Should a person from the Carribean consider themselves one of the native indian tribes?

Question

For example

Arawak, Kalinago, Ciboney, Galibi, Igneri, Lucayan,Taino are all names of the indigenous tribes of the carribean but should a person from the carribean consider themselves indigenous people even though they may look black or indian(from asia)

Answer 1

Only if they can prove thru family history, because unless they are 250 yrs old, they aren't.

Answer 2

No.  A native of the Carribean is basically someone who's ancestors were descended of the people who crossed the landbridge into the American 30-12,000 years ago

Answer 3

I believe they shouldn't.

Caribbeans are so mixed now that they should just say what their parents tell them.

I have a teacher who is part Caribbean and knows how to speak the language fluently, but though she's mixed with a whole bunch of other races, that she basically just says what she knows of her backgrounds are from what her parents are.

However, those tribes u mentioned are the indigenous nationalities of the Caribbean, though that was from long ago, which therefore the logical thing for a Caribbean to say is that their ancestors are from whatever tribe, but they are Caribbean of modern times.

Answer 4

My understanding is that most if not all of the Native Indian (or Native American) populations died out as a result of early contact with Europeans, either through disease transmission (Virgin soil epidemics), slavery, poor treatment, or just plain murder.  Keep in mind that the pope had to issue a Papal Bull indicating that the natives were even human (1537).

While some may have survived, there numbers were greatly diminished and reproductive rates dropped drastically.  As a result, the Spanish started to import african slaves.  The result is that most people that claim Carribean descent today are more likely descendant from transplanted Africans than Native Americans.  Despite that - these transplanted folks have been there so long that they have developed their own cultures and association with the islands and today can rightfully be called natives of the caribean - just not native american as refering to the Arawak - etc.

Answer 5

If you were born in the Carribean, you may be what is considered indigenous, you may be a descendant of African slaves, you may be descended from people from South Asia (India etc) because there are many immigrants there from that region, you may have white/European ancestry, or you could have a combination of some or all of these relatives. Or it's possible that you have ancestors from some other group. The Carribean is made up of a very diverse population.

Comments about a person being 'modern' are totally irrelevant. As for the "land bridge" comment, there are scientific theories about the original inhabitants of the Carribbean having migrated from other places, but this is does not make them any less "indigenous" as this is a socio-political term to describe the groups that lived in the region before European contact and colonialism and that continue to live there today.

Answer 6

There were no "early people" in the new world, like some would like to believe. Some got here earlier then others but, there were no original ones here. They all came from somewhere in the old world. The debate goes on as to who was here, from where, first.

    Everyday there's new evidence that crops up from some musty drawer in a local museum that has artifacts from some dig, that shows proof of human subsistence in the new world and, one day they'll have the "ruin stone" of man in the new world.

     Now they have proof that man goes beyond the "Clovis point" people and slowly it seems to be encroaching on the Northeast Coastline of the Labrador areas. While others are pointing to far Southern South America.

Answer 7

It's "Caribbean" not "Carribean."  Most of the indigenous tribes died out in the 16th and 17th century, though a few did survive.  A large number of black slaves were brought to the Caribbean just like they were brought to the US, and so you may be seeing people of mixed race.

Answer 8

Being from the Carribbean does not make one a native.  Only people with ancestors who were natives can make this claim.