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Amerindians have existed
in Trinidad for as long as 6,000 years before the arrival of Columbus,
and numbered
at least 40,000 at the
time of the Spanish settlement in 1592
The
earliest history of
Chaguaramas, substantiated by names such as macqueripe and
chacachacare is of the saladoid Amerindians occupation between 100 –
400 a.d. Chaguaramas itself is an Amerindian word describing the once
palm- fringed shoreline. |
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Before European explorers landed on the Caribbean islands, peaceful
tribes of Amerindians called the Arawaks inhabited the
entire Caribbean archipelago. Generous and open where these people that
they embraced the Spaniards and bestowed every comfort for the Spanish
explorers. Ironically since the arrival of the Spanish these people were
mistreated and many died from diseases, within a few decades it was
belief that there were no Arawaks left.
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There was another another
Amerindian tribe, a fierce tribe known as Caribs. This tribe
pounced on the Arawaks and were known to be cannibals
(eaters of human flesh). The Caribs had devoured their way
up the Caribbean islands.
All of Trinidad was populated by several tribes, Trinidad being a
transit point in the Caribbean network of Amerindian trade and exchange.
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Spanish
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English
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Chaguaramas
Historical Interest
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Amerindian
tribes were referred to by various names: Yaio, Nepuyo, Chaima, Warao,
Kalipuna, Carinepogoto, Garini, Aruaca.
Amerindian words and place names survive into the present: the Caroni
and Oropouche rivers; the Tamana and Aripo mountains; places such as
Arima, Paria, Arouca, Caura, Tunapuna, Tacarigua, Couva, Mucurapo,
Chaguanas, Carapichaima, Guaico, Mayaro, Guayaguayare, Chaguaramas;
flora such as cassava, maize, cacao, tobacco, and fauna such as manicou
and agouti.
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The
Amerindians developed the canoe, the bow and arrow,
and the ajoupa.
Amerindian cuisine is enjoyed by many Trinidadians: Cassava bread and
Farine; Warap; barbecued wild game; corn pastelles; coffee; cocoa;
chardon beni.
The Amerindians also gave Trinidad and Tobago its first major rebellion
in the name of freedom: the Arena uprising of 1699, led by Chief
Hyarima.
In 1783 Trinidad's Amerindians were displaced from their lands to make
way for the influx of French planters and their African slaves.
In 1759 the Mission of Arima was formed, consolidated and
enlarged in 1785, and the Amerindians were to have had control of 2,000
acres of land.
A number of tribes were pressed into Arima, mostly Nepuyo, and
generically referred to as either "Caribe" or
"Indio" -- Arima was the last Mission Town.
Parang, utilizing both Spanish and Amerindian musical instruments,
emerged from the evangelization of the Amerindians.
The Caribs in Arima , converted to Catholicism, were led by a Titular
Queen.
The histories of major towns such as Arima and Siparia, two large former
Amerindian Mission Towns, have given us Trinidad's two oldest festivals:
The Santa Rosa Festival of Arima, and La Divina Pastora in Siparia.
The Santa Rosa Carib Community is the last remaining organized group of
people identifying with an Amerindian identity and way of life.
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