The original inhabitants of the island of Hispaniola (now Haiti/Dominican Republic) were the indigenous Ta?no, an Arawak-speaking people who began arriving by canoe from Belize and the Yucatan peninsula between 6000 and 4000 BC.

The historical lineage of Dominica's first inhabitants is a complex tapestry of migration from South America. The very first known settlers were the Ortoroids, a hunter-gatherer group that arrived around 3100 B.C. and inhabited the island until approximately 400 B.C. They were followed by the Arawaks (or Igneri), who established settled agricultural communities around 400 A.D. and were known for their advanced pottery and peaceful nature. However, by the 14th century, the Kalinago (historically called Caribs) aggressively migrated northward through the Caribbean archipelago, eventually displacing or absorbing the Arawak population. When Christopher Columbus arrived in 1493, he encountered the Kalinago, who called the island "Waitukubuli" (Tall is her body). Unlike many other Caribbean islands where indigenous populations were entirely wiped out during European colonization, Dominica remains the only island in the Eastern Caribbean with a significant remaining population of its pre-Columbian inhabitants. Today, the Kalinago Territory on the island's northeast coast is home to over 3,000 descendants who preserve their ancestral crafts, boat-building traditions, and unique cultural heritage.