A large set of historical documents give us descriptions of Antillean Amerindian boats. These texts constitute a continuous series from the time of first contact to sub-contemporaneous anthropological descriptions. This paper is based on extensive review of the data contained in those early Spanish, Dutch, English, and French sources and also on a review of the few direct archaeological evidences. In this way we tried to analyse not only the nature of the relationship that existed between Antillean Amerindians and the sea but also to obtain an accurate description of their different boat types. Finally we have reconstituted the building process chaîne opératoire of the kanawa, which were the boat type specifically designed and preferentially used for over-sea navigations.

Understanding the navigation capacities of the Eastern Caribbean pre-Columbian population is crucial for the community working in the Antilles. We have chosen to focus our work on an experimental approach of these techniques. Our ambition was to set up an experimental program including all the aspects associated with the building and the utilization of the kanawa. Thus, we have conducted an ethno-archaeological study of the kanawa building process followed by the Kali’ña from French Guyana. Then, the « Akayouman » kanawa was made into a 3D model to support a hydrostatic analyse. Finally, the heart of the project was composed of gathering and studying the data collected during our expeditions in the kanawa.