Misplaced Pages

#269730

62-587: Originally settled by the Carib (and possibly Arawak ), the area was first identified as Gros Islet in a French map from 1717. The community was a Roman Catholic parish , and the first priests who arrived on the island settled in the village in 1749. In 1778, the Anglo-French War broke out between France and Great Britain . As part of the conflict, the British Royal Navy captured

124-662: A pidgin language associated with the Mainland Caribs. At the time of Spanish 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 , the Windward Islands , Dominica , and possibly the southern Leeward Islands . Historically, it

186-778: A traditional canoe based on the fishing canoes still used in Dominica, Guadeloupe and Martinique . They launched a voyage by canoe to the Orinoco delta to meet up with the local Kalinago tribes, re-establishing cultural connections with the remaining Kalinago communities along the island chain, documented by the BBC in The Quest of the Carib Canoe . Historically, scholars assumed that Island Carib men and women spoke different languages. To explain this phenomenon, scholars proposed that

248-653: Is sparse, with "no confirmed Carib sites [known] prior to the 1990s." 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 or Kari'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

310-686: The Colombian Andes connected to the Arhuaco people , while the Amazonian model supports an origin in the Amazon basin, where the Arawakan languages developed. The Taíno were among the first American people to encounter Europeans. Christopher Columbus visited multiple islands and chiefdoms on his first voyage in 1492, which was followed by the establishment of La Navidad that same year on

372-791: The U. S. Virgin Islands , St. Kitts & Nevis , Antigua & Barbuda , Guadeloupe , Martinique , Dominica , Saint Lucia , Grenada , Trinidad and St. Vincent . " Black Caribs ," the descendants of the mixture of Africans live in St. Vincent whose total population is unknown. Some ethnic Carib communities remain on the American mainland, in countries such as Guyana and Suriname in South America, and Belize in Central America. The size of these communities varies widely. During

434-829: The University of Florida who helped found the Central Amazon Project, and his team found elaborate pottery, ringed villages, raised fields, large mounds, and evidence for regional trade networks that are all indicators of a complex culture. There is also evidence that they modified the soil using various techniques such as adding charcoal to transform it into black earth , which even today is famed for its agricultural productivity. Maize and sweet potatoes were their main crops, though they also grew cassava and yautia. The Arawaks fished using nets made of fibers, bones, hooks, and harpoons. According to Heckenberger, pottery and other cultural traits show these people belonged to

496-469: The paper genocide . The paper genocide and the myth of extinction spread throughout colonial empires, Taíno people still continued to practice their culture and teachings passing it down from generation to generation. Much of this was done in secret or disguised through Catholicism in fear for their survival and of discrimination. With the modern invention of DNA testing, many Caribbean people have discovered they have Indigenous heritage. This has supported

558-649: The 1650s, consolidating their independence as a result. Such wars led to a geopolitical boundary separating the Lesser Antilles , inhabited by the Kalinago, from the Greater Antilles , inhabited by the Taíno . This boundary became known as the " poison arrow curtain". In 1660, France and England signed the Treaty of Saint Charles with Island Caribs. It stipulated that the Kalinago would evacuate all

620-562: The 16th century. In the early 17th century, they allied with the Spanish against the neighbouring Kalina (Caribs), who allied with the English and Dutch. The Lokono benefited from trade with European powers into the early 19th century, but suffered thereafter from economic and social changes in their region, including the end of the plantation economy. Their population declined until the 20th century, when it began to increase again. Most of

682-498: The 1991 census and 10,164 in the 1980 census. Of that number, 9,307 were male and 10,102 were female. A nearby mangrove swamp was dredged to form Rodney Bay Marina, and many hotels, resorts, and villas have since been built. However, the old village of Gros Islet is still a flourishing district. In September 2011, the parliamentary representative for the area, the Honourable Lenard Montoute , advised that

SECTION 10

#1732772411270

744-532: 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. 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

806-610: The Antilles. While the Caribs were commonly believed to have migrated from the Orinoco River area in South America to settle in the Caribbean islands about 1200 CE, an analysis of ancient DNA suggests that the Caribs had a common origin with contemporary groups in the Greater and Lesser Antilles. The transition from Igneri to Island Carib culture may have occurred around 1450. Archaeological evidence in support of either model

868-552: The Arawak of the Antilles died out or intermarried after the Spanish conquest. In South America, Arawakan-speaking groups are widespread, from southwest Brazil to the Guianas in the north, representing a wide range of cultures. They are found mostly in the tropical forest areas north of the Amazon. As with all Amazonian native peoples, contact with European settlement has led to culture change and depopulation among these groups. During

930-554: The Arawakan language family, a group that included the Tainos, the first Native Americans Columbus encountered. It was the largest language group that ever existed in the pre-Columbian Americas. At some point, the Arawakan-speaking Taíno culture emerged in the Caribbean. Two major models have been presented to account for the arrival of Taíno ancestors in the islands; the "Circum-Caribbean" model suggests an origin in

992-477: The Bahamas and the Lesser Antilles , Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano was killed and allegedly eaten by Carib natives on what is now Guadeloupe , near a place called Karukera (“island of beautiful waters”). Historian William Riviere has described most of the cannibalism as related to war rituals. Chief Kairouane and his men from Grenada jumped off the "Leapers Hill" rather than face slavery under

1054-574: The Carib territory, killing a majority of the Yellow Caribs. After the eruption, 130 Yellow Caribs and 59 Black Caribs survived on St. 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. The population made a remarkable recovery after that, although almost

1116-401: The Carib territory, killing a majority of the Yellow Caribs. After the eruption, 130 Yellow Caribs and 59 Black Caribs survived on St. 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. The population made a remarkable recovery after that, although almost

1178-517: The Caribbean, the Maipurean -speaking Taínos reportedly relayed stories of the Caribs' war-like nature and cannibalism to him. When he arrived in the Lesser Antilles in 1635, the French missionary Raymond Breton made ethnographic and linguistic notes on the "Caribs", which also informed many of the early stereotypes about the Kalinago. Other missionaries, such as Cesar de Rochefort, would refute

1240-491: The Caribbean. All these groups spoke related Arawakan languages . Early Spanish explorers and administrators used the terms Arawak and Caribs to distinguish the peoples of the Caribbean, with Carib reserved for Indigenous groups that they considered hostile and Arawak for groups that they considered friendly. In 1871, ethnologist Daniel Garrison Brinton proposed calling the Caribbean populace "Island Arawak" because of their cultural and linguistic similarities with

1302-609: The Caribs, karibna was apparently associated with ritual eating of war enemies. The Caribs reportedly had a tradition of keeping bones of their ancestors in their houses. Missionaries , such as Père Jean Baptiste Labat and Cesar de Rochefort, described the practice as part of a belief that the ancestral 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. During his third voyage to North America in 1528, after exploring Florida ,

SECTION 20

#1732772411270

1364-462: The DNA confirmation in the scientific community, Taíno peoples within the Caribbean and its diasporas had started a movement around the late 1980s and early 1990s calling for the protection, revival or restoration of Taíno culture. By coming together and sharing individual knowledge passed down by either oral history or maintained practice, these groups were able to use that knowledge and cross-reference

1426-468: The Europeans. Others survived in isolated communities with escaped and free Black people, called Maroons. Many of the explorers and early colonists also raped Indigenous women they came across, resulting in children who were considered mestizo . Some of these mestizo groups retained Indigenous culture and customs over many generations, especially among rural communities such as the jíbaro . In time,

1488-549: The French invaders, serving as an iconic representation of the Kalinago spirit of resistance. Arawak The Arawak are a group of Indigenous peoples of northern South America and of the Caribbean . The term "Arawak" has been applied at various times to different Indigenous groups, from the Lokono of South America to the Taíno (Island Arawaks), who lived in the Greater Antilles and northern Lesser Antilles in

1550-532: The Island Caribs may have killed the men and kept the women, allowing the Igneri language to survive among women. This assumption arose from the fact that by at least the early 17th century, Carib men spoke a Cariban-based pidgin 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

1612-636: 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 term Black Carib , particularly in William Young 's Account 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. On Dominica

1674-456: The Lesser Antilles except for Dominica and Saint Vincent , which were recognised as reserves. However, the English later ignored the treaty, and pursue a campaign against the Kalinago in succeeding decades. Between the 1660s and 1700, the English waged an intermittent campaign against the Kalinago. By 1763, the British had annexed St Lucia, Tobago, Dominica and St Vincent. On Saint Vincent

1736-895: The Lokono population is growing. The Spaniards who arrived in the Bahamas , Cuba, Hispaniola (today Haiti and the Dominican Republic), and the Virgin Islands in 1492, and later in Puerto Rico in 1493, first met the Indigenous peoples now known as the Taíno , and then the Kalinago and other groups. Some of these groups—most notably the Kalinago—were able to survive despite warfare, disease and slavery brought by

1798-422: The Spanish colonists over the now-subjugated Taíno. Over the next decade, the Spanish colonists presided over a genocide of the remaining Taíno on Hispaniola, who suffered enslavement, massacres, or exposure to diseases. The population of Hispaniola at the point of first European contact is estimated at between several hundred thousand to over a million people, but by 1514, it had dropped to a mere 35,000. By 1509,

1860-583: The Spanish contributed to their survival. 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

1922-448: The Spanish had successfully conquered Puerto Rico and subjugated the approximately 30,000 Taíno inhabitants. By 1530, there were 1,148 Taíno left alive in Puerto Rico. Taíno influence has survived even until today, though, as can be seen in the religions, languages, and music of Caribbean cultures. The Lokono and other South American groups resisted colonization for a longer period, and the Spanish remained unable to subdue them throughout

Gros Islet - Misplaced Pages Continue

1984-572: The Taínos, often capturing women. According to Columbus, the Taínos said the Caribs had spent the last two centuries displacing the Taínos by warfare, extermination, and assimilation. The French missionary Raymond Breton arrived in the Lesser Antilles in 1635, and lived in Guadeloupe and Dominica until 1653. He took ethnographic and linguistic notes on the native peoples of these islands, including St. Vincent , which he visited briefly. Breton

2046-453: The bark. The Ceiba pentandra tree is not only functional but spiritual and believed to house spirits that would become angered if disturbed. 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. In 1997 Dominica Carib artist Jacob Frederick and Tortola artist Aragorn Dick Read set out to build

2108-806: The beginning of the eighteenth century, the Island Carib population in St. Vincent was greater than that in Dominica. Both the Island Caribs (Yellow Caribs) and the Black Caribs ( Garifuna ) fought against the British during the Second Carib War . After the end of the war, the British deported the Garifuna (a population of 4,338) to Roatan Island , while the Island Caribs (whose population consisted of 80 people) were allowed to stay on St. Vincent. The 1812 eruption of La Soufrière destroyed

2170-509: The beginning of the eighteenth century, the Island Carib population in St. Vincent was greater than that in Dominica. Both the Island Caribs (Yellow Caribs) and the Black Caribs ( Garifuna ) fought against the British during the Second Carib War . After the end of the war, the British deported the Garifuna (a population of 4,338) to Roatan Island , while the Island Caribs (whose population consisted of 80 people) were allowed to stay on St. Vincent. The 1812 eruption of La Soufrière destroyed

2232-746: The claims of individuals and communities with Taíno heritage living today, particularly in rural areas such as "campos" (meaning small villages/towns in the country side). Though many communities and individuals across the Caribbean have some amount of Indigenous DNA, not all of them identify as Indigenous or Taíno. Those who do identify as Indigenous Caribbean may also use other terms to describe themselves as well as or in addition to Taíno . There has been increasing scholarly attention paid to Taíno practices and culture, including communities with full or partial Taíno identities. Because of this, Taíno people started to become more open about sharing their identities, passed down Indigenous culture, and beliefs. Even before

2294-420: The common conception of the Caribs as cannibals. 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 and Tupinambá , though the exact accuracy of cannibalistic reports still remains debated without skeletal evidence to support it. Scholars such as Hilary McD. Beckles have instead suggested that

2356-407: The community to be an offensive myth. There is no hard evidence of Caribs eating human flesh, though one historian points out it might be useful to frighten enemy Arawak . The Kalinago and their descendants continue to live in the Antilles, notably on the island of Dominica . The Garifuna , who share common ancestry with the Kalinago, also live principally in Central America. The exonym Caribe

2418-546: The constituency might become St. Lucia's second city, if the expansion plans for the area progress in accordance with its development blueprint. Island Caribs The Kalinago , also called Island Caribs or simply Caribs , are an Indigenous people of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean . They may have been related to the Mainland Caribs (Kalina) of South America, but they spoke an unrelated language known as Kalinago or Island Carib. They also spoke

2480-554: The entire tribe died out during the 1902 eruption of La Soufrière . As of 2008, a small population of around 3,400 Kalinago survived in the Kalinago Territory in northeast Dominica. 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 km ) territory formerly known as the Carib Territory that

2542-593: The entire tribe died out during the 1902 eruption of La Soufrière . 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. Canoes, constructed from the Burseraceae , Cedrela odorata , Ceiba pentandra , and Hymenaea courbaril trees, serve different purposes depending on their height and thickness of

Gros Islet - Misplaced Pages Continue

2604-468: The establishment of a second settlement, La Isabella, and the discovery of gold deposits on the island, the Spanish settler population on Hispaniola started to grow substantially, while disease and conflict with the Spanish began to kill tens of thousands of Taíno every year. By 1504, the Spanish had overthrown the last of the Taíno cacique chiefdoms on Hispaniola, and firmly established the supreme authority of

2666-723: The injury. Formerly the Caribs used an extensive range of medicinal plant and animal products. The Caribs are believed to have practiced polytheism . As the Spanish began to colonise the Caribbean area, they wanted to convert the natives to Catholicism . The Caribs destroyed a church of Franciscans in Aguada, Puerto Rico and killed five of its members, in 1579. Currently, the remaining Kalinago in Dominica practice parts of Catholicism through baptism of children. However, not all practice Christianity . Some Caribs worship their ancestors and believe them to have magical power over their crops. In 1492, when Christopher Columbus arrived in

2728-485: The island of Saint Lucia and built a naval base at Gros Islet Bay in 1782, temporarily changing the name to Fort Rodney. The island has changed hands between the British and French throughout its existence. Between 1991 and 2001, the population rose 54%; the biggest increase in the country. In 2001, the population of Gros Islet was 19,409, making it the second-most populous community in Saint Lucia, up from 13,505 in

2790-505: The island's rugged terrain. The island's east coast includes a 3,700-acre (15 km ) territory formerly known as the Carib Territory that was granted to the people by the British 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. Several hundred Carib descendants live in

2852-406: The islands without displacing their inhabitants, eventually adopting the local language but retaining their traditions of a South American origin. In the early colonial period, the Kalinago had a reputation as warriors who raided neighboring islands. According to the tales of Spanish conquistadors , the Kalinago were cannibals who regularly ate roasted human flesh, although this is considered by

2914-687: The islands. Cayo-style pottery has been found in the Lesser Antilles from Grenada to Basse-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. Upon his arrival in the Caribbean archipelago in 1492, the Maipurean -speaking Taínos reportedly told Christopher Columbus that Caribs were fierce warriors and cannibals, who made frequent raids on

2976-499: The mainland Arawak. Subsequent scholars shortened this convention to "Arawak", creating confusion between the island and mainland groups. In the 20th century, scholars such as Irving Rouse resumed using " Taíno " for the Caribbean group to emphasize their distinct culture and language. The Arawakan languages may have emerged in the Orinoco River valley in present-day Venezuela. They subsequently spread widely, becoming by far

3038-471: 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. 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

3100-515: The most extensive language family in South America at the time of European contact , with speakers located in various areas along the Orinoco and Amazonian rivers and their tributaries. The group that self-identified as the Arawak, also known as the Lokono , settled the coastal areas of what is now Guyana , Suriname , Grenada , Bahamas , Jamaica and parts of the islands of Trinidad and Tobago . Michael Heckenberger , an anthropologist at

3162-524: The northeast coast of Hispaniola , the first Spanish settlement in the Americas. Relationships between the Spaniards and the Taíno would ultimately sour. Some of the lower-level chiefs of the Taíno appeared to have assigned a supernatural origin to the explorers. When Columbus returned to La Navidad on his second voyage, he found the settlement burned down and the 39 men he had left there killed. With

SECTION 50

#1732772411270

3224-485: The number of recorded Taíno was greatly diminished through forced labor, disease and warfare, but also through changes to how Indio groups were recorded in the Spanish Caribbean. For example, the 1787 census in Puerto Rico lists 2,300 "pure" Indios in the population, but on the next census, in 1802, not a single Indio is listed. This created the enduring belief that the Taíno people went extinct, also known as

3286-471: The original inhabitants of the islands were the Igneri , while the Kalinago were invaders originating in South America (home to the mainland Caribs or Kalina) who conquered and displaced the Igneri. As this tradition was widespread in oral testimonies, and internally consistent, it was accepted as historical by Europeans. The second model proposes that the Kalinago developed out of the indigenous peoples of

3348-459: The rising mainland Carib polity. 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. 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

3410-476: The runaways formed distinct Maroon communities while the Caribs remained distinct. A remnant of these Caribs lives on in the Kalinago Territory. As of 2008 , a small population of around 3,400 Kalinago survived in the Kalinago Territory in northeast Dominica, of whom some 70 "defined themselves as 'pure'". The Kalinago of Dominica maintained their independence for many years by taking advantage of

3472-400: The stories of "vicious cannibals" may have comprised an "ideological campaign" against the Kalinago to justify "genocidal military expeditions" by European colonizers. The Island Carib word karibna meant "person", although it became the origin of the English word "cannibal" after Columbus shared stories of flesh-eating Kalinago, apparently heard from their historic Taíno enemies. Among

3534-467: The time of the Carib expansion through the islands, and that males maintained it to emphasize their origins on the mainland. Linguistic analysis in the 20th century determined that the main Island Carib language was spoken by both sexes, and was Arawakan , not Cariban . Scholars adopted more nuanced theories to explain the transition from the earlier Igneri to the later Island Carib societies in

3596-577: Was first recorded by Christopher Columbus . One hypothesis for the origin of Carib is that it means "brave warrior". Its variants, including the English word Carib , were then adopted by other European languages. Early Spanish explorers and administrators used the terms Arawak and Caribs to distinguish the peoples of the Caribbean, with Carib reserved for Indigenous groups that they considered hostile and Arawak for groups that they considered friendly. The Kalinago language endonyms are Karifuna (singular) and Kalinago (plural). The name

3658-540: Was granted to the people by the British 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. In the 21st century, about 10,000 Lokono live primarily in Guyana, with smaller numbers present in Venezuela, Suriname, and French Guiana. Despite colonization,

3720-401: Was officially changed from 'Carib' to 'Kalinago' in Dominica in 2015. William F. Keegan and Corinne L. Hofman have outlined two major models for the origin of the Kalinago. 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. Early missionary texts suggested

3782-452: Was responsible for many of the early stereotypes about Kalinago. 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. 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 neighboring Vieques . By

SECTION 60

#1732772411270

3844-424: Was thought their ancestors were mainland peoples who had conquered the islands from their previous inhabitants, the Igneri . However, linguistic and archaeological evidence contradicts the notion of a mass emigration and conquest; the Kalinago language appears not to have been Cariban , but like that of their neighbors, the Taíno . Irving Rouse and others suggest that a smaller group of mainland peoples migrated to

#269730