Racialization and Land Dispossession: Indigenous Trinidad

Abstract

Indigenous identities and histories of the first people of Trinidad have been, from the point of contact with Europe on, under-represented in research, and primary sources are steeped in racism and contradictions. These sources lend to the myth of Indigenous extinction on the Island, which helps to perpetuate continued dispossession. Unchallenged, this myth limits discussions of Indigenous sovereignty and rights, discussion that could lead to political action and change. The following research aims to contextualize Indigenous histories and identities in Trinidad, including how they were formed, defined and their implications. An anti-colonial lens is applied to analyze Indigenous Trinidad’s societal response to the threat of colonialism from the time before European contact, up until the 20th century.