Term 3

• The Caribbean


  A region of the Americas consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands and the surrounding coasts
• Main groups within the Caribbean region

  • The Bahamas
  • The Greater Antilles
  • The Lesser Antilles
• Major island groups of the Caribbean

  • the Bahamas
  • the Greater Antilles
  • the Lesser Antilles
• The mainland countries of Belize, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana are often included as Caribbean islands due to their political and cultural ties with the region
• The Greater Antilles


  The larger islands in the northern part of the chain of islands, including Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic), and Puerto Rico
• The Lesser Antilles


  The smaller islands in the southern part of the island chain, from the Virgin Islands to Trinidad, further divided into the Leeward Islands and the Windward Islands
• The Leeward Islands


  The upper part of the Lesser Antilles, located away from the trade winds
• The Leeward Antilles


  Islands closer to South America, including Aruba, Curacao, Bonaire, Tortuga and Isla Margarita
• The Windward Islands


  The lower part of the Lesser Antilles, on the path of North-eastern trade winds, including Barbados, Grenada, the Grenadines, Martinique, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Tobago and Trinidad
• The Circum-Caribbean


  The Caribbean islands, together with the northern coastal states of South America, Central America, and the Caribbean coast of Mexico
• In November 1969, the Trinidad and Tobago Historical Society discovered the remains of a human skeleton at Banwari Trace, Siparia, dated to about 5,000 B.C., which is the oldest skeleton in the West Indies
• Paleo-Indians


  The first people of the Caribbean, who settled the region around 5,000 B.C., coming from South and Central America, and were hunters, fishermen and food gatherers with basic stone and shell tools
• Meso-Indians


  A second group coming from the mouth of the Orinoco River in South America around 500 B.C., with better tools and knowledge of pottery making, who moved away from coastal settlements and went further inland
• Neo-Indians


  The third group to arrive in the Caribbean around 300 B.C., also from the Orinoco in Venezuela, who were the most settled, practising agriculture for subsistence and trade, and had better primitive weapons
• Possible points of entry for the first people of the Caribbean


  • From South America via the Orinoco River into Trinidad
  • From Central America via Yucatan and Belize into Cuba
  • From Florida into the Bahamas and Cuba
• Reasons for entry into the Caribbean region

  • Search for new lands
  • To escape warlike tribes
  • Curiosity/adventure
  • Ocean currents guiding the canoes
• Tainos


  The Arawakan-speaking neo-Indians who moved up the island chain from the Lesser Antilles into the Greater Antilles and the Bahamas, including the Tainos of the Greater Antilles, the Lucayans of the Bahamas, the Ignerians of Trinidad, Tobago and Barbados, and the Borequinos of Puerto Rico
• Kalinagos


  The Cariban-speaking neo-Indians who settled the Leeward and Windward Islands as well as North Eastern Trinidad, and were more warlike and followed the Tainos as they waged war on them
• Location of Tainos and Kalinagos in 1492

  • Tainos: The Greater Antilles, The Bahamas, Trinidad, Barbados, Antigua
  • Kalinagos: Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola
• Cacique


  The Taino ruler, a hereditary position passed from father to son or eldest sister's son, with important political, religious and judicial functions
• Bohiques


  The Taino priests who were the cacique's advisors
• Mitaynos


  The Taino assistant rulers who governed villages on behalf of the cacique
• Ouboutou


  The Kalinago ruler, an elected male position based on skill and prowess as a military leader, with duties focused on warfare, hunting, fishing and law enforcement
• Tiubutuli Hauthe


  The Kalinago assistant ruler who governed villages on behalf of the ouboutou
• Kalinago warfare


  An important part of their lives, with boys trained in fighting from a young age, using deadlier weapons like fire-tipped and poison-tipped arrows and clubs, to acquire food, supplies, land and Taino women
• The Tainos were a more peaceful tribe who usually went to war to defend themselves, while warfare was a major part of Kalinago life
• Social division for the Tainos

  • Ruler (Cacique) and his family
  • Officials (Mitaynos & Bohiques)
  • Rest of the tribe (men considered more important than women)
• Social division for the Kalinagos

  • Ruler (Ouboutou) and his family
  • Officials (Tiubutuli Hauthe & Council of Elders)
  • Rest of the tribe (men considered more important than women as they were the warriors)
• Status of the ruler

  Wore the biggest headdress and feather coat, gold/copper/beads, got the best food and had servants, dictated how everything was divided, could have multiple wives
• Cacique's house


  Rectangular and the largest, with a special ceremonial stool called a duho as a symbol of authority
• Both the Tainos and Kalinagos were communal societies where everything was owned as a community and everyone worked together
• Cacique


  Ruler for both tribes who enjoyed a higher status than everyone else
• Cacique


  • Wore the biggest headdress and a coat of feathers
  • Wore gold, copper or a string of beads or semi-precious stones
  • Got the best share of the food, had servants and was carried around on a litter
  • Dictated how everything was divided among the people
  • Could have more than one wife
• Cacique's wives


  • Wore a longer skirt which showed their higher rank
• Bohio


  Rectangular hut, the largest in the village, where the cacique lived
• Duho


  Ceremonial stool made of carved wood and shaped like an animal, a symbol of the cacique's authority
• Gender relations


  • Communal societies where everyone worked together and things were owned as a community
  • Division in society was mainly based on gender
• Women's roles


  • Planted and reaped crops
  • Cooked food
  • Took care of children and household
  • Wove cloth
  • Made pottery and baskets
• Men's roles


  • Were the rulers and officials
  • Fished
  • Hunted
  • Cleared fields for planting
  • Fought in wars; were warriors
  • Built huts
  • Built canoes
  • Could smoke or drink
  • Wrestled
• Clothing


  Apart from the rulers and their wives, generally both groups wore no clothes. Married men and women wore a piece of cloth from their waist (loin cloth).