Taíno people

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Taíno people

Ethnic group

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The Taínos were seafaring indigenous peoples of the Bahamas, Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles. They were one of the Arawak peoples of South America, and the Taíno language was a member of the Arawakan language family of northern South America. At the time of Columbus' arrival in 1492, there were five Taíno chiefdoms and territories on Hispaniola, each led by a principal Cacique, to whom tribute was paid. Puerto Rico also was divided into chiefdoms. As the hereditary head chief of Taíno tribes, the cacique was paid significant tribute. Caciques enjoyed the privilege of wearing golden pendants called guanin, living in square bohíos instead of the round ones that the villagers inhabited, and sitting on wooden stools when receiving guests. At the time of the Spanish conquest, the largest Taíno population centers may have contained over 3,000 people each. The Taínos were historically enemies of the neighboring Carib tribes, another group with origins in South America who lived principally in the Lesser Antilles. The relationship between the two groups has been the subject of much study. For much of the 15th century, the Taíno tribe was being driven to the northeast in the Caribbean (out of what is now South America) because of raids by Caribs. Many Carib women spoke Taíno because of the large number of female Taíno captives among them. The Spaniards who first arrived in the Bahamas, Cuba, and Hispaniola in 1492, and later in Puerto Rico, did not bring women. They took Taíno women for their wives, which resulted in mestizo children. Rape of Taíno women by the Spanish was also common. {{#invoke:Footnotes|sfn}}{{#invoke:Footnotes|sfn}} It is argued that there was substantial mestizaje (racial and cultural mixing) as well as several Indian pueblos that survived into the 19th century in Cuba. The Taínos were wiped out by Spanish settlers, who arrived after Christopher Columbus landed on the island in 1492 and who introduced new diseases and fought with and enslaved the natives. {{#invoke:Footnotes|sfn}} By 1548 the native population was under 500. {{#invoke:Footnotes|sfn}} By the 18th century, Taíno society had been devastated by introduced diseases such as smallpox, as well as other factors such as intermarriages and forced assimilation into the plantation economy that Spain imposed in its Caribbean colonies, with its subsequent importation of African slave workers. The first recorded smallpox outbreak in Hispaniola occurred in December 1518 or January 1519. The 1518 Smallpox epidemic killed 90% of the natives who had not already perished. {{#invoke:Footnotes|sfn}}