The Settlement of the Caribbean (A Part of Project Exploration)

One thing that was always intriguing to me is why the natives of Florida didn't go out and settle islands in the Caribbean, but there's a lot of evidence that pre-colonial South Florida was deeply connected culturally and materially with Caribbean polities and people whereas North Florida was more similar to its Mississippian neighbors in the Southeast. It would be quite interesting if there was evidence of Muskogean languages being spoken in Cuba, but I doubt something like that would ever preserve in the historical record.

Love this video, the Taino and Carib people don’t get enough love. The Taino language has given English many words, like barbecue and canoe and many others.

My grandmother is from Puerto Rico and she had Taino blood, mixed with African, French and Spanish. When my father was in the second grade he lived in Ponce, Puerto Rico back in the late 1960s. He said that when he was there the last pureblood Taino Indian died. He told me that the guy was crazy, homeless, and extremely strong. He would spend all day everyday throwing extremely heavy rocks into the air and catching them with his bare hands. I thought it was interesting and sad.

I was waiting for this episode I feel that the Caribbean is overlooked in precolumbian history. Great video can't wait for more.

I'm half Jamaican and half Guyanese and I will say, it's not often that I see info on the pre-Columbian stuff regarding either country so this is dope!

It's incredible to me that so much of this history isn't yet known, or is completely unknowable.

A point about the ocean currents: in the Pacific, it was a common practice to sail against both the wind and currents on voyages of discovery in order to make a return voyage easier in the event that no land is found. Granted this was made easier by the Polynesians and Micronesians possessing sail technology, but this principle of needing to avoid being stranded at sea if no new land is found seems almost universal. As a side note, this assumption that any voyage by ancient people needed to follow ocean currents is what led Thor Heyerdahl to propose that settlement of the Pacific originated in South America and travelled west, while the modern archaeological and linguistic evidence available instead points to a Southeast Asian and ultimately Taiwanese origin.

Barely started watching but I already feel like I need to say how happy I am to see a video from you about the settlement of the Caribbean! Thank you!

Whoohoo. Great topic. One less archaeological settlement/migration tidbit that is worth people looking into is the fascinating origins/formation of the people we know as the Island Caribs, which is still debated. Anyway, happy to see this out. And thanks for the shout out!

Another video about the discover of the Caribbean islands Viewers: "boooo" Discovery by native/first nations Views: "yaaaay!" Seriously love these topics from the non old world point of view

I'm really glad you mentioned sea level rise. I think it is an underappreciated element when talking about coastal and island civilizations. It would seem that much of our unknown global history is offshore.

Thanks a lot for the upload ancient america!! Watching from Belize central america I'm from formerly known as British Honduras and we're considered a Caribbean country as well!!✌🏽🙏🌎🇧🇿

I don't usually comment, but my most sincere thanks for covering this topic. The history of the Caribbean, not as a footnote but as the geographic and macrocultural region it has comprised for most of its history, is sadly overlooked way too often. As a Puerto Rican, this was a much-needed refresher on my knowledge of our ancient native history, and an update from the sadly outdated perspective we're provided in our schooling system. Here's to more content featuring this beautiful part of the world. ¡Un abrazo desde Puerto Rico!

Watching from Belize central america I'm from and thanks for the upload!! Belize central america Is also considered a Caribbean country !!✌🏽🙏🌎🇧🇿

i have officially watched every video on this channel at least once (many of them, especially the Mesoamerican ones, multiple times)! This is one of my favorite history channels on youtube

Now that’s something I’m incredibly happy to see in my subscription feed

Oh I’m from trinidad and I’m so glad to see someone covering the Caribbean in history! Clicked play immediately on this one

Glad to see a video on this topic! The Caribbean has a pre-Columbian history and culture just like everywhere else in the America's! Its sad how it is just now that we are really starting to dive deep and trying to understand our roots but hey its something!

The Saledoids later expanded west becoming the major culture in the higher antilles, forming the Taino culture and achieving a great deal of sofistication. To learn more on the issue I recomend "Tainos and Caribs: The Aboriginal Cultures of the Antilles" by Sebastián Robiu Lamarche

I appreciate that this content handles this history simply as history, instead of the often colorful and politically motivated romancing of the natives that's become very common these past years. They were humans like us, they deserve to be seen as more than objects of tragic pity.