Taino (people) - SpeedyLook encyclopedia

Origin

The origin of the Indians tainos confused and is disorientated when one refers being studied of their habits and their traditions. By analyzing to them Symbolic system and them Mythologie one realizes with surprise that it is related to the Maya S of the Yucatán, Guatemala, and other adjacent areas. Rudolf Schuller in the hurricane, gods of the storm , and Popol-Vuh (see Popol Vuh), announces many parallels with the Maya traditions. The relationship of features of mythology taina with that of the Mayas includes the fundamental idea of the duality of the demiurges: Yocahú, the father and Guabancex, the mother snake, whose coupling chairs the solar cycle.

Company

It was divided into three distinct social classes:

the Naborias or villager working the ground,
the Nitaínos considered as the noble ones of the tribes,
the Bohiques , Shaman S or priests who represented the religious beliefs and Cacique also known under the name of " Guare" , chief of the tribe or " Yucayeque". Moreover, existed a supreme leader to which Caciques were to pour a tribute.

cacic the tainos : The tainos were divided into a great number of cacicazgos (" zone of a cacique") of unequal size, sometimes dependant on others cacicazgos. The chronicler Fernández de Oviedo reports that with Hispaniola five large caciques in lower part were of which the other caciques ones of less importance controlled. Cacic the tainos accepted peacefully the Conquistador S, by considering them, following the example so much of other people of the Americas, like Gods come from the Ciel.

However, following the ill treatment that they accepted from the new arrivals, the caciques ones organized their forces and rejected their attackers the purpose of which were to control them. The modern weapons of the conquistadors (Arquebus, crossbow S, gun S), their drill plate S and armor S, were the keys of an unequal fight which led to the defeat of cacic the tainos. Tainos name cacic the chief of a territorial unit whose capacity limited to a yucayeque , a hamlet, a valley, etc

Among cacic the most important of the time of the arrival of the conquistadors (with their respective zones of capacity): Agüeybana there Guaybaná (Guánica) - two of most powerful of the island, Aramaná (banks of the Río Toa), Arasibo (Arecibo), Cacimar (Vieques), Caguax (Caguas), Canóbana (Large zone of the Río of Loíza), Daguao (Ceiba), Guacabo (Manatí), Guaraca (zone of the Río Guayanés), Guarionex (Utuado), Guayama (Guamaní), Hatuey, Jumacao (Humacao), Jayuya (Jayuya), Luisa (Loíza), Luquillo (Luquillo), Mabodomaca (Guajataca), Mabó (Guaynabo), Majagua (Bayamón), Mayagoex (Mayagüez), Orocovis (Orocovis).

The people were organized in the clearings of the forest, inside the grounds, with two types of habitats: the bohío , circular, common habitat of the inhabitants of yucayeque, and the caney , larger and rectangular where the cacique one with its family lived. These dwellings were built containing sheets of hinea (which collect in the rivers and rivers), and of Bois.

To sleep they used Hamac S (this word is of origin taina) woven with Coton. The clothes of the tainos were poor, partly because of the not very rigorous climate. The Spaniards found the men covered with simple a taparrabos (mask-sex), and the woman married with a " Loincloth " of straw, cotton or named sheets naguas . The unmarried women lived naked.

The two sexes applied painting body black, white, red and yellow. They decorated their body with Tatouage S religious to be protected from the bad spirits, and decorated their ears and lips with Or, Argent, stones, bone or Coquillage S. They made amongst other things Panier S, Poterie S in Céramique, they carved wood, manufactured nets and worked gold, abundant in the rivers of Puerto Rico. The Spaniards collected more than ten tons of Or by exhausting the reserves of the island and by despoiling the few objects of interest which the pieces of furniture of the caciques ones contained.

The caciques ones practiced the Polygamie, not very frequent among the commun run of the people. This practice could be justified by the excessive number young girls of age nubile, and because not to have children (or wire, hijos in Spanish) was a shame at the tainos. Relative richnesses of cacic, their statute, and the weak aspirations of the people made it possible those to have several wives and children. Polygamy increased because of constant fight against the Caribbean. The many falls of the male population and the pressing need for maintaining a level of population, were the determining factors of the propagation of polygamy among the West-Indian tribes tainos.

Religion

They believed in two gods: that of the Good (Yukiyú) and that of the evil (Juracán).

The world taino was divided into four parts and a center which the sun and its twin Guatauba controlled respectively, both wire of God Yocahú, creator of the mountains and fire. Coastrique, twin night of death, controlled the cloudburst, revealing the myth of the flood due to the continental influence.

In the politico-social structure, of theocratic and warlike nature, the cacique one and the Bohique represent the supernatural capacities of the god of the night. The word cacic, for example, contains the syllable Ca of cauni, gold because the cacique one represented the solar capacity of the god of fire; bohic holds its origins of boa, coa or toa, and of the rectangular house, the bohio, associated with tribe half snake, in its concerning order principle of duality. It seems to be proven that the mythological cycle of the Popol-Vuh exerted a strong influence in the Antilles. However, the feature most characteristic of mythology taina was to compare the spirits to the men, animals, plants and with the inanimate beings. This animism conferred on the Chaman great capacities owing to the fact that it was the only being able to dominate the spirits. For this purpose, it made idols out of cotton, stones, bones, shells, etc, which received the name of Cemí are. The cemies had capacities on the Man in what they contained the spirits governing the human activities. In 1907 Fewkes studied the idols tainos and arrived at the following conclusion: the tainos believed in two called supernatural beings cemies which were the parents of the others. These two creative fathers were symbolized by idols out of stone, wooden or clay, to which the Indians addressed their prayers, and in presence of which they celebrated the rites aiming at beseeching the fruit abundance and the happiness of the mankind. A group of these supernatural beings, los cemies, represented the ancestors of the clan. The worship of these idols was submitted to the families and their images were kept in the house-temple of the cacique one. Ramón Breaded, monk who enters 1494 and 1498 lived among the tainos of Santo Domingo, clarifies the matter of the religious beliefs: Yocahú (the creative father) lives with the sky, it is an immortal being which nobody can see, and although it has a mother there is no beginning with its existence. His/her mother, goddess existing since always also, has various names: Atabex, Yermaoguacar, Apito and Zuimaco. Oviedo when he speaks about the divine couple, declares: " The cemi is the lord of the world, the sky and the ground. Yocahu is the supreme divinity, wire and mythical, invisible and intangible grandfather like fire, like the wind, the sun and the lune." In the Porto Rican museums one can admire a great quantity of these strange idols, the cemies, whose form caused among the " UFO ologues" the most insane beliefs and speculations.

Economy

The economic main activity of Tainos was the agriculture, for which they carried out sowing that they called conucos . They cultivated the soft and bitter varieties manioc, for which they used manure and a system of irrigation, among the other important cultures in the life of the tainos: the potato, the corn, the peanut, the pepper, the pineapple, the sweet potato, cotton and tobacco.

They drove out small rodents, iguanas, some varieties of birds and snakes, they fished with the hook, the nets, or with poison, etc

They manufactured various types of objects the such hammock which they called coy. They made ferment the manioc in the goal to obtain a drink enivrante called uicù and the cazabe kind of bread or circular wafer of manioc cooked with the sun, which was consumed daily (and which is always manufactured besides in the area caribéenne, in particular in Dominican Republic).

Occupations

They were distracted in various ways: dance, music and play of ball. This last called batu was played in the batey . The play woke up the interest of the Spanish colonizers: the ball used was rebounding, it was obviously made of rubber (as well as resin and sheets), matter then unknown in occident. The two teams counted to 30 people (men and women), the goal of the play being to keep the ball in the air using the shoulders; elbows, hips and of any other part of the body except for the hands.

The principal ritual ones put in scene crowned dances called areytos accompanied by various instruments, mainly of the drum. The tobacco was one of the most used plants these ritual ones. The tree of cohobated was used during a religious ceremony " the ritual of the cohoba" where the cacique one, the bohique one and the nitaìnos came into contact with the spirits.

On arrival of the Spaniards, one estimates that the global population of the Antilles was of 230.000 inhabitants, whose majority was tainos. Fifty years after the beginning of colonization, under the terms of the reasons evoked previously, they had almost all disappeared. Puerto Rico is an exception since there remains still a remainder of population taina. One especially finds them in the district of mow Indieras of the municipality of Maricao, with center-is island. They are the survivors of the massacre of 1511, which made following a rebellion against the Spaniards, fomented by Agüeybana II the brave man. Overcome fled in the Porto Rican mountains where they could hide thanks to the thickness of the forests. Five hundred individuals survived until our days. In spite of an interbreeding with other ethnicities which arrived at Puerto Rico (among them African Spaniards and deportees), certain individuals of these residual communities tainas revealed to have 98% of blood taino.

Polemic

The situation précoloniale of the Caraïbe remains an object of study far from known. Thus there exist several authors who call into question the arbitrary one of separations between the various ethnos groups. Thus, Taïnos can be regarded as Arawak S because they spoke a Langue Arawak.

This situation is all the more difficult to know precisely that it was probably in the course of change at the time of the arrival of Europeans with the progressive extension of the Caribbean territory.

The populations amériendiennes of Caribbean are particularly studied in the universities of San-Juan and of New York and several recent discoveries called into question the traditional theories.

Terms of the French language of origin of the language taino

Ananas comes from the word anana
Barbecue of barbicu
Caïman of caiman
Canoë of canoa
Caraïbe of caribe
assumption on Colibri
Goyave of Guayaba
Hamac of hamaca
Iguane of iguana
Manioc of manioca
Ouragan of huracan
Papaye of papaya
Patate (soft) of batata
Pirog of piragua
Pitaya of pitahaya
Tabac of Tabacu
Savane of sabana
Cacique
Cannibale is derived from Caniba or Cariba, ethnonyme designating the enemies of Taïnos

Simple: Taíno

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