.
 The Santa Rosa Carib Community is led by a President (Ricardo Bharath-
Hernandez). Other leading members are the Secretary (Jaqueline Khan), the Shaman
(Cristo Adonis), a Research and Public Relations Officer, the Queen (Valentina Medina)
who officiates at the Santa Rosa Festival which is held each year at the end of the month
of August.

REFERENCES
 Caribs (Encyclopedia.com)
 By: "Caribs." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2015, "Carib." The Oxford Pocket
Dictionary of Current English. 2009, "Carib." World Encyclopedia. 2005, T , and
"Carib." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007.
 Sweeney, James L. (2007). "Caribs, Maroons, Jacobins, Brigands, and Sugar Barons:
The Last Stand of the Black Caribs on St. Vincent", African Diaspora Archaeology
Network, March 2007, retrieved 26 April 2007
 Jump up "Institutional History of Martinique", Martinique Official site, French
Government (translation by Maryanne Dassonville). Retrieved 26 April 2007
 Du Tertre, Jean Baptiste, 1667: Histoire Generale des Antilles..., 2 vols. Paris: Jolly.
 "Carib Community." Carib Community. Admin, 28 May 2013. Web. 05 Oct. 2015.
 "Santa Rosa First Peoples." Santa Rosa First Peoples. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Oct. 2015.