Arawak

The Arawak are a group of indigenous peoples of northern South

Arawak
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.[1]

Name
Early Spanish explorers and administrators used the terms Arawak
and Caribs to distinguish the peoples of the Caribbean, with Carib
reserved for indigenous groups that they considered hostile and
Arawak for groups that they considered friendly.[2]: 121

In 1871, ethnologist Daniel Garrison Brinton proposed calling the

Caribbean populace "Island Arawak" because of their cultural and
linguistic similarities with the mainland Arawak. Subsequent
scholars shortened this convention to "Arawak", creating
confusion between the island and mainland groups. In the 20th
century, scholars such as Irving Rouse resumed using "Taíno" for
the Caribbean group to emphasize their distinct culture and Arawak woman, by John Gabriel
Stedman
language.[1]
Regions with significant
populations
History
South America, Caribbean
The Arawakan languages may have emerged in the Orinoco River
Languages
valley in present-day Venezuela. They subsequently spread widely,
becoming by far the most extensive language family in South Arawak, Arawakan languages,
America at the time of European contact, with speakers located in Taino, Caribbean English,
various areas along the Orinoco and Amazonian rivers and their Caribbean Spanish, Creole
languages
tributaries.[3] The group that self-identified as the Arawak, also
known as the Lokono, settled the coastal areas of what is now Religion
Guyana, Suriname, Grenada, Bahamas, Jamaica[4] and parts of the Native American religion,
islands of Trinidad and Tobago.[1][5] Christianity

Michael Heckenberger, an anthropologist at the University of Florida who helped found the Central
Amazon Project, and his team found elaborate pottery, ringed villages, raised fields, large mounds, and
evidence for regional trade networks that are all indicators of a complex culture. There is also evidence that
they modified the soil using various techniques such as adding charcoal to transform it into black earth,
which even today is famed for its agricultural productivity. Maize and sweet potatoes were their main crops,
though they also grew cassava and yautia. The Arawaks fished using nets made of fibers, bones, hooks, and
harpoons. According to Heckenberger, pottery and other cultural
traits show these people belonged to the Arawakan language family,
a group that included the Tainos, the first Native Americans
Columbus encountered. It was the largest language group that ever
existed in the pre-Columbian Americas.[6]

At some point, the Arawakan-speaking Taíno culture emerged in

the Caribbean. Two major models have been presented to account
for the arrival of Taíno ancestors in the islands; the "Circum-
Caribbean" model suggests an origin in the Colombian Andes
connected to the Arhuaco people, while the Amazonian model
supports an origin in the Amazon basin, where the Arawakan
languages developed.[7] The Taíno were among the first American
people to encounter Europeans. Christopher Columbus visited
multiple islands and chiefdoms on his first voyage in 1492, which
was followed by the establishment of La Navidad[8] that same year
on the northeast coast of Hispaniola, the first Spanish settlement in Arawak village (1860).
the Americas. Relationships between the Spaniards and the Taíno
would ultimately take a sour turn. Some of the lower-level chiefs of
the Taíno appeared to have assigned a supernatural origin to the
explorers. When Columbus returned to La Navidad on his second
voyage, he found that the settlement had been burned down and all
39 men he had left there had been killed.[9]

With the establishment of a second settlement, La Isabella, and the

discovery of gold deposits on the island, the Spanish settler
population on Hispaniola started to grow substantially, while
disease and conflict with the Spanish began to kill tens of thousands
of Taíno every year. By 1504, the Spanish had overthrown the last
of the Taíno cacique chiefdoms on Hispaniola, and firmly
Arawakan languages in South
established the supreme authority of the Spanish colonists over the America. The northern Arawakan
now-subjugated Taíno. Over the next decade, the Spanish colonists languages are colored in light blue,
presided over a genocide of the remaining Taíno on Hispaniola, southern Arawakan languages in dark
who suffered enslavement, massacres, or exposure to diseases. [8] blue.
The population of Hispaniola at the point of first European contact
is estimated at between several hundred thousand to over a million
people,[8] but by 1514, it had dropped to a mere 35,000.[8] By 1509, the Spanish had successfully
conquered Puerto Rico and subjugated the approximately 30,000 Taíno inhabitants. By 1530, there were
1,148 Taíno left alive in Puerto Rico.[10]

Taíno influence has survived even until today, though, as can be seen in the religions, languages, and music
of Caribbean cultures.[11] The Lokono and other South American groups resisted colonization for a longer
period, and the Spanish remained unable to subdue them throughout the 16th century. In the early 17th
century, they allied with the Spanish against the neighbouring Kalina (Caribs), who allied with the English
and Dutch.[12] The Lokono benefited from trade with European powers into the early 19th century, but
suffered thereafter from economic and social changes in their region, including the end of the plantation
economy. Their population declined until the 20th century, when it began to increase again.[13]
Most of the Arawak of the Antilles died out or intermarried after the Spanish conquest. In South America,
Arawakan-speaking groups are widespread, from southwest Brazil to the Guianas in the north, representing
a wide range of cultures. They are found mostly in the tropical forest areas north of the Amazon. As with all
Amazonian native peoples, contact with European settlement has led to culture change and depopulation
among these groups.[14]

Modern population and descendants

The Spaniards who arrived in the Bahamas, Cuba, and Hispaniola
(today Haiti and the Dominican Republic) in 1492, and later in
Puerto Rico, brought few women on their first expeditions. Many
of the explorers and early colonists raped Taíno women, who
subsequently bore mestizo or mixed-race children. Over subsequent
generations, the remnant Taíno population continued to mix with
Spaniards and other Europeans, as well as with other indigenous
groups and enslaved Africans brought over during the Atlantic slave
trade. Today, numerous mixed-race descendants still identify as Arawak people gathered for an
Taíno or Lokono. audience with the Dutch Governor in
Paramaribo, Suriname, 1880
In the 21st century, about 10,000 Lokono live primarily in the
coastal areas of Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana,
with additional Lokono living throughout the larger region. Unlike many indigenous groups in South
America, the Lokono population is growing.[15]

Notable Arawak
Damon Gerard Corrie, Barbados Lokono of Guyana Lokono descent, radical international
indigenous rights activist, and creator of the militant Indigenous Democracy Defence
Organization (IDDO), the only such global pan-tribal and multi-racial indigenous NGO in
existence.[16] He is also the creator of the only Phonetic English to Arawak dictionary
(2021),[17] and the only comprehensive books about Lokono-Arawak Culture called 'Lokono
Arawaks' (2020),[18] and on traditional Lokono-Arawak spirituality in 'Amazonia's Mythical
and Legendary Creatures in the Eagle Clan Lokono-Arawak Oral Tradition of Guyana',[19]
and another work that challenges the 'No natives were here when European settlement
occurred colonial version of the history of Barbados in the book 'Last Arawak Girl Born in
Barbados – a 17th Century Tale' (2021)[20]
John P. Bennett (Lokono), first Amerindian ordained as an Anglican priest in Guyana,
linguist, and author of An Arawak-English Dictionary (1989).[21]
Foster Simon, Artist,[22]
Oswald Hussein, Artist
Jean La Rose, Arawak environmentalist and indigenous rights activist in Guyana.
Lenox Shuman, Guyanese politician
George Simon (Lokono), artist and archaeologist from Guyana.[23]
Tituba, one of the first women to be accused of practicing witchcraft during the Salem witch
trials.[24]
 Dominic King, the first Olympian of Arawakian heritage.

See also
Adaheli, the sun in the mythology of the Orinoco region
Aiomun-Kondi, Arawak deity, created the world in Arawak mythology
Arawakan languages
Cariban languages
Classification of indigenous peoples of the Americas
Garifuna language
List of indigenous names of Eastern Caribbean islands
List of Native American peoples in the United States
Maipurean languages

References
1. Rouse, Irving (1992). The Tainos (https://archive.org/details/tainosrisedeclin00rous). Yale
University Press. p. 5 (https://archive.org/details/tainosrisedeclin00rous/page/5).
ISBN 0300051816. Retrieved 16 June 2015. "Island Carib."
2. Kim, Julie Chun (2013). "The Caribs of St. Vincent and Indigenous Resistance during the
Age of Revolutions". Early American Studies. 11 (1): 117–132. doi:10.1353/eam.2013.0007
(https://doi.org/10.1353%2Feam.2013.0007). JSTOR 23546705 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/
23546705). S2CID 144195511 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:144195511).
3. Hill, Jonathan David; Santos-Granero, Fernando (2002). Comparative Arawakan Histories:
Rethinking Language Family and Culture Area in Amazonia (https://books.google.com/book
s?id=qb4LoGZnf-8C&q=Lokono&pg=PA41). University of Illinois Press. pp. 1–4.
ISBN 0252073843. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
4. "The History of Jamaica" (https://jis.gov.jm/information/jamaican-history/). Government of
Jamaica.
5. Olson, James Stewart (1991). The Indians of Central and South America: An Ethnohistorical
Dictionary (https://books.google.com/books?id=175c4xOpLtYC&q=Locono). Greenwood.
p. 29. ISBN 0313263876. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
6. Tennesen, M. (September–October 2010). "Uncovering the Arawacks". Archaeology. 63 (5):
51–52, 54, 56. JSTOR 41780608 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/41780608).
7. Rouse, Irving (1992). The Tainos (https://archive.org/details/tainosrisedeclin00rous). Yale
University Press. pp. 30 (https://archive.org/details/tainosrisedeclin00rous/page/30)–48.
ISBN 0300051816. Retrieved 16 June 2014. "Island Carib."
8. "Hispaniola | Genocide Studies Program" (http://gsp.yale.edu/case-studies/colonial-genocid
es-project/hispaniola). gsp.yale.edu. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
9. Keegan, William F. (1992). Destruction of the Taino. pp. 51–56.
10. "Puerto Rico | Genocide Studies Program" (http://gsp.yale.edu/case-studies/colonial-genoci
des-project/puerto-rico). gsp.yale.edu. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
11. "Exploring the Early Americas" (https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/exploring-the-early-americas/col
umbus-and-the-taino.html). Library of Congress. 12 December 2007.
12. Hill, Jonathan David; Santos-Granero, Fernando (2002). Comparative Arawakan Histories:
Rethinking Language Family and Culture Area in Amazonia (https://books.google.com/book
s?id=qb4LoGZnf-8C&q=Lokono&pg=PA41). University of Illinois Press. pp. 39–42.
ISBN 0252073843. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
13. Olson, James Stewart (1991). The Indians of Central and South America: An Ethnohistorical
Dictionary (https://books.google.com/books?id=175c4xOpLtYC&q=Locono). Greenwood.
pp. 30, 211. ISBN 0313263876. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
14. Lagasse, P. "Arawak" (http://ss360.libraries.psu.edu.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/cgi-bin/ssred
irpg?D=7F9&U=http%3A%2F%2Falias.libraries.psu.edu%2Feresources%2Fproxy%2Flogi
n%3Furl%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fsearch.credoreference.com%2Fcontent%2Fentry%2Fcolum
ency%2Farawak%2F0%3FinstitutionId%3D725).
15. Olson, James Stewart (1991). The Indians of Central and South America: An Ethno-historical
Dictionary (https://books.google.com/books?id=175c4xOpLtYC&q=Locono). Greenwood.
p. 211. ISBN 0313263876. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
16. "The Law on the Indigenous Peoples of Ukraine does not fully comply with international
standards – Damon Gerard Corrie | CTRC" (https://ctrcenter.org/en/news/7096-the-law-on-th
e-indigenous-peoples-of-ukraine-does-not-fully-comply-with-international-standards-damon-
gerard-corrie). Ctrcenter.org. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
17. Corrie, D. (2021). A Phonetic English to Arawak Dictionary (https://books.google.com/books?
id=rtOnzgEACAAJ). Damon Corrie. ISBN 979-8-201-10203-6.
18. Corrie, Damon (2 September 2020). Lokono-Arawaks: Corrie, Damon: 9781393432555:
Amazon.com: Books. ISBN 978-1393432555.
19. Corrie, Damon (14 October 2019). Amazonia's Mythical and Legendary Creatures in the
Eagle Clan Lokono-Arawak Oral Tradition of Guyana: 9781393821069: Corrie, Damon:
Books. ISBN 978-1393821069.
20. Corrie, Damon (28 September 2021). The Last Arawak girl born in Barbados – A 17th
Century Tale: Corrie, Damon: 9781393841937: Amazon.com: Books. ISBN 978-
1393841937.
21. "As Indigenous Heritage Month continues ... Indigenous artists pay homage to Lokono Priest
John Bennett" (https://guyanachronicle.com/2015/09/13/as-indigenous-heritage-month-conti
nues-indigenous-artists-pay-homage-to-lokono-priest-john-bennett/). Guyana Chronicle. 13
September 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
22. Neola Damon (8 September 2019). "Indigenous art exhibition honors George Simon –
Department of Public Information, Guyana" (https://dpi.gov.gy/indigenous-art-exhibition-hono
urs-george-simon//). Dpi.gov.gy. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
23. "The Arawaks left their physical signatures here – George Simon" (https://guyanachronicle.c
om/2015/09/07/arawaks-left-their-physical-signatures-here-george-simon/). Guyana
Chronicle. 7 September 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
24. "Tituba's Race—Black, Indian, Mixed? How Would We Know?" (https://www.thoughtco.com/
what-was-titubas-race-3530573). ThoughtCo. 1 January 2010. Retrieved 20 January 2021.

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Deutsche, Presse-Agentur. "Archeologist studies signs of ancient civilization in Amazon
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s?id=qb4LoGZnf-8C&q=Lokono&pg=PA41). University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0252073843.
Retrieved 16 June 2014.
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Dictionary (https://books.google.com/books?id=175c4xOpLtYC&q=Locono). Greenwood.
ISBN 0313263876. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
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University Press. p. 40 (https://archive.org/details/tainosrisedeclin00rous/page/40).
ISBN 0300051816. Retrieved 16 June 2014. "Island Carib."

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Arawak&oldid=1216611093"