The+Virgin+Islands+as+a+Historical+Frontier+between+the+Taínos+and+the+Caribs+-+By+Alfredo+E.+Figueredo

 § Virgin Islands as a frontier between the Taínos of Puerto Rico and the Caribs of the Lesser Antilles  § 1493-1688  § St. Croix first to be discovered by columbus’ fleet, and only one that was inhabited  § Well-cultivated in 1493 and grouped with dominica and Guadeloupe  § Frequent raids launched from it against the Taínos of Puerto Rico  § Taíno captives were a considerable portion of the Cruzan population  § Women & boys held in bondage  § Boys casatrated and used in domestic and menial chores until fattened for slaughter  § Exocannibalism was reason for carib raids  § Only ate adult males  § Racial groups couldn’t be mixed, b/c only carib children weren’t eaten  § Caribs are mortal enemies of Taínos  § But w/out cooperation, couldn’t have had trees for canoes only in Puerto Rico  § St. Croix doesn’t have forests like Puerto Rico  § Was not ambushed by Taínos to Carib logging parties  § Suggests regulated warfare, possibly of ritual nature, not total conflict between the two <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § Juan Ponce de Leon took Spanish conquest of Puerto Rico 1509 <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § Detained Carib loggers, Taínos complained that Caribs raided woods often <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § He built army to patrol coasts and keep them out <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § Took Caribs back to St. Croix but took the Taíno captives back to Puerto Rico <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § Adventurer Diego de Nicuesa raided St. Croix for slaves 3 months later, taking 150 Caribs and scandalizing Cruzans into rebellion <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .75in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § Spain lost St. Croix <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .75in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § Taíno revolts kept Spaniards busy, and Caribs helped the Taínos <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § 1511 Great Taíno uprising <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § To reverse the Spanish conquest before it reached their islands <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § Virgins were bases for rebellions to be staged and contingents to assemble <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § Taíno institution of name-exchange may be one of the things that facilitated the confederation of St. Croix and Puerto Rico <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § Peace or cooperation became possible <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § Caribs secured trade with the Lokono of the mainland during middle 17th century <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § What led to alliance of Taínos and Caribs against Spaniards is unkown <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .75in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § Possibly exchange of hostages? <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § Cruzan Caribs are small <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § Over 20 villages, with at least 60 inhabitants each = 1200-5000 people, <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § Estimated to be 3275 people at a density of 40 individuals per square mile <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § When Spanish ships arrived in 1511 with weapons, Caribs fled <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § Virgin Islands took in a large number of refugees from Puerto Rico <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § Fought together against the Spanish empire <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § Common resort & cooperaton <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § For Taínos: Rank & station were heredity, war only for specific objectives, no allowance for individual heroism <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § For Caribs: war as instrument of social selection and ranking <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .75in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § Chiefs were military leaders <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .75in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § State of warfare needed for social cohesion & structure <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .75in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § Better fighters individually, less effective collectively <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § Caribs were junior allies subordinate to Taínos <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § Defeated in 1514, ant plague 1518, smallpox 1519 <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § No settled areas where people lived, death toll high <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § St. Croix inhabited sporadically through 1587, <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § Settlements near Puerto Rico were at mercy of Spaniards <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § Colonized briefly by French 1621 <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § Dutch colonization on St. Croix 1642-1645 <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § St. Thomas Dutch Colony founded 1657-1666 included slaves <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § Tortola – Dutch colony 1648-1672 may have had Carib population <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § Most St. Thomian Caribs moved to St. John to avoid Danish colonists after 1672 <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .75in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § Don’t know what happened to them, only 4 Caribs there in 1688 <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § Virgin Islands Roles as a Frontier Area: <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § 1) were an embattled frontier between Taínos and Caribs  <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> §  2) after 1509 common frontier for Caribs and Taínos to pool resources to save Puerto Rico from Spaniards and protect the Carib islands <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .75in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § Defeat of last revolt in 1514, onset of diseases 1519 <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> § 3) final role as frontier area for native Americans used by Taíno refugees and Caribs against Spanish Puerto Rico, no longer occupied by large number of Indians  <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> §  Colonization of Lesser Antilles by European powers ended role of Virgin Islands in history of aboriginal America  <span style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> §  Virgins were severed outlier with a few inhabitants who escaped, but those left probably died in slavery