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| Visiting the Morral de Cabrafeixet, El Perelló |
They continue travelling across the Ebre lands and today they have wanted to visit this amazing place recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
During the travel from Horta de Sant Joan to El Perelló, The Grandma has studied a new lesson of her interesting First Certificate Language Practice manual (Vocabulary 9).
More information: Crime and the law I, II & III
The visit has been a wonderful present for The Grandma who loves Ancient Cultures. She has discovered these Prehistorical paintings in Cabrafeixet and she has enjoyed with Joseph's explanations about them. While Claire has been taking some photos to remember this unforgettable experience, The Grandma has been thinking in these Ancient Cultures and their legacies.
On a day like today, it has been impossible for her to not think in the American Native Cultures in general, and in the Taíno community in particular.
More information: Catalunya
When Christopher Columbus "discovered" America in 1492, there were more than 250,000 taíno in the Caribbean Islands. In 1508, there were only 60,000. In 1531, there were only 600.
The history of the Taíno culture is only an example of lots of communities which were destroyed, its inhabitants were killed and its treasures (especially gold and silver) were stolen by the colonizers.
More than 90 milions of people were killed since the arrival of the Europeans, especially by Castillian and Portuguese in one of the greatest genocides of the human history. Then, on a day like today, there is nothing to celebrate and there are lots of things to learn, lots of cultures to respect and protect and enough time to reivindicate on this day celebrated in America like the Day of the Indigenous Resistance.
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| The Taíno communities |
The Taíno were an indigenous people of the Caribbean. At the time of European contact in the late 15th century, they were the principal inhabitants of most of Cuba, Hispaniola (the Dominican Republic and Haiti), Jamaica, Puerto Rico, The Bahamas and the northern Lesser Antilles.
The Taíno were the first New World peoples to encounter Europeans, during the voyages of Christopher Columbus, starting in 1492. They spoke the Taíno language, an Arawakan language.
The ancestors of the Taíno originated in South America, and the Taíno culture as documented developed in the Caribbean. Taíno groups were in conflict with the Island Caribs of the southern Lesser Antilles. At the time of contact, the Taíno were divided into several groups. Western Taíno groups included the Lucayans of the Bahamas, the Ciboney of central Cuba, and the inhabitants of Jamaica. The Classic Taíno lived in Hispaniola and Puerto Rico, while the Eastern Taíno lived in the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles.
The ancestors of the Taíno originated in South America, and the Taíno culture as documented developed in the Caribbean. Taíno groups were in conflict with the Island Caribs of the southern Lesser Antilles. At the time of contact, the Taíno were divided into several groups. Western Taíno groups included the Lucayans of the Bahamas, the Ciboney of central Cuba, and the inhabitants of Jamaica. The Classic Taíno lived in Hispaniola and Puerto Rico, while the Eastern Taíno lived in the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles.
More information: Taíno Museum
At the time of Columbus's arrival in 1492, there were five Taíno chiefdoms in Hispaniola, each led by a principal Cacique (chief), to whom tribute was paid. The Taíno name for Hispaniola was Ayiti, land of high mountains, which is the source of the name Haiti.
Cuba was dived into 29 chiefdoms, many of which have given their name to modern cities, including Havana, Batabanó, Camagüey, Baracoa, and Bayamo.
Taíno communities ranged from small settlements to larger centers of up to 3,000 people. They may have numbered 2 million at the time of contact.
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| The Taíno and the colonizers |
The Spanish conquered various Taíno chiefdoms during the late 15th and early 16th century. Warfare and harsh enslavement by the colonists decimated the population.
European diseases also played a major role; a smallpox epidemic in Hispaniola in 1518-1519 killed almost 90% of the Taíno who were not already dead. The surviving Taíno were intermarried with Europeans and Africans, and were incorporated into the Spanish colonies.
European diseases also played a major role; a smallpox epidemic in Hispaniola in 1518-1519 killed almost 90% of the Taíno who were not already dead. The surviving Taíno were intermarried with Europeans and Africans, and were incorporated into the Spanish colonies.
The Taíno were considered extinct by the end of the century. However, since about 1840, there have been attempts to create a quasi-indigenous Taíno identity in rural areas of Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico. This trend accelerated among Puerto Rican communities in the mainland United States in the 1960s. At the 2010 U.S. census, 1,098 people in Puerto Rico identified themselves as Puerto Rican Indian, 1,410 identified as Spanish American Indian, and 9,399 identified as Taíno. In total, 35,856 Puerto Ricans considered themselves Native American.
More information: The Taíno Genocide (1492-1518)
A direct translation of the word Taíno signified men of the good. The Taíno people, or Taíno culture, has been classified by some authorities as belonging to the Arawak, as their language was considered to belong to the Arawak language family, the languages of which were present throughout the Caribbean, and much of Central and South America.
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| Taíno art in Los Haitises, Dominican Republic |
The nitaínos functioned as sub-caciques in villages, overseeing naborias work. Caciques were advised by priests/healers known as bohiques. Caciques enjoyed the privilege of wearing golden pendants called guanín, living in square bohíos, instead of the round ones of ordinary villagers, and sitting on wooden stools to be above the guests they received.
Bohiques were extolled for their healing powers and ability to speak with gods. They were consulted and granted the Taíno permission to engage in important tasks.
Taíno staples included vegetables, fruit, meat, and fish. There were no large animals native to the Caribbean, but they captured and ate small animals, such as hutias and other mammals, earthworms, lizards, turtles, and birds. Manatees were speared and fish were caught in nets, speared, trapped in weirs, or caught with hook and line. Wild parrots were decoyed with domesticated birds, and iguanas were taken from trees and other vegetation. The Taíno stored live animals until they were ready to be consumed: fish and turtles were stored in weirs, and hutias and dogs were stored in corrals.
More information: National Geographic
Due to this lack of large game, the Taíno people became very skilled fishermen. One technique was to hook a remora, also known as a suckerfish, to a line secured to a canoe and wait for the fish to attach itself to a larger fish or even a sea turtle.
Taíno groups in the more developed islands, such as Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, and Jamaica, relied more on agriculture, farming and other jobs. Fields for important root crops, such as the staple yuca, were prepared by heaping up mounds of soil, called conucos. This improved soil drainage and fertility as well as delaying erosion, allowing for longer storage of crops in the ground.
Taíno spirituality centered on the worship of zemís. A zemí is a spirit or ancestor. The major Taíno Zemis are Yúcahu and Atabey. Yúcahu, which means spirit of cassava, was the Zemi of cassava, the Taínos' main crop, and the sea. Atabey, mother of Yúcahu, was the zemi of the moon, fresh waters and fertility.
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| Taíno community in Cuba, 1919 |
Columbus and his crew were the first Europeans to encounter the Taíno people, as they landed in The Bahamas on October 12, 1492. After their first interaction, Columbus described the Taínos as a physically tall, well-proportioned people, with a noble and kind personality.
In 1511, several caciques in Puerto Rico, such as Agüeybaná II, Arasibo, Hayuya, Jumacao, Urayoán, Guarionex, and Orocobix, allied with the Carib and tried to oust the Spaniards.
The revolt was suppressed by the Indio-Spanish forces of Governor Juan Ponce de León. Hatuey, a Taíno chieftain who had fled from Hispaniola to Cuba with 400 natives to unite the Cuban natives, was burned at the stake on February 2, 1512.
In Hispaniola, a Taíno chieftain named Enriquillo mobilized over 3,000 Taíno in a successful rebellion in the 1520s. These Taíno were accorded land and a charter from the royal administration. Despite the small Spanish military presence in the region, they often used diplomatic divisions and, with help from powerful native allies, controlled most of the region. In exchange for a seasonal salary, religious and language education, the Taíno were required to work for Spanish and Indian land owners. This system of labor was part of the encomienda.
The Taíno population estimates vary a great deal, from a few hundred thousand up to 8,000,000. They had no resistance to Old World diseases, notably smallpox. The encomienda system brought many Taíno to work in the fields and mines in exchange for Spanish protection, education, and a seasonal salary.
Under the pretense of searching for gold and other materials, many Spaniards took advantage of the regions now under control of the anaborios and Spanish encomenderos to exploit the native population by seizing their land and wealth. It would take some time before the Taíno revolted against their oppressors.
More information: Smithsonian
There were 60,000 people living on this island when I arrived in 1508, including the Indians; so that from 1494 to 1508,
over three million people had perished from war, slavery and the mines. Who in future generations will believe this?
Bartolomé de las Casas
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