One Man’s Truth Is Another Man’s Bias

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The “Caribs” were MAN EATERS this supposed truth came about through speculation and miss translation and the inaccurate interpretation of linguistic and ethno-historical data and the lack of archaeological evidence supporting such claims as this term was used as a political propaganda to the enslavement of natives by the conquistadors as the Spanish painted the concept of a bloodthirsty “Carib Indian” and as result this made substantial claims for later things to come as human cannibalism was sinful and therefore abhorrent to Isabella (1503), their queen and benefactor, therefore all Kalinagos, or anyone labelled as such, deserved enslavement but yet there is no truth to the statement as all Christopher Columbus observed were the remains of bones, the only truth was that “This notion of peaceful vs. warlike Indians, and the duality between good and evil, can be traced back to Columbus’ diary of his first voyage.” As Columbus observed wounds on the bodies of islanders and interpreted what he saw as the signs of warfare with the powerful “Caniba” or “Carib people” of the Grand Khan as Columbus’s introduction of the term “Caniba” during this initial encounter would later be interpreted as indicating cannibals inhabited the islands but in truth Ethno history suggest that the wounds Columbus observed were the result of hostile trade relations with neighboring islanders, not attacks by cannibals as the ethnographic literature suggests that many tribal societies were in a near constant state of warfare with their neighbors, as nowhere is hostility more evident than in nonmarket and non-barter economies where trades are offered and either accepted or declined. Exchanges are even choreographed as ritualized battles and due to this misunderstanding aligned with Columbus not understanding the rituals behaviors of the indigenous people despite it not being cannibalism but results of other affairs grave misunderstanding developed.

The prosecution of the Caribbean indigenous people became a result of this accusation leading to the enslavement of the indigenous people but this was also a result of not only the understanding of the indigenous people but also a result of Columbus believing that the Kalinago would make good servants as stated with Columbus’s journal “They all go quite naked as their mothers bore them; and also the women, although I didn't see more than one really young girl. All that I saw were young men, none of them more than 30 years old, very well built, of very handsome bodies and very fine faces... They ought to be good servants and of good skill, for I see that they repeat very quickly whatever is said to them.” This boasters the foundation that Christopher Columbus had viewed the indigenous people not equals but lesser beings demonstrating a difference in prestige or worth of the indigenous people, this going hand in hand with the ideology that kalinago people were war like cannibalistic people conjoined with law pass by Isabella set claim of unjust enslavement of all kalinago people to justify the enslavement of not only the bad but also the good kalinago people and lay claim to justify the misconception of them being cannibalistic people and further Spain’s movement towards the colonization of Caribbean, to Spain this may have been a truth due to misunderstanding but to the indigenous people this would have been nothing more than a fallacy and unjust action toward them including the raping of their women and enslavement of their selves because to Spain they believed themselves to be better in all ways and forms especially technologically.

In conclusion one man’s truth is another man’s bia always holds grounds as it is objective and subjective to the opinion and judgement of another and this is clearly seen within the history of the Caribbean civilization upon being stumbled upon by Columbus believing even in death that he had journeyed to Asia when in truth all he had managed to do was stumble across an uncharted part of the world within the Spanish and European eyes but being a known and charted part of the world to the indigenous people he had stumbled across.

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