The Caribbean: A Region in The Caribbean: A Region in MotionMotion

Andrea Queeley, Ph.D.

Asst. Professor of Anthropology and African and African Diaspora Studies

Florida International University

aqueeley@fiu.edu

OverviewOverview

Where is the Caribbean?Who is a Caribbean?What is Caribbean culture?

Caribbean GeographyCaribbean GeographyFive Areas of Insular CaribbeanFive Areas of Insular Caribbean

% of total land mass (91K sq. mi)% of total land mass (91K sq. mi)

Bahamas Islands (6%)Greater Antilles (88%)Lesser Antilles (4%)Cayman Islands, Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao

(2%)

Greater AntillesGreater Antilles

CubaHispaniola: HAITI and the DOMINICAN

REPUBLICJamaicaPuerto Rico

Lesser AntillesLesser Antilles

From the Virgin Islands to Trinidad and Tobago

Section from Virgin Islands to Grenada divided into Leeward (NORTH) and Windward Islands (SOUTH)

Leeward: from Virgin Islands to Dominica Windward: from Martinique to Grenada

Leeward IslandsLeeward Islands

Virgin Islands (BR, US) Anguilla (BR) St. Martin/Marteen (FR, NTH) St. Barts, Saba, St. Eustacius (NTH) St. Kitts and Nevis (IND) Antigua and Barbuda (IND) Montserrat (BR) Guadeloupe (FR) Dominica (IND)

Windward IslandsWindward Islands

Martinique (FR)St. Lucia (IND)St. Vincent and the Grenadines (IND)Grenada (IND)

* Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago in area but are not considered to be part of the Windwards

Areas of the Circum-Areas of the Circum-CaribbeanCaribbean

South America: Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Northern coasts of Venezuela and Colombia, Northeastern Brazil

Central America: Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Belize, Northeastern Mexico

Miami and New Orleans (?)

S. Florida New OrleansS. Florida New Orleans

Spanish territory from 1513-1763

Climate Proximity to

Caribbean Population due to

migration

French territory until early 19th c (1804)

Spanish occupation (1763-1804)

Destination for Cubans and Haitians in (18th and 19th centuries)

United Fruit Company head quarters

Creole language, food, festival culture

Indigenous PresenceIndigenous Presence(pop. approx. 750K)(pop. approx. 750K)

Ciboney: migrated from Florida and the Bahamas around 2000BC

Arawaks (Taínos): migrated from South America around 300BC

Caribs: migrated from South America around 1000AD (note: more recent arrival, somewhat militaristic)

Decimation of Indigenous Decimation of Indigenous PopulationPopulation

DiseaseDeprivationInfant MortalitySuicideMassacreCultural collapseMixture

Indigenous LegacyIndigenous Legacy

Language (gua gua, bohio, guajiro, conuco)Naming (Caribbean)AncestryCommunities (Caribs of Dominica and St.

Vincent, Taínos in Cuba)National Identity: Narrative of Resistance

European PresenceEuropean Presence

Approx. 2 million migrated to the Caribbean and Latin America by 1800

Primary colonizing powers: Spanish, French, British, Dutch, Portuguese

An additional 7-9 million arrived in the Caribbean and LA beginning in the late 19th century, primarily Southern Europeans, Germans, Slavs, Britons, French

African PresenceAfrican Presence

Estimated 10-15 million Africans were brought to the Americas

600K to U.S., 5-6 million to Brazil, 5 million to Caribbean (2 to British Caribbean, 800K to San Domingue)

Caribbean receives 50% of Africans in 17th c, 60% in 18th c., and 40% in 19th c

Current population: 39 million, 73% of whom are Afro-Caribbean

Asian Migration: Asian Migration: Abolition and the Problem of LaborAbolition and the Problem of Labor

Abolition of the Trade- British: 1807- French: 1802 then

1817- Dutch: 1818- Spanish: 1820

Abolition of Slavery- British: 1838- French: 1848- Dutch: 1863- Spanish

-Mainland: 1811

-DR: 1801-05, 1822

-PR: 1873

-Cuba: 1886

Asian Indentured LaborAsian Indentured Labor

Between 1838 and 1924, approximately 700,000 people migrate from Asia to the Caribbean

536,000 migrants to British West IndiesMajority from India (80%)China and Java (20%)

Asian Presence: Destinations Asian Presence: Destinations (1830-1917)(1830-1917)

Chinese- 126K to Cuba- 18K to British

Caribbean (most to Guiana, fewer to Trinidad, Jamaica and Surinam)

Indians- 240K to British

Guiana- 144K to Trinidad- 106K to French

Caribbean

Arab and Jewish PresenceArab and Jewish Presence

Jews: Spain and Portugal in 15th c; Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt in 19th century

Lebanese, Syrians, Palestinians in late 19th cFleeing persecutionCentral involvement in commerce

Post-Emancipation Post-Emancipation Intraregional MigrationsIntraregional Migrations

Frustrated FreedomAnglo-Caribbean to Spanish-speaking

Caribbean and Central AmericaU.S. presence in the regionRailroad, Panama Canal, Agro-industryCirculation of labor, goods, ideasOrigins of the Garvey Movement

Migrations: Creation of the Migrations: Creation of the Circum-CaribbeanCircum-Caribbean

A Rising Voice: Afro-Latin America– Brazil– Nicaragua – Honduras

LanguagesLanguages

English Spanish Dutch French Portuguese

Kréyol Creole/Patois Papiamentu Garifuna

Heterogeneity: Heterogeneity: Diverse Religious TraditionsDiverse Religious Traditions

Christianity (Catholic, Protestant, Revivalist—Pentecostals, Baptists, Seventh-Day Adventists, Shouters)

Islam Judaism Hinduism

Lucumí (Santería), Palo Monte, Espiritismo (Cuba)

Candomble (Brazil) Vodun (Haiti) Spiritual Baptists (Anglo-

Caribbean) Shango (Trinidad) Rastafari Obeah (Jamaica)

Religion and SpiritualityReligion and Spirituality

Spirit PossessionRelationship to Natural WorldAncestor VenerationDivinationDiffuse, decentralizedConcrete, practical solutionsRitual healing and harming

The Art of SportThe Art of Sport

CapoeiraCricketFutbolBaseballDominoes

Selected SourcesSelected Sources

Chomsky, A.,Barry Carr, and Pamela Smorkaloff, eds. 2003. Indigenous Society and Conquest. In The Cuba Reader: History, Culture, Politics. Durham: Duke University Press.

Geggus, David. 2007. The sounds and echoes of freedom: the impact of the Haitian Revolution on Latin America. In Beyond Slavery: The Multi-layered Legacy of Africans in Latin America and the Caribbean. Davis, Darién J., ed. Lantham: Rowman and Littlefield.

Look Lai, Walter. 2004. The Chinese Indenture System in the British West Indies and Its Aftermath. In The Chinese in the Caribbean. Andrew Wilson, ed. Princeton: Markus Weiner Publishers.

Randall, Stephen J., 2009. “The Historical Context”, in Understanding the Contemporary Caribbean in Hillman, Richard and Thomas D’Agostino, eds. Colorado: Lynne Reinner Publishers.

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