The Caribs in Dominica: Karifuna Cultural Group
By Kevin Menhinick, Caribbean Taino News Service,
12 January 1997
Dominica is unique for many reasons. But none more so than
for its indigenous people.
For Dominica can boast the only remaining tribe of Carib Indians in the
Caribbean. To
understand why this race has survived, when all other native
Caribbean cultures were destroyed, let us delve back into
history.
Millions of years ago, when the eastern Caribbean was
merely a range of mountains underneath the sea, a series of
volcanic eruptions took place disturbing the ocean floor.
Slowly, a chain of islands began to emerge from the sea.
Atthe epicenter of this volcanic action rose an island of
towering mountains. This was the beginning of Dominica. But
where did the people come from?
About 10,000 years B.C. a group of nomadic tribesmen left
central east Asia and crossed the ice-capped Bering Strait
from Siberia to Alaska. Some settled in North America and
were subsequently named 'Eskimos' and 'Red Indians' by the
European colonists. The rest moved south to Central and
South America to eventually become Mayas, Incas, Aztecs
and other historically famous Amerindian nations.
Then, around 500 years B.C., a group of Amerindians, the
Arawaks, left their homes on the banks of the Orinoco River
in South America. They travelled by rafts in dangerous seas,
taking with them small animals, plants and seeds. One of the
Caribbean islands they landed on was Dominica. Here they
lived peacefully for almost 1,000 years until they were
invaded and conquered by another group of Amerindians,
the Caribs.
Over the years the two cultures and languages became fused
and their simple life-style based on fishing and the sea
continued peacefully until the fifteenth century, when a new
set of conquerors from Europe discovered the Caribbean.
In 1493, Columbus returned to the West Indies, which he had
inadvertently stumbled upon the previous year. On Sunday,
November 3rd he sailed by an island of rugged green
mountains and natural beauty. He called the island Dominica;
Domingo being the Latin word for Sunday.
The Caribs had previously named it Waitikubuli - 'tall is her body'. In typical
European fashion the Spanish attempted to subjugate the
Caribs.
Dominica was important for its natural resources of
water and wood. However, due to the rugged terrain and
ferocious resistance of the native people, the invaders were
finally persuaded that it was preferable to trade with the
Caribs rather than run the risk of further embarrassing
defeats. Slowly the Caribs began to trust the Europeans
sufficiently to begin to trade with them.
Plantain, cassava, fruit and tobacco were exchanged for beads, knives, glass
and tools. However, this all took place over a period of 200
years.
But, as with many indigenous peoples throughout the world,
they were not impervious to European diseases and many
Caribs were subsequently wiped out. By 1686 the Carib
population, weak from illness and battle fatigue, had
dwindled from 5,000 to a mere 400 people. In the interim
period all traces of Amerindians had been eradicated
throughout the rest of the Caribbean. Amazingly, from such a
tiny handful of people the Caribs survived and even began to
flourish, co-existing peacefully with the Spanish, Portuguese,
English and French settlers.
In 1763, following a prolonged war, the British finally wrested
power from the French and officially declared Dominica a
British colony. Shortly after this the Caribs, who had been
living quietly on Dominica's north-east coast, were allocated
232 acres of land as their 'reserve'. This is where they remain
to this day.
Sadly, over the years the Carib culture has been eroded.
Today the Caribs worship at mainly Roman Catholic churches
and speak English and French Creole; commensurate with
the rest of Dominica.
Although the Carib language has long
since disappeared it still exists in many of the place names:
eg. Calibishie, Bataka and Salibia. Only a relatively small
number of Caribs today are 100% pure bred. But even those
with only a small amount of Carib blood are fiercely proud of
their unique heritage.
These gentle and often shy people are characterised by their
long straight hair and quiet demeanor. Today they have their
own chief and send representatives to conferences for
indigenous peoples all over the world.
They produce beautiful hand crafts, farm with unending enthusiasm and
produce cricketers as skilful and competitive as any in this
island of rivers, waterfalls and mountains that their
forefathers discovered long before the advent of the
Europeans.
The Caribs Today
Today, approximately 3,400 people live in 450 residential
homes on a 3,700 acre reserve, which stretches for nine
miles on the north-east coast of Dominica.
Overlooking the raging Atlantic Ocean, the Carib Territory is the only district
where it is not possible to own or buy land. The land is, in
fact, owned by the Carib Council, thus ensuring an element of
independence for Dominica's native people.
A Carib person today is know as a Karifuna. The Waitukubili
Kairifuna Development Agency (WAIKADA) is a non-profit
making organisation which focuses on the preservation and
development of the Carib culture and also hopes to improve
the quality of life for its people.
The Kalinago Centre, a Carib documentation and archival centre, is on King
George Street
in Roseau. Here traditional Carib art and crafts are sold and
information on the island's indigenous people is available.
There is also a fascinating historical photographic display.
This centre was one of WAIKADA's first achievements.
The creation of a radio station in the Territory and the
establishment of a community library, which will also serve as
a museum and a cultural centre, are high on the list of
priorities.
The Carib Territory is made up of eight hamlets with Bataka
being the largest. Other areas include Sinecou, Salybia and
Crayfish River.
The population is very young, with 70% being
under 30 years of age. Most children of secondary school
age attend St. Andrew's Methodist School in nearby
Londonderry. However, a handful go to schools in Marigot,
Portsmouth and Roseau.
The Territory boasts in excess of 16 craft shops which
produce high-quality straw hats, baskets and other
handicrafts. With tourism becoming increasingly important in
Dominica, the Territory is a priority for many tourists.
However, the production of bananas is still the main source
of income. Coconuts, copra, soya beans, ginger, tropical fruit
and various root vegetables are also grown in high numbers.
The re-introduction of farine and cassava, which comes from
manioc and was once the staple diet of the Caribs, is also
making a welcome return Some Caribs still make their living
from the sea, but tackling the large Atlantic breakers is a
highly dangerous business.
The Carib Council is an elected body of seven who serve for
five years. It is presided over by a Chief, currently Hilary
Frederick, who previously held the post from 1979 until 1984.
The Territory also returns one M.P. who presently is the
United Workers Party representative Francoise Barrie. Barrie
is a former schoolteacher and is well known island-wide for
his enthusiasm for and vast knowledge of cricket.
In fact in this small area of Dominica there is probably more cricket
played than in any other district.
Last season the Carib Territory won the Harris Paints Northern League in
front of an
estimated and fanatical crowd of 3,000. The team is
dominated by the Burton family of whom the Captain, Gilbert
Burton, has represented the island. Currently Adam
Sandford, a young fast bowler, can lay claim to this honour.
Away from the cricket field, soccer, basketball, rounders and
netball all have their followers, while on a cultural level the
Karifuna Cultural Group regularly produce high-quality plays
and dance oriented displays.
There are also a number of hightly talented artists in the Territory with
Faustulus Frederick, Jacob Frederick and Cozier Frederick heading the
list.
Life has changed dramatically for the Carib people who
traditionally are shy and retiring.
They are now completely absorbed into mainstream Dominican life, and with
tourism
making important inroads into the island's economy, some
say that they will soon be at the very forefront.
However, many feel that they currently do not receive the attention
they deserve and are vigilant in their determination not to
suffer from exploitation; a fate that has bedevilled many
indigenous peoples throughout the world.
By: Kevin Menhinick
'Turf Moor', La Plaine, Dominica
(809) 446 2323
Back To The Native Experience
By Kevin Menhinick, Caribbean Taino News Service,
12 January 1997
Dominica is unique for many reasons. But none more so than
for its indigenous people.
For Dominica can boast the only remaining tribe of Carib Indians in the
Caribbean. To
understand why this race has survived, when all other native
Caribbean cultures were destroyed, let us delve back into
history.
Millions of years ago, when the eastern Caribbean was
merely a range of mountains underneath the sea, a series of
volcanic eruptions took place disturbing the ocean floor.
Slowly, a chain of islands began to emerge from the sea.
Atthe epicenter of this volcanic action rose an island of
towering mountains. This was the beginning of Dominica. But
where did the people come from?
About 10,000 years B.C. a group of nomadic tribesmen left
central east Asia and crossed the ice-capped Bering Strait
from Siberia to Alaska. Some settled in North America and
were subsequently named 'Eskimos' and 'Red Indians' by the
European colonists. The rest moved south to Central and
South America to eventually become Mayas, Incas, Aztecs
and other historically famous Amerindian nations.
Then, around 500 years B.C., a group of Amerindians, the
Arawaks, left their homes on the banks of the Orinoco River
in South America. They travelled by rafts in dangerous seas,
taking with them small animals, plants and seeds. One of the
Caribbean islands they landed on was Dominica. Here they
lived peacefully for almost 1,000 years until they were
invaded and conquered by another group of Amerindians,
the Caribs.
Over the years the two cultures and languages became fused
and their simple life-style based on fishing and the sea
continued peacefully until the fifteenth century, when a new
set of conquerors from Europe discovered the Caribbean.
In 1493, Columbus returned to the West Indies, which he had
inadvertently stumbled upon the previous year. On Sunday,
November 3rd he sailed by an island of rugged green
mountains and natural beauty. He called the island Dominica;
Domingo being the Latin word for Sunday.
The Caribs had previously named it Waitikubuli - 'tall is her body'. In typical
European fashion the Spanish attempted to subjugate the
Caribs.
Dominica was important for its natural resources of
water and wood. However, due to the rugged terrain and
ferocious resistance of the native people, the invaders were
finally persuaded that it was preferable to trade with the
Caribs rather than run the risk of further embarrassing
defeats. Slowly the Caribs began to trust the Europeans
sufficiently to begin to trade with them.
Plantain, cassava, fruit and tobacco were exchanged for beads, knives, glass
and tools. However, this all took place over a period of 200
years.
But, as with many indigenous peoples throughout the world,
they were not impervious to European diseases and many
Caribs were subsequently wiped out. By 1686 the Carib
population, weak from illness and battle fatigue, had
dwindled from 5,000 to a mere 400 people. In the interim
period all traces of Amerindians had been eradicated
throughout the rest of the Caribbean. Amazingly, from such a
tiny handful of people the Caribs survived and even began to
flourish, co-existing peacefully with the Spanish, Portuguese,
English and French settlers.
In 1763, following a prolonged war, the British finally wrested
power from the French and officially declared Dominica a
British colony. Shortly after this the Caribs, who had been
living quietly on Dominica's north-east coast, were allocated
232 acres of land as their 'reserve'. This is where they remain
to this day.
Sadly, over the years the Carib culture has been eroded.
Today the Caribs worship at mainly Roman Catholic churches
and speak English and French Creole; commensurate with
the rest of Dominica.
Although the Carib language has long
since disappeared it still exists in many of the place names:
eg. Calibishie, Bataka and Salibia. Only a relatively small
number of Caribs today are 100% pure bred. But even those
with only a small amount of Carib blood are fiercely proud of
their unique heritage.
These gentle and often shy people are characterised by their
long straight hair and quiet demeanor. Today they have their
own chief and send representatives to conferences for
indigenous peoples all over the world.
They produce beautiful hand crafts, farm with unending enthusiasm and
produce cricketers as skilful and competitive as any in this
island of rivers, waterfalls and mountains that their
forefathers discovered long before the advent of the
Europeans.
The Caribs Today
Today, approximately 3,400 people live in 450 residential
homes on a 3,700 acre reserve, which stretches for nine
miles on the north-east coast of Dominica.
Overlooking the raging Atlantic Ocean, the Carib Territory is the only district
where it is not possible to own or buy land. The land is, in
fact, owned by the Carib Council, thus ensuring an element of
independence for Dominica's native people.
A Carib person today is know as a Karifuna. The Waitukubili
Kairifuna Development Agency (WAIKADA) is a non-profit
making organisation which focuses on the preservation and
development of the Carib culture and also hopes to improve
the quality of life for its people.
The Kalinago Centre, a Carib documentation and archival centre, is on King
George Street
in Roseau. Here traditional Carib art and crafts are sold and
information on the island's indigenous people is available.
There is also a fascinating historical photographic display.
This centre was one of WAIKADA's first achievements.
The creation of a radio station in the Territory and the
establishment of a community library, which will also serve as
a museum and a cultural centre, are high on the list of
priorities.
The Carib Territory is made up of eight hamlets with Bataka
being the largest. Other areas include Sinecou, Salybia and
Crayfish River.
The population is very young, with 70% being
under 30 years of age. Most children of secondary school
age attend St. Andrew's Methodist School in nearby
Londonderry. However, a handful go to schools in Marigot,
Portsmouth and Roseau.
The Territory boasts in excess of 16 craft shops which
produce high-quality straw hats, baskets and other
handicrafts. With tourism becoming increasingly important in
Dominica, the Territory is a priority for many tourists.
However, the production of bananas is still the main source
of income. Coconuts, copra, soya beans, ginger, tropical fruit
and various root vegetables are also grown in high numbers.
The re-introduction of farine and cassava, which comes from
manioc and was once the staple diet of the Caribs, is also
making a welcome return Some Caribs still make their living
from the sea, but tackling the large Atlantic breakers is a
highly dangerous business.
The Carib Council is an elected body of seven who serve for
five years. It is presided over by a Chief, currently Hilary
Frederick, who previously held the post from 1979 until 1984.
The Territory also returns one M.P. who presently is the
United Workers Party representative Francoise Barrie. Barrie
is a former schoolteacher and is well known island-wide for
his enthusiasm for and vast knowledge of cricket.
In fact in this small area of Dominica there is probably more cricket
played than in any other district.
Last season the Carib Territory won the Harris Paints Northern League in
front of an
estimated and fanatical crowd of 3,000. The team is
dominated by the Burton family of whom the Captain, Gilbert
Burton, has represented the island. Currently Adam
Sandford, a young fast bowler, can lay claim to this honour.
Away from the cricket field, soccer, basketball, rounders and
netball all have their followers, while on a cultural level the
Karifuna Cultural Group regularly produce high-quality plays
and dance oriented displays.
There are also a number of hightly talented artists in the Territory with
Faustulus Frederick, Jacob Frederick and Cozier Frederick heading the
list.
Life has changed dramatically for the Carib people who
traditionally are shy and retiring.
They are now completely absorbed into mainstream Dominican life, and with
tourism
making important inroads into the island's economy, some
say that they will soon be at the very forefront.
However, many feel that they currently do not receive the attention
they deserve and are vigilant in their determination not to
suffer from exploitation; a fate that has bedevilled many
indigenous peoples throughout the world.
By: Kevin Menhinick
'Turf Moor', La Plaine, Dominica
(809) 446 2323
Back To The Native Experience
| It was the Europeans who called these people the Caribs, for that is not what they called themselves. While Christopher Columbus was still on first voyage he picked up the word, or something like it, from the Tainos the Greater Antilles. The earliest mention of the Caribs is that made by Columbus in journal on 26 November 1492: ‘All the people that he has found up to today, he says, are very frightened of those of can iba or can ima.’ Note that it is mentioned as a place where people live rather than the name of the people themselves. In other statements the Tainos may have been using the term to refer not to a specific ethnic group but to any hostile band who attacked their villages, particularly those who came from the small islands to the east of where they were in Hispaniola. Again on 13 January 1493, the journal notes: ‘The admiral also says that on the islands he passed they were greatly fearful of Carib or on some they call it Caniba, but on Espafiola, Carib.’ This was modified in later Spanish writing to canibal and in other texts to caribi or can be. Once the word hit the printing presses of Europe and became common parlance, the name ‘Carib’, like ‘Indian’ and ‘West Indies’, even if based on a mistake, was to remain for ever more. One hundred and fifty years later in Dominica, the French priest Fr Raymond Breton who lived among the ‘Caribs’ recorded the people’s own name for themselves as Calliponam in the women’s speech, and Callinago in that of the men. Another ancient Arawakan language term for them was probably kaniripbuna, or kallipina, origin of the term garifuna which is what the ‘Black Caribs’ of Belize call themselves. Because the mainland immigrants who entered the Windward Islands in about 1400 were essentially a male-dominated band, who took brides and fathered a new group within the islands, it would be accurate to use their name in the men’s language: Callinago. In Fr Breton’s day, the letter ‘k’ did not exist in the French language so the printers of his ‘Carib Dictionary’ used ‘c’ throughout. The word is however better represented phonetically as Kalina go. But things were to get even more confusing. In the twentieth century, anthropologists needed to differentiate between the ‘Caribs’ on the islands and their supposed ancestral people on the mainland. To do so they coined a new term: ‘Island Carib’ when referring to those of the Lesser Antilles and maintained ‘Carib’ when referring to those on mainland South America. To simplify and indeed to try to correct matters, I shall be referring to this distinct group of people, who emerged on the Windward Islands and Guadeloupe, by the name which they called themselves: the Kalinago. The Kalinago control of the Windward Islands lasted from about 1400 to 1700, with the last of them holding on to Dominica and St Vincent for another twenty or thirty years before finally retreating to the most inacces- sible parts of those islands in the face of English and French colonisation. In St Vincent they mixed with escaped African slaves and held out against the British until 1796, when some 5,0Q0 were deported to the island of Ruatan off Honduras and moved to the area of what today is southern Belize. In Dominica they concentrated themselves on the isolated parts of the north-east coast where they were eventually granted 3,700 acres of land by the British in 1903. They were the last of the Amerindians to enter the region and they were the last to survive. Our knowledge of the Kalinago is based almost entirely on the written reports of European observers. The Kalinago had arrived in the islands from South America less than a hundred years before the Spanish arrived from across the Atlantic. The first encounter of the two groups was on 4 November 1493 on Guadeloupe, the day after Columbus had sighted Dominica on his second voyage. Unlike the Tainos, the Kalinago had arrived in the islands recently enough to have retained traditions of their mainland origin. They were accustomed to making trips back and forth between the mainland and the Windward Islands. They explained this to European missionaries and told them that they had conquered an ethnic group named Igneri or Eyeri. Their raids were aimed at bride capture. The capture of women of an enemy group was a feature of raiding and warfare among tribes who were tradi-rionally in conflict with each other. Such inter tribal raiding was common to several South American forest tribes. A well-known example would be the Yanomamo of Amazonia. According to theories of primitive marriage in all races, the earliest form of marriage was bride-capture, when shortage of females obliged early man to seek his mate in war. By the time Columbus arrived, the Kalinago were raiding Taino villages on Puerto Rico to obtain additional wives. The admiral found over twenty iaino women when he visited Kalinago villages on Guadeloupe during his is voyage, and returned them to their homes on the Greater Antilles. This taking of captives by one Amerindian tribe from another was a method of avoiding inter- marriage among the small communities. The Kalimagos, like other tribes on the mainland, integrated their captives as wives or, in the case of males as poitos (sons-in-law) into their kinship network Source "The Dominica Story" by Dr. Lennox Honychurch Back To The Native Experience |
