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The Kalina, also known as the Caribs or mainland Caribs and by several other names, are an Indigenous people native to the northern coastal areas of South America. Today, the Kalina live largely in villages on the rivers and coasts of Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, and Brazil. They speak a Cariban language known as Carib language. They may be related to the Island Caribs of the Caribbean, though their languages are unrelated.
The Kalina call themselves Kalina or (approximately in IPA), spelled variously. Variants include Kaliʼna, Cariña, Kariña, Kalihna, Kalinya. In Carib language (), it literally means "person". Other native names include Maraworno or Marworno, in particular for the Galibi Marworno. Kalina may distinguish themselves as Kaliʼna tilewuyu ("true Kalina"), partly to differentiate themselves from the mixed Maroon-Kalina inhabitants of Suriname. Wim Hoogbergen, Origins of the Suriname Kwinti Marrons; Nieuwe West-Indische Gids, vol. 66 (1 & 2), p. 27-59. 1992. For a similar case of mixed Afro-Caribbean ancestry see the article Garifuna people. Source quoted in Gérard Collomb and Félix Tiouka, Na’na Kali’na - Une histoire des Kali’na en Guyane ; Ibis Rouge Éditions, 2000; , henceforth referred to as Na'na. Use of "Kalina" and related variants has become common practice only recently in publications; many sources continue to use "Caribs" or associated names.
For a long time, the few Europeans studying the history of the Amerindian people of this area did not distinguish between the various Caribbean tribes. Once the period of exploration was over, interest in the study of these people diminished greatly and did not re-emerge until the end of the 20th century, when a few French expatriates, notably Gérard Collomb, became interested in the Kaliʼna, and the Kaliʼna themselves began to relate their history, in particular Félix Tiouka, president of the Association of Amerindians of French Guiana (AAGF), and his son Alexis.
For the reasons given, historical information regarding the Kaliʼna is rare and incomplete.
The weak historical clues available indicate that before 1492, the Kaliʼna inhabited the coast (from the mouth of the Amazon River to that of the Orinoco), dividing their territory with the Arawaks, against whom they fought during their expansion toward the east and the Amazon River. Na’na, p. 45., Na’na, p. 41.
They were prolific travelers even though they weren't nomads. They often traveled by land and by sea as far as the area around the Orinoco river to visit family, trade, and marry. They often went to the area surrounding the Essequibo river (now in Guyana) to collect pebbles of red porphyry ( takuwa), which Kaliʼna women prized for polishing their pottery. The term takuwa also refers to jade, which was often traded in the Americas in general.
One of the first consequences of the arrival of Europeans, as in the case of many other Native American peoples, was a decrease in population due to violence inflicted by European soldiers genocide, and diseases brought over by the Europeans. The Kaliʼna quickly succumbed in large numbers, because their were not adapted to the viruses and bacteria of the Old World.
Malaria has had a detrimental impact on the population of Kalina in Guyana, and is exacerbated by hinterland mining that creates still-water pools that serve as vectors for the disease. Many Kalina are also employed in the mining sector.
For Kalina of the Guianas, the death of family members initiates a period of mourning that can last for a year or more, and is concluded with a celebration known as Epekotono. Preparations are made by a respected member of the village, and can take several months to assemble. Collecting money is a more contemporary addition to the responsibilities. Epekotono is a public event that draws attendance from neighboring villages, including body-painting, music, dancing, and symbolic burning of the deceased's belongings to mark their spirit leaving. At the conclusion, mourning ends and normal social behaviors resume, along with the option for widows to remarry. While non-Kalina can attend as guests, the event serves to reinforce the Kalina identity, marked by explicit use of the Kalina language. Nowadays, the epekotono is the only occasion for such gatherings among the Kalina.
Their flute, the kuwama, is still made but is more and more often replaced by the European flute. There is also a terra cotta horn called a ''kuti'
Thanks to the relatively significant number of speakers, it is one of the most likely Amazonian tongues to survive. Some experiments with written transcription were undertaken in French Guiana. Linguistics standardization of a Kaliʼna writing system however is plagued by the diversity of the many different forms of the written language currently in use, which have been influenced by the languages of the Colonization of the countries in which the Kaliʼna live, Spanish language, Portuguese, Dutch language, French language and English language. Thus, even as far as their ethnonym is concerned, Kaliʼna, there are no fewer than nine different writing systems. Kaliʼna therefore remains a primarily oral language.
History
Lacking a written form of language before the arrival of Europeans, Kaliʼna history was passed down orally from one generation to the next through tales of myth and legend.
Pre-Columbian era
Making up for lack of written records, Archaeology have to date uncovered 273 Amerindian archeological sites on only 310 km² of the land recovered from the Sinnamary River by the Petit-Saut Dam. Some date back as far as two thousand years, establishing the antiquity of the Amerindian presence in this area. Stéphane Vacher, Sylvie Jérémie, Jérôme Briand; Amérindiens du Sinnamary (Guyane), Archéologie en forêt équatoriale; Documents d’Archéologie française, Éditions de la Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, Paris, 1998., Na'na, p. 35.
Colonization
The Palanakiłi arrive
In their first contact with Europeans, the Kaliʼna thought they were dealing with the spirits of the sea, Palanakiłi, a name they use to this day when referring to whites. Na’na, p. 31.There is also a river version of these spirits, Tunakiłi, which appeared in the form of a young woman who overturned canoes and drowned people.
Amerindians in Paris
The second half of the nineteenth century saw the heyday of World's Fairs, in which European countries were displaying their wealth with colonial "villages" representing the colonized cultures. Although the World's Fairs of Paris did not have "Amerindian villages", public curiosity was such that Kaliʼna were sent to the capital twice - once in 1882 and again in 1892 - to be exhibited as oddities at the Jardin d'Acclimatation. Gérard Collomb, Félix Tiouka et M.P. Jean-Louis, Pau:wa Itiosan:bola : Des Galibi à Paris en 1892, décembre 1991., Il y eut aussi des Kali’na et des Arawak du centre du Suriname dans l’Exposition universelle d’Amsterdam en 1883, ainsi que des Maroon people Saramaca et des Créoles.
1882
Fifteen Kali’na, all members of one family living in Sinnamary and Iracoubo, were sent to Pau:wa ("The Land of the Whites") in July 1882. Almost nothing is known about them, except their names L. Manouvrier, Sur les Galibis du Jardin d’acclimatation, Bulletin de la Société d’Anthropologie de Paris, 1882, p. 602-640. Cité dans Pau:wa. and the fact that they were housed in huts on the lawn of the Jardin d'Acclimatation. The trip lasted four months, including three in Paris and a month's journey by boat (round trip). They were accompanied by a Creole who acted as intermediary and, presumably, interpreter. J. Noutous, Les Galibis du Jardin d’Acclimatation, La vie moderne, quotidien, Paris, 12 août 1882. Cité dans Pau:wa. There are several portraits of them, taken by photographer Pierre Petit. Faisant partie de la Collection de la Société de Géographie de Paris, elles peuvent être consultées à la Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département Cartes et Plans.
The Kaliʼna today
The part of South America where the Kaliʼna live is very sparsely populated. However, the people of this ethnic group are such an extreme minority in all of the countries in which they are well established that locally they are a majority only in certain very secluded areas. Their current geographic distribution covers only a small fraction of their Pre-Columbian territory.
Brazil
The Kaliʼnas in Brazil are localized in two groups. The Galibi do Oiapoque can only be found in São José dos Galibi, a village founded in 1950 on the right bank of the Oyapock River by several families who came from the region of the Mana River. Galibi do Oiapoque The Galibi Marworno or Uaçá Galibi mainly live along the Uaçá River further land inwards. The main settlement is Kumarumã. The Galibi Marworno were originally from French Guiana, but mixed with the Aruã and Marworno Amerindians. The term Galibi Marworno is a recent self-designation of the group.
French Guiana
Still present in significant numbers in their original territory, the region between the Maroni River and the Mana rivers (in particular, the communities of Awala-Yalimapo, the only one where they are a majority, Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, Mana and Iracoubo), and the Amerindian village of Kourou as well as, in fewer numbers, the island of Cayenne.
Suriname
Kaliʼna are a strong presence on the left bank of the Maroni River and on the banks of the Coppename River. A large proportion of the population lives in the Para District often in villages shared with the Lokono people. The main settlements are Bernharddorp, Wit-Santi, Galibi, Powakka and Bigi Ston. The Kaliʼna lived in the same area as the colonizers, and have a peace treaty with Suriname since 1686. A Kaliʼna member of the National Assembly, Sylvia Kajoeramari,Dagblad De West, Ramses Kajoeramari niet meer op lijst ndp, 19 maart 2015 successfully led efforts to recognize the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples as a public holiday in Suriname.Waterkant, 9 augustus wordt nationale dag Inheemsen Suriname, 27 juli 2006
Guyana
In Guyana, Kaliʼna are stereotyped as the most "proud, aggressive, and warlike" of the Amerindian groups. Kalina were paid by plantation owners to capture Indigenous slaves as well as recapture African slaves who escaped. One of the smaller Indigenous groups in Guyana, Kaliʼna are settled on the Barama River and , and in the Northwest of the country.
Venezuela
The country where their numbers are the greatest, Kaliʼna can be found in two distinct zones: in the Llanos of the Orinoco river valley and on the Cuyuni River valley part of which is in Guyana. See also Chimire, Venezuela.
Culture
Kasiri, a cassava-derived beer, is an important part of traditional Kalina celebrations.
Music
They use mostly percussion instruments. Their sanpula (or sambula) is a large drum with two skins stretched over either end of the shell by hoops pulled together with cord and is played with a mallet. They also have two kinds of , called a kalawasi (or kalawashi) and a malaka.
Language
They speak Kaliʼna, belonging to the family of Cariban languages, which today is still spoken by above 10,000 people in the coastal strip that stretches from Venezuela (5,000 speakers) to Brazil (100) passing through Guyana (475), Suriname (2,500) and French Guiana (3,000 people).
Notable people
See also
Notes
Further reading
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