Antillean Carib

The Antillean Carib were an Indigenous people who inhabited the Lesser Antilles and parts of the South American coast at the time of the Spanish conquest. They were known for being warlike and allegedly practiced cannibalism. The Carib were immigrants who had driven the Arawak from the Lesser Antilles and were expanding their territory when the Spanish arrived.1

Interestingly, the Carib language was spoken only by men, while women spoke Arawak. This linguistic distinction arose because male captives were often killed, while women taken in raids were kept as wives. The Carib were skilled navigators, traveling in large dugout canoes for distant raids. Their primary interest was warfare, and they valued individualism and heroic exploits among their warriors.1