Carib

American Indian people who inhabited the Lesser Antilles and parts of the neighboring South American coast at the time of the Spanish conquest. They were warlike immigrants from the mainland who drove the Arawak from the Lesser Antilles. They were notorious for eating captives (the word 'cannibal' is a corruption of the Spanish 'Caribal'). They were skilled pottery-makers and agriculturists but were mostly concerned with warfare. They were a maritime people who carried out long-distance raids with large dugout canoes. The Carib language was spoken only by the men; women spoke Arawak.

A native group occupying the Lesser Antilles at the time of Columbus. Originating somewhere on mainland South America, they migrated along the islands, displacing the Arawak, probably by force. The Arawak language, however, remained; and the new group is distinguished from the old by the absence of Zemi worship. Even though they were skilled pottery-makers and agriculturalists, the Carib’s spiritual emphasis seems to have focussed on warfare and the ritual eating of human flesh (the word cannibal is derived from Carib).