Caribbean original natives
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Who Were the Arawaks? The Caribbean’s First Inhabitants
Few people realize that the Caribbean was inhabited long before Christopher Columbus set foot in the Bahamas.
The Arawaks were the first people to live in the Caribbean islands and parts of South America. They were also the first to be seen by Columbus and his men. Their name, pronounced “air-ah-wack”, refers to their main crop, cassava root.
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Are there still Arawak people alive today?
Yes, descendants of the Arawak still live in certain places in South America and the Caribbean. Mainly, they inhabit Trinidad, Guyana, French Guiana, Suriname, and the coast of Venezuela.
However, their population is small. About 15,000 Arawak live in Guyana.
Many descendants no longer speak Lokono, the Arawak language.
Taíno people
As of 2011, only around 2,500 people still spoke the language. Several conservation groups are making efforts to keep the Arawak language and culture from becoming extinct.
Unfortunately, few Arawa