History
Form One
Lesson Topic: The Social Organization of the Kalinagos/Caribs
Sub. Topics: Housing, Recreation, Festivities
Objectives: At the end of the lesson you should be able to:
- List at least two materials which were used in the construction of Kalinago houses.
- Explain why Kalinago men and women lived separeately.
- Compare the modes of entertainment activities of the Tainos and Kalinagos.
- State the importance of festivities to the Kalinagos.
- Define the term polygamy.
Housing
Like the Tainos, Kalinagos used readily available, perishable building materials to construct their
dwellings. Kalinago villages consisted of a number of carbets or large rectangular communal
huts built of reeds or bamboo, and thatched with the leaves of the palm tree, and occupied by the
men; and huts or ajoupas or lean-to shelters made of light poles and palm thatch, in which
children lived with their mothers. As stated before, women and men lived separately. The
women lived with all the children up to the age of four or five, at which time the boys were taken
away to live with the men in the carbet as the view was held that women were soft and weak, and
if the boys were to become warriors, they should be moved away from the influence of the
women. (As a result of this living arrangement, two languages were spoken among the
Kalinagos, the men and boys spoke mainly the Cariban language, and the women and girls spoke
the Arawak language.) Women could be physically abused. If a husband wished to abandon his
wife at any time, he could do so. Furniture pieces to be found in the house of a Kalinago
included highly polished wooden stools, a table made from latanier rushes, a few pieces of
pottery, an image of the household god, and hammocks or an amais or a piece of cotton on which
they slept folded at both ends hung, and hung from the roof.
Recreation
Their modes of entertainment included: wrestling, canoe-racing, tobacco smoking, storytelling,
singing folk songs about their history, and dancing. Like the Tainos, a ball game, a primitive
kind of football, called batos, in which feet, heads, elbows and knees were frequently brought
into play, was engaged in for recreational purposes. The game pitted rival teams against each
other; sometimes it was used for diplomatic initiatives, or to defuse confrontational situations
between rival communities. They drew and painted pictures on rocks. These were often found in
caves near waterfalls.
Festivities
On certain occasions, the Kalinagos had special celebrations. These occasions included the
following:
a) The return of a victorious war party, at which time prizes were distributed – for example,
captured women were given to brave young warriors. Kalinago men practised polygamy
( polygamy is the practice or custom of having more than one wife or husband at the same time.)
which was considered to be a status symbol. They married their sisters or their cousins when
they reached puberty. Captured men were kept, tortured, and later killed, and special parts of
their flesh eaten in keeping with the Kalinagos’ belief that the qualities of brave warriors could
be obtained from the eating of their flesh.
b. The birth of a son.
c. The launch of a new canoe.
On these occasions, the Kalinagos drank cassava beer or ouicou, which was very intoxicating,
played games and sang.
Culminating Activity
- In one paragraph write a summary of what you learnt today.
- WhatsApp or email a friend or relative your summary of today’s lesson.
Now boys and girls here are the answers to last week’s activity.
ANSWERS
1. To harden the foreheads so they could withstand hard blows
2. Both sexes went without clothes except for apron or loin cloth. Women and girls wore bands
of cotton on their arms and legs. They wore bracelets and necklaces made from crystal, coral
beads shells and agouti teeth.
3. Kalinago men demonstrated their courage by wearing necklaces called caracoli made from
their enemies’ teeth, from which a crescent shaped ornament was suspended.
4. the most distinguishing features of their dress were the magnificent headdresses of feathers,
and the feathered cloaks worn by men on ceremonial occasions
5. The maboya was an idol of spirit believed to provide protection against evil. The purpose of
wearing it to provide protection from evil.
6. Reasons Kalinagos painted their bodies are: protection from insect bites, protection from the
harmful rays of the sun and from the rain.
7. They painted black rings around their eyes for decorative purposes; and white rings around
their eyes to terrify their enemies.
8. Tainos were better farmers than Kalinagos since the Kalinagos were mainly warriors and a lot
of their time was spent in warfare.
9. Ways Kalinagos obtained food: fishing, hunting and gathering, farming.
10. Turtle meat.
11. Crabs were not eaten before a sea voyage because they believed that eating crab before,
would bring storms.
12. Your answers may vary.
