History - Arawaks

Origins of the Arawaks

• A startling fact is that when Columbus arrived at Hispaniola there were no people who were called 'Arawaks', and there never had been. If you were to go to Santo Domingo today people would tell you that their Amerindian ancestors were the 'Taino'. Actually, Indians of the Greater Antilles did not call themselves 'Taino', no more than they called themselves 'Arawak' - that name was given them in 1935 by Sven Loven, a Swedish archaeologist, from the word denoting in the Indian lauguage the ruling class of their society.But let us not quibble: seeing as we do not know what the Greater Antilleans called themselves, we shall make do with Taino.
• Amerindians of the "Saladoid" culture, originally came from the Venezuelan mainland. They were referred to as "Arawaks", because of the language they spoke. Using Trinidad as a stepping stone they spread up the Caribbean and beyond. Ethnologist have noted common characteristics with the cultures of south eastern USA. For many years this led some to believe that they originated there, archaeological finds have confirmed that their origin is most certainly Amazonic.

• If the people of the Greater Antilles were not Arawaks, neither did they passively accept Spanish depradations. Most of us are familiar with the story of Hatuey, the chief who organized to fight the Spanish and who was, when captured, burnt at the stake. Repent and go to heaven, they told him as they lit the fire. If there are Spaniards in heaven I would rather go to hell, he replied. Nor was Hatuey the only defiant one. There were several others, men like Guarocuya (Enrique) in Hispaniola, Uroyoan in Borinquen (Puerto Rico) and Guama in Cuba, who confronted the strange, terrifying European weapons - the man-eating dogs, the guns, the mounted soldiers, the naval galleons - with great courage and determination.

The Arawak World

• The Arawaks people inhabited the lands that extend from Florida through the Caribbean to Bolivia, Paraguay and northern Argentina. See maps of the Caribbean.

Social Organization

• The Arawaks were a very gentle culture, they preferred negotiation and commercial exchange to war. Their society was characterized by happiness, friendliness and a highly organized hierarchical, paternal society, and a lack of guile. Each group was a small kingdom and the leader was called a cacique. They practiced polygamy and most men had 2 or 3 wives, but the caciques had as many as 30. It was a great honor for a woman to be married to a cacique. Not only did she enjoy a materially superior lifestyle, but her children were held in high esteem.
• There was clear distinction between caciques and certain social strata that considered themselves superior, (this developed more so in the Arawaks of the Caribbean) and their existed some degree of slavery. The Arawaks employed prisoners and other individuals in services that were not expected of natural members of their communities. It was not a hereditary slavery as in the old world culture, it was simply the initial stage of submission of strangers to the tribe, who had to work so as to be eventually assimilated.
• The Arawaks practiced the custom of couvade/covada, that is they considered that the father is affected in some way by the birth of his children. For this reason the father had a special diet parallel to that of the mother after child birth. Laying in his hammock, abstaining from work and eating and drinking specific foods for a period of time.
• The duties of the sexes were well defined:
  The men cleaned the land for planting, but the rest of the agricultural activity was done by the women.
  The men worked wood and fabricated armament, hunted, fished, wove baskets an collected in the forest.
  The women, wove, made hammocks, cooked and prepared the cassava. They also attended to their husbands hair and painting their bodies according to ceremonial rules.
• The Arawaks walked naked. Their women if single,were naked and if they were married they would use a "nagua" a kind of apron that covered them from their waist to the middle of their legs.

Housing

• The Arawaks used two primary architectural styles for their homes. The general population lived in circular buildings with poles providing the primary support and these were covered with woven straw and palm leaves.
• The caciques were singled out for unique housing. Their house were rectangular and even featured a small porch. Despite the difference in shape, and the considerably larger buildings, the same materials were used.
• The house of the cacique contained only his own family. However, given the number of wives he might have, this constituted a huge family. The round houses of the common people were also large. Each one had about 10-15 men and their whole families. Thus any Arawaks home might house a hundred people.
• The houses did not contain much furniture. People slept in cotton hammocks or simply on mats of banana leaves. They also made wooden chairs with woven seats, couches and built cradles for their children.
• In addition to houses the typical Arawaks village contained a flat court in the Centre of the village which was used for ball games and various festivals, both religious and secular. Houses were around this court. This was a hierarchical society, and while there was only one cacique who was paid a tribute (tax) to oversee the village, there were other levels of sub-caciques, who were not paid, but did hold positions of honor. They were liable for various services to the village and cacique.

Technology

• Stone making was especially developed among the Arawak, but they seem not to have used it at all in building houses. It was primarily used for tools and especially religious artifacts.
• They developed a system for extracting the poisonous liquid out of the bitter cassava using a sebucán
• They also introduced their art of weaving, basket making, carving and painted ceramics which incorporated symbols from their spiritually evolved belief-system. Weaving fibers and making hammocks

Dress

• The men were generally naked, but the women sometimes wore short skirts. Men and women alike adorned their bodies with paint and shells and other decorations.

Diet

• The Arawak diet, was cantered around wild meat or fish as the primary source of protein. They also ate snakes, various rodents, bats, worms, birds, in general any living things they could find with the exception of humans.
• Cassava bread which they made from grated yucca was the staple of the Arawaks that lived in the forest, the coastal inhabitants used corn.
• They were able to hunt ducks and turtles in the lakes and sea. The coastal natives relied heavily on fishing, and tended to eat their fish either raw or only partially cooked.
• The natives of the interior relied more on agriculture and hunting, using less fish in their diet.

Agriculture

• The Arawak raised their crops in conucos, a system of agriculture they developed.
• One of the Arawak's primary crops was cassava. This is a root crop from which a poisonous juice must be squeezed. Then it is baked into a bread like slab. They also grew corn (maize), squash, beans, peppers, sweet potatoes, yams and peanuts.
• Cotton was grown and woven into fishing nets. but they raised tobacco and enjoyed smoking very much. It was not only a part of their social life, but was used in religious ceremonies too.

Transport

• The Arawak had no large animals like horses, oxen or mules to ride or use for work. But they did have river and sea transportation. They used dugout canoes which were cut from a single tree trunk and used with paddles. They could take 70-80 people in a single canoe and even used them for long travels on the sea. they traveled rivers and seas, using curiaras and piraguas. The also traveled with sails made of woven leaves of the moriche palm (mauritia flexuosa).
• The Arawaks were navigators of incessant activity, they travelled rivers and seas, using curiaras and piraguas. The also travelled with sails made of woven leaves of the moriche palm (mauritia flexuosa). The proximity of the Arawak and Carib cultures over the centuries makes it difficult at times to credit one or the other with development of some technologies.

Defense

• The Arawak themselves were quite peaceful people, but they did have to defend themselves from the Caribs who were cannibals.
• Thus the Arawak/ had some weapons which they used in defence. They used the bow and arrow, and had developed some poisons for their arrow tips. They had cotton ropes for defensive purposes and some spears with fish hooks on the end. Since there were hardwoods on the island, they did have a war club made of macana.

Religion

• The Arawak were polytheists and their gods were called Cemies. There were three primary religious practices:
• Religious worship and obeisance to the Cemie themselves.
• Dancing in the village court during special festivals of thanksgiving or petition.
• Medicine men, or priests, consulting the Cemie for advice and healing. This was done in public ceremonies with song and dance.
• One account of the religious agricultural feasts which were offered both in thanksgiving and petition, describes the following features:
• People had special dress for the ceremonies which included paint and feathers. From their knees on down they would be covered in shells.
• The shaman (medicine man or priests) presented the carved figures of the Cemie.
• The cacique sat on wooden stool, a place of honour.
• There was a ceremonial beating of drums.
• People induced vomiting with a swallowing stick. This was to purge the body of impurities, both a literal physical purging and a symbolic spiritual purging.
• This ceremonial purging and other rites were a symbolic changing before Cemie.
• Women served bread (a communion rite), first to the zemi, then to the cacique followed by the other people. The sacred bread was a powerful protector. (The interesting similarities between this ritual and the Christian practice of Eucharist is obvious!)
• Finally came an oral history lesson  the singing of the village epic in honour of the cacique and his ancestors.
• As the poet recited he was accompanied by a maraca, a piece of hardwood which was beaten with pebbles.
• There was an afterlife where the good would be rewarded. They would meet up with dead relatives and friends. Since most of the people they would meet in this paradise were women, it is curious to speculate if it was mainly women who were considered good, or if some other reason accounted for this division of the sexes in the afterlife.
• The zemi take on strange forms like toads, turtles, snakes, alligators and various distorted and hideous human faces.
• The zemi, as well as dead caciques, have certain powers over the natural world and must be dealt with. Thus these various services are ways of acknowledging their power (worship and thanksgiving) and at the same time seeking their aid.

Notice: This is a compilation of material found on the internet. We tried to make a compact narrative about the Arawaks for visitors of the Grenadines. Since much of this content can be found in one or another way on many sites, owners of copyright are unknown.
However: if you claim rights on any of this sites content then do not hesitate in contacting us.

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