Question: Describe the MAJOR migrations into the Caribbean that greatly impacted society and

culture. (20 marks)

Caribbean Society has been ever changing over time as many peoples migrated into the region and
brought with them their various cultures. Migration is the movement of people from one place to another,
but in this case, it is the movement of a group of people from another country coming into the Caribbean.
There were four major migrations that shaped Contemporary modern society; The Indigenous populations,
The Europeans, The Africans and the Indentured Servants. In this essay, the influence of the migrations in
the molding of contemporary Caribbean society will be examined.

The Pre-Columbian Migration was the migration patterns of indigenous peoples into the Americas.
The Mayas, Aztecs and Incas were aspects of the Pre-Columbian period. These aboriginal peoples followed
wandering herds of animals for food and clothing across the ice bridge at the Bering Strait from Siberia to
Alaska. They then travelled southward and settled in areas like Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico.
Some of these peoples reached the Caribbean by way of what is now Guyana and Venezuela through the
Orinoco Basin into Trinidad, proceeding along the Lesser Antilles to Cuba and the Bahamian archipelago.
Some settled in the Lesser Antilles (Kalinagoes) others went to the Greater Antilles (Tainos). With their
arrival along came their traditions food and culture, which impacted society and culture in the Caribbean in
many ways. In today’s world, we incorporate their methods of farming and growing crops such as corn,
beans, squash, sweet potato and peppers. Along with farming, they also brought canoes, pottery and various
dances.

Columbus travelled across the Atlantic with the aim of finding the Indies. Columbus was supported
by the royal family who was hoping to get riches from the orient before his rivals, spread Catholicism and
for personal and national glorification. Columbus accidentally stumbled upon the Americas and became
the first European to visit the region. They came as conquistadors and eventually took control from the
indigenous peoples. The Spanish were looking for gold and to do this they needed to form a system of
government. Several people migrated from Europe to live in the Caribbean they were called colonists. The
Spanish occupied the islands of the Greater Antilles with the first being Hispaniola. By the end of the
sixteenth century, other European nations such as England, Holland and France challenged the sole
ownership of the New World by Spain. With their arrival along came their food and technology, which
impacted society and culture in the Caribbean in many ways. New vegetables such as rice, lettuce, onions,
and many other produce came from the old world as well. New animals also came that revolutionized
farming and transport: the horse, the cow that provided lot of meat and milk, the sheep, that made fiber
production cheaper etc. Along with agriculture, they also brought malignant diseases such as the plague,
chicken pox, tuberculosis and influenza. They brought codified law and gun powder for firearms, ships
and metallurgy.

The Europeans who settled in the Caribbean established plantations which brought about genocide
to the native people. They needed a new source of labor for the great demand of sugar in Europe, so they
first tried to bring white indentured laborers, but this failed due to the harsh working conditions. The
Europeans then brought a new wave of migrants and these were the Africans. The West Africans who were
forced out of their homes were made to endure harsh conditions on their passage to the Caribbean and once
in the region they were the property of the Europeans. The movement of Africans into the Caribbean greatly
impacted the society and culture. Some of the impacts were: Religious practices like Obeah and Voodoo,
Folk medicines, Art and Music. When the Africans came to the Caribbean, it resulted in the mixing of the
Africans and the whites creating the mulattos. Another impact was the change of the demographic in the
Caribbean.

The final migration to discuss took part during the post emancipation era. This was indentureship.
The first indentured laborers to come to the Caribbean successfully were the Chinese. The indentureship
system was a labor system implemented following the ending of slavery after 1838. It was the most
widespread in the bigger British colonies- Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Jamaica. Indentured laborers
were brought to the Caribbean to provide a work force that would replace African slaves. These were the
Chinese, Portuguese, Indians and the Javanese. Indian laborers were actively sought because of their
numbers and they formed the largest group of migrants. Indentureship was a system of contract labor. The
contracted laborers worked for 5-7 years for a small wage. Many were forced to work beyond their contract
to indenture and some stayed. This impacted our society and culture since today. Some of the impacts were:
Religious practices like Islam and Hinduism, languages, foods and Music. It is a norm to Caribbean people
today to eat “Chinese food” and Indian delicacies brought such as roti and curry.

In summary, there were four major migrations which have shaped contemporary Caribbean society.
The first was the Amerindian migration across the Bering Strait where the inhabitants consisted of the
Taino, Kalinago and Maya. The second migration was that of the Europeans which saw the genocide of the
Indigenous population in the Caribbean. Afterwards came the African migration where blacks were forcibly
taken from West Africa and brought to the Caribbean to work on plantations. Finally, post emancipation
east Indians, Chinese, Javanese migrated to the Caribbean on contracts to work for the Europeans.