1. Explain why the Amerindians and Europeans came to Guyana.
It is believed that thousands of years ago, the Mongoloid group of nomadic
Amerindians crossed from Asia to the Americas, then eventually into
Guyana by way of an ice bridge known as the Bering Strait. They had left
during the fourth Ice Age following herds of animals in search of food to eat
and a place which they can call home.
Meanwhile, the Europeans on the other hand, came to our land for wealth
and the possibility of conquering new lands for their mother countries.
However, they eventually settled and took advantage of trading with the
Amerindians and provided a base for themselves from which they could
operate in their continuous search for gold.
2. Describe the way of the Amerindians/Europeans under these
headings:
Social and Political Organization- Amerindians
In general, the political and social structures of the Amerindians are very
obscure and little is known. From research gathered from various sources,
it is believed that there were five to seven different Amerindian kingdoms
on various Caribbean territories. If the territory was large, government
structure was more evident and so was having a definitive social class.
A sort of king or leader was a ‘Cacique’, who would always be male.
Obtaining this position was a birth privilege and was also a hereditary
stance from father to son, where the eldest sons would take over after the
father’s death or retirement. Basically, the Cacique had a number of jobs he
had to fulfill:-
1. Rule over his people and ensure a peaceful atmosphere is maintained
throughout the land.
2. Distribute land and crops.
3. Assign labour among the people etc.
While the Cacique did have much power, he had nobles or ‘Nitayanos’
assisting him in the making of certain decisions. These were usually the
oldest men in the kingdom, as they knew the kingdom’s boundaries over
many generations.
Social and Political Organization- Europeans
When the Europeans eventually settled in the Americas, social
stratification of the population was almost instant. People were
divided into three categories:-
1. The ruler
2. The nobility (noblemen)
3. Commoners (or ‘regular people/peasants’)
Society in this period was extremely hierarchical. Among the nobility,
the ruler was preeminent and in theory, owned all the available land,
and he portioned out that land to his nobles for their use. The nobles,
in turn, rented out their land to peasants. The peasants paid the nobles
in produce and military service, then the nobles, in turn, paid the
ruler. Everyone was, at least nominally, in thrall to the ruler, and the
peasants' labor paid for everything. The power of the ruler was
absolute but sometimes, nobles were just as powerful.
Religious Practices- Amerindians
The Amerindians were polytheists and their Gods were known as ‘Zemi’.
The indigenous people were loyal to their Gods and carried out various
practices to show their devotion to them. Firstly, some people induced
vomiting with a swallowing stick, so as to rid the body of impurities (both
a literal and a symbolic spiritual removal). This ceremonial purging and
other rites served as a ‘symbolic changing’ before the Zemis. Women
served bread (a communion rite), first to Zemi, then to the Cacique,
followed by the other people. This ‘sacred bread’ was seen as a powerful
protector from evil spirits known as ‘Maboya’. These special services were
ways of acknowledging the Zemi’s powers (worship and thanksgiving) and
at the same time, seeking their aid. The Amerindians took their religion
and different practices very seriously and every member of the kingdom
was expected to carry them out. Respected priests called ‘Shamans’ play a
key role in virtually every variation of Amerindian religious and spiritual
practice. He is the bridge between the physical world and the
supernatural spirit world. He is charged with healing (both physically and
spiritually) tribal members and blessing their hunting and fishing
expeditions, as well as empowering their warriors before battle.
Religious Practices- Europeans
Most people lived their lives fully believing in the reality of a spiritual
realm all around them and in heaven or hell when they died. At this time,
majority of the people were Roman Catholic and they strongly believed in
this religion and its values. The Church provided for the religious aspects
of people's lives – baptism of babies, marriages, confession, the last rites
for the dying and burying the dead.
A large basin was used for infant or adult baptism – often quite large and
deep – which also served to determine a person’s guilt or innocence when
one was charged with a crime. To clear one’s name, a person would
submit to an ordeal in which one was bound and dropped into the font. If
the accused floated, it was a clear indication of guilt; if the accused sank, it
meant innocence but the accused would often drown. There was also the
ordeal of iron in which the accused was forced to hold or carry a hot
poker. If the person could hold the red-hot iron without burning and
blistering their hands, they were innocent; there are no records of anyone
being found innocent. The ordeal of water was also carried out by
streams, rivers, and lakes. Women accused of witchcraft, for example,
were often tied in a sack with their cat (thought to be their demonic
familiar) and thrown into a body of water. If they managed to escape and
come to the surface, they were found guilty and then executed, but they
most often drowned. These punishments served as a way to show God
that the Church is willing to rid all bad ‘evil’ from the land.
Customs and Trade- Amerindians
The Amerindians loved dancing and singing and used the same word for
both- ‘arietos’. They danced and sang to the music of drums, reed pipes and
wooden gongs at festivities such as the naming of a baby, the wedding of
cacique or the inauguration of a new cacique. Another Amerindian custom
is the flattening of foreheads of newborns, which was seen as a sign of
beauty. The newborns heads were bound between two boards to flatten the
forehead a few days after the child was born. They also played a game
called ‘batos’, which was played on a marked field with two teams trying to
hit the ball with their hips, knees, heads, elbows and shoulders into their
opponent’s goal line.
Trade—the exchange of something for something else—was an important
part of Euro-Indian relations from the earliest days of European settlement
in the Americas. The colonists traded glass beads and copper to the Indians
in exchange for desperately needed corn. Later, the Indian trade broadened
to include trading English-made goods such as axes, cloth, guns and
domestic items in exchange for shell beads and beaver pelts, which were
then sold for tobacco bound for the English market. This trade network
often resulted in great wealth for the European traders but also resulted in
American Indians becoming heavily dependent on English-made goods.
Customs and Trade- Europeans
Nothing was found
Trade: see Amerindian trade
Interaction between the two groups
Initially, Europeans and Amerindians established friendly relations and
exchanged products while sharing the same land. But soon enough,
conflicts would erupt over land, resources, and cultural beliefs. Some of
these conflicts over land and resources would also take place between
different native tribes. However, the most dramatic effect of this
interaction over time was the spread of disease. Over time, millions of
natives in the Americas would die from exposure to European smallpox
and other lethal diseases. Native Americans did not have an immune
system to deal with these European diseases.
3. Dutch control of Guyana
The Dutch were the first Europeans to settle modern day Guyana. The
Netherlands had obtained independence from Spain in the late 16th
century and by the early 17th century had emerged as a major commercial
power, trading with the fledgling English and French colonies in the Lesser
Antilles. In 1616 the Dutch established the first European settlement in the
area of Guyana, a trading post twenty-five kilometers upstream from the
mouth of the Essequibo River. Other settlements followed, usually a few
kilometers inland on the larger rivers. The initial purpose of the Dutch
settlements was trade with the indigenous people. The Dutch aim soon
changed to acquisition of territory as other European powers gained
colonies elsewhere in the Caribbean. Although Guyana was claimed by the
Spanish, who sent periodic patrols through the region, the Dutch gained
control over the region early in the 17th century. Dutch sovereignty was
officially recognized with the signing of the Treaty of Munster in 1648.
British control of Guyana
Eager to attract more settlers, in 1746 the Dutch authorities opened the
area near the Demerara River to British immigrants. British plantation
owners in the Lesser Antilles had been plagued by poor soil and erosion,
and many were lured to the Dutch colonies by richer soils and the
promise of landownership. The influx of British citizens was so great
that by 1760 the English constituted a majority of the European
population of Demerara. By 1786 the internal affairs of this Dutch
colony were effectively under British control, though two-thirds of the
plantation owners were still Dutch. They eventually purchased
Demerara, Berbice, and Essequibo, which were united as the colony of
British Guiana in 1831.
French control of Guyana
As economic growth accelerated in Demerara and Essequibo, strains
began to appear in the relations between the planters and the Dutch
West India Company. Administrative reforms during the early 1770s
had greatly increased the cost of government. The company periodically
sought to raise taxes to cover these expenditures and thereby provoked
the resistance of the planters. In 1781 a war broke out between the
Netherlands and Britain, which resulted in the British occupation of
Berbice, Essequibo, and Demerara. Some months later, France, allied
with the Netherlands, seized control of the colonies. The French
governed for two years, during which they constructed a new town,
Longchamps, at the mouth of the Demerara River. When the Dutch
regained power in 1784, they moved their colonial capital to
Longchamps, which they renamed Stabroek. The capital was in 1812
renamed Georgetown by the British.
Why did the European nations rival over Guyana?
Imperialists’ rivalry among the great Powers of Europe had projected many
of their battles almost always into Guyana and the Caribbean region. The
British, Dutch and French waged war constantly to gain possession of
territory in Guyana. These conquerors and many European buccaneers
were fiercely determined to discover El Dorado - the imaginary City of
Gold. Therefore, we can conclude that Guyana was such a hot commodity
because of the myth of a ‘city of gold.’ Eventually, it was recognized for its
incredibly fertile soil and many natural resources.
Valuable resources of the colony during the colonial period
Some of these are:
1. Water
2. Rainforests
3. Sugar plantations
4. Rice fields
5. Bauxite reserves
6. Gold reserves
