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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.
Contents
- Leeward Islands
- Windward Islands
- Continental
- Greater Antilles
- Lucayan Archipelago
- See also
- References
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.
