The Historical Process

At the end of the lesson, students should be :

1. Examine the various migrant groups that established settlements throughout
the Caribbean during and after the pre-Columbian era up to 1838.
2. Assess the impact of migrant groups on Caribbean society and culture.
3. Evaluate the impact of migratory movements within and outside the region
from 1838 to the present day.
Migratory movement
and settlement
patterns
Migration refers to the
movement of people from one
region to another.
The Pre-Columbian period refers to the period before the arrival of
Columbus in the Americas (i.e. that period prior to 1492)
The Caribbean is populated by migrant people (transplanted people)
or descendants of migrants. These migrants came mainly from the
‘old world’ (Europe, Asia, and Africa). The variation in the origin of
these migrants has led to the diversity of the region and has created
what is known worldwide as a very rich culture/ heritage or a
melting pot.
GROUPS OF MIGRANTS
Let’s talk about
the movie
The earliest groups of people to arrive in the region were the
Amerindians.

It is believed that some Amerindian tribes came into the New World via
the Bering Strait, between the Asian continent and the North American
continent, and made their way down to the Caribbean and Central
America. This was during the Fourth Ice Age when large parts of the
earth were covered with ice and the oceans and lakes were frozen. All
this time, the Bering Strait (the narrow stretch of water that separated
Alaska from the coast of Siberia in north-eastern Asia) was said to be
forming an ‘Ice Bridge’.
Early man depended on animals for food and clothing especially since the Ice Age had caused fruits and

herbs to become scarce. These hunters were nomadic so they travelled from place to place in search of

food and shelter. These hunters were following herds of animals like mammoths, buffalos, deer and caribou

without knowing that they were crossing from one continent to another.

Migrant groups that occupied the Caribbean Region:

1.Indigenous Peoples (Tainos, Kalinagos)
2.Europeans
3.Africans
4.Indentured Workers- Indians, Chinese
The Mayans settled mainly
in the Yucatan peninsula
states of Quintana Roo,
Campeche, and Yucatan.
They also settled in the area
where Guatemala, Belize,
El Salvador, and Honduras
are now situated.

The Incas settled in South

America, for example in
Cuzco (Peru) and present-
day Bolivia.
Map of the
Caribbean showing
pre-colonial
networks with
examples of the
types of artifacts
being exchanged.
(Map by Corinne
Hofman and Menno
Hoogland.)
 The
Coming of
the
Europeans
 Arrange the following impact under the correct heading in the table below
• New crops/dishes: rice, mango curry tamarind
• Syncretic religions such as Pocomania and Revivalism • Change in race composition (Indian, Chinese, Syrian,
• Introduction of Hinduism and Islam Lebanese)
• Smoking of tobacco • Musical instrument such as abeng, drum
• Christianity • Medicinal herbs
• New crops namely sugar cane • New systems of government
• Poultry, cattle, pigs, goat • New architectural style using different building materials:
• Loss of indigenous population because of genocide, suicide, Spanish wall, Georgian
warfare • New languages: Spanish, English, Dutch, French
• Plantation system • New system of production - (slavery & indentureship)
• Diseases such as small pox, measles, yellow fever • New skills introduced into the region: metal, leather, irrigation