The Tainos: A Forgotten People

When one imagines the Caribbean, one thinks of Latinos, the Spanish language, tropical lush islands and sun. This statement is true of the Caribbean today, but in a pre-colonial time, the image was much different. The Caribbean as we know it today, with its Spanish and Creole languages, was very different before Columbus arrived to the region in 1492. The Tainos and Caribs were the original inhabitants of the Caribbean before Columbus. It is true today that unfortunately, the Tainos (Arawak) and Caribs have been forgotten.

The Tainos had a rich social, political and material culture before the arrival of the colonizers in the 15th century. The Tainos are descendants of the Saladoid people of the Greater Antilles; the Caribs descending from the Lesser Antilles. One of the essential elements of early Salodoid people was their unique pottery. The pottery included "well-made vessels painted with white-on-red painting." The Saladoid people lived in settlements that had one main building, a mallocas, at the center of many other small, pole-constructed huts with adjoining wind screens. The Tainos were also fishermen, who used nets, poison and traps. Other material aspects of the Tainos were cotton hammocks and baskets that were commonly used among the people. Zemis were three pointed objects of either stone, coral or shell that give us a glance at a possible religious tradition; the theme of 3 points was symbolic of life. Archeologists believe that zemis are figures of gods of the Taino; the Caribs did not have zemis. More evidence of a unique religious tradition among the group is seen in their complex funeral sites which is demonstrated by the position of the bodies in funeral sites; a squatting position. The burial sites suggest funeral rites and ancestor ties. The Tainos also had a large lapidary industry, a precious gem or stone industry that was part of a wider trading system among the islands of the Caribbean.

When the Spanish arrived in the Caribbean in 1492 Columbus wrote of all the Tainos and Caribs "…They do not bear arms, and do not know them…They would make fine servants…With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want." When Columbus and his men came ashore the Arawak ran to greet them while the Spanish carried swords. When Columbus first encountered the "natives" his main goal was to find gold. At the time, gold was becoming a symbol of wealth in Europe. Columbus more fully realized his initial aim in his statement "I took some of the natives by force in order that they might learn and might give me information of whatever there is in these parts." The Tainos and Caribs were soon taken as prisoners onto the Spanish ships and sent to Spain (most died en route to the mother country), taken as captives and sent back to Spain (in 1495), and enslaved as slave laborers in gold mines: slavery. Father Bartolome de Las Casas, wrote of the Tainos' mining "mountains are stripped from top to bottom and bottom to top…they did, split rocks, move stones, and carry dirt on their backs." As a result of the Spanish intrusion, it is stated that between 1494 to 1508 over 3 million people died in the islands. One of the most fatal elements to the European colonization was disease. The Spanish brought smallpox, measles, typhus, yellow fever, malaria, tuberculosis and pus infections. Final estimates of the extermination of indigenous people range between 3 and 8 millions people.

When the Spanish first encountered the different people of the Caribbean they categorized the people into two groups, the Carib and the Arawak. The Spanish described the Arawak as peaceful, gentle, hostile, and friendly. Caribs were described as warlike and hostile. The Caribs were fearless warriors who most often defeated the Arawak during fights and even succeeded in defeating some Europeans.