Kalinago in the context of "Garifuna people"

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⭐ Core Definition: Kalinago

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 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 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 the islands without displacing their inhabitants, eventually adopting the local language but retaining their traditions of a South American origin.

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Kalinago in the context of Barbuda

Barbuda (/bɑːrˈb(j)də/; Barbudan Creole: Baabyuuda) is an island and dependency located in the eastern Caribbean forming part of the twin-island state of Antigua and Barbuda as an autonomous entity. Barbuda is located approximately 30 miles (48 km) north of Antigua. The only settlements on the island are Codrington and its surrounding localities. Barbuda is a flat island with the western portion being dominated by Codrington Lagoon, and the eastern portion being dominated by the elevated plateau of the Barbuda Highlands, with salty ponds and scrubland spread throughout the island. The climate is classified as tropical marine.

The first inhabitants of Barbuda were canoe-driving hunter-gatherers around 3,000–4,000 years ago. The island was subsequently inhabited by the Arawak and Kalinago. Early settlements by the Spanish were followed by the French and English who formed a colony in 1666. In 1685, Barbuda was leased to brothers John and Christopher Codrington. In 1834, slavery was abolished in Barbuda. Because the entire island had been covered by a single land grant, the Barbudans kept on autonomous cultivation on communal property after slavery's abolition.

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Kalinago in the context of Saint Lucia

Saint Lucia is an island country in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique. It covers a land area of 617 km (238 square miles) with an estimated population of over 180,000 people as of 2018. The nation's capital and largest city is Castries.

The first proven inhabitants of the island, the Arawaks, are believed to have been the first to settle on the island in 200–400 AD. In 800 AD, the island was taken over by the Kalinago. The French were the first European colonists to settle on the island, and they signed a treaty with the native Caribs in 1660. The English took control of the island in 1663. In ensuing years, England and France fought 14 times for control of the island; consequently control over this immensely valuable geopolitical position changed frequently. Eventually, the British took complete control in 1814, shortly after the victory over French Emperor Napoleon I. Because the island switched so often between British and French control, Saint Lucia was also known as the "Helen of the West" after the Greek mythological character, Helen of Troy.

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Kalinago in the context of Bequia

Bequia (/ˈbɛkw/ BEK-wee or /ˈbɛkw/ BEK-way) is the second-largest island in the Grenadines at 7 square miles (18 km). It is part of the country of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and lies approximately 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the nation’s capital, Kingstown, on the main island, Saint Vincent.

The name Bequia is said to mean "island of the clouds" in the language of the ancient Arawak. The island’s early inhabitants were the Kalinago (Caribs), who lived throughout the Grenadines before the arrival of Europeans.

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Kalinago in the context of Dominica

Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. It is part of the Windward Islands chain in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of the island. Dominica's closest neighbours are two constituent territories of the European Union, both overseas departments of France: Guadeloupe to the northwest and Martinique to the south-southeast. Dominica comprises a land area of 750 km (290 sq mi), and the highest point is Morne Diablotins, at 1,447 m (4,747 ft) in elevation. The population was 71,293 at the 2011 census.

The island was settled by the Arawak arriving from South America in the fifth century. The Kalinago displaced the Arawak by the 15th century. Christopher Columbus is said to have passed the island on Sunday, 3 November 1493. It was later colonised by Europeans, predominantly by the French from the 1690s to 1763. The French trafficked slaves from West Africa to Dominica to work on coffee plantations. Great Britain took possession in 1763 after the Seven Years' War, and gradually established English as its official language. The island gained independence as a republic in 1978.

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Kalinago in the context of Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean

At the time of first contact between Europe and the Americas, the Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean included the Taíno of the northern Lesser Antilles, most of the Greater Antilles and the Bahamas; the Kalinago of the Lesser Antilles; the Ciguayo and Macorix of parts of Hispaniola; and the Guanahatabey of western Cuba. The Kalinago have maintained an identity as an Indigenous people, with a reserved territory in Dominica.

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Kalinago in the context of Kalinago language

The Kalinago language, also known as Island Carib and Igneri (Iñeri, Inyeri, etc.), was an Arawakan language historically spoken by the Kalinago of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. Kalinago proper became extinct by about 1920 due to population decline and colonial period deportations resulting in language death, but an offshoot survives as Garifuna, primarily in Central America.

Despite being known as Island Carib, the language was not closely related to the Carib language of the mainland Caribs. Instead, it appears to have been a development of the Arawakan language spoken by the islands' earlier Igneri inhabitants, which incoming Caribs adopted in the pre-Columbian era. During the French colonial period, Carib men also spoke a Cariban-derived pidgin amongst themselves.

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Kalinago in the context of Black Caribs

The Garifuna people (/ˌɡɑːrˈfnə/ GAR-ee-FOO-nə or Spanish pronunciation: [ɡa'ɾifuna]; pl. Garínagu in Garifuna) are a people of mixed free African and Amerindian ancestry that originated in the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent and traditionally speak Garifuna, an Arawakan language.

The Garifuna are the descendants of Indigenous Arawak, Kalinago (Island Carib), and Afro-Caribbean people. The founding population of the Central American diaspora, estimated at 2,500 to 5,000 persons, were transplanted to Roatán from Saint Vincent, which was known to the Garinagu as Yurumein, in the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles. Small Garifuna communities still live in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The Garifuna diaspora abroad includes communities in Honduras, the United States, and Belize.

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