Kalinagos

Question 1

What is another name for the kalinagos?

Answer 1

Caribs

Question 2

Where did the kalinago come from?

Answer 2

They came from the Orinoco region in South America and entered the Caribbean via Trinidad.

Question 3

Who were the kalinago?

Answer 3

They were a nomadic group and (more aggressive than the Taino/warlike)

Question 4

By the time Columbus arrived, what did they have control of?

Answer 4

They had taken over north western Trinidad and eastern Puerto Rico. They also had control of the lesser Antilles.

Question 5

Why did the kalinago not have large groups?

Answer 5

Because they were warriors and suffered many loses in war.

Question 6

Where were their villages located and why?

Answer 6

Their villages were located near rivers, on the windward side of the island to guard against attacks from other tribes like the Tainos.

Question 7

Were the kalinagos the first group to enter the Caribbean?

Answer 7

No, they were the last. The Taino was first.

Question 8

What is was the political structure of the kalinago?

Answer 8

The kalinago had a hereditary leader called a trubutuli hauthe, nobles and priests.

Question 9

What is the difference between the ouboutou and the trubutili hauthe?

Answer 9

The ouboutou ruled in times of war and the trubutili hauthe ruled in times of peace.

Question 10

What was the duties of the trubutuli hauthe?

Answer 10

The economical and political planning, supervising fishing and cultivation of crops and leading the village in ceremonies and entertainment.

Question 11

Who was the ouboutou and how did he get his position?

Answer 11

He was the commander-in-chief of all the warriors and to get his position he had to be treated with great respect, kill several enemy warriors, kill at least one cacique.

Question 12

What was the dutie of the ouboutou?

Answer 12

He made multiple decisions on different aspect of war like against who and when raids and war take place.

Question 13

Where did the kalinago men live?

Answer 13

They lived together in a house called a karbay.

Question 14

From what age did the boys have to go live in the karbay?

Answer 14

From the age of 4

Question 15

Why could women not raise a boy to become a warrior?

Answer 15

Because it was believed that women were weak and could not raise a boy to be a warrior.

Question 16

What type of training did the kalinago undergo?

Answer 16

They were taught how to make and use weapons like the bow and arrow, apply poison to the arrowhead, and to bear pain without showing it.

Question 17

What happened to some kalinago women who could fight?

Answer 17

They were trained as warriors because they knew how to fight and use the bow and arrow.

Question 18

What language did the kalinago speak?

Answer 18

They spoke a branch of the arawakan language, but later developer a trading language and A men’s language developed which was only taught to boys.

Question 19

How did one become a warrior?

Answer 19

At the age of 14-15 a kalinago boy had to go through an initiation process where salt was rubbed into scratches caused by an agoutis claw and during this the boy had to fast and could not cry or flinch and he had to shoot a bird of a tree.

Question 20

What weapons did the kalinago use for war?

Answer 20

Clubs, spears, bows and arrows and long knifes.

Question 21

What is a butu?

Answer 21

A club with sharpened flints in its head.

Question 22

What happened before the kalinago went on a raid?

Answer 22

They held a big feast, war arrows were prepared, Food and weapons were piled into large canoes and the warriors painted their bodies and put on decorations.

Question 23

In what did kalinagos travel for raids?

Answer 23

They travelled in canouas, leaving their village and traveling in bad weather and paddling for long distances.

Question 24

What were the reasons for the kalinagos raiding taino villages?

Answer 24

food, to transfer the taino heroes bravery to themselves, they saw them as a weaker group, militarism, to take over villages or territories and take revenge for wrong committed.

Question 25

Why was food a reason for raids?

Answer 25

Because the kalinago was a warrior society so they did not focus on agriculture but the taino did, so they robbed them of their foods.

Question 26

Why was transferring the arawak heroes bravery to themselves a reason for raids?

Answer 26

The kalinagos believed that they could transfer the bravery of a taino hero to themselves by eating them.

Question 27

Why was them seeing the taino as a weaker group a reason for raid?

Answer 27

They were seen as more vulnerable allowing the Kalinago to kidnap men and women to be enslaved and married.

Question 28

Why was militarism a reason for raids?

Answer 28

The kalinago was always prepared for war. Battles resulted in war heroes who could become leaders.

Question 29

Why was taking over villages or territories a reason for raid?

Answer 29

They wanted to gain control over land and people.

Question 30

What was agriculture like for the kalinagos?

Answer 30

They were involved in conuco farming as well as slash and burn and produced cassava, sweet potatoes, and arrowroot as well as tobacco and cotton

Question 31

What were methods of obtaining food for the kalinago?

Answer 31

Farming, hunting, rearing animals, fishing and gathering.

Question 32

Which animal did the kalinago rear?

Answer 32

The muscovy duck as it was a vital meat supplement

Question 33

What was hunting like for the kalinago?

Answer 33

They ate the same food as Tainos but had more protein in their diet.

Question 34

What was gathering for the kalinago?

Answer 34

They brought crops to the Caribbean including coconut, sugar cane and plantain.

Question 35

What was hunting for the kalinago?

Answer 35

They were better fisherman than the Tainos and they had better weapons to hunt.

Question 36

What are the different ways the kalinago caught fish?

Answer 36

Using bows and arrows, nets, traps and fishing lines with shell hooks, using harpoons to catch lobsters and poisoning the river.

Question 37

Why was tobacco made?

Answer 37

It was made as a form of money in commercial exchange

Question 38

What was trading like for the kalinago?

Answer 38

They were traders and traded with other islands.

Question 39

What were the two types of canoes?

Answer 39

The coulianas, and the canouas which are also called piragas.

Question 40

What did a couliana look like?

Answer 40

It was about 20 feet long and both ends were pointed. It was used for fishing and making short trips.

Question 41

What did a canouas look like?

Answer 41

It was as long as 50 feet and could carry up to 40 people. It was mainly used when going into battle.

Question 42

What is another name for canouas?

Answer 42

Piragas

Question 43

What was a kalinago village made up of?

Answer 43

The centre of the village was a communal fireplace. They had minor ceremonial activities. Kalinago houses were rectangular in shape and they slept in hammocks or amais.

Question 44

What did the karbay look like?

Answer 44

It was the main house in the village, about 60-90 feet long and could hold 120 hammocks with a small door.

Question 45

What did Kalinago women paint their bodies with?

Answer 45

Roucou, which was a red dye as well as many other colours. Their eyes were circled in black and the men also painted their bodies.

Question 46

How did a Kalinago become a priest?

Answer 46

A boy had to be apprenticed for several years by older priest while fasting often and abstaining from eating meat. Then he had to undergo an initiation ceremony as hard as a warriors. If he passed he would be taken to the karbay where fruit, cassava and ouicou were sacrificed to the priests maboya to enter the karbay.