Carib expulsion from Martinique

The Carib Expulsion was the French-led ethnic cleansing that removed most of the Carib population in 1660 from present-day Martinique. This followed the French invasion in 1635 and conquest of the Caribbean island that made it part of the French colonial empire.

History

The Carib people had migrated from the mainland to the islands about 1200 CE, according to carbon dating. They largely displaced, exterminated and assimilated the Taino who were resident on the island.

In 1635 the Carib were overwhelmed in turn by French forces led by adventurer Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc and his nephew Jacques Dyel du Parquet, who imposed French colonial rule on the indigenous Carib peoples. Cardinal Richelieu of France gave the island to the Saint Christophe Company, in which he was a shareholder. Later the company was reorganized as the Company of the American Islands. The French colonists imposed French Law on the conquered inhabitants, and Jesuit missionaries arrived to convert them to the Roman Catholic Church.

Because the Caribs resisted working as laborers to build and maintain the sugar and cocoa plantations which the French began to develop in the Caribbean, in 1636 King Louis XIII proclaimed La Traite des Noirs. This authorized the capture and purchase of slaves from Africa for transportation as labor to Martinique and other parts of the French West Indies.

In 1650, the Company liquidated and sold Martinique to Jacques Dyel du Parquet, who became governor, a position he held until his death in 1658. His widow Mme. du Parquet took over control of the island. As more French settlers arrived, they were attracted to the fertile area known as Cabesterre (leeward side). The French had pushed remaining Carib people to this northeastern coast and the Caravalle Peninsula, but the colonists wanted the additional land. The Jesuits and the 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 Caribs revolted against French rule in 1660, Governor Charles Houel sieur de Petit Pré launched a war against them. Many were killed; those who survived were taken captive and expelled from the island. They never returned.

On Martinique, the French signed a peace treaty with the few remaining Carib. Some Carib had fled to Dominica or St. Vincent, where the French agreed to leave them at peace.