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This list is a compilation of the indigenous names that were given by Amerindian people to the caribbean islands before the Europeans started naming them. The islands of the Caribbean were successively settled since at least around 5000 BC, long before European arrival in 1492. The Caribbean islands were dominated by two main cultural groups by the European contact period: the Taino and the Kalinago. Individual villages of other distinct cultural groups were also present on the larger islands. The island of Trinidad in particular was shared by both Kalinago and Arawak groups.
Current evidence suggests there were two major migrations to the Caribbean. The first migration was of pre-Arawakan people like the Ciguayo who most likely migrated from Central America. The second major migration was the Arawaks settling the islands as they traveled north from the Orinoco River in Venezuela. [1] The Kalinago people, who were more dominant in warfare, began a campaign of conquering and displacement of the Arawaks at the point of European arrival. Starting at the southern end of the archipelago, they had worked their way north, reaching as far as the island of Saint Kitts by the 16th century.
The islands north of the Saint Kitts 'borderline' had Arawak names while the islands south of it had Kalinago names. The island of Barbados was uninhabited at the point of European arrival, but evidence suggests that Barbados followed the same pattern of displacement as witnessed on neighbouring islands, but that it was abandoned for unknown reasons. The only indigenous name on record for Barbados is one documented as the name used by Arawak peoples on Trinidad in reference to that island.
Present Island Name | Indigenous Name | Origin | Meaning |
---|---|---|---|
Anguilla | Malliouhana | Arawak | Arrow-Shaped Sea Serpent |
St. Martin | Soualiga Oualichi | Arawak | Land of Salt; Land of Beautiful women |
St. Barths | Ouanalao | Arawak | Toad on Top |
Saba | Siba Amonhana | Arawak | The Rock |
St. Eustatius | Aloi | Arawak | Cashew Tree |
Vieques | Bieke | Taino | Small |
Saint Croix | Ay Ay | Taino | The River |
Saint Kitts | Liamuiga | Kalinago | Fertile Land |
Nevis | Oualie | Kalinago | Land of Beautiful Water |
Montserrat | Alliouagana | Kalinago | Land of Prickly Bush |
Barbuda | Wa'omoni | Kalinago | Land of the herons (broader interpretation: Land of the large birds) |
Antigua | Waladli | Kalinago | Land of Fish Oil |
Redonda | Ocananmanrou | Kalinago | Unknown |
Guadeloupe | Karukera | Kalinago | Island of Gumtrees |
Marie Galante | Aichi Touloukaera Aulinagan | Kalinago | Land of chili peppers; Land of touloulou crabs; Land of cotton |
Present Island Name | Indigenous Name | Origin | Meaning |
---|---|---|---|
Dominica | Wai'tukubuli Kairi | Kalinago | Tall is Her Body Island |
Martinique | Jouanacaeira | Kalinago | Land of Iguana |
St. Lucia | Hewanorra | Kalinago | Land of the Iguana |
Saint Vincent | Hairouna | Kalinago | Land of the Blessed |
Bequia | Becouya | Kalinago | Island of the Clouds |
Canouan | Cannouan | Kalinago | Island of Turtles |
Carriacou | Kayryouacou | Kalinago | Island of Reefs |
Grenada | Camerhogne | Kalinago / Galibi? | Conception Island |
Present Island Name | Indigenous Name | Origin | Meaning |
---|---|---|---|
Barbados | Ichirouganaim | Arawak | Red land/island with white teeth (reefs) |
Tobago | Tobago | Kalinago / Galibi? | Tobacco Pipe |
Trinidad | Kairi Iere | Kalinago | Land of the Hummingbird |
Present Island Name | Indigenous Name | Origin | Meaning |
---|---|---|---|
Hispaniola | Ayiti Quisqueya | Taino | Rough earth; Mother of all lands |
Cuba | Cobao | Taino | Large island or place |
Puerto Rico | Borikén | Taino | Land of the Valiant and Noble Lord |
Jamaica | Yamaye | Taino | Land of Wood and Water or Land of Springs |
Julian Granberry and Gary Vescelius suggest the following Lucayan (Taíno) etymologies for various Lucayan islands. [3]
Modern name | Indigenous name | Indigenous form | Origin | Meaning |
---|---|---|---|---|
Inagua | Inagua | i+na+wa | Taino (Lucayan dialect) | Small Eastern Land |
Inagua | Baneque | ba+ne+ke | Taino (Lucayan dialect) | Big Water Island |
Little Inagua | Guanahaní | wa+na+ha+ni | Taino (Lucayan dialect) | Small Upper Waters Land |
Ragged Island | Utiaquia | huti+ya+kaya | Taino (Lucayan dialect) | Western Hutia Island |
Crooked/Jumento | Jume(n)to | ha+wo+ma+te | Taino (Lucayan dialect) | Upper Land of the Middle Distance |
Exuma | Curateo | ko+ra+te+wo | Taino (Lucayan dialect) | Outer Far Distant Land |
Exuma | Guaratía | wa+ra+te+ya | Taino (Lucayan dialect) | Far Distant Land |
Turks Bank | Babueca | ba+we+ka | Taino (Lucayan dialect) | Large Northern Basin |
Big Sand Cay | Cacina | ka+si+na | Taino (Lucayan dialect) | Little Northern Sand |
Salt Cay | Canamani | ka+na+ma+ni | Taino (Lucayan dialect) | Small Northern Mid-Waters |
Salt Cay | Cacumani | ka+ko+ma+ni | Taino (Lucayan dialect) | Mid-Waters Northern Outlier |
Cotton Cay | Macareque | Ma+ka+ri+ke | Taino (Lucayan dialect) | Middle Northern Land |
Grand Turk | Amuana | aba+wa+na | Taino (Lucayan dialect) | First Small Land |
South Caicos | Caciba | ka+siba | Taino (Lucayan dialect) | Northern Rocky |
East Caicos | Guana | wa+na | Taino (Lucayan dialect) | Small Country |
Middle Caicos | Aniana | a+ni+ya+na | Taino (Lucayan dialect) | Small Far Waters |
North Caicos | Caicos | ka+i+ko | Taino (Lucayan dialect) | Nearby Northern Outlier |
Pine Cay | Buiana | bu+ya+na | Taino (Lucayan dialect) | Small Western Home |
Pine Cays | Boniana | bo+ni+ya+na | Taino (Lucayan dialect) | Small Western Waters Home |
Providenciales | Yucanacan | yuka+na+ka | Taino (Lucayan dialect) | The Peoples Small Northern [Land] |
Providenciales | Ianicana | ya+ni+ka+na | Taino (Lucayan dialect) | Far Waters Smaller [Land] |
West Caicos | Macubiza | ma+ko+bi+sa | Taino (Lucayan dialect) | Mid Unsettled Outlier |
Mayaguana | Mayaguana | ma+ya+wa+na | Taino (Lucayan dialect) | Lesser Midwestern Land |
Plana Cays | Amaguayo | a+ma+wa+yo | Taino (Lucayan dialect) | Toward the Middle Lands |
Acklins Island | Yabaque | ya+ba+ke | Taino (Lucayan dialect) | Large Western Land |
Samana | Samana | sa+ma+na | Taino (Lucayan dialect) | Small Middle Forest |
Long Island | Yuma | yu+ma | Taino (Lucayan dialect) | Higher Middle |
Rum Cay | Manigua | ma+ni+wa | Taino (Lucayan dialect) | Mid Waters Land |
San Salvador | Guanahaní | wa+na+ha+ni | Taino (Lucayan dialect) | Small Upper Waters Land |
Little San Salvador | Guateo | wa+te+yo | Taino (Lucayan dialect) | Toward the Distant Land |
Cat Island | Guanima | wa+ni+ma | Taino (Lucayan dialect) | Middle Waters Land |
Great Guana Cay | Ayrabo | ay+ra+bo | Taino (Lucayan dialect) | Far Distant Home |
New Providence | Nema | ne+ma | Taino (Lucayan dialect) | Middle Waters |
Eleuthera | Ciguateo | siba+te+wo | Taino (Lucayan dialect) | Distant Rocky Place |
Great Abaco | Lucayoneque | luka+ya+ne+ke | Taino (Lucayan dialect) | The People's Distant Waters Land |
Grand Bahama | Bahama | ba+ha+ma | Taino (Lucayan dialect) | Large Upper Middle [Land] |
Andros | Habacoa | ha+ba+ko+wa | Taino (Lucayan dialect) | Large Upper Outlier Land |
Williams Island | Canimisi | ka+ni+misi | Taino (Lucayan dialect) | Northern Waters Swamp |
Bimini | Bimini | bi+mi+ni | Taino (Lucayan dialect) | The Twins |
The Arawak are a group of indigenous peoples of northern South America and of the Caribbean. Specifically, the term "Arawak" has been applied at various times from the Lokono of South America to the Taíno, who lived in the Greater Antilles and northern Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. All these groups spoke related Arawakan languages.
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.
The Lucayan people were the original residents of The Bahamas before the European colonisation of the Americas. They were a branch of the Taínos who inhabited most of the Caribbean islands at the time. The Lucayans were the first indigenous Americans encountered by Christopher Columbus. Shortly after contact, the Spanish kidnapped and enslaved Lucayans, with the displacement culminating in the complete eradication of the Lucayan people from the Bahamas by 1520.
The Lesser Antilles are a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. They are distinguished from the large islands of the Greater Antilles to the west. They form an arc which begins east of Puerto Rico and swings south through the Leeward and Windward Islands almost to South America and then turns west along the Venezuelan coast as far as Aruba. Barbados is isolated about 100 miles east of the Windwards.
The Ciboney, or Siboney, were a Taíno people of central Cuba, Jamaica, and the Tiburon Peninsula of Haiti. A Western Taíno group living in central Cuba during the 15th and 16th centuries, they had a dialect and culture distinct from the Classic Taíno in the eastern part of the island, though much of the Ciboney territory was under the control of the eastern chiefs. Confusion in the historical sources led 20th-century scholars to apply the name "Ciboney" to the non-Taíno Guanahatabey of western Cuba and various archaic cultures around the Caribbean, but this is deprecated.
Mayaguana is the easternmost island and district of The Bahamas. Its population was 277 in the 2010 census. It has an area of about 280 km2 (110 sq mi).
The Lucayan Archipelago, also known as the Bahamian Archipelago, is an island group comprising the Commonwealth of The Bahamas and the British Overseas Territory of the Turks and Caicos Islands. The archipelago is in the western North Atlantic Ocean, north of Cuba and the other Antillean Islands, and east and south-east of Florida.
The Guanahatabey were an indigenous people of western Cuba at the time of European contact. Archaeological and historical studies suggest the Guanahatabey were archaic hunter-gatherers with a distinct language and culture from their neighbors, the Taíno. They might have been a relic of an earlier culture that spread widely through the Caribbean before the ascendance of the agriculturalist Taíno.
The United States Virgin Islands, often abbreviated USVI, are a group of islands and cays located in the Lesser Antilles of the Eastern Caribbean, consisting of three main islands and fifty smaller islets and cays. Like many of their Caribbean neighbors, the history of the islands is characterized by native Amerindian settlement, European colonization, and the Atlantic slave trade.
At the time of first contact between Europe and the Americas, the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean included the Taíno of the northern Lesser Antilles, most of the Greater Antilles and the Bahamas, the Kalinago of the Lesser Antilles, the Ciguayo and Macorix of parts of Hispaniola, and the Guanahatabey of western Cuba. The Kalinago have maintained an identity as an indigenous people, with a reserved territory in Dominica.
Barbadians, more commonly known as Bajans are people who are identified with the country of Barbados, by being citizens or their descendants in the Bajan diaspora. The connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Bajans, several of those connections exist and are collectively the source of their identity. Bajans are a multi-ethnic and multicultural society of various ethnic, religious and national origins; therefore Bajans do not necessarily equate their ethnicity with their Bajan nationality.
The Ortoiroid people were the second wave of human settlers of the Caribbean who began their migration into the Antilles around 2000 BCE. They were preceded by the Casimiroid peoples. They are believed to have originated in the Orinoco valley in South America, migrating to the Antilles from Trinidad and Tobago to Puerto Rico. The name "Ortoiroid" comes from Ortoire, a shell midden site in southeast Trinidad. They have also been called Banwaroid, after another archaeological site in Trinidad.
Sir Thomas Warner was a captain in the guards of James I of England who became an explorer in the Caribbean. In 1620 he served at the brief-lived English settlement of Oyapoc in present-day Guyana of South America, which was abandoned the same year. The Dutch controlled most of the territory. Warner is noted for settling on Saint Kitts and establishing it in 1624 as the first English colony in the Caribbean.
The Caribbean is a subregion of the Americas that includes the Caribbean Sea and its islands, some of which are surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some of which border both the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean; the nearby coastal areas on the mainland are sometimes also included in the region. The region is south-east of the Gulf of Mexico and Northern America, east of Central America, and north of South America.
Caribbean art refers to the visual as well as plastic arts originating from the islands of the Caribbean. Art in the Caribbean reflects thousands of years of habitation by Arawak, Kalinago, and other people of the Caribbean followed by waves of immigration, which included artists of European origins and subsequently by artists with heritage from countries all around the world. The nature of Caribbean art reflects these diverse origins, as artists have taken their traditions and adapted these influences to reflect the reality of their lives in the Caribbean.
Taíno is an extinct Arawakan language that was spoken by the Taíno people of the Caribbean. At the time of Spanish contact, it was the most common language throughout the Caribbean. Classic Taíno was the native language of the Taíno tribes living in the northern Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and most of Hispaniola, and expanding into Cuba. The Ciboney dialect is essentially unattested, but colonial sources suggest it was very similar to Classic Taíno, and was spoken in the westernmost areas of Hispaniola, the Bahamas, Jamaica, and most of Cuba.
The Kalinago language, also known as Igneri, was an Arawakan language historically spoken by the Kalinago of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. Kalinago proper became extinct by about 1920 due to population decline and colonial period deportations resulting in language death, but an offshoot survives as Garifuna, primarily in Central America.
Guanahatabey (Guanajatabey) was the language of the Guanahatabey people, a hunter-gatherer society that lived in western Cuba until the 16th century. Very little is known of it, as the Guanahatabey died off early in the period of Spanish colonization before substantial information about them was recorded. Evidence suggests it was distinct from the Taíno language spoken in the rest of the island.
Macorix was the language of the northern coast of what is today the Dominican Republic. Spanish accounts only refer to three languages on the island: Taino, Macorix, and neighboring Ciguayo. The Macorix people appear to have been semi-sedentary and their presence seems to have predated the agricultural Taino who came to occupy much of the island. For the early European writers, they shared similarities with the nearby Ciguayos. Their language appears to have been moribund at the time of the Spanish Conquest, and within a century it was extinct.
The Ciguayos were a group of indigenous people who inhabited the Samaná Peninsula and its adjoining regions in the present-day Dominican Republic. The Ciguayos appear to have predated the agricultural Taíno who inhabited much of the island. Ciguayo was spoken on the northeastern coast of the Magua region from Nagua southward to at least the Yuna River, and throughout all of the Samana Peninsula.
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