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The Amerindians

Tribes

• The amerindian tribes in the Caribbean were referred to by various names: Yaio, Nepuyo, Chaima, Warao, Kalipuna, Carinepogoto, Garini, Aruaca.
• Amerindian words and place names survive into the present : cassava, maize, cacao, tobacco, and fauna such as manicou and agouti.
• The Amerindians developed the canoe, the bow and arrow, and the ajoupa
• Amerindian cuisine is enjoyed by many Caribbeans : Cassava bread and Farine; Warap; barbecued wild game; corn pastelles; coffee; cocoa; chardon beni.
• Parang, utilizing both Spanish and Amerindian musical instruments, emerged from the evangelization of the Amerindians.

Melting Pot

• Amerindian assistance was essential for the survival of the infant colonies.More about the starting of the nation Grenada can be found here: History of Grenada and more recent history, about the Grenada revolution. Some of the indigenous nations were to continue to supply foodstuffs to the plantations - especially salt fish rations for the slave population - for more than a hundred years after the arrival of the first European settlers, and the authorities and the planters were also to remain dependent on them for a range of other commodities. These included hammocks and corials, the second of which were used by everyone, including the Africans.
• What is not realized, however, is that the Arawaks, Akawaios and Caribs in particular, were export commodity producers, particularly in the seventeenth century. In addition to balsam copaiva and (in Essequibo only) letterwood, there was anatto. This red-orange dye was employed in the colouring of Dutch cheeses, and for many decades it was second only to sugar in terms of export value. The dye was processed into little balls by the Amerindian women, and set in crab oil to preserve it during transportation to the Netherlands.
• What is also rarely acknowledged is that members of some Amerindian nations shared the same fate as the Africans, being slaves ( read more about the slave trade in the west indies ) on the plantations. The colony of Essequibo was the centre of an Amerindian slave trade prosecuted by the Carib nation, and mostly managed by Surinamers from the beginning of the eighteenth century onwards. The slaves traded or captured came from the periphery of the colony, or outside it altogether, and they endured the same brutal conditions as their African counterparts. Many of them were women put to work in the bread gardens or cassava fields, which produced the cassava bread which everyone ate in an era when wheat flour was unobtainable. Amerindian slavery ended before African slavery in 1793.
• While the popular view of the Amerindians during the slavery period is that they acted as plantation policemen, this only became a function of the coastal nations alone after about 1770, and in the case of the Caribs rather earlier than this. It has to be remembered that Amerindian slaves ran away from the plantations with as great a frequency as African ones, were returned by the Caribs in the same way as African ones, and were punished by the Europeans in the same fashion as African ones. In addition some Amerindians - including members of free nations - took part in risings, most notably the 1687 revolt in Berbice.
• And what about the Caribs, who largely ran the slave trade and who in Essequibo were a pillar of support for the Dutch? They have to be seen as the geopoliticians of the region in the Dutch period. Under enormous pressure from the Spaniards on both sides of the Orinoco where they were being rounded up by force and confined in missions, they turned to the Dutch for the European weaponry they knew was essential if they were to resist the Spanish successfully. It was the slave trade in particular, which gave them access to guns and to knowledge about European battle tactics, although the Dutch authorities sometimes armed them too in times of slave revolt.

Amerinindian History

• Most archaeologists date the arrival of the Amerindians in the Amazon Basin to around 12,000 years ago. However, it was not until 1,000 years later that the populations were well established. Much of their history since then has been lost to the acidic soils and veils of time, only alive in tribal traditions and legends. When the conquistadors arrived, indigenous populations numbered between 1.5 and 7 million and 2,000 tribal groups. Today under a million individuals divided up into 400 tribal groups remain.
• Amerindians often have a complex traditional codes and practice animistic religions. Everything possesses a spirit and lays within some sort of spiritual hierarchy. Dreams play an important life in the culture. In the tribal world there is no difference between perceived “reality” and the world of dreams. While most westerners believe that the visible world is reality and therefore most important, the Indian thinks differently. The visible world is governed by the need to survive and nothing in this world is intrinsically meaningful. It is the spirit world to which it must conform and where it gains any meaning and form. One must look to the spiritual world to find guidance in life. The ultimate goal is to view these two worlds as one. This is often done by following traditional rites and using hallucinogens in religion.
• A careful balance must be maintained to avoid upsetting the spirits or else tribal life will be turned up side down. This belief has led to the highly ordered and complex rituals of the tribes. Usually men hunt, fish, and build homes while women tend to the garden, children, and food. Additionally, there are strict taboos to be observed. Breaking one demands some sort of revenge to maintain the balance.
• For 12,000 years the indigenous peoples have been an essential part of Amazonian life. These tribes are often discriminated by settlers, tourists, conservationists, and even their own government. They have been doing their best to fight against this discrimination by means of non-violent protests, media publicity, and court action, all with some success. Sadly, though, change is inevitable when faced with the inexorable and inevitable pressure of population and economic growth.

Notice: This is a compilation of material found on the internet. We tried to make a compact narrative about the Amerindians 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.
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