The indigenous people of Trinidad and Tobago have occupied Trinidad and Tobago since at least the Archaic Period.
Earliest settlers
editEvidence of human activity in Trinidad predates its separation from the South American mainland. A spearhead discovered in Biche, in central Trinidad, was attributed to the Joboid series, a Lithic age culture known from adjacent areas of the mainland, and was estimated to date to about 8000 BCE.[1][2]: 16
Agricultural and trading societies
editAt European contact
editIn the period after European contact, Trinidad was inhabited by a number of indigenous groups. Six indigenous groups are reported to have inhabited Trinidad in the end of the sixteenth century—Carinepagoto, Yaio, Nepoio (all Cariban-speaking), Lokono, and Shebaio (both Arawakan-speaking) and the Chaguanes, a Warao subtribe.[2]: 9–10
In the 1630s Tobago was inhabited by the Kalina.[2]: 115–119
Period of early European settlement
editNineteenth century through independence
editResistance and revitalisation
editReferences
edit- ^ Boomert, Arie (2009). "Between the Mainland and the Islands: The Amerindian Cultural Geography of Trinidad". Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History. 50 (1): 63–73. doi:10.3374/014.050.0105. ISSN 0079-032X.
- ^ a b c Boomert, Arie (2016-01-15). The indigenous peoples of Trinidad and Tobago : from the first settlers until today. Leiden. ISBN 9789088903540. OCLC 944910446.
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