The Indigenous people of the Caribbean /

Consisting of an introduction and 21 essays by 19 contributors, this collection amounts to a survey of the current state of study of indigenous Caribbean people by archaeologists, historians, and anthropologists. Archaeologists analyze the earliest migrations and settlements from about 2,000 BCE and show how the remains of material culture provide a basis for reconstruction of the Taino people's trade and economy, art, mythology, and religion, settlement strategies, and social organization. Other sections focus on the Caribs of the Lesser Antilles, the nature of the impact of European invasions after 1492, and the resistance and survival of indigenous people. Taino and Carib languages, crops, and technology contributed to the settlement of Europeans and Africans. The editor emphasizes that even though indigenous people were the victims of genocide, they helped to establish a persistent pattern of relations between other Caribbean settlers and their environment, and became central symbols of Caribbean identity and resistance to colonialism. Though inevitably varying in style and quality, these essays are generally good. This important collection complements Irving Rouse's The Tainos (CH, Nov'92). Illustrations; useful bibliography. Strongly recommended for every library concerned with Caribbean and Native American studies. General readers; upper-division undergraduates and above. O. N. Bolland; Colgate University