The Arawak are a group of
indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
of northern South America and of the
Caribbean. Specifically, the term "Arawak" has been applied at various times to the
Lokono
The Lokono or Arawak are an Arawak people native to northern coastal areas of South America. Today, approximately 10,000 Lokono live primarily along the coasts and rivers of Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, Barbados and French Guiana. They speak t ...
of South America and the
Taíno
The Taíno were a historic indigenous people of the Caribbean whose culture has been continued today by Taíno descendant communities and Taíno revivalist communities. At the time of European contact in the late 15th century, they were the pri ...
, who historically lived in the
Greater Antilles
The Greater Antilles ( es, Grandes Antillas or Antillas Mayores; french: Grandes Antilles; ht, Gwo Zantiy; jam, Grieta hAntiliiz) is a grouping of the larger islands in the Caribbean Sea, including Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, a ...
and northern
Lesser Antilles
The Lesser Antilles ( es, link=no, Antillas Menores; french: link=no, Petites Antilles; pap, Antias Menor; nl, Kleine Antillen) are a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. Most of them are part of a long, partially volcanic island arc bet ...
in the
Caribbean. All these groups spoke related
Arawakan languages
Arawakan (''Arahuacan, Maipuran Arawakan, "mainstream" Arawakan, Arawakan proper''), also known as Maipurean (also ''Maipuran, Maipureano, Maipúre''), is a language family that developed among ancient indigenous peoples in South America. Branc ...
.
Name
![Arowak village](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Arowak_village.jpg)
Early Spanish explorers and administrators used the terms ''Arawak'' and ''
Caribs
“Carib” may refer to:
People and languages
*Kalina people, or Caribs, an indigenous people of South America
**Carib language, also known as Kalina, the language of the South American Caribs
*Kalinago people, or Island Caribs, an indigenous pe ...
'' to distinguish the peoples of the Caribbean, with ''Carib'' reserved for indigenous groups that they considered hostile and ''Arawak'' for groups that they considered friendly.
In 1871, ethnologist
Daniel Garrison Brinton
Daniel Garrison Brinton (May 13, 1837July 31, 1899) was an American surgeon, historian, archaeologist and ethnologist.
Biography
Brinton was born in Thornbury Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. After graduating from Yale University in 185 ...
proposed calling the Caribbean populace "Island Arawak" due to their cultural and linguistic similarities with the mainland Arawak. Subsequent scholars shortened this convention to "Arawak", creating confusion between the island and mainland groups. In the 20th century, scholars such as Irving Rouse resumed using "Taíno" for the Caribbean group to emphasize their distinct culture and language.
History
![Arawak-Languages](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Arawak-Languages.png)
The Arawakan languages may have emerged in the
Orinoco River
The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers , with 76.3 percent of it in Venezuela and the remainder in Colombia. It is the fourth largest river in the wor ...
valley. They subsequently spread widely, becoming by far the most extensive language family in South America at the time of
European contact, with speakers located in various areas along the Orinoco and
Amazonian rivers and their tributaries.
The group that self-identified as the Arawak, also known as the
Lokono
The Lokono or Arawak are an Arawak people native to northern coastal areas of South America. Today, approximately 10,000 Lokono live primarily along the coasts and rivers of Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, Barbados and French Guiana. They speak t ...
, settled the coastal areas of what is now
Guyana,
Suriname,
Grenada,
Bahamas
The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...
,
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
and parts of the islands of
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...
.
[
Michael Heckenberger, an anthropologist at the ]University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...
who helped found the Central Amazon Project, and his team found elaborate pottery, ringed villages, raised fields, large mounds, and evidence for regional trade networks that are all indicators of a complex culture. There is also evidence that they modified the soil using various techniques such as adding charcoal to transform it into black earth, which even today is famed for its agricultural productivity. According to Heckenberger, pottery and other cultural traits show these people belonged to the Arawakan language family, a group that included the Tainos, the first Native Americans Columbus encountered. It was the largest language group that ever existed in the pre-Columbian Americas.
At some point, the Arawakan-speaking Taíno
The Taíno were a historic indigenous people of the Caribbean whose culture has been continued today by Taíno descendant communities and Taíno revivalist communities. At the time of European contact in the late 15th century, they were the pri ...
culture emerged in the Caribbean. Two major models have been presented to account for the arrival of Taíno ancestors in the islands; the "Circum-Caribbean" model suggests an origin in the Colombian Andes connected to the Arhuaco people, while the Amazonian model supports an origin in the Amazon basin, where the Arawakan languages developed. The Taíno were among the first American people to encounter Europeans. Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus
* lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo
* es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón
* pt, Cristóvão Colombo
* ca, Cristòfor (or )
* la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...
visited multiple islands and chiefdoms on his first voyage in 1492, which was followed in 1493 by the establishment of La Navidad
La Navidad ("The Nativity", i.e. Christmas) was a settlement that Christopher Columbus and his men established on the northeast coast of Haiti (near what is now Caracol, Nord-Est Department, Haiti) in 1492 from the remains of the Spanish ship th ...
on Hispaniola, the first permanent Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
settlement in the Americas. Relationships between the Spaniards and the Taino would ultimately take a sour turn. Some of the lower-level chiefs of the Taino appeared to have assigned a supernatural origin to the explorers. The Taino believed that the explorers were mythical beings associated with the underworld who consumed human flesh. Thus, the Taino would go on to burn down La Navidad
La Navidad ("The Nativity", i.e. Christmas) was a settlement that Christopher Columbus and his men established on the northeast coast of Haiti (near what is now Caracol, Nord-Est Department, Haiti) in 1492 from the remains of the Spanish ship th ...
and kill 39 men. There is evidence as to the taking of human trophies and the ritual cannibalism of war captives among both Arawak and other Amerindian groups such as the Carib and Tupinamba.
With the establishment of La Isabella, and the discovery of gold deposits on the island, the Spanish settler population on Hispaniola started to grow substantially, while disease and conflict with the Spanish began to kill tens of thousands of Taíno every year. By 1504, the Spanish had overthrown the last of the Taíno cacique chiefdoms on Hispaniola, and firmly established the supreme authority of the Spanish colonists over the now-subjugated Taíno. Over the next decade, the Spanish colonists presided over a genocide of the remaining Taíno on Hispaniola, who suffered enslavement, massacres, or exposure to diseases. The population of Hispaniola at the point of first European contact is estimated at between several hundred thousand to over a million people, but by 1514, it had dropped to a mere 35,000. By 1509, the Spanish had successfully conquered Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
and subjugated the approximately 30,000 Taíno inhabitants. By 1530, there were 1,148 Taíno left alive in Puerto Rico.
Taíno influence has survived even until today, though, as can be seen in the religions, languages, and music of Caribbean cultures. The Lokono and other South American groups resisted colonization for a longer period, and the Spanish remained unable to subdue them throughout the 16th century. In the early 17th century, they allied with the Spanish against the neighbouring Kalina
Kalina may refer to:
People
* Kalina people, or Caribs, an indigenous people of the northern coastal areas of South America
* Kalina language, or Carib, the language of the Kalina people
* Kalina (given name)
* Kalina (surname)
* Noah Kalina, ...
(Caribs), who allied with the English and Dutch. The Lokono benefited from trade with European powers into the early 19th century, but suffered thereafter from economic and social changes in their region, including the end of the plantation economy. Their population declined until the 20th century, when it began to increase again.
Most of the Arawak of the Antilles died out or intermarried after the Spanish conquest. In South America, Arawakan-speaking groups are widespread, from southwest Brazil to the Guianas in the north, representing a wide range of cultures. They are found mostly in the tropical forest areas north of the Amazon. As with all Amazonian native peoples, contact with European settlement has led to culture change and depopulation among these groups.
Modern population and descendants
The Spaniards
Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance ethnic group native to Spain. Within Spain, there are a number of national and regional ethnic identities that reflect the country's complex history, including a number of different languages, both in ...
who arrived in the Bahamas
The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...
, Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
, and Hispaniola (today Haiti and the Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...
) in 1492, and later in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
, brought few women on their first expeditions. Many of the explorers and early colonists interbred with Taíno women, who subsequently bore mestizo or mixed-race children. These races include other Indigenous groups, Spaniards/Europeans, and the African slaves brought over during the Atlantic slave trade. Through the generations, numerous mixed-race descendants still identify as Taíno or Lokono.
In the 21st century, these descendants, about 10,000 Lokono, live primarily in the coastal areas of Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana, with additional Lokono living throughout the larger region. Unlike many Indigenous groups in South America, the Lokono population is growing.
Notable Arawak
* Damon Gerard Corrie, Barbados Lokono of Guyana Lokono descent, radical International Indigenous Rights activist, and creator of the militant Indigenous Democracy Defence Organization/IDDO, the only such global Pan-Tribal & Multi-Racial Indigenous NGO in existence. He is also the creator of the only Phonetic English to Arawak dictionary (2021), and the only comprehensive books about Lokono-Arawak Culture called 'Lokono Arawaks' (2020), and on traditional Lokono-Arawak spirituality in 'Amazonia's Mythical and Legendary Creatures in the Eagle Clan Lokono-Arawak Oral Tradition of Guyana', and another work that challenges the 'No natives were here when European settlement occurred colonial version of the history of Barbados in the book 'Last Arawak Girl Born in Barbados - a 17th Century Tale' (2021)
* John P. Bennett (Lokono), first Amerindian ordained as an Anglican priest in Guyana, linguist and author of ''An Arawak-English Dictionary'' (1989).
* Foster Simon, Artist,
* Oswald Hussein
Oswald ("Ossie") Hussein (born 1954) is a Guyanese artist of Lokono (Arawak) descent. Though he occasionally works in other mediums, he is best known for his wooden sculptures which explore various dimensions of Arawak Amerindian culture and tr ...
, Artist
* Jean La Rose
Jean La Rose (born 6 May 1962) is an Arawak environmentalist and indigenous rights activist in Guyana. She was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2002 for her work to halt mining in their territories, to secure inhabitants full rights to t ...
, Arawak environmentalist and indigenous rights activist in Guyana.
* Lenox Shuman, Guyanese politician
* George Simon (Lokono), artist and archaeologist from Guyana.
* Tituba
Tituba Indian was an enslaved woman who was one of the first to be accused of witchcraft during the Salem witch trials of 1692-1693. She was brought to colonial Massachusetts from Barbados by Samuel Parris, the minister of Salem Village. She w ...
, The first woman to be accused of practicing witchcraft
Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have ...
during the year 1692. See Salem witch trials
The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. More than 200 people were accused. Thirty people were found guilty, 19 of whom w ...
for more information.
See also
* Adaheli, the Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...
in the mythology
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narra ...
of the Orinoco region
* Aiomun-Kondi, Arawak deity, created the world in Arawak mythology
*Arawakan languages
Arawakan (''Arahuacan, Maipuran Arawakan, "mainstream" Arawakan, Arawakan proper''), also known as Maipurean (also ''Maipuran, Maipureano, Maipúre''), is a language family that developed among ancient indigenous peoples in South America. Branc ...
* Cariban languages
* Classification of indigenous peoples of the Americas
*Garifuna language
Garifuna (Karif) is a minority language widely spoken in villages of Garifuna people in the western part of the northern coast of Central America.
It is a member of the Arawakan language family but an atypical one since it is spoken outside t ...
*List of indigenous names of Eastern Caribbean islands
This list of the indigenous names of the Eastern Caribbean islands is a compilation of the indigenous names that were given by Amerindian people to those islands before the Europeans started naming them. The islands of the Eastern Caribbean were ...
*List of Native American peoples in the United States
This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States of America. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes were legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United ...
* Maipurean languages
References
Bibliography
* Jesse, C., (2000). ''The Amerindians in St. Lucia (Iouanalao)''. St. Lucia: Archaeological and Historical Society.
* Haviser, J. B.,Wilson, S. M. (ed.), (1997). ''Settlement Strategies in the Early Ceramic Age. In The Indigenous People of the Caribbean'', Gainesville, Florida: University Press.
* Hofman, C. L., (1993). ''The Native Population of Pre-columbian Saba. Part One. Pottery Styles and their Interpretations''. h.D. dissertation
Hilda Doolittle (September 10, 1886 – September 27, 1961) was an American modernist poet, novelist, and memoirist who wrote under the name H.D. throughout her life. Her career began in 1911 after she moved to London and co-founded the ...
Leiden: University of Leiden (Faculty of Archaeology).
* Haviser, J. B., (1987). ''Amerindian cultural Geography on Curaçao''. npublished Ph.D. dissertation Leiden: Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University.
*
* Joseph, P. Musée, C. Celma (ed.), (1968). "LГhomme Amérindien dans son environnement (quelques enseignements généraux)", In ''Les Civilisations Amérindiennes des Petites Antilles, Fort-de-France: Départemental d’Archéologie Précolombienne et de Préhistoire.''
* Bullen, Ripley P., (1966). "Barbados and the Archeology of the Caribbean", ''The Journal of the Barbados Museum and Historical Society,'' 32.
* Haag, William G., (1964). ''A Comparison of Arawak Sites in the Lesser Antilles''. Fort-de-France: ''Proceedings of the First International Congress on Pre-Columbian Cultures of the Lesser Antilles,'' pp. 111–136
*Deutsche, Presse-Agentur
"Archeologist studies signs of ancient civilization in Amazon basin"
''Science and Nature,'' M&C, 08/02/2010. Web. 29 May 2011.
*
*
*
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arawak Peoples
Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean
Indigenous culture of the Americas
Indigenous peoples of the Guianas
Ethnic groups in the Caribbean
Ethnic groups in Suriname
History of the Caribbean
History of Hispaniola
Spanish West Indies
History of indigenous peoples of the Americas
History of Îles des Saintes