HIS 113 A SURVEY

OF
SAINT LUCIAN HISTORY
AND HERITAGE

Indigenous People
Dr. Terencia Joseph
 Types of Records
MODULE DESCRIPTION
Archaeological record
The module introduces students to
Historical record
written and unwritten records which
Scientific Methods
provide evidence of the lifestyles of
Archaeological Evidence vs. Historica
indigenous people. It exposes students to
Accounts of the Caribbean Past
the multidisciplinary methods employed
in unearthing the past.
The indigenous People
Saladiod/ Troumassoid Peoples
LEARNING OUTCOMES 400BC – 800 AD
Suaziod/ Kalinago 800AD – 1500
The learner will be able to:
Carib vs. Kalinago
Identify the various groups of the
Life ways of the indigenous people
indigenous people of the island;
Economy and Trade
Differentiate between scientific
Agriculture – Indigenous crops
methods, historical and archaeological
Social Structure
records;
Material and non- Material Culture
Discuss the life ways of the indigenous
people.
MODULE TWO
Archaeological Record
Are the artefacts - tools, clothing, buildings, monuments, art,
burial grounds, tools, middens, petroglyphs - the material
culture of people and societies.

Historical Record
Refers generally to written accounts/narrative. These accounts

Types of
are based on analysis and interpretation of artefacts created by
individuals, societies, events
letters, journals, ledgers, government correspondence,
legislation, newspapers, poems, plantation records, baptism
and burial papers. Records
Technological advances have expanded the concept to
encompass digital forms of recording and interpreting
history through video, audio, photography

There are often overlaps between archeological and historical

records.
For instance historical records - newspapers, interviews,
music videos - are also archaeological records as they are
produced by the people of a particular culture
 SCIENTIFIC
METHOD Both archaeologists and historians apply scientific methods
when conducting their work.
Scientific Method
Is the procedure of experiments to
They develop hypotheses and test them, they develop
investigate, test and gather information about
theories.
phenomena. It includes observations,
development of hypotheses, testing and
The use chemicals to assist in dating artefacts - e.g.
analysis of results
radiocarbon dating.

DNA testing is also a scientific methods that is a applied to

determine genetic origins.

“They (archeologists) observe, record, categorize, and

interpret what they find. Then they share their results with
other scientists and the public.” National Geographic.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE VS. HISTORICAL
ACCOUNTS OF THE CARIBBEAN PAST

Archaeological Evidence vs. Historical Accounts of the Caribbean

Past

The Archeological evidence of the earliest inhabitants of the Caribbean is incomplete:

Time- because they lived so long ago many of their artefacts have been lost or are
significantly deteriorated
Some of this destruction has been the result of
Natural phenomena such as hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides,
coastal erosion
Human activities including wars, construction

Using scientific methods archeologist use artefacts to reconstruction the lives of the
first peoples.
 PETROGLYPHS

Port Dauphin Stonefield Beau Estate Freedom

Source: Roger Stanley https://www.rogerstanley.ca/petroglyphs-carribean---saint-lucia.html

 Archaeological Evidence vs. Historical
Accounts of the Caribbean Past

Earliest peoples of the Caribbean had no writing systems; they left no historical accounts

They did have petroglyphs (pictorial representations drawn on rock facings) and other artefacts.
These tell their story, their truth in the absence of their own words

Thus, the earliest historical accounts were written by European men from their perspective and
bias
Since the 1960s Caribbean historians have written from Caribbean perspectives.

The information of historians and archeologists are analysed and combined to give a more
complete account of the societies of the earliest Caribbeans and St. Lucians
 The Indigenous People

The Caribbean was not always inhabited by human beings

1. First people to migrate into the Caribbean started arriving from Central and South America in
about 5000BCE
2. Another wave of people started journeying into the Caribbean via the Orinoco River in South
America from approximately 500BCE
3. A third wave of migrants began arriving, also from South America circa 400/300BCE and were
doing so even while Columbus had finally made it to the Caribbean.

This third group of migrants are identified in the historical accounts as Ciboneys, Tainos
(Arawaks) and Kalinagos (Caribs).

This third group of migrants are identified in the archeological records as Saladiod/Troumassoid
(400BCE - 800CE) and Suaziod/Kalinago (800 – 1500CE)
 40
80 0
500 BCE 0C BC
E ES
Su al
az do
oi id/
d T
ro
um
as
oi
d

5000 BCE

Figure 1 Map of the Caribbean Showing the

Migration of Early Settlers
 These terms describe how they created, designed/decorated their pottery and so these
terms are in turn, used to describe these people

The early people of the Caribbean created:

Saladoid ceramics between 400BCE and 800CE and
Suazoid ceramics between 800CE and 1500CE.Another wave of people started
journeying into the Caribbean via the Orinoco River in South America from
approximately 500BCE

Some of these people settled in the Greater Antilles - the Taino,

Those in the Lesser Antilles, the Kalinago
The longer they lived in the Caribbean the more populated and complex the societies
became.
Their pottery also changed - archaeologist, therefore gave the pottery and by
extension the people a new descriptor.
The new ceramic-making period in the Lesser Antilles is called Troumassoid which
got its name from the place where some of the first pottery were found - Troumassée,
St. Lucia!!
 Carib vs. Kalinago
The word Carib has appeared in the historical records produced by
European visitors and settlers.

It is a the word they applied to the people of the Lesser Antilles

This misnomer included negative connotations:

that Kalinago were savages and barbaric
Europeans referred to them as cannibals.
They were described as warlike, because they were engaged in territorial
expansion as they sought to conquer more lands in the archipelago.
However, Europeans were doing the same but did not describe
themselves in that way.
However, the earliest historical records indicate that these people may have
referred to themselves as Kalinago
Hence, Caribbean historians have reverted to referring to these early people
as Kalinago
 Economy and Trade
Kalinago cultivated a variety of food plants: beans, cassava, maize (corn), pepper, potato, yam (grown
on flat, fertile soil) - these were staples in their diet

Hunted using traps of woven baskets, lances, bows and arrows with sharpened tips of stone, shell,
bones, sometimes with poison from animals and plants (manchineel).

Protein-rich diet - from the sea, rivers and mangroves they fished oysters, crabs, scallops, turtles;
and birds, agouti, iguana, birds
Meats prepared in open pit of hot coals called barbecue.

Transported and traded goods within and between islands via sturdy canoes,
Canoes constructed from gommier trees, apprx 25m long and could seat 40-50 grown men.
Bartered goods such as cotton textiles and ceramics and food.

Division of labour was based on age and sex

Men: clear fields, hunt, fish, build houses and pirogues, defend villages
Women: cultivate crops, spin and weave cotton, make baskets, hammocks.
 Kalinago and St. Lucia

Kalinago referred to St. Lucia as Ioüanalao

Kalinago spoke Cariban

Remnants of their civilisations have been identified and excavated in:

Micoud
Vieux Fort
Choiseul
Dennery
Castries
Gros Islet
 Ceramics and Zemis

William Keegan Source: Corinne Hofman

Sept 26, 2020

William Keegan
 WORDS YOU SHOULD KNOW
Material culture
Archeology
are objects produced by human beings, including buildings,
structures, monuments, tools, weapons, utensils, furniture,
The scientific study of past human cultures by
art, and indeed any physical item created by a society. As
analysing the material remains (sites and artefacts) that
such, material culture is the main source of information
people left behind.
about the past from which archaeologists can make
Artifacts/Artefacts inferences.
Source: oxfordreference.com
https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.
Any object made, modified, or used by people
20110810105347145
Source: West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and
Historyhttp://www.wvculture.org/shpo/glossary.html
Non-material culture
Petroglyph
refers to the ways of using material objects and to customs,
is are images carved on the surface of a rock.Petroglyphs are beliefs, philosophies, governments, and patterns of
typically associated with prehistoric populations and can be communication. Non-material culture is more resistant to
found throughout the world. Source worldatlas.com change than material culture.
https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-is-a- http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/soc204/plazad/lect3.htm
petroglyph.html
 SOURCES
Devaux, Robert J. Saint Lucia historic sites. Castries: St. Lucia National Trust, 1975. [Available
In HJF Collection]

Harmsen, J., Ellis. G. & Devaux, R. (2014). A History of Saint Lucia. Saint Lucia: Lighthouse
Road Publications.

Hofman, Corinne L., et al. Life and death at Precolumbian Lavoutte, Saint Lucia, Lesser
Antilles.Journal of Field Archaeology , August 2012, Vol. 37, No. 3 (August 2012), pp. 209-
225.
Kingsley, Charles. At Last; A Christmas in the West Indies. McMillan & Co: London, 1871.

Stanley, Roger. https://www.rogerstanley.ca/petroglyphs-carribean---saint-lucia.html