Carib Expulsion from Martinique

Long Term Cause #1: Kalina Settlement

In the 1200s, the Kalinago first migrated to the Caribbean, including the island of Martinique (MRD Barbados, 2013). There is debate as to where exactly the Kalinago came from, however one widely accepted theory is that they came from the Orinoco river area of Venezuela (F. Mendisco et al., 2015). They fought off the Arawaks living there, beginning a centuries-long skirmish that continued up until European colonization. The Kalina were known to be excellent fighters and outcompeted the Arawaks, for whom battle was less of a priority. The Kalinago were also expert navigators, primarily using canoes and rafts to move from island to island (MRD Barbados, 2013).

Long Term Cause #2: King Ferdinand II Comes to Power

Queen Isabella I of Castile was born in 1451. At the time of her birth, Spain was divided into many different kingdoms, including Aragon, Leon, Galicia, and Castile, where she was born (“Greatest Accomplishments,” 2024). She was betrothed to her future husband and King, Prince Ferdinand II of Aragon, at the age of 6. After some turmoil, the engagement was nullified and then restored when she was 17 (Lockett, 2022). King Ferdinand II of Aragon was born in 1452. The two were married in 1469. Their union joined the divided kingdoms of Spain into one country.

At first, Columbus asked King John II of Portugal for ships to make the journey to India. The King denied his request, so he went to the King and Queen of Spain for permission. It was under the rule of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile that Columbus received his ships and made the journey to the Americas, although at first Queen Isabella refused him (Miller, 2024).

Long Term Cause #3: Columbus Sets Out from Spain

Christopher Columbus, born Cristoforo Colombo, left Palos de la Frontera in Spain for India on August 3rd, 1492. He left with a crew of 90 men on 3 ships: the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. He was trying to find a more convenient route to India than the long boat ride around Africa or the dangerous journey through the Middle East. Instead, he became the second ever European to set foot in the Americas, the first being Leif Eriksson, an Icelandic Viking who stumbled across America 500 years before Columbus and left when the indigenous people of America made it clear that he was not welcome (“Leif Eriksson - Ages of Exploration,” 2017). The arrival of Columbus in the Americas ushered in a new age of exploration for Europeans and an age of colonization and genocide for the indigenous groups of the Americas, among them the Kalinago.

Intermediate Cause #1: French Colonization

The first Europeans to set foot on the island were Columbus and his crew under the Spanish flag in 1502. The indigenous people of the island were called the Caribs, after the Arawak word "caniba" or "cariba". This word is the ancestor of today's "cannibal". When Columbus asked the Taíno people, a subgroup of Arawaks, about the other inhabitants of the islands, they told him that they were being attacked and supposedly eaten by a neighboring tribe, the "Caribas". The name that the "Caribs" actually called themselves was the Kalinago, or the Kalina. The idea of the Kalina being cannibals is now thought to have been largely made up by European invaders in order to justify slavery (F. Mendisco et al., 2015).

However, Spanish rule in Martinique was short-lived and in the year 1635, the French first landed on the island (klaus, 2014). The first Frenchman to "discover" Martinique was an explorer by the name of Pierre Belain, Sieur d'Esnambuc, who landed on the island on September 1, 1635, with a company of 100 men (“Institutional History of Martinique,” 2024) and the intention to claim the land for the French Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique (Company of the Islands of the Americas) (“Martinique | History, Population, Map, Flag, Climate, & Facts | Britannica,” 2024). Although the British sought to expand their rule into Martinique and occasionally conquered the island, it remained linguistically and culturally French and soon wound up back under French control.

Intermediate Cause #2: Indigenous Enslavement

Before enslaved Africans were brought to the Americans, indigenous Americans were enslaved by the European colonizers. Enslavement of indigenous peoples began as early as 1492, when Columbus landed on the island of Hispaniola. Enslavement of Indigenous Americans often occurred after battles. Even native Americans who surrendered to Europeans were enslaved (“Colonial Enslavement of Native Americans Included Those Who Surrendered, Too,” 2017). Linford D. Fisher, a professor of history at Brown University, states that “Between 1492 and 1880, between 2 and 5.5 million Native Americans were enslaved in the Americas”.

Although most African enslaved people were adult men, the majority of Indigenous enslaved people were women and children. Indigenous women were often priced more than men. The reason for this was often for sexual exploitation and reproduction. Children were also higher valued for their adaptability, language acquisition skills, and ability to identify with their enslavers. Unlike in African slavery, social ranks were much more fluid and enslaved people had the opportunity to become servants, and with luck, even obtain freedom and become a member of the upper class. In the Caribbean, the tasks of enslaved people included harvesting on plantations, panning for gold, and mining. Enslaved indigenous people were especially often put in mines (RESÉNDEZ, n.d.).

Short Term Cause #1: Jacques Dyel du Parquet Becomes Governor of Martinique

In 1626, Richelieu, a French Cardinal, formed a stock company to lead the colonization of the Lesser Antilles and to organize transatlantic traffic. It was reorganized and renamed in 1635 in order to satisfy the objectives set for it by the French crown, specifically, the colonization and management of trade in the Caribbean. It was therefore renamed as the  Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique (Company of the Isles of the Americas). Under the leadership of Richelieu and Pierre Belain, Sieur d'Esnambuc, to whom Richelieu granted permission to colonize the Lesser Antilles, it took over the island of Martinique on September 15, 1635 (Roulet, 2017).

Jacques Dyel du Parquet was d’Esnambuc’s nephew. He was born in 1606 in Normandy but sailed to the Americas with his uncle in order to claim territory for France. When his uncle died, he became governor of Martinique in his stead. At first he settled in the city that his uncle founded, Saint-Pierre, but soon pushed further south and founded what is now the city of Fort-de-France. He attempted to reach a truce with the Kalina of Martinique, which worked initially and resulted in the division of the island territory between the French and the Kalina.

However, the treaty began to fall apart after du Parquet arrested the chief of the Kalina, Kayerman, who died from a snakebite soon afterward. However, relations between the two groups began to improve with time and du Parquet gained a reputation as a fair and just governor. A few years later, he left Martinique to oversee the colonization of the other islands of the Lesser Antilles. He soon left to return to Martinique. After his departure, war between the Kalina and the French broke out on Grenada. This was the beginning of the rebellion of the Kalinago. In 1646, the Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique was dissolved due to rebellion from the colonists. In 1654, the Kalinago revolts began to reach a climax, with Kalinago from other islands as well as the Kalinago of Martinique attacking their enslavers. However, the arrival of Dutch Jews fleeing from Brazil who were willing to assist du Parquet in quelling the rebellion helped to stop the revolts, at least temporarily (“Jacques-Dyel Du Parquet,” 2024).

Short Term Cause #2: Charles Houël Becomes Governor of Guadeloupe

In 1643, Charles Houël du Petit Pré became Governor of Guadeloupe, an archipelago in the Caribbean (“Guadeloupe,” 2018). Houel was struggling with a legal battle to retain possession of the Guadeloupe archipelago that had started in 1626 and went all the way until the revocation of the French West India Company in 1674 (“Factum : Houël Du Petit Pré, Charles, 1616-1682 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive,” 2018) (translated by google). As the Kalinago began to fight back in retaliation to colonialism within a year of French arrival in Martinique, in 1660 he signed a treaty with the Kalina. This "agreement" forced the Kalina to abandon their home island (“The Caribbean and Black History Month – Grenada and Martinique – Angie Greaves,” 2016).

Short Term Cause #3: Sugarcane is Introduced

Dutch Jews began to settle Martinique in the early 1600s. In 1654, the recapture of Brazil by the Portuguese led hundreds of Jews living there to flee to the Caribbean, including Martinique, out of fear of the Inquisition. They began to establish sugarcane plantations as a way to make money, both for themselves and the island (“Caribbean - the Jews of Martinique/Guadaloupe,” 2024). The very first slaves working on these sugarcane plantations were the Kalinago. The conditions suffered by slaves in the Caribbean were among the worst in the entirety of the Americas (RESÉNDEZ, n.d.) and are likely part of the reason that the Kalinago rebelled against the French in the first place.

Short Term Cause #4: Marie Bonnard du Parquet Takes Over

In the year 1658, Jacques Dyer du Parquet died. His widow, Marie Bonnard du Parquet, took over the island in his stead. She had married him in secret, although it is unknown why the marriage had to be in secret in the first place. When her husband died, she took over the island in the name of her eldest son, Dyel d’Esnambuc. However, her rule faced fierce pushback from the colonial residents of the island. They made loud and angry demands for things like reduced taxes, which her policies opposed. She was imprisoned for a brief period before eventually traveling back to France to receive treatment for a chronic illness. She died during the journey (“France and the American Tropics to 1700,” 2024).

Trigger Event: The Kalinago Rebellion

From the moment the French arrived at Martinique it became clear that the island had one purpose to them: a source of income (“Institutional History of Martinique,” 2024). The fertile soil and tropical environment of the Island of Flowers provided and excellent environment to grow coffee, sugarcane, and other cash crops (“History | Martinique Tourisme,” 2024). However, the French weren't willing to do this work themselves; they wanted cheap labor to grow wealthy with. And for that, they looked no further that the Kalinago.

However, the Kalinago refused to see their island become a corporation (“Institutional History of Martinique,” 2024). They were a society known for their courage and fighting skills, and they fought back fiercely against enslavement by the French. They killed many of the colonizers on their island. Some even decided to kill themselves rather than become enslaved (“History of Martinique,” 2016). However, in the end they failed to defeat their conquerors.

Expulsion

As punishment for their rebellion, and due to the treaty signed with Governor of Guadeloupe Charles Houël du Petit Pré, in 1660 the surviving Kalina were captured and removed from the island. The majority of them fled to the nearest island of Dominica. They also now live in St. Vincent, Guyana, Belize, and Suriname. These locations were likely chosen by the Kalinago for their proximity to their home island. Today, the Kalinago still reside in these countries, primarily Dominica. Here, they struggle for rights and recognition under the Dominican government, who believes that they should assimilate into the country rather than cling to their culture (“The Caribs of Dominica: Land Rights and Ethnic Consciousness,” 2010).

"Migration" Story: Chief Lorenzo Micah Sanford

“The most profitable future for our communities, is to develop a diverse set of activities based on farming, tourism, traditional crafts, and community based natural resource management” – Chief Lorenzo Micah Sanford

Unfortunately, there are no surviving accounts or stories of the Kalinago expulsion from the perspective of the Kalinago themselves. However, there are communities of surviving descendants of the Kalina, the largest of which being located on the island of Dominica, which is north of Martinique. The Kalinago community in Dominica lives in a swath of land in the northeast area of the island called Kalinago territory, which was set up by colonial authorities in 1903.

Lorenzo Micah Sanford is the chief of the Kalinago tribe of Dominica. He is community minded and invested in his country and his people. He believes in natural preservation and has worked with the government of Dominica to protect national forests and develop the national forest policy, which is designed to manage forest resources and modernize the forest sector of the island (World Bank Group, 2022). Chief Sanford has participated in ventures by other tribes of the Caribbean and South America to form alliances and better connections between indigenous groups (Roberts, 2022).

Chief Sanford often involves himself in his community and culture by hosting events, spreading information about the Kalinago tribe and raising awareness towards the Kalinago and other First Nations groups. He also partners up with artists to help celebrate Kalinago culture. He is politically active, involving himself in foreign affairs, relations with other countries, and connections with youth. He is also involved in the tourism scene in Dominica, specifically relating to tourism of the Kalinago territory.  He is especially focused on educating and connecting with youth. He considers cultural pride, cultural connection,  and solidarity between First Nations to be very important.