COLUMBUS AND THE TAINO CIVILISATION: FIRST CONTACT 1492On August 3, 1492, Columbus set sail from Spain to find an all-water route to Asia. On October 12, more than two months later, Columbus landed on an island in the Bahamas that he called San Salvador; the natives called it Guanahani.

Upon arrival Columbus was adamant that he had arrived in Japan, Asia but he had in fact landed in what is now the Bahamas. He named the first island they found San Salvador (modern day Bahamas) before going on to Juana (Cuba) and Hispaniola (Haiti and Dominican Republic). Initial ContactWhen Christopher Columbus arrived in San Salvador (Bahamas) in 1492, he encountered the Taíno people, whom he described in letters as "naked as the day they were born." The Taino people swam out to greet Columbus and his men and to get a closer look at the strange big boat. When Columbus and his sailors came ashore, carrying swords, speaking oddly, the Taino people, brought them food, water and gifts. He later wrote of this in his log:

“They ... brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks' bells. They willingly traded everything they owned... . They were well-built, with good bodies and handsome features.... They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They have no iron. Their spears are made of cane... .”The Tainos displayed remarkable hospitality and belief in sharing. These traits did not stand out in the Europe of the Renaissance, dominated as it was by the religion of popes, the government of monarchs and their quest for money and influence.

Taino CivilisationThe groups of native people incorrectly labelled “Indians” by Columbus were actually a diverse mix of different tribes which spanned the islands of the Caribbean. The three major native populations who lived on the islands were the Taino, the Island Carib and the Guanahatabey. Of the three groups —historians know most about the lives of the Tainos because they were the most numerous native population of the CaribbeanThe Tainos were an advanced people who were skilled farmers and navigators, who wrote music and poetry and created powerfully expressive objects. They lived in village communes and grew a large variety of crops, such as Yuca (cassava) and maize, to ensure that some of them would grow, and ripen regardless of the season. They used large, stable, slow rafts for trade between islands. Taino women did all the agricultural and craft work at home, whereas the men were generally warriors.The Taíno played games, one played in the batéy (an arena-like field) with rubber object. They also devoted their energy to creative activities such as pottery, basket weaving, cotton weaving, stone tools and stone sculpture. Men and women painted their bodies and wore jewellery made of gold, stone, bone, and shell. Tainos used the hamaca (hammock) which was adopted by the Spanish as a convenient means to increase the crew capacity and sanitary conditions on ships.

Columbus and his men were told stories by the Tainos about the Island Caribs to warn them of where it was safe to travel in the islands. Island-Caribs were thought to be, by the Tainos, violent, blood-thirsty savages. Tales of cannibalism and torture at the hands of these native peoples were told to Columbus; however these tales were never proven. The Island Caribs were not cannibals, as the Tainos feared and later argued by Columbus, but they did practice rituals and ceremonies in which they cut off the limbs of their enemies. They believed that by doing this they

would gain the skill and prowess of the opposing warrior. It was a sign of respect and admiration for their enemy.The hunt for gold They had no horses or work animals and no iron, but they wore tiny gold ornaments in their ears. This was to have enormous consequences: it led Columbus to take some of them aboard ship as prisoners because he insisted that they guide him to the source of the gold. He then sailed to Juana (Cuba), landing on October 28 1492. Thinking he had found China, he sent two men to investigate. The two men failed in their mission to find the Emperor of China, but did visit a native Taíno village. There they were the first to observe the smoking of tobacco, a habit which they promptly picked up. Leaving Juana (Cuba), Columbus arrived on the Island of Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic) on December 5. The natives called it Haití, but Columbus renamed it Hispaniola.

Guacanagarix, the Chieftain of the Tainos in Hispaniola, gave flattery and celebration to Columbus and his men by giving them presents; tobacco leaves and bits of gold – Tainos did not consider gold as important as it was not considered a form of currency, instead they considered it to be the ‘the excrement of the gods’. Columbus gave the Taino Chieftain a shirt and a pair of gloves and invited him to have dinner abroad the boat. In return Columbus and his men were given a lavish display of entertainment on the island by the Tainos. During the festivities provided by Tainos, the chieftain dressed in the shirt and gloves that Columbus had given him and gained the support of the Columbus in helping to prevent an attack from the Island Caribs – who the Tainos feared. Columbus ensured the Chieftain that the Spanish monarchs will order the destruction of the Island Caribs and to prove his point, he put on a display of Spanish weapons – which both impressed and frightened the natives. It was obvious from Columbus’s journal that the Tainos were not as used to battle and warfare as the Spaniards. Columbus noted that: “… with 50 men you could subject everyone and make them do what you wished”

And that the natives were “Such cowards and so fearful”

At the end of the festivities, Columbus was presented with a large gold mask that had golden ears and eyes. The gold mask led to wild visions of gold fields. Thus the information that Columbus wanted most was: Where is the gold? This quest for gold was to set the tone for the relationship between the natives of the ‘New World’ and the Spanish explorers in the future. Leaving for SpainBefore returning to Spain, Columbus left thirty-nine men to build a settlement in Hispaniola called La Navidad (Christmas) with instructions to find and store the gold. Columbus brought back to Spain small amounts of gold as well as native birds, the previously unknown tobacco plant, pineapple plant, chili peppers, turkeys and the hammock to show the richness of the continent he believed to be Asia. He also kidnapped several Taino people (between ten and twenty-five) to take back to Spain—however only eight survived the journey to Spain. When Columbus arrived back in Spain on March 15, 1493, he immediately wrote a letter announcing his discoveries to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, who had helped finance his trip. The letter was written in Spanish and announced the existence of the American continent throughout Europe. PRIMARY DOCUMENTATION – Columbus’s letter to Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand

“I have determined to write you this letter to inform you of everything that has been done and discovered in this voyage of mine.

On the thirty-third day after leaving Cadiz I came into the Indian Sea, where I discovered many islands inhabited by numerous people. I took possession of all of them for our most fortunate King by making public proclamation and unfurling his standard, no one making any resistance. The island called Juana, as well as the others in its neighbourhood, is exceedingly fertile. It has numerous harbours on all sides, very safe and wide, above comparison with any I have ever seen. Through it flow many very

broad and health-giving rivers; and there are in it numerous very lofty mountains. All these island are very beautiful, and of quite different shapes; easy to be traversed, and full of the greatest variety of trees reaching to the stars. . . .”

“In the island, which I have said before was called Hispaniola, there are very lofty and beautiful mountains, great farms, groves and fields, most fertile both for cultivation and for pasturage, and well adapted for constructing buildings. The convenience of the harbors in this island, and the excellence of the rivers, in volume and salubrity, surpass human belief, unless one should see them. In it the trees, pasture-lands and fruits different much from those of Juana. Besides, this Hispana abounds in various kinds of species, gold and metals. The inhabitants . . . are all, as I said before, unprovided with any sort of iron and they are destitute of arms, which are entirely unknown to them, and for which they are not adapted; not on account of any bodily deformity, for they are well made, but because they are timid and full of terror. . . . But when they see that they are safe, and all fear is banished, they are very guileless and honest, and very liberal of all they have. No one refuses the asker anything that he possesses; on the contrary they themselves invite us to ask for it. They manifest the greatest affection towards all of us, exchanging valuable things for trifles, content with the very least thing or nothing at all. . . . I gave them many beautiful and pleasing things, which I had brought with me, for no return whatever, in order to win their affection, and that they might become Christians and inclined to love our King and Queen and Princes and all the people of Spain; and that they might be eager to search for and gather and give to us what they abound in and we greatly need”

Christopher Columbus’s letter to Ferdinand and Isabella, after his first voyage, 1493.