History

• Workers who came from India in the second half of the 19th century used to be referred to as East Indians, to distinguish them 'rom the Indigenous West Indian people. It Is now customary to refer to them simply as ,Indian.
• The Caribbean (the West lncies) comprises alt islands and countries bounded by the Caribbean Sea or with specific historical. economic and political similarities. There are over 700 islands In the chain, subdivided Into the Greater and Lesser Antilles and further into the Windward and Leeward Islands.
• Archaeologists support the theory that early man entered the Americas around 13,500 years ago. Hunters and gatherers, following wild herds. crossed the Bering Straits ice bridge from Siberia Into Alaska up to 10,000 years ago.
• Artefacts confirm they moved south while hunting, reaching the southern tip oi South America around 8,000 years ago, and settling around 5,000 years ago. Their staple crops were maize, cassava and potatoes. Villages were soon established and eventually developed into the great ciVilisatlons of the Maya, Aztec and Inca.
• The Taino and Kalinago were some of the earliest settlers in the Caribbean. They came from different areas. Archaeologists have. however, Identified that many peoples preceded them by a few thousand years.
• The Europeans came after the Amerindians. The Spaniards came 1irst In 1 <192, led by Christopher Columbus. They were followed by the English, French and Dutch. Atricans came as enslaved people from the late 16th century and Indentured Africans, Portuguese, Chinese and Indians between 1838 and 1845.
• Archaeologists believe that the earnest indigenous groups mixed farming, fishing and hunting and gathering. Their cultures were simple; they believed In animism and spirits.
• The South American and Caribbean's tropical rainforests provided humans and animals with 1ood, clothing, shelter and materials tor construction, industrial and medical uses. The land afforded stable ground for settlement, especially on the protected leeward coasts. Rivers provide water.
• Historically. indigenous groups cultivated cassava. maize and potatoes and extensively used native fruits including guava, pawpaw soursop and sapodilla. Native hardwoods were used to make canoes. weapons, bowls and the duhos (ceremonial chairs; see Figure 1.4.1). The Indigenous people hunted agouti, deer, turtles and iguanas, and fished for lobster. conch and crabs. They made tools and weapons from bones. wood, stones and shells, pottery from clay, graters, mortars, pestles and spear heaos from stone. and hooks and decoration from animal bones.
• Abundant resources allowed the indigenous to be self-sufiicient, using all parts of plants or animals and not needing any outside help. They used slash and burn. a method of 'arming that involves cutting down ano burning the old vegetation before sowing new seed.
• The Maya were the oldest of the three empires in Central and South America {the others were Aztec and Inca). Their empire stretched from Southern Mexico In the North to Nicaragua In the South and they flourished during the Classical Period, between 250 and 900 CE (Figure 1.2.1).
• By 200 CE the Mayan people had evolved from small agricultural villages Into city <1v1ellers. These cities were political, religious and trading centres and comprised temples, palaces, plazas, religious pyramids and ball courts. Roads connected cities and runners carried news from one to another. During the Classical period there were over 45 cities wtth between 1,500 and 100,000 people. Cities included Coba, Copan, Tikal and Rio Azul.
• The lvtaya were obsessed with building temples, which needed a large labour force. Great temples, elaborate pyramids and places were used for religious rites, burial chambers and living quarters for nobles. Houses were made of stone and clay and walls were painted.
• Mayan society was patriarchal, so the man was dominant in the family. Babies were blessed by priests and their foreheads were flattened for beauty and intelligence. Looking cross-eyed was considered a sign of beau1y. Men wore an ex (loin cloth) and pati (larger cotton shirts). Women were in charge of domestic duties. Married women wore jewellery and elaborate headdresses.
• Religious activities Included science, astrology and mathematics. Priests used them to forecast eclipses, and to decide when to plant and harvest. Priests prac1ised oivination, that is predicting the future. The chief priest, the ahaucan, was an advisor to the ahaw and decided which days would be sacred. for worship and festivals. The chilane, who had visionary power, ano the nacom, who pertormed human sacrifice, were lesser priests.
• The lvlaya invented a haab, a lunar calendar of 18 months, or ulnals. The year was 365 days long and which had an extra 20-day month every five years.
• Religious activities also included dancing and games, for example pok-a-tok, a ball game. The vvinners vvere heroes and the losers \/\/ere sacrificed.
• The Maya lived in tropical forests vlhich \/\/ere practically Impenetrable. They drained swamps and buitt irrigation canals and terraces. Forests were cleared. Agriculture was the basis o: their economy. Each farmer was allotted a piece of land to grow crops (mi/pas), w'rth crop rotation used to keep the soil fertile. At harvest time the priests and nobles received a share as tribute. Fooo and grain were stored for times o' scarcity In chultuns, underground dug-outs.
• Crops were also grown. with shells, cocoa beans and precious stones used as money. Traded ltems included fish, squash, potatoes, corn, honey beans, fruits and raw materials such as limestone, marble, jade, wood, copper and gold. The pp/oms, the merchants, used the many waterways to carry goods throughout the city-states. The lvlaya depended on a skilled and semi-skilled artisan midole class which produced jewellery, carvings, toys. weapons, paper, books and furniture.
• By the 9th and 10th centuries Mayan Society had begun to decline. People abandoned the cities which became overgrown. The decline was caused by drought, environmental disaster and deforestation.
• The Taine settled In the Greater Antilles between 250 CE and 1500 CE. They populateo the island of the Bahamas, Cuba, Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic) and Puerto Rico.
• Taine society


  Taine settlements ranged In number from small family units of 150 to as many as 4,000 people. The largest seftlements were located in Cuba, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. These islands were divided into provinces which were ruled by caclques, with sub-caciques governing smaller districts. Villages were ruled by a headman and had plazas and ball courts.
• Taine society


  • Close family relations. Both patrilineal and matrilineal descent existed. The men prepared the land for agriculture, hunted and fished. The women did the planting, weeding, fertilising, haNesting, food preparation and they also made pottery. While men were naked \II/Omen did wear a loin cloth. Some women wo1e beads and feathers. Both sexes painted their bodies. Monogamy was practised by the people, but the chief was polygamous.
• Cacique's role

  Organise the farming, hunting and storage of food. The cacique was an absolute leader and negotiated \11/ith other villages over disputes, treaties and to keep the peace. \/\/hen a caclque became old he or she was st1angled to death, wrapped In cot1on and buried with ornaments.
• Because of the rules of heredity, it was not uncommon to have a female cacique, as in the case of Anacanoa In Hispaniola.
• Taine use of dyes

  • Variety of plant o'yes, especially roucou. Dyes were used on the body, cloths and pollery.
• Taine houses


  Round with thatched roofs, large houses had porches and the chief's home had several rooms.
• Taine pottery


  Not glazed, but there were markings and most vessels had rims for easy pouring. They were used to store food and as funeral urns.
• Taine weaving and basketry


  • Sophisticated and specialised. Cotton was used to make nets, hammocks and cloth. Women vvove fast and produced fine cotton fabrics. They also created a double-weaved wood and leaf basket to carry water.
• Taine festivities

  Celebrated weddings and the naming of babies. There was singing and dancing and instruments used included drums, pipes and gongs. They also played a ball game called bates and played on a field called a batey.
• Kalinago society


  Villages were small and built around a square or plaza. In these squares there was a central fire. All land was owned communally but canoes and ornaments were private property. Houses were small, oval and built of vvood. The carbet, or meeting hall, was located in the middle of the village.
• Kalinago chief


  Called the ubutu (or ouboutou). He was chosen for his prowess, either for killing a number of Taine men or bringing back the heao of a caclque. Competttion for the position of chief led to rivalry and Intrigue. The ubutu was the village commander and was assisted by the ubutu maliarlcl, his many lieutenants. There was also a commander of the canoes, the naharlene and a captain of the crew, the tiubutu/1.
• Kalinago society


  • Women and men lived separately but men were polygamous. Women were obtained from raids on Taine villages, and so there was a similarity in their language and culture. The women worked In the field planting and harvesting crops, and they also wove cotton, cooked the food and made pottery. It was a patriarchal society.
• Kalinago dress


  Men and women wore loin cloths and used plant eyes to colour them. They also painted ano tattooed their bodies v,11th dye.
• Kalinago ceremonies

  Common, especially for the birth of a child. Boys were Initiated In the art of war at puberty when they would be separated from their parents. The Jtehwenne was a religious festival which was held in the carbet. It lasted many days and involved a lot of drinking.
• Kalinago pottery


  • Used many different layers of clay, adding rims to give strength to the vessels and painted the pottery in different colours.
• Kalinago other crafts


  Made strong hammocks and stools called matoutou. They preserved meat by drying and smoking it or soaking it in cassava Juice.
• Kalinago lifestyle

  • Semi-nomadic and moved from Island to island using large canoes. Villages were located near rivers or the sea to give easy access to waterways in times of raids. Because they were always preparing for raids, they were never in one place for long.
• Both the Tainos and Katinagos occupied Puerto Rico and Trinidad.
• A Taine chief was called a cacique. A Kalinago chief was called an ubutu or ouboutou.