The first humans who population the Caribbean did so over six thousand years ago. These pre-Taíno people have
been called both Ciboney and Guanahatabey. At the time of the Columbian Encounter of 1492, they may have
been the remnants of elusive bands of hunter-gatherers of western Cuba that the Taíno called Guanahatabeys.
The Taíno did not seem able to speak their language. It has been speculated that this early culture may have
originated in Florida as "Glades" or from the Yucatan peninsular. The sea level between Cuba the Yucatan was
lower and islands between these land masses may have made the crossing easier. According to Father
Bartholomew De Las Casas, a Spanish chronicler of the early contact period and the “Defender of the Indians”, in
1492 the Taíno civilization consisted of six million people.
The mainland ancestors of the Taíno were once river communities who had originated in the Orinoco River Basin in
South America. On the South American mainland these ancestors of the Taíno were called Arawaks. By the time of
the birth of Christ, the Taíno’s ancestors had become seafaring navigators who had ventured north into the
Caribbean Sea populating the chain of islands that arch up like a "y" from Venezuela to the Florida peninsular. In
the Caribbean, they became Taíno when they absorbed the earlier inhabitants and evolved a distinctive culture. In
the Caribbean they had established a more complex civilization the center of which they called Haiti Bohio ("home")
or Quisqueya (renamed "Hispaniola" by Columbus). They brought innovative agricultural practices of earthen
mound-planting, mixed interdependent plant varieties (beans, maize, pumpkins) and irrigation canals where
needed. They established large chiefdoms under caciques that controlled extensive territories, which conducted
inter-island trade. The Taíno seemed to have travelled extensively since, in 1519, Hernando Cortez encountered a
Taíno woman in the Yucatan. There are even those who speculate that there are Taíno cultural traits in the
indigenous population of the Canary Islands off the Coast of Africa.
By the time of the arrival of Christopher Columbus, the linguistic cousins of the Taíno, people they called “Caraib”,
or “strong men”, had taken over the southern Caribbean islands. The Caribbean was named for this warrior society
that had now expanded north, conquering the Taíno men and intermarrying with their women. Although there is no
concrete evidence of the Carib practice of hunting humans for food, it was from the Taíno word "carib" that
Columbus recorded "caribales". It is from this 15th century Eurocentric superstition that we the word "cannibal" was
coined. In his letters to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, Columbus suggested the institution of
American slavery to his monarchs. The Spanish chose to dub any uncooperative "Indio" targeted for enslavement
as "caribales". During the Indigenous American Slave Trade, this philosophical justification was the pretext used "to
enslave in order to save" the heathens' souls.
The Taíno territory included the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles (Cuba, Haiti & the Dominican Republic,
Jamaica and Puerto Rico), the Virgin Islands and possibly parts of Florida. Only Cuba, Haiti and Jamaica have
retained their Taíno names. Taíno were first humans to encounter Christopher Columbus and the Spanish in the
Americas in 1492 on the Bahamian island of Guanahani (Island of the Iguana). Columbus took some Taínos, their
products and animals back to Spain as proof to his backers that he had found a new route to India. The Spanish
called the people “Indios” which is different from their word “Indu”, used for the people of India. On his return to the
Caribbean during the Second Voyage, surviving Taínos showed Columbus a shorter route to the Americas. This
route, used by Europeans until steamships were invented, brought Columbus and his 19 ships to the Island Carib
territories of Martinique, Guadeloupe and Dominica. The seafaring Taínos also showed Ponce de Leon the way to
their outpost on the North American mainland, which they called Bimini. Ponce de Leon renamed the peninsular “La
Florida". The old European myth of a "Fountain of Eternal Youth" was later associated with La Florida.
The Taínos were the first American people of sustained contact with Europe after 1492. In 1493, the Spanish sent
19 ships of colonization to Hispaniola. Hispaniola retained this prominent role of inter-hemispheric exchange until
after 1519 when Hernan Cortez made his attacks from Cuba into Mexica (Aztec) territory on the American mainland.
Consequently, many words, ideas, technologies, materials, foodstuffs, medicines and perceptions came from these
first years of interaction between Europe and the Americas. The Spanish borrowed the Taíno title of cacique and
applied it to all indigenous chiefs in the Americas. For 27 years, most of the information and goods taken from the
Americas to Europe, Asia and Africa came from the Caribbean civilizations. These are the reasons why many
foodstuffs, medicines, technologies and words from the Americas, used worldwide today, came via the Caribbean.
The first Caribbean technology adopted on European ships was the Taíno hamaca or “hammock”. In the tropical
Americas the Spanish gave up on their moldy wheat bread. They fed their troops and growing population cazabe
bread made from the yuca or cassava root commandeered from Taíno farms. Bitter yuca from which cazabe was
made is a poisonous tuber that the Taíno processed by squeezing out the toxic juice, baking the flour on a flat
griddle. They did not discard the cassava juice but cooked it down to make a meat tenderizer called cassareep.
Other yuca products are tapioca and farina. Cassava, the best source of starch, has now become the staple food
for millions of people in many other parts of the world. It is now part of many national dishes.
Exotic Caribbean hard woods like the Taíno mahogany entered world markets. The Spanish immediately exploited
local dye woods such as "Brazil" or Log wood. Mangle became "mangrove". The anona, or "pineapple" was a
symbol for hospitality placed above the door of a Carib home. English sea captains subsequently brought
Caribbean pineapples for American hosts and this is also a colonial symbol for hospitality. The Taíno bifurcated
snuff pipe, the tabacu, mistakenly became the name for the their sacred chewing, smoking, snuffing and medicinal
weed. Taíno tobacco enriched colonial America when John Rolf, Pocahontas' second husband brought it to
Virginia. This milder form of tobacco helped to finance the American Revolution. The cigar, first seen by the
Spanish in Cuba, is still world famous.
The rubber ball on clay ball courts astonished the Spanish who thought that the ball's bounce was the result of
witchcraft. The most well known Taíno product is mahisi, or maize. The Taíno introduced the Spanish to this
ancient Mexican horticultural invention. The most internationally popular Taíno spices are “chili” peppers and
Jamaican allspice. Columbus took them back to Spain as substitutes for black pepper, cinnamon and cloves from
the Far East. After all, his ventures into the Atlantic was initially to circumvent the Turkish blockade to the spices of
India, Ceylon and the Malaccan Islands. The more flavorful, varied American berries caught on in Europe and
spread to world cuisines. The most popular Taíno word is barbecoa or “barbecue”. The best-known storm is the
Taíno huracan or “hurricane”. The Taíno flatland is a sabana from which the word “savanna” comes. One of the
most popular known woods is the Taíno mahogany while mangle or “mangrove” is the name for the swamp tree.
They called their smallest island a cay , cayo or “key”. They called their beautiful bird a macaw and their big lizard
an iguana. Farther De las Casas lamented at the great loss of life among the Lucayo (Bahamian) Taíno conch
divers who the Spanish used as pearl divers. The Caribbean pearl trade enriched European royalty. An enslaved
Caribbean Indian pearl diver found one of the world’s largest and most famous pearls, “The Orphan”, from off the
coast of Venezuela. It now belongs to actress Elizabeth Taylor as a gift from Richard Burton.
been called both Ciboney and Guanahatabey. At the time of the Columbian Encounter of 1492, they may have
been the remnants of elusive bands of hunter-gatherers of western Cuba that the Taíno called Guanahatabeys.
The Taíno did not seem able to speak their language. It has been speculated that this early culture may have
originated in Florida as "Glades" or from the Yucatan peninsular. The sea level between Cuba the Yucatan was
lower and islands between these land masses may have made the crossing easier. According to Father
Bartholomew De Las Casas, a Spanish chronicler of the early contact period and the “Defender of the Indians”, in
1492 the Taíno civilization consisted of six million people.
The mainland ancestors of the Taíno were once river communities who had originated in the Orinoco River Basin in
South America. On the South American mainland these ancestors of the Taíno were called Arawaks. By the time of
the birth of Christ, the Taíno’s ancestors had become seafaring navigators who had ventured north into the
Caribbean Sea populating the chain of islands that arch up like a "y" from Venezuela to the Florida peninsular. In
the Caribbean, they became Taíno when they absorbed the earlier inhabitants and evolved a distinctive culture. In
the Caribbean they had established a more complex civilization the center of which they called Haiti Bohio ("home")
or Quisqueya (renamed "Hispaniola" by Columbus). They brought innovative agricultural practices of earthen
mound-planting, mixed interdependent plant varieties (beans, maize, pumpkins) and irrigation canals where
needed. They established large chiefdoms under caciques that controlled extensive territories, which conducted
inter-island trade. The Taíno seemed to have travelled extensively since, in 1519, Hernando Cortez encountered a
Taíno woman in the Yucatan. There are even those who speculate that there are Taíno cultural traits in the
indigenous population of the Canary Islands off the Coast of Africa.
By the time of the arrival of Christopher Columbus, the linguistic cousins of the Taíno, people they called “Caraib”,
or “strong men”, had taken over the southern Caribbean islands. The Caribbean was named for this warrior society
that had now expanded north, conquering the Taíno men and intermarrying with their women. Although there is no
concrete evidence of the Carib practice of hunting humans for food, it was from the Taíno word "carib" that
Columbus recorded "caribales". It is from this 15th century Eurocentric superstition that we the word "cannibal" was
coined. In his letters to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, Columbus suggested the institution of
American slavery to his monarchs. The Spanish chose to dub any uncooperative "Indio" targeted for enslavement
as "caribales". During the Indigenous American Slave Trade, this philosophical justification was the pretext used "to
enslave in order to save" the heathens' souls.
The Taíno territory included the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles (Cuba, Haiti & the Dominican Republic,
Jamaica and Puerto Rico), the Virgin Islands and possibly parts of Florida. Only Cuba, Haiti and Jamaica have
retained their Taíno names. Taíno were first humans to encounter Christopher Columbus and the Spanish in the
Americas in 1492 on the Bahamian island of Guanahani (Island of the Iguana). Columbus took some Taínos, their
products and animals back to Spain as proof to his backers that he had found a new route to India. The Spanish
called the people “Indios” which is different from their word “Indu”, used for the people of India. On his return to the
Caribbean during the Second Voyage, surviving Taínos showed Columbus a shorter route to the Americas. This
route, used by Europeans until steamships were invented, brought Columbus and his 19 ships to the Island Carib
territories of Martinique, Guadeloupe and Dominica. The seafaring Taínos also showed Ponce de Leon the way to
their outpost on the North American mainland, which they called Bimini. Ponce de Leon renamed the peninsular “La
Florida". The old European myth of a "Fountain of Eternal Youth" was later associated with La Florida.
The Taínos were the first American people of sustained contact with Europe after 1492. In 1493, the Spanish sent
19 ships of colonization to Hispaniola. Hispaniola retained this prominent role of inter-hemispheric exchange until
after 1519 when Hernan Cortez made his attacks from Cuba into Mexica (Aztec) territory on the American mainland.
Consequently, many words, ideas, technologies, materials, foodstuffs, medicines and perceptions came from these
first years of interaction between Europe and the Americas. The Spanish borrowed the Taíno title of cacique and
applied it to all indigenous chiefs in the Americas. For 27 years, most of the information and goods taken from the
Americas to Europe, Asia and Africa came from the Caribbean civilizations. These are the reasons why many
foodstuffs, medicines, technologies and words from the Americas, used worldwide today, came via the Caribbean.
The first Caribbean technology adopted on European ships was the Taíno hamaca or “hammock”. In the tropical
Americas the Spanish gave up on their moldy wheat bread. They fed their troops and growing population cazabe
bread made from the yuca or cassava root commandeered from Taíno farms. Bitter yuca from which cazabe was
made is a poisonous tuber that the Taíno processed by squeezing out the toxic juice, baking the flour on a flat
griddle. They did not discard the cassava juice but cooked it down to make a meat tenderizer called cassareep.
Other yuca products are tapioca and farina. Cassava, the best source of starch, has now become the staple food
for millions of people in many other parts of the world. It is now part of many national dishes.
Exotic Caribbean hard woods like the Taíno mahogany entered world markets. The Spanish immediately exploited
local dye woods such as "Brazil" or Log wood. Mangle became "mangrove". The anona, or "pineapple" was a
symbol for hospitality placed above the door of a Carib home. English sea captains subsequently brought
Caribbean pineapples for American hosts and this is also a colonial symbol for hospitality. The Taíno bifurcated
snuff pipe, the tabacu, mistakenly became the name for the their sacred chewing, smoking, snuffing and medicinal
weed. Taíno tobacco enriched colonial America when John Rolf, Pocahontas' second husband brought it to
Virginia. This milder form of tobacco helped to finance the American Revolution. The cigar, first seen by the
Spanish in Cuba, is still world famous.
The rubber ball on clay ball courts astonished the Spanish who thought that the ball's bounce was the result of
witchcraft. The most well known Taíno product is mahisi, or maize. The Taíno introduced the Spanish to this
ancient Mexican horticultural invention. The most internationally popular Taíno spices are “chili” peppers and
Jamaican allspice. Columbus took them back to Spain as substitutes for black pepper, cinnamon and cloves from
the Far East. After all, his ventures into the Atlantic was initially to circumvent the Turkish blockade to the spices of
India, Ceylon and the Malaccan Islands. The more flavorful, varied American berries caught on in Europe and
spread to world cuisines. The most popular Taíno word is barbecoa or “barbecue”. The best-known storm is the
Taíno huracan or “hurricane”. The Taíno flatland is a sabana from which the word “savanna” comes. One of the
most popular known woods is the Taíno mahogany while mangle or “mangrove” is the name for the swamp tree.
They called their smallest island a cay , cayo or “key”. They called their beautiful bird a macaw and their big lizard
an iguana. Farther De las Casas lamented at the great loss of life among the Lucayo (Bahamian) Taíno conch
divers who the Spanish used as pearl divers. The Caribbean pearl trade enriched European royalty. An enslaved
Caribbean Indian pearl diver found one of the world’s largest and most famous pearls, “The Orphan”, from off the
coast of Venezuela. It now belongs to actress Elizabeth Taylor as a gift from Richard Burton.
In 1492, the Caribbean's indigenous people created an
everlasting impact on the rest of the planet. After
Columbus' arrival there the Spanish (and later, the
Portuguese) became conduits for the dispersal of many
Taíno and Carib products, words and technologies.
Some words like hurricane, canoe, barbecue, hammock,
tobacco, cannibal, cay (or key), barracuda, maize and
savanna entered world languages. So did foods like
corn (Zea mays), pineapple, peanut, sweet potato, yuca
(the source of tapioca, farina, cassava), chili peppers,
allspice, sarsaparilla and much more, became an
integral part of the planet's diet and caused marked
increases in population growths in Asia, Africa and
Europe. Most of these foodstuffs originated in South and
Central America. Except for Jamaican jerk chicken, many
other local fruits, medicines, and lumber have not yet
become popular overseas.
The area of the Caribbean near to the Carib islands of
Martinique, Guadeloupe and Dominica was the shorter
gateway to the Americas from the Eastern Hemisphere
after Columbus' second voyage in 1493. This route
continued to be used by foreign sailors until the
invention of steamships. The Caribs were the inspiration
for Shakespeare's play "The Tempest" while Taíno epic
stories influenced the writing of "La California" and
searches for [the] Amazons and gold.
everlasting impact on the rest of the planet. After
Columbus' arrival there the Spanish (and later, the
Portuguese) became conduits for the dispersal of many
Taíno and Carib products, words and technologies.
Some words like hurricane, canoe, barbecue, hammock,
tobacco, cannibal, cay (or key), barracuda, maize and
savanna entered world languages. So did foods like
corn (Zea mays), pineapple, peanut, sweet potato, yuca
(the source of tapioca, farina, cassava), chili peppers,
allspice, sarsaparilla and much more, became an
integral part of the planet's diet and caused marked
increases in population growths in Asia, Africa and
Europe. Most of these foodstuffs originated in South and
Central America. Except for Jamaican jerk chicken, many
other local fruits, medicines, and lumber have not yet
become popular overseas.
The area of the Caribbean near to the Carib islands of
Martinique, Guadeloupe and Dominica was the shorter
gateway to the Americas from the Eastern Hemisphere
after Columbus' second voyage in 1493. This route
continued to be used by foreign sailors until the
invention of steamships. The Caribs were the inspiration
for Shakespeare's play "The Tempest" while Taíno epic
stories influenced the writing of "La California" and
searches for [the] Amazons and gold.
Powhatan Museum
of Indigenous Arts and Culture
The Taíno Culture
| Batey was the Taíno name for the clay surfaced court on which they played a ball-game with a rubber ball. The Spanish first saw balls made from latex in the Caribbean. They exaggerated the bouncing ability of this "new" substance. On the mainland this very popular, often spiritual game was also played in a large stone enclosed stadium. They made water- proof shoes, ponchos, strap- ping and toys from the treated sap of the rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) tree. |
| Top left: Yuca/Cassava and products made from the tuber. Top right: Jamaican rock iguana. Right: Ahi or habanero/scotch bonnet peppers. Left: Varieties of Mahisi/Maiz/Corn. A genetically engineered grass grain from ancient Mexico. |
| Agile players, wore a carved stone belt, used only hip, elbow or head to keep the heavy, solid ball airborne. Both men and women played this popular game. |
Copyrighted 2007 by Auld/Powhatan