Definition of the Caribbean
‘Caribbean’: a physical reality and a constructed one…Benedict Anderson.
He believes nations are “Imagined Communities” since not even in the smallest nation - can one know all its members.
A nation is a “Utopian community”
Modern media: books, telephone, radio & TV, as a condition for the existence of a modern community.
The Physical Landscape
The geographical formation of the Caribbean took place some 70 million years ago.
Pressures in the earth’s crust forced up vast areas of rock from the seabed.
Gradually the faulting & fracturing of the rock formation thrust up mountains from under the water of the great South American waters of Orinoco & Essequibo.
The Physical Landscape
This process created the fertile islands of the Greater Antilles, namely Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and Cuba.
Cuba is the most westward of the islands, while Hispaniola, which is currently comprised of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, lies at the center of the Greater Antilles.
The Physical Landscape
Puerto Rico is the most eastern of the islands while Jamaica lies south of Cuba.
To the north of Cuba lies a group of small islands which comprise the Bahamas and to the north of Hispaniola, lies another group of islands, called the Turks and Caicos Islands.
The islands in the Greater Antilles have fertile soils and are capable of supporting dense populations.
The Physical Landscape
While volcanic activity has ceased millions of years ago in the Greater Antilles it has remained partially active in some of the islands of the Lesser Antilles.
These islands are located south east of the Caribbean archipelago, stretching from the Virgin Islands to Grenada
All of the Caribbean islands, with a few exceptions, are defined as oceanic rather than continental.
The Physical Landscape
This is so as they have never been attached to either North or South America.
The British Caribbean island of Guyana is the exception as it is still located geographically on the South American mainland.
Trinidad is also unique as it is only seven miles off the coast of Venezuela & was historically joined to the South American continent until recently.
The Physical Landscape
Trinidad & Tobago is unique as a result of the ice age.
When the Ice age ended and sea levels rose Trinidad and Tobago became separated from Venezuela
However, its rich animal life is still that of the South American mainland.
Map of the Caribbean
The Indigenous Settlers of the Caribbean:
Paleo-Indians
The peopling of the region has been diverse and historians today recognize two main settlement patterns that originated at different times, from both ends of the island chain.
The first settlement pattern consists of an early civilization of people arriving into the region about 5000 BCE
Paleo-Indians
They came across the sea from South & Central America.
They established small seaside communities that had no real knowledge of pottery & subsisted on a diet of wild berries, fishing & hunting.
These Paleo-Indians had a civilization that relied heavily on basic implements/tools made from stones and shells.
Meso-Indians
This first group of people was followed, around 500 B.C., by another group collectively' referred to as Meso-Indians
Their civilization was more “advanced” in terms of pottery and tools, and whose settlement patterns were not confined to the seashore.
This group came from South America and is today known as Ciboneys or Siboneys.
Meso-Indians
They probably came from Florida or Mexico establishing small settlements along the shores where they lived from fishing and hunting.
The Meso-Indians' settlement patterns followed a trend which saw them first settling the island of Trinidad and Tobago.
They then heading northwards and up in-the islands of the Greater Antilles
Meso-Indians
In time, their main settlements became established Trinidad, Cuba and Hispaniola (also known as Espanola).
In general, however, their numbers were never large.
They only occupied a peripheral demographic niche up until the time of the arrival of the Spanish by which they completely disappeared.
Neo-Indians
The third group of Amerindian people recognized in the region was the Neo-Indians.
Unlike the earlier groups, they had a more varied diet.
This diet resulted from their hunting & fishing and their advanced agricultural methods through which they could cultivate their own crops
Neo-Indians
From archaeological and linguistic evidence historians/anthropologists have concluded that this group of neo-Indians was further divided into two, closely related, main groups/ cultures known collectively as the Salodoid people.
This title was derived from two styles of pottery that were characteristic of these cultures who migrated from north East South America.
SALODOID POTTERY
Salodoid Cultures
The Salodoid people arrived into the region around 300 B.C. and spoke a language called Arawakan.
They spread throughout the Greater and Lesser Antilles and also in the Bahamas.
Ultimately, they settled principally on the islands of the Greater Antilles
In the literature they are also referred to as the Lucayos but this designation refers only to those groups that settled in the Bahamas
Salodoid Cultures - cont
This entire group of Arawakan speakers with their Salodoid culture are today most commonly referenced in the literature as Taino
Literally translated 'Taino' means 'men of the good' and this was the name the native people gave to themselves.
Salodoid Cultures - cont
The Tainos who had been established on the banks of the Orinoco river for at least several centuries had more developed social structures than the Ciboneys and other such pre-ceramic peoples
They gradually travelled up the islands stopping first in nearby Trinidad and then moving up to Grenada and northwards.
Salodoid Cultures - cont
These people have been called Arawaks by some historians since the communities which settled along the entire archipelago were descended from the Arawaks of north-eastern South America.
The language they spoke was known as Arawak like its speakers who originated from the South American mainland.
Salodoid Cultures - cont
The Tainos can be divided into three main sub-groupings.
The Tainos who inhabited Jamaica, Hispaniola and Cuba
The Lucayans who settled in the Bahamas;
The Borequinos who lived in Puerto Rico & are tall and light brown in colour with straight black hair similar in appearance to the Polynesians of the Pacific Ocean.
Salodoid Cultures - cont
The second major sub-division of Salodoid people spoke a language called Cariban
At the time of the Spanish incursion into the region, this group was actively involved in an expansionist phase.
As a result of this they were mistakenly identified as “Caribs” by the Spanish.
Spanish Racism
From the moment of contact the Spaniards took their world view as superior to those of the neo-Indians.
For eg, the 'skimpy' (from a Spanish perspective) mode of dress that the NeoIndians were accustomed to wearing was misinterpreted by the Spaniards
Seeing the indigenous native women largely unclad, they automatically categorized them 'loose' and 'promiscuous' & lacking in sexual inhibitions.
Spanish Racism
They then proceeded to act upon this assumption, raping many of these women and using them indiscriminately as their concubines, heedless to the previous relations these women had with indigenous men.
This, of course, led to revolts in places like Hispaniola where the indigenous men and women retaliated in the face of such indignities.
Spanish Racism
From the outset of contact with the Spaniards, is the fact that the Spaniards ignored the reality that these people had their own established civilizations and cultural norms and practice.
As students of Caribbean civilization we would do well to avoid this interpretational oversight and instead properly focus on and appreciate their native civilization.
Neo –Indians & Village Life
Neo-Indian villages were established with easy access to reliable fresh water, & with the availability of flat fertile ground for cassava (manioc) cultivation.
Military defense was part of the consideration in setting up these villages.
Villages consisted of a central village square with individual houses & thatched roofs & timber walls. These villages housed between 300-500 persons.
Neo – Indian & Social Organization
In Taino villages, there was no segregation of the sexes in terms of living-arrangements.
In Kalinago villages segregation existed,& a communal house was established where boys went to at puberty & in which adult and adolescent males lived, slept and ate.
Kalinago men spoke a different pidgin which was probably used for trading or for initiation ceremonies.
Neo-Indian Division of Labour
Daily chores would be undertaken with divisions of jobs being made on the basis of age and sex.
Men & boys did fishing & hunting; cleared the fields & defended the villages.
Additionally the men & boys played integral roles in house construction & canoe making while women were in charge of crop cultivation, spinning and weaving of cotton, making handicrafts (baskets, hammocks, aprons and utensils) and child rearing
Neo-Indian Division of Labour
On a daily basis the women also saw to the preparation of food and drinks.
Many historians, interested in the study of gender, have pointed out that, from the surviving evidence these societies were highly patriarchal.
This means that females seem to be in a subordinate position to men in terms of social organization.
Neo-Indian Division of Labour
Indeed, even when one considers the assumed difference in village layout between the Taino and Kalinagos
One notes that in the Kalinago villages the women still came to the male communal houses where they brought food and drink for the men as well as groomed them.
Neo-Indian & Marriage
The economic roles of women were mainly as cultivators and farmers.
They had no choice in marriage as they were arranged by parents when the girls were close to puberty.
Women were often used as commodities to be traded and raided.
In these societies polygamy was practiced amongst the noble classes.
Neo-Indian & Marriage - cont
These nobles were often in a position to support many wives and the number of wives a man had came to represent his standing in society.
It was therefore the norm for the chief or cacique, for example to have many wives.
The 'ordinary' male commoner usually had only one wife for economic reasons.
Neo-Indian & Marriage - cont
Indeed the procurement of a wife meant the payment of a bride price and many commoners often had to pay for their wives through service to her parents.
Elite men and chiefs, however, could have afforded to pay for their bride price in trading goods.
Neo-Indians & Concepts of Beauty
These neo-Indians spent a lot of time on their daily appearance.
To this end they had their own ideals of beauty which, differed from the European concept.
They saw flattened foreheads as being attractive and they often flattened the foreheads of newborn infants to enhance their beauty.
Neo-Indians & Concepts of Beauty
Ornaments were also worn by the women such as bracelets made of beads, shells and gold pieces, which were worn on their arms and legs.
Gold rings were also worn in their ears and noses just as is worn today by many people throughout the world.
Similarly, hair especially for women, was seen as a mark of beauty and even in men a loss of hair considered ill-luck.
Neo-Indians & Sports
The Neo-Indian peoples also had leisure time in which some games were played by both men & women.
Other games were played separately.
The Tainos played a sophisticated team game on special ball courts using a rubber ball which they propelled the opposing team with their bodies without using hands or feet.
The Tainos
The migratory movement of the Tainos was gradual yet persistent.
Each island was sighted and settled in turn as groups navigated their canoes through the often treacherous seas.
Sometimes a neighboring island could be seen in the distance encouraging an exploratory expedition; otherwise a group set out into the unknown hoping to find land beyond the horizon.
The Tainos - cont
The Tainos had formidable canoes made from a single huge tree trunk measuring as much as 25 meters & capable of carrying fifty people.
Using these vessels they moved in successive waves from the South American mainland as far as Cuba and the Bahamas.
They travelled in groups including women, children & even domestic animals.
This process took hundreds of years as discovery followed discovery.
The Tainos’ Political Structure
Taino society was communal & revolved around extended families who formed settlements of up to 500 people usually by the seashore or on the banks of a river.
Each village had a chief or cacique who doubled as a priest and local legislator.
This was a hereditary position and normally occupied by a man but women could also be caciques.
The Tainos’ Political Structure
The chief was assisted by a tier of elders drawn from the various families who organized such communal activities as farming fishing expeditions & defense.
Work was allotted according to sex & age: men cleared the fields & fished while women were in charge of crop cultivation handicrafts & looking after children.
Unlike the Ciboneys the Tainos were skilled farmers
The Tainos & Agriculture & Diet
From South America they brought certain plants such as guava & they introduced animals like the agouti & opposum.
Their staple was cassava (manioc) which provided the flour for their baking after the poisonous juice had been extracted.
Other basic crops were sweet potato beans & peanuts although corn was less prevalent than on the Central American mainland.
The Tainos & Agriculture & Diet
Using shifting agricultural methods they avoided exhausting the soil & ensured a continual supply of food.
They grew tobacco & made cigars.
The seas provided endless amounts of fish & turtles.
Birds & small animals were hunted & grilled on barbecues —one of the Arawak words to have survived into the present day.
The Tainos’ Culture & Religion
Central to their world-view was a trinity of gods: a male figure associated with cassava & volcanoes
a female fertility god related to the sea & moon
A dog-like deity who looked after the recently dead.
There was also a collective belief in the spiritual power of nature & dead ancestors.
The Tainos’ Culture & Religion
These forces were worshipped in the form of, Zemis & fetishes made of the remains of the dead or front cotton wood and stone.
The cacique also acted as shaman or priest & in religious ceremonies would use tobacco as a sort of hallucinogenic snuff as a prelude to entering into communion with the zemis.
The Tainos’ Material Life
The Tainos were accomplished in woodwork and pottery and extremely elaborate ceramics have been discovered throughout the Caribbean.
Houses were constructed from the trunks and leaves of the royal palm a single tree being big enough to build a whole dwelling or bohio.
The Kalinagos
By AD 1000, they too came from the Orinoco delta & began up the island chain.
Their attacks on Taino communities had begun on the mainland & this was possibly one of the reasons for the Tainos' departure.
They began to make the same journey reaching Trinidad & Tobago then moving northwards.
The Kalinagos raided & pillaged Taino settlements that they came across.
The Kalinagos - cont
The Tainos although well organized were no match for the Kalinagos raiding parties
Arriving by canoe with spears & bows and arrows, the Kalinagos killed Tainos men & rounded up & took away all their women.
In most cases they destroyed the Taino villages & formed their own communities in the same place building their distinctive carbets or communal houses where more than 100 hammocks could be hung.
The Kalinagos - cont
They made relentless progress through the islands of the Lesser Antilles defeating & replacing the Tainos.
The only island in the Greater Antilles in which they conquered was Puerto Rico.
By the time Europeans arrived in the Caribbean the Kalinagos were undisputed masters of all of the Lesser Antilles & were on the verge of conquering the larger islands.
The Kalinagos’ Culture of Conquest
Kalinago society revolved around war & prized feats of heroism.
Village chiefs were selected by birthright or repute as warriors & led the raiding parties.
The men lived almost separate lives from their women normally eating & sometimes sleeping communally
They also spoke a separate language Carib.
The Kalinagos’ Culture of Conquest
Boys & girls thus spoke different languages and were expected to fulfill very different roles.
While young males were initiated into the culture of warfare, girls were obliged to grow crops, cook & weave. Kalinago artifacts reveal a much less developed style of pottery than that of the Tainos.
Yet the Kalinagos were assimilated through some of the Tainos’ practices and traditions.
The Kalinagos’ Culture of Conquest
Those Taino women captured during attacks were incorporated into the victors’ communities keeping alive their language and culture.
Certain similarities persisted such as the importance practically & spiritually of manioc
Advanced fishing techniques and the curious practice of flattening children’s foreheads through gradual pressure.
Practice Questions
How accurate is it to describe the people Columbus met in the Caribbean as an “imagined community”?
“Sexism has always been part of the Caribbean experience”. Discuss the accuracy of this statement in light of the evidence of neo Indian community living
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