 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(April 2023) |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| Approx. 68,125 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (Approx. 68,125 [1] ) | |
| Languages | |
| Vincentian Creole | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
Afro-Vincentians or Black Vincentians are Vincentians whose ancestry lies within Sub-Saharan Africa (generally West and Central Africa).[ citation needed ]
In 1654, when the French tried to dominate the Caribs, they recorded the presence of 3,000 Black people and much fewer pure Caribs ("Yellow"), without making any reference to an individual's state of freedom or slavery. The number was ratified 12 years later in a report by the English Colonel Philip Warner: "In Saint Vicent, a French possession, there are about 3000 black and none of the islands there are that amount of Indians." [2] In 1668, the British broke the treaty signed between France and the Caribs in Basse Terre, and tried to impose, as a first measure of domain, that the Indians [sic] stopped harbouring the black fugitives and delivered them to the British as soon as they were required. [3]
Actually, according to researchers such as the linguist specializing in the Garifuna language Itarala, most of the enslaved people arriving in Saint Vincent came from other Caribbean islands (as, he says, no boat came directly from Africa to the archipelago), and settled in Saint Vincent in order to escape enslavement. So coming to the island were Maroons from plantations on all the surrounding islands, but were diluted in the strong culture of Carib resistance. [4]
Although most of the enslaved people came from Barbados, [5] enslaved people came also from such places as St. Lucia and Grenada. The Barbadians and Saint Lucians arrived on the island pre-1735. After 1775, most of the enslaved people who came from other islands to escape the slavery were Saint Lucians and Grenadians. [6]
After arriving at the island, they were received by the Caribs, who offered protection, [7] enslaved them [8] and, eventually, mixed with them. Addition of the African refugees, the Caribs captured people who were enslaved from neighboring islands (although also they had as slaves white people and his own people), while fighting against the British and French. Many of the captured enslaved people were integrated into their communities (this also occurred in islands such as Dominica), while the others enslaved people were mixed only each other and with the rest of the population of the island. [5]
However, as opposed to Itarala, some authors indicated that many enslaved people of Saint Vincent hailed from human trafficking ports on all the coast of West and Central Africa: Senegambia, Sierra Leone, Windward Coast, Gold Coast, Bight of Benin, Bight of Biafra, Central Africa, and of others areas from Africa. All these places provided thousands of enslaved people to Saint Vincent, specially the Bight of Biafra (from where, apparently, more than 20,000 enslaved people came, some 40% of the enslaved people) and of the Gold Coast (from where came, apparently, more of 11,000 enslaved people, 22% of the enslaved people). [9]
At any rate, to be this well, these enslaved people lived with the enslaved people of the Caribs. So, the "Black Archers", i.e. the population of African origin that had adopted Carib customs and was accepted on an island where the indigenous resistance has not gone off, caused panic among Europeans. A warrior body of Amerindians and free blacks constituted a threat to the plantation slave system and a low blow to the colonial order, unwilling to accept miscegenation that they could not control it. In turn, to ingratiate with the Caribs or because they really felt "belonging to the same single nation", [10] most of the Black people of St. Vincent in the early eighteenth century wore loincloths, used the bow and arrow, sailed by canoe, used the tables for the infants cranial deformation, touched the snail and painted their bodies with red dye annatto or achiote (Bixa orellana). [11]
On the other hand, perhaps because of its numerical dominance, the Black community pushed the Yellow Caribs towards the leeward side of the island, staying them with the most flat and fertile part (but also more liable to be attacked from the sea) of windward. It also seems true that in 1700 the Yellows asked the intervention of the French against the Black Caribs, however, when visualized they should share their scarce land, preferred to give up the alliance. [12]
Beginning in 1719, French settlers from Martinique gained control of the island and began cultivating coffee, tobacco, indigo, cotton, and sugar on plantations. These plantations were worked by enslaved Africans. In this same year, Blacks and Amerindians repelled a force of 500 French soldiers who, upon landing, burned the villages of the coast and destroyed the plantations. [12]
In 1725, the English tried to settle his time in Saint Vicent. By then, according to Bryan Edwards, Black people were leading the Caribs and his boss spoke "excellent French," in which he recalled to captain Braithwaith that he had rejected to Dutch and English before him, and to the French, their peace cost them many gifts. After which, backed by five hundred men armed with rifles, said he was doing a favor to let him go. [13] Thus, the British returned to their ships then. Since then, during a long time, the Amerindian chiefs and black from Yurumein sold indigo, cotton and snuff produced by women and slaves, [14] and in exchange for which they received arms, ammunition, tools, and wine from the French islands. [15] This was very normal, according to William V. Davidson, after 1750, when the Black Caribs of St. Vincent were quite prosperous and numerous. The black leaders were warriors living with several wives and traveled by canoe to the islands of Martinique, St. Lucia and Grenada to change snuff and cotton they produced, complementing the female agricultural labor with African slave labor, weapons and ammunition. [16]
In 1763 by the Treaty of Paris, France ceded control of Saint Vincent to Britain, who began a program of colonial plantation development that was resisted by the Caribs.[ citation needed ]
Between 1783 and 1796, there was again conflict between the British and the Black Caribs, who were led by defiant Paramount Chief Joseph Chatoyer. In 1797 British General Sir Ralph Abercromby put an end to the open conflict by crushing an uprising which had been supported by the French radical, Victor Hugues. More than 5,000 Black Caribs were eventually deported to Roatán, an island off the coast of Honduras.[ citation needed ]
Slavery was abolished in Saint Vincent (as well as in the other British colonies) in 1834, and an apprenticeship period followed which ended in 1838. After its end, labour shortages on the plantations resulted, and this was initially addressed by the immigration of indentured servants (Indian and Portuguese people from Madeira) .[ citation needed ]
As of 2013, people of African descent are the majority ethnic group in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, accounting for 66% of the country's population. An additional 19% of the country is multiracial, with many mixed-race Vincentians having partial African descent. [1]
The Black Caribs are a distinct ethnic group in Saint Vincent, also found in the Caribbean coast of mainland Central America. They are mixture of Caribs, Arawaks and West African people. However, their language is primarily derived from Arawak and Carib, with English and French to a lesser degree. Several theories have been made to explain the arrival of Africans on the island of Saint Vincent and the mixture of many Africans with the Caribs. The best known explanation is that of English governor William Young in 1795.[ citation needed ]
According to oral history noted by the English governor, the arrival of the African population on the island began with the shipwreck of a ship that hailed from the Bight of Biafra in 1675. The survivors, members of the Mokko people of today's Nigeria (now known as the Ibibio people) reached the small island of Bequia, where the Caribs brought them to Saint Vincent, and, over time, intermarried with them by supplying the African men with wives, since it was taboo in their society for men to go unwed.[ citation needed ]
However, according to Young, because the enslaved people were "too free of spirit", the Caribs planned to kill all the African male children. When Africans learned of the Caribs' plan, they rebelled and killed as many Caribs as they could, then fled to the mountains, where they settled and lived with other enslaved people who had taken refuge there. However, some researchers, such as the Garifuna specialist linguist Itarala, are more inclined to think, based on documented evidence, that over time enslaved people were actually from other islands (mostly from Barbados, St. Lucia and Grenada), and probably many Africans from the mountains also down from the mountains to have sexual intercourse with women Amerindians or to steal food. Many intermarried with indigenous Africans, thus causing the Black Caribs. [7]
In 1763, the Treaty of Paris awarded Britain rule over Saint Vincent. After a series of Carib Wars, which were encouraged and supported by the French, and the death of their leader Satuye (Chatoyer), they surrendered to the British in 1796. The British considered the Garinagu enemies and deported them to Roatán, an island off the coast of Honduras. In the process, the British separated the more African-looking Caribs from the more Amerindian-looking ones. They decided that the former were enemies who had to be exiled, while the latter were merely "misled" and were allowed to remain. Five thousand Garinagu were exiled, but only about 2,500 of them survived the voyage to Roatán. Because the island was too small and infertile to support their population, the Garifuna petitioned the Spanish authorities to be allowed to settle on the mainland. The Spanish employed them, and they spread along the Caribbean coast of Central America.[ citation needed ]
| Geography |
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| Secondary Afro-American diaspora |
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Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is an island country in the eastern Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies, at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea, where the latter meets the Atlantic Ocean.
The indigenous inhabitants of the islands of St. Vincent and the Grenadines were various Amerindian groups. The arrivals of Europeans in the early 16th century did not lead to long term settlement, only in 1717 did the French occupy the island in Barrouallie, though the English laid claim on St. Vincent in 1627. The Treaty of Paris (1763) saw St. Vincent ceded to Britain. Frictions with the British led to the First and Second Carib War in the mid- to late-18th century but the British held on to the islands. A Crown Colony government was installed in 1877, a Legislative Council created in 1925, and universal adult suffrage granted in 1951. Following a referendum in 1979, St. Vincent and the Grenadines became the last of the Windward Islands to gain independence on 27 October 1979.
This is a demography of the population of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines including population density, ethnicity, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
The Kalinago, formerly known as Island Caribs or simply Caribs, are an Indigenous people of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. They may have been related to the Mainland Caribs (Kalina) of South America, but they spoke an unrelated language known as Island Carib. They also spoke a pidgin language associated with the Mainland Caribs.
Saint Vincent is a volcanic island in the Caribbean. It is the largest island of the country Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and is located in the Caribbean Sea, between Saint Lucia and Grenada. It is composed of partially submerged volcanic mountains. Its largest volcano and the country's highest peak, La Soufrière, is active, with the latest episode of volcanic activity having begun in December 2020 and intensifying in April 2021.
The Garifuna people are a people of mixed free African and Amerindian ancestry that originated in the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent and speak Garifuna, an Arawakan language, and Vincentian Creole.
Zambo or Sambu is a racial term historically used in the Spanish Empire to refer to people of mixed Amerindian and African ancestry. Occasionally in the 21st century, the term is used in the Americas to refer to persons who are of mixed African and Native American ancestry.
Afro–Latin Americans or Black Latin Americans are Latin Americans who claim begin of full or mainly sub-Saharan African ancestry. Biologically, a significant majority of population in each country have african genes.
Joseph Chatoyer, also known as Satuye, was a Garifuna (Carib) chief who led a revolt against the British colonial government of Saint Vincent in 1795. Killed that year, he is now considered a national hero of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and also of Belize and Costa Rica. Vincentian politician Camillo Gonsalves described him in 2011 as his country's "sole national hero".
Baliceaux is a small, privately owned Caribbean island and is one of the Grenadines chain of islands which lie between the larger islands of Saint Vincent and Grenada. Politically, it is part of the nation of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Belizeans are people associated with the country of Belize through citizenship or descent. Belize is a multiethnic country with residents of Ethnic groups of Amerindian, African, European, Asian and Middle-eastern descent or mixed race with any combination of those groups.
The Igbo of Igboland became one of the principal ethnic groups to be enslaved during the Atlantic slave trade. An estimated 14.6% of all enslaved people were taken from the Bight of Biafra, a bay of the Atlantic Ocean that extends from the Nun outlet of the Niger River (Nigeria) to Limbe (Cameroon) to Cape Lopez (Gabon) between 1650 and 1900. The Bight’s major slave trading ports were located in Bonny and Calabar.
An Afro-Guatemalan person is a person who lives in Guatemala, but has African ancestry in their historical and cultural roots. This term intertwines the conquest of America by the Spanish. The Afro-Guatemalan population is not numerous today. Although it is difficult to determine specific figures, it is reported that Afro-Guatemalans represent only between 1% and 2% of the country's population. According to the Council on Hemispheric Affairs. They are of mainly English-speaking West Indian (Antillean) and Garifuna origin. They are found in the Caribbean coast, in Livingston, Puerto Barrios and Santo Tomas. In the 17th century, many enslaved blacks were able to secure for themselves or at least their future children through marriage to free people. Many of these marriages were with Mayans or Europeans, which created a mix between blacks, Mayans and Europeans. This resulted in a significant mestizo population that, over the years, has continued to dilute traces of African ancestry in many cases. Today this can be referred to as Afro-mestizos due to miscegenation.
Afro-Nicaraguans are Nicaraguans of Sub-Saharan African descent. Five main distinct ethnic groups exist: The Creoles who descend from Anglo-Caribbean countries and many of whom still speak Nicaragua English Creole, the Miskito Sambus descendants of Spanish slaves and indigenous Central Americans who still speak Miskito and/or Miskito Coast Creole, the Garifunas descendants of Zambos expelled from St. Vincent who speak Garifuna, the Rama Cay zambos a subset of the Miskito who speak Rama Cay Creole, and the descendants of those enslaved by the Spanish.
Afro-Hondurans or Black Hondurans are Hondurans of Sub-Saharan African descent. Research by Henry Louis Gates and other sources regards their population to be around 1-2%. They descended from: enslaved Africans by the Spanish, as well as those who were enslaved from the West Indies and identify as Creole peoples, and the Garifuna who descend from exiled zambo Maroons from Saint Vincent. The Creole people were originally from Jamaica and other Caribbean islands, while the Garifuna people were originally from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Garifunas arrived in the late seventeen hundreds and the Creole peoples arrived during the eighteen hundreds. About 600,000 Hondurans are of Garífuna descent that are a mix of African and indigenous as of Afro Latin Americans. Honduras has one of the largest African community in Latin America.
The Second Carib War (1795–1797) took place on the island of Saint Vincent between 1795 and 1797. The conflict pitted large numbers of British military forces against a coalition of Black Carib, runaway slaves, and French forces for control of the island.
Black Barbadians or Afro-Barbadians are Barbadians of entirely or predominantly African descent.
The National Garifuna Council (NGC) of Belize is a non-governmental organization (NGO) that represents the Garifuna people of Belize. It was established in 1981 and is managed by a board of directors with affiliate branches in Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. These countries all share the unique Garifuna culture, as they all served as refuges to the Garifuna people when they were exiled from their homeland, St. Vincent.
Nelcia Robinson-Hazell is a Black Carib poet, community organizer and activist. She has spearheaded the development of policy initiatives throughout the Caribbean on issues regarding gender and indigenous identity. Serving as the president of the National Council of Women of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, she began in the 1980s to change the organization toward political action. Recognizing a need to establish research on the needs of women, she was involved in the creation of both local and regional organizations to analyze and develop information about the socio-economic and political inequalities women faced. She created similar initiatives for indigenous peoples, beginning first in Saint Vincent and then expanding them regionally. Robinson has been involved in international directives including the World Summit for Social Development and the 1995 World Conference on Women, as well as follow-up conferences discussing such issues as poverty, economic empowerment and violence against women. She has served as a civil society representative on the Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commissions and as chair of the Commonwealth Women's Network.
Vincentian nationality law is regulated by the Saint Vincent Constitution Order of 1979, as amended; the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Citizenship Act of 1984, and its revisions; and various British Nationality laws. These laws determine who is, or is eligible to be, a national of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Vincentian nationality is typically obtained either on the principle of jus soli, i.e. by birth in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; or under the rules of jus sanguinis, i.e. by birth abroad to parents with Vincentian nationality. It can be granted to persons with an affiliation to the country, or to a permanent resident who has lived in the country for a given period of time through naturalisation. There is not currently a program in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines for persons to acquire nationality through investment in the country. Nationality establishes one's international identity as a member of a sovereign nation. Though it is not synonymous with citizenship, for rights granted under domestic law for domestic purposes, the United Kingdom, and thus the commonwealth, have traditionally used the words interchangeably.
