The Caribs of Saint Christopher, known as…
1626 CE
The Caribs of Saint Christopher, known as the Kalinago, realize that many more Europeans will come and settle in the island, and decide that the European settlers have to be destroyed.
Large numbers of Caribs from Dominica and other neighboring islands are invited to St. Kitts to help get rid of the settlers.
However, the plan is told to one of the English settlers by a woman named Barbe.
The English and French join forces and launch a surprise night attack on the St. Kitts Caribs.
According to Du Tertre (1667 I:6), between one hundred and twenty Caribs are killed in their beds that night, with only the most beautiful Carib women spared death to serve as slaves.
The French and English, having thus rid themselves of the local Caribs, subsequently divide the island between them and set about fortifying the island against the expected invasion of Caribs from other islands.
Three to four thousand Caribs allegedly take up arms against the Europeans in the ensuing battle.
Du Tertre gives no precise information on the number of Caribs killed, but mentions that the fallen natives on the beach were piled high into a mound.
The English and French suffer at least one hundred casualties (Du Tertre 1667 I:6).
It is said that the blood of the Caribs ran down Bloody River for three days; this is why the area is named Bloody Point.
A white cross commemorates the slaughter of the Caribs.