History

A.Cacique-the chief of tainos

Mitaynos-the advisers to the Tainos
Bolio-a hut
Matapi-a pliable basket used in south america and the west indies for extracting the poisonous
juice from the manioc root

B.the canoe was important to the Amerindians because it helps them cross rivers or small
bodies of water,the canoes are used to help them go fishing to collect food and the canoes
were used to trade them.

ii.The two types of canoes were

The smaller craft,the Couliana,was at most about twenty feet long and was pointed at both
ends.This type was used for fishing close to the shore and could only hold a few people.

The bigger boat was called Canova,the word we still use today.The largest ot these were up to
fifty feet long and could carry thirty to forty people.These vessels were dug out of logs and
stretched by fire and soaked with water to make the wood expand it was in these larger canoes
that the kalinago went to attack other island or to make long fishing and trading trips.

C.To build a canoe,the men of the village would look among the tall forest trees for one tall and
stout enough.After locating the best suitable tree for wood,they built a fire around the base of
the tree and kept it going for days.They would then gather around the tree with stones,axes and
chip into the burned charcoal around the trunk until it fell.Most of the carving,gouging and
burning of the canoes was done in the forest.Men chipped into the centre of the log with their
sharp stones.The canoe was then placed upright and filled with large boulders and water while
fires were kept lighted outside the canoe.This caused the sides of the canoe to expand and
become broader