A Jesuit and the Caribs

De la Borde’s Relation on the Caribs of the Caribbean, or Kalinago, is a fascinating document. Despite his view of the need to humanize and civilize the Carib before successfully converting them to Christianity, the Jesuit’s account of 17th century Caribs of St. Vincent is filled with interesting details about the lives, customs, religion and healing practices of this indigenous group. While denigrating the Caribs and their “barbarous” practices and religions, one can still detect some degree of respect for the success of the Caribs in their lifestyle. Moreover, for those of us interested in ethnographic and historical sources on an indigenous Caribbean population related to our Tainos, it is interesting to compare our Jesuit with the earlier 16th century sources on the Taino of the Greater Antilles. Indeed, by the time French Jesuits were proselytizing in the Lesser Antilles, the local population of the region had already been interacting with Europeans and Africans for over a century. Moreover, indigenous people from the Greater Antilles had already, at least in the case of Puerto Rico, fled to the Lesser Antilles. That Taino exodus from areas like Puerto Rico plus the already shared culture, to some extent, between the Kalinago and the Taino, makes for interesting readings. For instance, the Carib lunar calendar and important symbolism attached to stars, the sun, and the moon may have been shared elements with the Taino. Some of the similar religious and healing customs of the boye or piaye with the Taino behique, including even the act of sucking on parts of a patient’s body, suggest another commonality. The similar veneration of cemis or zemis points to another deeply rooted aspect of indigenous Caribbean spirituality. Clearly, despite the Kalinago claiming a relationship with the continental Galibias, their culture and language was also immersed in Caribbean island customs and civilizations. What we would like to know is to what extent Louquo of Carib myth, the first man, may have some correspondence with Yucahu and the characters in the corpus of Taino myths collected by Pane. The Caribs, at least as understood by the French, lacked the type of higher ceremonialism attached to political leadership or caciques so one might be justified in concluding that their religious and spiritual practices were less elaborate than those of the Taino.