The Last of the Kalinago

Today I visited the Carib Territory, a 3700 acre Reserve which is where 3000 of last remaining Caribs in the world live, and learned about their history and culture. There are no gates or fences delineating the territory, nor is access restricted in any way. The territory consists of 8 small villages, and a lot of rainforest jungle.

Kalinago is their real name (although technically this refers only to the men; the women are called Kalifuna). Columbus named them "Caribs" after the Carib word karibna ("person"). I imagine an exchange something like this took place:

Columbus points at himself and says "Italiano". He then points at the Carib chief with a questioning look. The Carib chief then points at himself and says "I'm a person" ("karibna"). Columbus later writes in his journal: "Today I met the Caribs ...".

It turns out many of the European names for things in this region were based on similar misunderstandings. For 150 years it was believed the native name of the island was "Ceyre",
because when one of Columbus' crew pointed towards Dominica from a neighboring island and asked an Arawak woman the name, she replied "acaera" ("island").

The actual Carib name for the island is Wai'tukubuli, from which the name of the local beer Kubuli comes from. The name means "Tall is her body", referring to the islands mountainous nature. The Caribs were expert boat builders, which allowed them to populate and dominate most of the Caribbean islands for a thousand years. They originally came from South America, in the regions around Venezuela, Guyana, Brazil, etc. The Arawaks on the other hand probably came originally from the Yucatan.

The pure Caribs (not of mixed descent) are markedly different in appearance from the other Dominica locals. They have attractive physical features, lighter skin, straight black hair, and beautiful eyes. They are extremely friendly and gentle in demeanor.

I visited the Kalinago Barana Autê, a model village and cultural center. Here is an ajoupa (lean-to structure for shade) with equipment to make cassava bread. I wanted to try some cassava but the bakery had run out of it by the time I got there :(
I met a really cute Carib girl there -- her Carib name was "Mishu".


Afterwards, I went down to Castle Bruce to the Islet View restaurant and bar (this was another recommendation from Andrew & Emmy). First of all it has a killer view of some small islets on the Atlantic side of the island. The food here is exceptionally good, in authentic West Indies Creole style. But what really sets this bar apart is Rudy's incredible collection of about 30 different flavors of infused rum. Infused with all kinds of things, like pumpkin, celery, guava, spinach, coffee... anything you can imagine. I tried the "Meze Maweee" flavor -- it was very good, but VERY strong!