The Origin of the Taíno PeopleMaryann Sanchez , Dr. Ganson, LAH4131

Introduction

Prior to European contact, the Western Hemisphere was inhabited by numerous ethnic groups, each with its own fusion of culture, language, and biological traits.

On October 12, 1492, Christopher Columbus encountered one of said groups on his first transatlantic voyage. These people who greeted him are presently known as the Taino Indians. The Taino were a thriving culture throughout the West Indies, occupying most of the Greater Antilles and the Bahamian Archipelago.

The Taino people are hypothesized to have originated in the Orinoco-Guiana region of South America.

The Taínos dominated the region of the Greater Antilles and the Bahamian Archipelago with numbers as high as in the millions during pre-contact.

Classic Taínos Eastern Taínos Western Taínos

Taino Territory in 1492

Method

The Taino people are hypothesized to have originated in the Orinoco-Guiana region of South America.

This investigation charts linguistic theories and anthropological recorded data on ceramic diffusion into the West Indies in order to track the origin of the Taino people. It also explores two proposed theories, the Amazon Basin theory and the Circum-Caribbean theory to find commonalities.

Result One of the theories on the origin of the Taino people is the

Amazon Basin theory. It argues that the ancestors of the Taínos came from the center of the Amazon Basin, moving to the Orinoco valley, eventually reaching the West Indies through Guyana and Venezuela into Trinidad. This migration continued along the Lesser Antilles, the Greater Antilles, and subsequently to the Bahamian Archipelago.

The Circum-Caribbean theory, posed by Julian H. Steward, maintains that the ancestors of the Taínos diffused from the Colombian Andes to the West Indies with a parallel diffusion into Central America, the Guianas and Venezuela, and the Amazon Basin.

PROTO- ARAWAKAN3500 B. C.

(From Amazon Basin up the Rio Negro)

PROTO-MAIPURAN1500 B. C.

(coming to the Orinoco Valley producing a new language, Proto-Maipuran )

PROTO-NORTHERN1000 B. C.

(In the Orinoco Valley Proto-Maipuran developed into Proto-Northern)

IGNERY/ISLAND-CARIBWithin the Christian Era

(The Proto-Northern speakers spread to the Guianas, and consequently throughout the West Indies)

TAINOWithin the Christian Era

(The Proto-Northern who went onto the Greater Antilles settled in Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, a great part of Cuba, and the Bahamian Archipelago developed the Taino)

LINGUISTS TRACED THE TAINOS TO THE AMAZON BASIN

Migrations

Preceramic Subcultures: Casimiroid Indians (4000-400 B.C.) migrated from Central America

during the Lithic Age c. 4000 B.C. and settled in Cuba an Hispaniola. Ortoiroid Indians (1000-400 B.C.) migrated from South America,

specifically from Trinidad while it was still to the mainland, during the Archaic Age c. 2000 B.C. They settled in the Lesser Antilles and Puerto Rico interacting with the Casimirans from c. 1000 to 400 B.C.

Ceramic Period: Saladoid Indian (2000 B.C.-600 A.D.) began to exhibited traits of

sedentism, agriculture, and ceramics around the fourth century B.C. They initiated a migration from South America northward up the Lesser Antilles and to Puerto Rico and Hispaniola. Initially they settled in the southernmost Lesser Antilles c. 500 B.C. reaching the region of the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico by 345 B.C. Saladoid gave rise to the culture of the Taíno Indians who

encountered European contact 1500 A.D. They are the root to the Taino linguistic and biological traits.

Saladoid White-on-red painted Saladoid bowl from Guadeloupe, circa AD 300-600.

Taíno Culture, bowl Puerto Rico circa 1000-1500 A.D.

Ceramics

Taino Lucayan man based on Columbus' descriptions

Archeologists studied artifacts, and changes in ceramic works from excavations belonging to different soil levels in archeological sites throughout the West Indies. Irving Rouse 1962

Luquillo, Puerto Rico

Conclusion Amazon Basin theorists argue that the ancestors of the

Taínos came from the center of the Amazon Basin, moving to the Orinoco valley, migrating into the West Indies through Guiana and Venezuela. The Circum-Caribbean theorists propose a parallel diffusion from the Colombian Andes into the West Indies, via Guiana and Venezuela, and into Central America ending at the Amazon Basin. After reviewing the evidence provided by linguists, archaeologists, and theorists, one communality appeared, the point of departure of ancestors of the Taino is the Orinoco-Guiana region of South America.

A look at the life style of the

Taínos

The Cacique and His NitaínosThe Chief and Nobleman

MatrilinealSocial Structure Caciques (chiefs) were inherited

positions and came from the Nitaíno class.

Nitaínos were the noblemen and were the warriors, craftsmen & artisans. Ruled over the Naborias.

Naborias were the laborers and were the lower class.

The Cemi stone symbol in the Taino religion

1. On top of this sacred mountain peak, in the turey (sky) of the four directions, resides Yaya - the Creator

2. Coabey, is the underworld, the place of the dead. Here resides Hupia, the spirit of the dead.

3. The land of the living. Here resides Goiz, the spirit of living people

Woman preparing casava bread made from yuca

Naborias fishing

Potters at work

Areytos were religious ceremonies held in the batey

Ball game like soccer played with a rubber ball

“…believe that in all the world there can be no better people ...They love their neighbours as themselves, and they have the sweetest talk in the world, and are gentle…”

Columbus

The Taínos became extinct 1524 A. D. after European contact

Main Batey at Caguana

TAINO VIDEO http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrke

tNvBwCQ

References Christopher Columbus. The Journal of Christopher Columbus

(during his first voyage, 1492-93) and documents relating to the voyages of John Cabot and Gaspar Corte Real. (London: Hakluyt Society, 1893). https://archive.org/stream/cihm_05312#page/35/mode/2up (Accessed March 7, 2015).

Oliver, Jose R. Caciques and Cemi Idols: The Web Spun by Taino Rulers Between Hispaniola and Puerto. (Tuscaloosa: University Alabama Press, 2009). 11-15.

Rodriguez, Angel. Jacana: Astronomy of a Prehistoric Site on SouthWestern Puerto Rico. (San Juan: CUADERNOS DEL CEH, 2013). (Kindle Locations 172). Kindle Edition.

Rouse, Irving. The Tainos: Rise and Decline of the People Who Greeted Columbus. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992).