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In the 1700s, the British were victorious over the French in the battle for possession of the Caribbean islands of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The rights of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines now belonged to them, but the transition was not as easy as they had anticipated. The Black Caribs would not give up their country without a fight. The determination and resilience of these natives came as a shock to the British, and for two centuries, conflict raged between the two groups. The first English-Carib War took place in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and lasted for two years, from 1771 to1773 – years of tremendous suffering and loss. Then, realizing how unwavering and resilient the Black Caribs were in their determination to keep their homeland, Britain, through King George III proposed the Treaty of 1773 which agreed to end the hostilities and promised peace. This was a first for the British as they were forced to sign an accord with an indigenous population in the Americas. One of the Carib chiefs to sign this treaty was a man named Chatoyer. A personal artist for a British official visited St. Vincent, and other Caribbean islands and did several paintings of Chatoyer during 1765-1768. This one is a oil painting named “Black Caribs, St. Vincent, 1773” located in the National Library of Jamaica.
(via diasporicroots)
