Munro College

Department of Social Sciences

Caribbean History: 4B

November 30, 2020

Teacher: Miss Stewart

Handout

Theme: The Indigenous People

Topic: Economic & Religious Organization of the Kalinagos

Instruction: Read the handout and make notes. Discussion will follow next class

Economic Organization

Warfare was the Kalinago’s major interest. Internal conflicts were common; there was no
important chief, military organization, or hierarchical structure. The men strove to be
individualistic warriors and boasted of their heroic exploits. The Kalinagos produced several
crops. Cassava or manioc was their main crop just like the Tainos. They also grew yam, sweet
potato and maize or corn. They grew tobacco and cotton which they spun and wove into small
strips of cloth. They also made strings for fishing lines and nets for making hammocks. With the
islands free for all the tribe, the Kalinagos planted crops wherever they pleased. Usually
they made farming plots from the village. The men cleared the lands using the slash-andburn
technique, while the women planted the crops and tended them.

The Kalinagos hunted with bows and arrows, not just to get food but also for sport. For
this they used arrows made from slender reeds with tips made of sharp wooden

heads. Fish were caught in many ways. The Kalinagos used bows and arrows to shoot fish
which came close to the surface. They also used nets, traps and fishing lines with hooks made of
shells. Lobsters were caught in the reefs with harpoons. Conch and other shellfish were
easily caught. The shells were used to make tools. Many of the islands on which they Kalinago
lived on had streams full of fish. The Kalinagos knew how to poison the rivers by pounding the
leaves of certain plants and mixing them into the water. This would stun the fish, which could
then easily be caught by land.

The Tainos were much better farmers than the Kalinagos, but the Kalinagos were better
fishermen and hunters than the Tainos. The Kalinagos had more protein in their diet than the
Tainos due to them consuming more meat and fish than the Tainos. The Tainos did not
hunt or fish as much as the Kalinagos.

Importance of canoes to the Kalinagos and how they were made

The Kalinagos were always travelling back and forth among the islands, and were
excellent seamen. The Kalinagos used their canoes to travel from island to island, fish, trade,
hunt, and go on raids. They made two different types of canoes, and they were not very different
from the canoes made by the Tainos. The smaller craft, the couliana, was at most about twenty
feet long and was pointed at both ends. This type was used for fishing close to the shore and
could only hold a few people.

The bigger boat was called canoua, the word we still use today. The largest of these were
up to fifty feet long and could carry thirty to forty people. These vessels were dug out of logs and
stretched by fire and soaked with water to make the wood expand. It was in these larger canoes
that the Kalinago went to attack other islands or to make long fishing and trading trips. The
canoes were rowed with flat paddles shaped like spades. A long pole was used to guide the craft
carefully over reefs. The bark of the mahoe tree was used to tie the large stone archer. Rafts were
also made from trunks of light forest trees.
Religious Beliefs and Practices

The Kalinagos were polytheistic. They also believed in many gods. They believed in evil spirits
known as maboya. The priest had the power to pray to the gods to turn back evil.

They believed

 In the forces of evil.

 In life after death.
 In the existence of Heaven and hell.
 That there is punishment and reward in the afterlife.
 That those who were brave warriors went to a place where they were waited on by Tainos
slaves.
 That the souls of cowards went to a dreary desert where they became slaves to Tainos
masters.
 The priest or boyez was the only one who could communicate with the gods.
 In offering sacrifices to the gods especially when they went to sea. In using tobacco
(incense) in the process of communicating with the gods. In having festivals and
celebrations in honour of the gods.
 In keeping the gods happy (appeasing the gods).
 In offering prayers to the gods for bravery.

Both the Tainos and the Kalinagos believed in nature and ancestor worship.

Village Customs

1. Men and women lived separately.

2. Painting of the body to look fierce especially when going on raids.

3. They did not eat turtle. They thought it would make them slow and stupid.

4. They ate a lot of pepper. It was believed that this would make them fierce.

5. They flattened their foreheads from an early age. This was to make the arrow bounce off
should they get hit in the forehead during battle.
6. They often hung the skull and or bones of their victims in their houses like trophy.

7. All boys were required to undergo initiation test when they reached puberty.

8. They were scratched with an agouti claw and pepper rubbed in the wound. If they bore it
without flinching, they were chosen to be a warrior. If they flinched, they would be numbered
among the priests.