SETTLEMENT PATTERN OF THE

AMERINDIANS
LESSON OBJECTIVES
STUDENTS SHOULD BE ABLE TO
1. LIST THE AMERINDIAN GROUPS THAT SETTLED IN THE CARIBBEAN IN
1492
2. NAME THE ISLANDS/ AREAS SETTLED BY EACH GROUP
3. EXPLAIN THE MIGRATORY PATTERN OF THE TAINO AND KALINAGO IN TO
THE CARIBBEAN.
4. USE A MAP OF THE CARIBBEAN TO LOCATE THE PARTS OF THE
CARIBBEAN SETTLED BY EACH GROUP AND THE ISLANDS IN EACH AREA.
THREE MAIN GROUPS OF INDIGENOUS
PEOPLES OF THE CARIBBEAN IN 1492
• The main groups of Amerindians who were found in the Caribbean in 1492 were
• Arawak/Taino who settled in the Greatee Antilles ,that is Jamaica, Cuba, Hispaniola (Haiti and
Dominican Republic) Puerto Rico some also settled in the Bahamas and Trinidad
• Caribs/Kalinagos who settled in all of the Lesser Antilles except Barbados
• Mayans in Central America Columbia, Belize, Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador , Yucatan Penninsula.
The word ‘Arawak’ was the name given of the language spoken by an Amerindian group which
included the Lucayanos ,Borenquinos and the main group who gave themselves the name ‘‘Traino’
meaning ‘peace ‘ or ‘ men of the Good ‘
SOUTH AMERICA HOME OF THE TAINOS AND
KALINAGOES

• The Tainos and Kalinagoes originally lived in South America.

• The Tainos it is believed probably occupied almost all the northern part of
South America. As far as the lower parts of the Andes mountain, that is, some
where near/on land between Bolivia, Peru and Brazil .
• The Klinagoes on the other hand probably lived on lands between the
Amazon and the Guinia‘s and round Matto Grasso and the Brazilian Plateau.,
east of the Arawak settlements and further South than these settlements.
MAP SHOWING MIGRATORY PATTERN OF
AMERINDIANS ( TAINO AND KALINAGO) INTO
THE CARIBBEAN .
MIGRATORY ROUTE OF THE TAINO AND
KALINAGO AS SHOWN ON MAP
• The Tainos. Migrated in a North Easterly direction to Venezuela and from then into the Lesser Antilles,
moving up the chain of islands until they entered the Greater Antilles.
• The Kalinagos followed the rivers Xingu and Tapajoz across Brazil , northwards to the Amazon where one
group moved east and eventually reached the coast of Guianas, while another group crossed the Amazon
River ,and followed its tributaries (a stream feeding a larger stream) ,the Rio Negro and the Rio Bronco ,to
the North, reaching the valley of the Orinoco from which they drove out the ARAWAK/TAINOS.
• The latter group of Kalinagos eventually arrived at the Gulf of Paria from where they took to the sea.They
moved up the chain of the Leeward islands, pushing out the Arawaks. The Tainos in Trinidad resisted the
Kalinagos ,and so continued to occupy all but the north-western part of that island , which the Kalinagos
occupied. By the time the Spanish had arrived, the Kalinagos had reached Eastern Puerto Rico.
MAP OF THE CARIBBEAN
 ACTIVITY

• 1. List the three Amerindian groups that settled In the Caribbean.

• 2. Using the Map of the Caribbean create a table using the following headings
• Indigenous group
• Islands settled
• Area of the Caribbean settled
complete your table by filling in this information as required by each heading
3 List the water bodies found in the Caribbean region
ENJOY 😉