While we know our northern friends may not feel it, in the South, Spring is
here. So we thought we'd share a few of our gardening sites appropriate
for this time of the year. Along with gardening, there's grilling, and getting
ready to diet so that you can fit back into that bathing suit this summer!
Indians Of Guiana And Venezuela. Classification. The
Arawaks. First Seen By Columbus.
Entry Into The Gulf Of Paria. Hospitality Of The Natives. Raleigh S Visit To The
Orinoco.
Early Wars Of The Arawaks. Victory Over The Caribs. Maroon Negroes.
Present Condition Of The Arawaks. Other Tribes Of The Interior. General
Description.
The tribes who inhabit the wilderness
between the Amazon and the seacoast
settlements at the north, upon the Caribbean
Sea and the Atlantic, have been classified
as belonging to the same family with the
aboriginal inhabitants of Brazil. The race
has been denominated the "Brasilio Guaarani,"
and has been divided into the nations of
Guarani, Caribs, Tupi, and Botocudos.
In Guiana one of the most prominent tribes
is that of the Arawaks. These people inhabit
a great extent of country directly back of
the narrow strip of cultivated seacoast.
Nearly the whole of their territory is a
savage wilderness, in which the traveler in
vain seeks for any evidence of progress, or
any tokens of former civilization and
prosperity. A few rude figures, marked upon
the rocks in certain localities, are the
only records of the numberless generations,
which have passed away, leaving their
descendants precisely in the situation of
those who pre ceded them, and as hopeless or
careless of improvement. The Arawaks were
the first natives seen by Columbus, upon the
occasion of his discovery of the continent
of South America, in the summer of 1498.
The first land made was the island of
Trinidad, at the mouth of the great river
Orinoco. No Indians were seen upon the
island by a party sent on shore, although
unmistakable tokens of a recent and hasty
retreat were visible. As the vessels
approached the Serpent s Mouth, (the
southern entrance to the gulf of Paria,)
twenty-five of the natives made their
appearance in a canoe. To the astonishment
of the admiral, who had expected, from the
reports at Hispaniola, to find a race of
Negroes in these southern latitudes, they
were of lighter complexion than any with
whom he had before held intercourse. Their
figures were well proportioned and graceful;
their only clothing was a sort of turban,
and a waistband of colored cotton; and their
arms were bows and arrows. "When an attempt
was made to conciliate these wild voyagers
by dancing and music, it was mistaken for a
sign of hostility, and the sup posed
war-dance was summarily stopped by a flight
of arrows. The suspicions of the natives
prevented the opening of any communication
with them until after the entry of the ships
into the gulf. Several of them were then
taken by upsetting their canoe, and, after
being kindly entreated and encouraged, were
dismissed with the usual presents of
trinkets and hawks-bells. When the fears of
the inhabitants were dissipated by this
procedure, they were eager to crowd about
the vessels in their canoes. These latter
were of excellent construction and large
size; some of them were even furnished with
a cabin.
The cacique of the county received the
Spaniards at his house with the greatest
respect and hospitality, and feasted them
upon whatever luxuries the fruitful soil
produced. "Nothing," says Irving, "could
exceed the kindness and amity of this
people, heightened as it was by an
intelligent demeanor and a martial
frankness. They seemed worthy of the
beautiful country they inhabited. It was a
cause of great concern, both to them and to
the Spaniards, that they could not
understand each other s language."
Sir Walter Raleigh entered the Orinoco in
the year 1595, and brought home some account
of the natives seen there. As recorded by
Purchas: "The inhabitants on the northern
branches are the Tiuitiuas, a goodly and
valiant people, which have the most manly
speech and most deliberate (saith Sir
Walter) that ever I heard of whatever nation
soever. In the summer they have houses on
the ground, as in other places: in the
winter they dwelt upon the trees where they
built very artificial towns and villages;
for between, May and September the river of
Orinoco rises thirty feet upright, and then
are those islands overflown twenty feet
high, except in some few raised grounds in
the middle. This watery store, when the
clouds are so prodigal of more than the
rivers storehouse can hold, whereby they
became violent intruders and encroachers
upon the land, and not the violence of cold,
gives this time the title of winter. These
Tiuitiuas never eat of any thing that is set
or sown; Nature's nurslings, that neither at
home nor abroad, will be beholden to the art
or labor of husbandry. They use the tops of
palmettos for bread, and kill deer, fish,
and pork, for the rest of their sustenance.
They, which dwell upon the branches of the
Orinoco, called Capuri and Macureo, are for
the most part carpenters of canoes, which
they sell into Guiana for gold, and into
Trinidad for tobacco, in the excessive
taking whereof, they exceed all nations.
When a commander dies, they use great
lamentation, and when they think the flesh
of their bodies is putrefied and fallen from
the bones, they take up the carcass again,
and hang it up in the house, where he had
dwelt, decking his skull with feathers of
all colors, and hanging his gold-plates
about the bones of his arms, thighs, and
legs. The Arwacas, which dwell on the south
of the Orinoco, beat the bones of their
lords into powder, which their wives and
friends drink."
In early times the Arawaks were engaged in
perpetual wars with the Caribs. Those of the
latter race, who inhabited the nearest
Caribbean islands, made continual descents
upon the main, but are said, finally, to
have been worsted. The Rev. W. H. Brett
recounts some of the traditions still handed
down among the Arawaks of these wars. "They
have," says he, "an indistinct idea of
cruelties perpetrated by the Spaniards.
Tradition has preserved the remembrance of
white men clothed with "seperari" or iron,
who drove their fathers before them, and, as
some say, hunted them with dogs through the
forest. But by far the greater number of
their traditions relate to engagements
between themselves and the Caribs on the
main land." With peculiar exultation they
detail the particulars of a victory obtained
over a great body of these invaders by means
of a judicious ambush. The Arawaks had fled
from their approach to the low marshy
country upon the Waini, and laid their
ambuscade upon either side of the narrow
channel through which the enemy were
expected to pass. "The Caribs are said to
have had a great number of canoes of large
size, which followed each other, in line,
through the mazy channels of the Savannah.
As they rounded a certain island, their
painted warriors in the first canoe were
transfixed by a shower of arrows from an
unseen enemy on both sides of them, and
totally disabled. Those in the second canoe
shared the same fate; the others, who could
not see what had happened, hurried forward
to ascertain the cause of the cries, but
each canoe, as it reached the fatal spot,
was saluted by a deadly shower of arrows.
The Arawaks then rushed forward, and fought
till the victory was completed. It is said
that only two Caribs survived, and they were
dismissed by the Arawak chieftain, on
promise of a ransom to be paid in cotton
hammocks, for the manufacture of which their
nation is noted."
After the settlement of difficulties between
the European colonists of Guiana and the
neighboring Indian tribes, the introduction
of Negro slaves by the former proved a
terrible scourge to the natives. Great
numbers of the Africans escaped from their
masters, into the wilderness, and there
forming predatory bands, were long a terror
to both whites and Indians. "The accounts
which the Arawaks have received from their
ancestors, represent these negroes as
equally ferocious with the Caribs, and more
to be dreaded on account of their superior
bodily strength."
The Arawaks of the present day are, like
their forefathers, a more mild and peaceable
race than many of their neighbors. In their
domestic relations and general manner of
life, they do not differ materially from the
generality of the North American savages.
Together with the rude clubs, bows and
arrows, &c., so universal among barbarous
nations, they have the more efficient
weapons of the European. The Indian is
everywhere quick to perceive the advantage
of fire-arms, and apt in acquiring their
use. Christian missionaries have devoted
themselves with great zeal and perseverance
to the instruction and improvement of this
tribe, and the natural kindly disposition of
the race seems to favor the undertaking.
Besides the Caribs and Arawaks, the
principal Indian tribes of Guiana are the
Waraus, and the Wacawoios; in addition to
these are the minor nations of the Arecunas,
Zaparas, Soerikongs, Woyawais, Pianoghottos,
&c., &c. Most of these are barbarous tribes,
not sufficiently variant "from each other to
render a distinct consideration valuable or
interesting.
The vast wilderness, which they inhabit, is
little visited by whites. From the coast
settlements the only available routes into
the interior are by means of the numerous
rivers, upon whose banks missionary
enterprise has here and there established a
little settlement as a nucleus for future
operations among the natives at large. From
Mr. Brett s narrative of his own observation
and experience in these wilds, we quote the
following items of general description:
"The appearance of the Indian in his natural
state is not unpleasing when the eye has
become accustomed to his scanty attire. He
is smaller in size than either the European
or the Negro, nor does he possess the bodily
strength of either of these. Few of his race
exceed five feet five inches in height, and
the greater number are much shorter. They
are generally well made; many are rather
stout in proportion to their height, and it
is very rare to see a deformed person among
them."
In respect to dress, which, both for men and
women, is of the most scanty proportions,
(consisting only of a band age about the
loins, with perhaps a few ornamental
articles of feather-work for state
occasions,) the efforts of the missionaries
have effected some change in those brought
under their influence. In a burning tropical
clime, the propriety or policy of such
fancied improvement is very questionable. If
no immodesty is connected with naked ness in
the eyes of the unsophisticated natives, it
would seem hardly worthwhile to enlighten
them upon such a subject, for the purpose of
establishing a conformity to European
customs.
Our author continues: "Their color is a
copper tint, pleasing to the eye, and the
skin, where constantly covered from the sun,
is little darker than that of the natives of
Southern Europe. Their hair is straight and
coarse, and continues perfectly black till
an advanced period of life. The general
expression of the face is pleasing, though
it varies with the tribe and the disposition
of each person. Their eyes are black and
piercing, and generally slant upwards a
little towards the temple, which would give
an unpleasant expression to the face, were
it not relieved by the sweet expression of
the mouth. The forehead generally recedes,
though in a less degree than in the African;
there is, however, much difference in this
respect, and in some individuals it is well
formed and prominent."
The usual division of labor among savage
nations is observed in Guiana. The daily
drudgery of the household belongs to the
women, who also cultivate the small fields
in which the yuca, (the root from which they
make their bread,) and the other cultivated
crops are raised. The men pursue their
hunting and fishing, and undertake the more
severe labors attendant upon the building
their huts, the clearing of new ground, &c.
The native dwelling is generally little more
than a roof of palm-leaf thatch supported
upon posts, between which hang the cotton
hammocks in which the occupants sleep. Some
few implements of ironware, and articles of
pottery of a more substantial and practical
form than that manufactured by themselves,
are generally procured by trade with the
coast, but these are all of the simplest
description. Maize, with cassava, yams,
potatoes, and other roots, constitutes their
principal vegetable food. The cassava is
prepared by grating, or scraping, and
subsequent pressure in a receptacle of
basketwork. This strainer is constructed in
the form of a "long tube, open at the top
and closed at the bottom, to which a strong
loop is attached. The pulpy mass of cassava
is placed in this, and it is suspended from
a beam. One end of a large staff is then
placed through the loop at the bottom, the
woman sits upon the centre of the staff, or
attaches a heavy stone to the end, and the
weight stretches the elastic tube, which
presses the cassava inside, causing the
juice to flow through the interstices of the
plaited material of which it is made. This
liquor is carefully collected in a vessel
placed beneath. It is a most deadly poison;
but after being boiled, it becomes perfectly
wholesome, and is the nutritious sauce,
called casareep, which forms the principal
ingredient in the pepper-pot, a favorite
dish of the country."
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Indian Races of North and South America, By Charles De Wolf Brownell, 1865
