Taino

• Trading would be limited for the Tainos
• Reasons for limited trading

  • They produced basically the same things
  • The Tainos' villages were constantly raided by the Kalinagos
  • They did not engage in surplus production, only produced enough for their own use
  • It was not safe to venture too far out at sea where the Kalinagos ruled the 'highway'
• Whatever trading took place was among the Tainos themselves, with different villages contacting each other when there was a need
• The Tainos of Jamaica did engage in some amount of trading with the Mayans of Belize
• Subsistence farming

  They did not produce and store a surplus, only produced enough for the needs of the community
• Slash and burn agriculture

  1. Men cleared the land by chopping branches and burning them

  2. Women did the actual planting, using pointed wooden sticks to dig holes and drop in corn grains
• Crops grown by the Tainos

  • Fruits: pineapples, guava, naseberry, cashew, soursop, papaya, grapefruit
  • Cassava - main food
  • Sweet potatoes
• Fishing

  1. Used dug out canoes, nets made of vegetable fibres, bone and turtle shell hooks, bone tipped harpoons

  2. Attached remora (sucking fish) to canoe to attract other fish
• Catching waterfowl

  Placed calabashes on river, then slipped into water with one over head to grab nearby fowl
• Water animals caught

  • Flying fish, shellfish, crabs, manatee
• Pepperpot soup/stew

  Favorite Arawak dish, made with meat, vegetables, nuts and pepper, would feed a family for days
• Seasoning

  Used salt and pepper, especially in cassareep sauce made from cassava juice
• Intoxicating drinks

  Made using cassava and maize, only consumed on ceremonial occasions
• Hammocks


  • Used as beds or to 'hang out' and catch the cool breeze
  • Also made baskets from straw for fishermen's catch
• Gold collection

  1. Dug holes in riverbanks to let water flow through and examined the silt for gold

  2. Gold used mainly for decorative ornaments
• Agricultural skills

  • Grew vegetables like sweet potatoes, yautia and groundnuts in large mounds
  • Squeezed poisonous juices from cassava before making flour
  • Cultivated maize by soaking seeds and planting in rows
• Cooking methods

  Baking, roasting, stewing
• Artform


  Items the Tainos made or created, involving a means of creative expression used to express themselves
• Taino artform could be seen in all aspects of their daily lives, such as the way they created their tools, utensils, furniture, built their homes and adorned and decorated their bodies
• Tainos

  • They were good potters
  • They wove baskets, nets for fishing, hammocks and cloth from cotton and bark rope
  • They carved duho, zemi, and dug out canoes from wood
  • They created a vegetable peeler to cut and scrap food and vegetables
  • They loved to adorn their bodies with ornaments like amulets, pendants and other jewelry
  • They built houses with tightly woven thatched roofs
  • They crafted bone tipped harpoons, hooks of shells and bone, spears to fish
  • They used bird traps and bows and arrows to catch birds
  • They painted their bodies with dyes from roucou, saffron and berries
  • They crafted a variety of tools including stone chisel, graters, and cutting devices
  • They loved music and dancing and festivities
• Pottery making

  1. Wet clay was layered in strips and molded into their fingers using the coiled method

  2. Different styles of pottery and ceramics were made, including pots, bowls, cups, trays, incense burners and jars

  3. These were painted with plant dyes
• Taino Terms

  • Arawak: Eaters of meals
  • Cacique: Chief/leader
  • Mitaynos: Nobles, headmen to cacique/headmen
  • Bohio: The house where the cacique lived
  • Caneye: Other Taino houses
  • Zemi: Tainos God/idol
  • Canuco: small cultivated plots
  • Manioc: cassava
  • Yocahu: The God of manioc
  • Batata: sweet potatoes
  • Metate: grindstone
  • Guanin: bits of gold and copper hammered together to form a metal
  • Cahoba: powdered tobacco
  • Areyto: Singing and dancing
  • Hamacas: hammocks
  • Batos: ballgame
  • Duho: stool or chair
• Indigenous


  The original inhabitants of a particular region or land, especially those who have a historical and cultural connection to the area predating the arrival of outside influences
• There is great diversity among indigenous peoples worldwide, as they encompass a wide range of cultures, languages, and histories
• Indigenous populations face challenges, including historical injustices, discrimination, and struggles for land rights and cultural preservation
• Key characteristics of indigenous populations

  • Historical Connection: Indigenous people have a longstanding historical presence in a particular region, often dating back generations or even millennia
  • Cultural Distinctiveness: Indigenous communities typically have unique cultural traditions, languages, belief systems, and practices that distinguish them from other groups
  • Close Ties to the Land: Many indigenous cultures have a deep connection to their traditional lands, often viewing them not just as a resource but as an integral part of their identity, spirituality, and way of life
  • Collective Rights: Indigenous people often advocate for the recognition of their collective rights, including land rights, cultural preservation, and self-determination
• Indigenous Groups of the Caribbean

  • Taino
  • Caribs (Kalina)
  • Arawak
  • Lucayan
• Taino People

  • They were short and muscular
  • They had varying skin tones, ranging from light to dark brown
  • They had different hair types, including straight, wavy, or curly hair
  • They spoke Arawakan languages, which were part of the larger Arawakan language family
  • They had a deep connection to their ancestral lands and relied on the natural resources of the Caribbean islands for sustenance and incorporated their environment into their cultural practices
• Locations of the Taino People

  • Hispaniola
  • Cuba
  • Jamaica
  • Puerto Rico
  • The Bahamas
• Reasons for the Taino Settling

  • Abundance of Resources: The Greater Antilles offered a diverse range of natural resources
  • Agricultural Opportunities: The Greater Antilles provided favorable conditions for cultivating crops
  • Strategic Geographic Location: The Greater Antilles offered strategic advantages for trade and communication
  • Climate: The tropical climate supported the Taino's agricultural practices
  • Access to Waterways: The coastlines and waterways facilitated fishing, transportation, and trade
• Tainos Social Structure

  • Cacique: Political and religious leader, title inherited
  • Mitaynos (Nitainos): Nobles, advisors and overseers
  • Naborias: Working class, semi-skilled jobs
• Cacique


  They lived in larger houses called bohio, had the largest and only painted canoe, their wives wore the longest skirts, they practiced polygamy, when they got old they were strangled to death, wrapped in cotton and buried with ornaments
• Duties/Responsibilities of the Cacique

  • Organized farming, hunting and storage of food
  • Negotiated with villages over disputes, treaties and ensured peace
  • Led wars
  • Assigned daily work
  • Organized harvest
• The Tainos were polytheistic and believed in many gods
• They had a number of myths to explain the mysteries of life including earth and the creation of man
• Their gods were represented by zemis which they made from wood, bone, stone or cotton, which were felt to contain the forces of nature or the spirits of the ancestors
• Each household kept a zemi or the bones of dead ancestors in a basket for use as a zemi to protect the family
• The Tainos believed in the forces of good and evil
• Cacique

  Political and religious leader of the Tainos, title was inherited
• Cacique

  • Lived in larger houses made of wattle and daub with thatched roof
  • Had the largest and only painted canoe
  • Their wives wore the longest skirts
  • Practiced polygamy and allowed to have more than one wife