View source for Carib expulsion from Martinique

[[File:Indianen of Caraïben, waarvan er een getatoueerd is.jpg|thumb|Illustration of [[Kalinago]] people (19th century)]]
The '''Carib expulsion from Martinique''' was the [[France|French]]-led [[ethnic cleansing]] that removed most of the [[Kalinago]] (Island Carib) population in 1660 from the island of [[Martinique]]. This followed the French invasion in 1635 and its conquest of the [[Caribbean]] island that made it part of the [[French West Indies]].

==History==
[[File:Atlas_Van_der_Hagen-KW1049B13_085-INSULA_MATANINO_Vulgo_MARTANICO.jpeg|thumb|1690 map of Martinique; the western part is labelled "abode of the French" while the east is called "[[Cabesterre]], or abode of the [[Savage (pejorative term)|savages]]."]]
The [[Arawak]] were the first settlers of Martinique (which they called ''Madinina'', "flower island"), arriving around the 1st century BC. The Carib people invaded the islands about AD 1200 according to carbon dating of artifacts, massacring and expelling the Arawak; they called the island ''Jouanacera'', "[[iguana]] island."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/cf5852cb248f48c490b2565a7ad11f32|title=Carib Expulsion from Martinique|first=Kai|last=Lucas|date=February 18, 2024|website=ArcGIS StoryMaps}}</ref><ref name="Sweeney">[http://www.diaspora.uiuc.edu/news0307/news0307-7.pdf Sweeney, James L. (2007). "Caribs, Maroons, Jacobins, Brigands, and Sugar Barons: The Last Stand of the Black Caribs on St. Vincent"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120227183833/http://www.diaspora.uiuc.edu/news0307/news0307-7.pdf |date=2012-02-27 }}, ''African Diaspora Archaeology Network'', March 2007, retrieved 26 April 2007</ref>

In 1635 the Carib were overwhelmed by French forces led by the [[adventurer]] [[Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc]] and his nephew [[Jacques Dyel du Parquet]], who imposed [[French colonial empires|French colonial rule]] on the [[Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean|Indigenous]] Carib peoples. [[Cardinal Richelieu]] of France gave the island to the [[Compagnie de Saint-Christophe|Saint Christophe Company]], in which he was a shareholder. Later the company was reorganized as the [[Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique|Company of the American Islands]]. The French colonists imposed [[French Law]] on the conquered inhabitants, and [[Jesuit]] [[missionaries]] arrived to [[religious conversion|convert]] them to the [[Roman Catholic Church]].<ref>[http://www.martinique.pref.gouv.fr/pages/histoireinstitang.html "Institutional History of Martinique"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100325234539/http://www.martinique.pref.gouv.fr/pages/histoireinstitang.html |date=2010-03-25 }}, Martinique Official site, French Government (translation by Maryanne Dassonville). Retrieved 26 April 2007</ref>

Because the Carib people resisted working as laborers to build and maintain the [[sugar]] and [[Theobroma cacao|cocoa]] plantations which the French began to develop in the Caribbean, in 1636 King [[Louis XIII of France|Louis XIII]] proclaimed ''[[La Traite des Noirs]]''. This authorized the capture or [[Trans Atlantic Slave Trade|purchase of slaves from Africa]], who were then transported as labor to Martinique and other parts of the French West Indies.<ref name="Sweeney"/>

In 1650, the Company liquidated and sold Martinique to Jacques Dyel du Parquet, who became governor until his death in 1658. His widow then took control of the island for France. As more French colonists arrived, they were attracted to the fertile area known as ''Cabesterre'' (leeward side). The French had pushed the remaining Carib people to this northeastern coast and the [[Caravalle]] Peninsula, but the colonists wanted the additional land. The [[Jesuits]] and [[Dominican Order|Dominicans]] agreed that whichever order arrived there first, would get all future parishes in that part of the island. The Jesuits came by sea and the Dominicans by land, with the Dominicans' ultimately prevailing.

When the Carib revolted against French rule in 1660, the Governor [[Charles Houël du Petit Pré|Charles Houel sieur de Petit Pré]] retaliated with war against them. Many were killed; those who survived were taken captive and expelled from the island.

On Martinique, the French colonists signed a peace treaty with the few remaining Carib. Some Carib had fled to [[Dominica]] or [[Saint Vincent (island)|St. Vincent]], where the French agreed to leave them at peace. However, following the British conquest of these islands, the Caribs would eventually be expelled to Central America after losing the [[Second Carib War]].

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{French colonial campaigns}}

[[Category:Anti-Indigenous racism in the Caribbean]]
[[Category:Kalinago]]
[[Category:History of Martinique]]
[[Category:Indigenous topics of the Caribbean]]
[[Category:Forced migration]]
[[Category:Ethnic cleansing in North America]]
[[Category:1660 in France]]
[[Category:Garifuna]]
[[Category:17th century in Martinique]]
[[Category:17th century in the Caribbean]]