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Dominica Carib People: The Kalinago Page 1 of 5
Dominica Carib People: The Kalinago 70
By irclay
Kalinago: a culture on the edge
Kent Auguiste, was my host and Taxi driver. A
Carib/Kalinago by birth and by nature, he spend
hours educating me on Kalinago folklore, and the
experience of growing up as a Carib in Dominica.
Not a happy story; deprived of education, and
robbed of their sense of worth by religious
doctrine, he says. "We all become Peter, Paul
and Mary. Our ancestral Kalinago names are lost
now, a sad fate for the first people of this land,
who have been here for 5000 years".
Kent was the prefect man for the job. He was a
good teacher, patient and knowledgeable and
very well connected. His brother had been Chief
of the Carib/Kalinago people and he was friendly
with everyone, it seemed. We met the new Chief,
Garnett Joseph, and we talked about history, See all 10 photos
education, culture, religion and beliefs, about
Source: Kent among the herbs at Carib
heath, prejudice, the state of the nation and the
Territories. BookingsDominica.com
future. All in one day, traveling from Roseau to
the Carib/Kalinago Territories and back via
Jungle Bay. We picked up several people on the
way, one a Kalinago woman traveling to the
Territories and another a bright young man who
was foreman on a project, building a jungle
retreat for an America executive. At our stops we
met and chatted with all sorts of beautiful
Kalinago people.
Here is the story from that day and the months of
research, reading and thinking that followed It is
influenced interpretations and comparisons
which are entirely personal and not intended to
speak for a people or their culture.
I worry a lot about writing about other people and
cultures that I am not part of. I reconcile that with
the fact that we are all able to think, observe and
have insights, and to become informed. With that
we are entitled to a point of view and sometimes
we have a right to share it.
Dominica; a Fortress for the Kalinago
The history of Dominica is the history of the
Caribbean with a salient difference - Dominica
was a fortress like no other Island. It withstood
countless invasions and become a Kingdom of
the Kalinago people.
The Dominica fortress, with its thick forest, steep
mountains and few harbors, was hard to
penetrate. The Kalinago People -fearless,
inventive and totally in-tuned to nature- were Dominica Mountain Fortress
tireless in the defense of their island. "They were
master of the Dominica island fortress," Kent tells
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Dominica Carib People: The Kalinago Page 2 of 5
me. "The Africans, French, English and Spanish
Invaders thought the Kalinago of Dominica were
superhuman spirits. A Kalinago would appear 20
paces in front of you, out of nowhere and just as
suddenly disappear like a spirit meting into air".
A network of lookouts and inter-island
communication (canoes) kept them informed on
the intruders, men with shiny heads and the sun
in their arms. They came in from the North in
great towering ships that moved down to
Dominica, powered by the wind in huge square Caribbean early map
canvas sails.
Columbus is thought to be the first European to
land on the Caribbean Shores and his journals
are of a friendly and hospitable Tanio people
(Arawaks) that he met along the way.
"Columbus and his crew, landing on an
island in the Bahamas on October 12,
1492 were the first Europeans to
encounter the Taíno people. Columbus
wrote:
View from the Kaligano Territories
They traded with us and gave us
everything they had, with good will...they
took great delight in pleasing us...They
are very gentle and without knowledge of
what is evil; nor do they murder or
steal...Your highness may believe that in
all the world there can be no better
people ...They love their neighbours as
themselves, and they have the sweetest
talk in the world, and are gentle and
always laughing." wikipedia Historic Gallion Cabrits Fort
Tanio & Kalinago>>
But those that followed Columbus had more than discovery in mind. They were after gold, control of the
seas and sugar. Each invading nation -the Dutch, British, French and Spanish- fought to take the
islands and make them their own. The indigenous people were enslaved, in many cases. Bands of
sailors, loose on Iand for the first time in ages, reportedly plundered villages, took the women and killed
the men. The atrocities committed are well known.
Dominica, lying far south, had the advantage of hindsight. The Arawak people who lived in the north got
the message out. They paddled in relays, from island to island and signal post to signal post, and
warned their neighbours in the south of what to expect. Many invading forces were beaten off and
ambushed on the open beaches of Dominica by invisible spirits shooting poisoned arrows from
somewhere in a jungle.
So successful were the Dominican Kalinago that both the French and English ceded control of the
island to them at different times.
Kalinago Rule
In 1660 Governor Willoughby of Barbados
appointed a young 30-year-old Carib Chief
named Carib Warner as Lieutenant Governor of
Dominica. Carib Warner was a Carib of mixed
race, son of Sir Thomas Warner, the English
colonizer of St. Kitts, for whom Carib Warner's
Dominican mother worked. Carib Warner grew
up in the stately St. Kitts home of an English
Lord until the age of 13, when his farther died.
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He was a clever diplomat and played the English
and the French well, wining the respect of his
people and of Willoughby. But the British too
were divided; those in Barbados controlled the
wealth of sugar and in the leeward islands
of Antigua and St. Kitts, other Brits brimmed with
jealousy. Sir Thomas' rightful son, Phip Warner,
conspired to change the situation and in 1674
landed in Dominica and under the guise of
friendship, entrapped and murdered his half-
brother Carib Warner and massacred his village
(now called Massac). Its a sad story of English
conspiracy and a betrayal which continued for
decades. Despite several treaties, right up to
1748, declaring that Dominica belonged to
the Kalinago, greed for sugar wealth drove the
French and English to continue to fight over the
island.
Territories rule
Betrayal
The Caribs are a people very much betrayed. Betrayed in popular myths that made Kent's friends afraid
to visit his village in case they were eaten. "We were not cannibals, but ignorance of our ways and
character, condemned us to that," says Kent. They were betrayed by treaties that meant nothing,
betrayed by opportunity, preduce, jealousy and finally by neglect.
There are only 3000 Caribs remaining. They live in eight villages on the East Coast of Dominica in an
area of approx. 3700 acres called the Carib Territory. They have their own chief and also a
representative in the house of assembly. They tend to be private and separate people, and their culture
has not changed greatly. Today Caribs by birth are entitled to live in the Carib Territories. A Carib can
cultivate any available land and thus lay claim to it. They are an agricultural people, relying on nature
for medicine, food, heath and care of spirit and mind. There is a herb for everything, from feeling sad to
healing the body or the mind.
Kalinago Today
Territories
The Carib/Kalinago Territory has been compared
to American and Canadian reserves in a lot of
respects. But it is different in key areas. The
Territory was ceded to the Kalinago, which was
significant and unique in the Caribbean. But they
were largely ignored and marginalized with no
attempt to educate and assimilate, as was the
case in America. This was both good and bad. Tending the land.
They were spared the indignity of been torn from
families and boarded into schools far away
where abuse and disrespect was rampant. But
they lacked an education, and were thus dis-
enfranchised from taking a more active role in
the affairs of the land. In time, Kalinago leaders
spoke out and demanded more: More voice and
more inclusion in the modernization taking in
place in Dominica. They wanted schools, roads
and electricity.
They are not a people who have lost their way,
Craft shop in Carib Territories
as we see in many Canadian reserves where
drugs and alcohol fill the gap in a life without
much hope or expectation. The great experiment
in The North has robbed some native people of
their own way of life and has given them little in
return. Kalinago have not lost a way of life. They
live off the land, and use it well. They fish, make
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Dominica Carib People: The Kalinago Page 4 of 5
crafts, built boats and sail out to sea in small
canoes, riding the waves with the skills of their
ancestors.
Assimilation was not the objective but in the
name of preservation many have been negligent.
The culture has largely been ignored by both the
Caribs themselves and the governments of the
time. When Kent went to school he was one of
only 3 Caribs ever to attend a secondary school.
The school in Roseau was several hours away
from his home, which meant he had to rent
somewhere to live nearby. This the family could
not afford and soon he was forced to abandon
school. For an intelligent person it was a great
disappointment, an insult, and a rejection. Kent
became one of the new breed of radicals that
voiced concern and criticized the Government for
its neglect of his people. He still talks out on all
sorts of issues, on the radio and wherever he
can.
Myth, mysticism and magic in Carib Cuture.
Kalinago are a friendly and gentle people and they coexist with governments and non-Kalinago in quiet
respect. Ancient art shows Kalinago offering fruit and drink to welcome the strangers from another land.
It is their way; they are not a fearful people, but they do not seek conflict and they choose a simple life
living with nature. They are one with nature and fit into the Dominica landscape as naturally as the birds
and animals of the jungle. Like spirits of the jungle, unmatched in agility, stamina and natural
knowledge. The Kalinago knowledge of herbs and plants is exceptional. It is said they use over 300
different herbs for medicine are some of the best bush doctors in the Caribbean.
In Kalinago folklore, there was always a shaman, a sort of mystic healer they called the Pyie Man. He
cured illness with herbs and spells and smoke. Smoke as used in some Christian ceremonies and as
used by Shamballa Buddhist to cleanse and ward off spirits. The Pyie man believed in spirits and called
on the power of nature to heal afflicted souls. Herb baths were used to cleanse and restore health.
There was a herb for every ailment. In some ways the Pyie man was similar to the African Voodoo and
the Afro-Carib Obeah and native Shaman.
All belief systems merged and influenced each other over time. Aspects of Christian ceremonials and
sacraments such as the use of oils, herbs and blessed communion wafers were integrated in the
beliefs and over the decades, the Kalinago accept Christianity as a part, but not a replacement, of what
they believe. The African mask and rituals too found their way into worship and practice. The Kalinago
People believe in nature; a community of common knowledge, unity and balance. They believe in unity
and balance above all; knowing that taking power away has a personal and universal effect, that giving
enriches all. To many Kalinago, God is the supreme being, as natural as nature, powerful, majestic,
eternal, universal and present in everything.
A Culture revived
The construction of the Historic Kalinago Village, was an attempt to restore, or at least document, the
culture. It is a valuable museum of a history, but many fault it for being unreal. Kalinago do not live as
they did, nor do they dance in costumes as portrayed in the tourist festivals. Still, it is of value and the
attention from the outside does endear a sense of a people and culture that was and should be.
Pride is not a feature of the Kalinago Culture but pride can be the basis for its preservation. The blood
line is dying gradually by intermarriage, emigration and an aging population with a low birth rate. The
past Kalinago Chief, Charles Williams, suggested that Kalinago should only marry Caribs, but that went
down like a lead balloon.
Some think it is already too late; that the true Kalinago by birth is an exception. What needs now to be
preserved is a culture and a history. Blood alone need not define a culture. History has many
examples: Carib Warner was appointed as chief of his people although of mixed race and raised as the
sun of an English lord. The Kalinago Carib culture is also a state of mind. It has purpose and stands as
an example of a way of life that should be preserved.
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Dominica Carib People: The Kalinago Page 5 of 5
Useful Dopminica links
• Caribbean Stories - Dominica Discovery
Hollywood was here with Johnny Depp and his Pirates of the Caribbean, but hardly a footprint
remains of the cast and the crew. Dominica changes slowly, The island moves with a contented
crowd, 70,000...
• Dominica hotels | Travel and Tourism | activities | Dominica holidays
Dominica Travel Adventure Planning and Bookings. Use Booking Dominica as your guide to all
hotels, accomodations and activities in Dominica. vacation hotel resorts and apartments, all-
inlusive Resorts, Vacation Package Bookings, Villas
• Travelers Insight Magazine- Dominica - on Demand print- buy online
Travelers Insights Magazine brings you a unique look into the people and culture of a travel
destination. Its a great guide and story
• Kalinago (Carib) Resistance to European Colonisation of the Caribbean | Caribbean Quarterly |
Find A
Kalinago (Carib) Resistance to European Colonisation of the Caribbean from Caribbean Quarterly
provided by Find Articles at BNET
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