THE ROOTS OF A PEOPLE 13Island Carib and Arawak (A.D. 1492)
A common misconception during the Spanish colonization of the Caribbean was that the
Arawak were peace-loving while the Carib were warlike cannibals. (Cannibal is actually a cor-
ruption of the word Carib.) This misconception dates back to Columbus: as a way to make
money from his exploration he proposed enslaving the Indians and selling them in Europe.
The Spanish crown restricted capture and enslavement to tribes who had attacked
Europeans or were cannibals. As a result, many tribes in the Caribbean and South America
were labeled as cannibals by the colonists to justify their enslavement. There is little evidence
that the Carib actually practiced cannibalism.
Earliest Settlers (ca. 5000 B.C.)
Archaeologists think that one or more waves of Stone Age settlers may have crossed from
the Yucatán beginning as early as 5000 b.c. As late as Columbus’s arrival, there were reports
of a primitive, cave-dwelling people (today called the Guanahatabey) living in western Cuba,
but archaeologists cannot confirm that they actually survived into the time of the conquest.
Origins (ca. 3000 B.C.)
The Arawak and the Carib descended from groups living in the central Amazon region of
South America perhaps 5,000 years ago. Over the centuries, these peoples moved north into
the Orinoco valley, and from there to the islands of the Caribbean.
PRE-COLUMBIAN CULTURES
IN THE CARIBBEAN
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