THE TAINOS

At the time of the arrival of the Europeans in the late 15th century, the Tainos occupied the
Bahamas islands, the Turks and
Caicos Islands, Cuba,
Hispaniola, Jamaica and Puerto
Rico. The Tainos originated
from the northern banks of the
Orinoco River in Venezuela,
migrating northwards through
the Lesser Antilles chain of
islands via large canoes,
beginning around 500 B.C.E.
The Tainos were a semi
nomadic people, dependent on
subsistence farming, hunting, fishing and gathering. As their population grew in a particular
location, bands of migrants moved to new areas, in order to avoid overuse of the land and to find
new hunting grounds. By the time of their contact with Europeans, Taino population was
estimated to be approximately two million people (2,000,000) in the western Caribbean islands.
Social organization
The Tainos were of middle height, plump in build and had straight black hair, which they usually
wore long and often decorated with parrot feathers. Their foreheads were flat and sloping, as
mothers bound their babies’ heads between two boards in order to create this shape, which they
found beautiful. They believed a flat forehead created a stronger skull and made it easier for boys
to aim bows up into treetops. Generally the Tainos wore no clothes. However, as a sign of rank
the married women wore strips of cotton cloth hanging from their waists. The Tainos painted
their bodies with the dye from certain fruits and tree bark. The chief colour was red, but designs
were also created in white and black.
Taino society was divided into two classes of nobles
(mitaynos) and common people (naboria). A class of
priests (bohiques) who assisted the chief (cacique) in
religious ceremonies also existed. They were
generally a peaceful people, but there were times
when different groups would quarrel and fighting
would break out. Sometimes plans were made to
raid other settlements and towards the end of the
Taino period of domination, they had to be prepared
for war with the Kalinagos.
The Tainos lived in small scattered villages along
the coast, near rivers and sometimes on a hill, a few
miles from the sea. The huts were grouped roughly together around an open square. Several
families usually shared a house (caneye). It was round and made of wattle, with a thatched,
conical roof. Most huts had no windows. They were sturdily built however, as they could
withstand hurricanes (huracan). The chief’s house (bohio) was rectangular in shape.

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Religious organization
The Tainos practised ancestor and nature worship. They were polytheistic, with the most
important deity being the Lord of the land, sea and man (Yucahu Bagua Maorocoti). Other
important gods were the Goddess of the earth, from whom all living things descended, and the
Moon God, whom they thought was the sun’s twin brother. The cacique was the chief priest and
was responsible for taking care of the sacred images (zemis) of the village, communicating with
the gods and leading religious ceremonies and festivals. His zemi was felt to be more powerful
than the others in the village and only he and other priests could speak with them.
Zemis were made of clay, cotton, wood or stone and took the forms of
humans, reptiles and birds. They were felt to contain the forces of
nature or the spirits of ancestors. Each family had its own zemi, which
it prized highly and some families kept the bones of ancestors in a
basket for use as zemis. Tainos believed the zemis controlled all
aspects of life (sickness, weather, crops, war and peace) and different
zemis helped the hunters, farmers or fishermen. The zemis had a
special place in each hut. Offerings of food were placed on the flat
crown of the zemis’ head, to satisfy the spirit and guard the owner
against misfortune.
Much importance was placed on religious ceremonies. The cacique
announced the day on which a ceremony would occur and when the
conch shell was blown, all the villagers assembled in their finery and
decorations. The cacique led the procession to the sacred hut or cave,
where he and the priests entered to pray. They tickled their throats with swallow sticks to induce
vomiting, to remove any ‘impurities’ they may have in them. After this, they smoked tobacco
and inhaled powdered snuff (cahoba) of tobacco and other herbs, until they lost consciousness. It
was then that the zemis were supposed to speak to them. As the cacique was the chief priest, his
visions and judgements were believed to be the most accurate. He would proclaim to his people
the meaning of the visions he had seen. The Tainos used ‘Y’ shaped pipes to inhale the cahoba.
The two ends of the ‘Y’ were placed in the nostrils and the other end was put into the powder. In
this way the strong narcotic was inhaled.
The Tainos also believed in spirits (opia) which belonged to the dead and who returned at night
to try to enter the bodies of the living. For this reason, the Tainos ventured out at night only in
groups and protected themselves by wearing personal zemis around their necks, or on their
foreheads.
Arieto was the Taino word for both singing and dancing. These were mixed into their religious
beliefs and the songs were often about spirits, ancestors and village life. On feast days special
food was prepared and cassava beer was shared among the men and women. In Cuba, Hispaniola
and Puerto Rico, ball courts were constructed near to the cacique’s bohio and a ball game (batos)
was played, similar to that played by the Maya in Central America.
Political organization
The cacique was the leader of the village or as occurred in the larger territories, (Hispaniola and
Cuba), leader of a region. He was more than the ceremonial chief of the tribe. His duties included
making laws, judging cases, deciding whether or not to attack neighbouring tribes, organizing
work in the village and being chief priest. The position was passed from father to son but if he
left no heir, the eldest son of his eldest sister became cacique. He was assisted in his duties by
the mitaynos, who offered advice and supervised the work of the village.
Because of his importance, the cacique had many privileges. He was given part of the harvest for
himself and his family. His house was the largest in the village. Special cassava cakes were made
for him. He alone was allowed to sit on the ceremonial stool (duho). The cacique and his family
wore ornaments of gold and copper alloy (guanin) and the wife of the cacique wore the longest
cotton apron as a sign of her position. His canoe was the largest and the only one to be painted.
When he travelled by land, he was carried in a litter, while his son was carried on servants’
shoulders. At his death, the cacique was either burnt in his hut or buried in a cave or grave. If
buried in a grave, a mound was built to mark the spot. Two or more of his favourite wives were
also buried with him. They were provided with a calabash of water and a portion of cassava. This

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was to help feed them on their journey to Coyaba (heaven), where they could continue to serve
their husband.
The Tainos had few laws and crimes were rare, as they owned most things in common, except
personal possessions like stone tools, clay pots and canoes. Theft and greed were the greatest
crimes, for which punishment was death by impalement that is, being pierced and left to die on a
pointed stick.
Economic organization
All work was done on a cooperative basis in Taino society, with everyone sharing in the work to
provide the tribe’s needs. Men hunted, fished, made tools and weapons, cleared forests for
planting, made canoes and built the houses. Women planted crops, gathered food, made clay
pots, wove cotton, raised the children and carried out domestic chores.
Subsistence farming was practised by the Tainos. The plants were grown in small fields near the
villages. They practised ‘slash and burn’ agriculture and mound (conuco) farming. The former
method involved clearing sections of the forest and burning the trees and bushes. The ground
was then broken with sticks and stone tools and the crops were planted. The soil eventually
deteriorated however with this method, thus forcing the Tainos to clear new forest areas or move
to new lands. Conuco farming involved planting a variety of crops in a mound of soil piled up,
thus providing nutrients for all the plants year round. In Cuba and Hispaniola the Tainos seemed
to have practised irrigation, as trenches have been found.

Cassava Sweet potato Maize

Cassava (manioc or yucca) was the main crop of the Tainos. In its natural state it is poisonous,
but the Tainos learned how to extract the juice and keep the rest of the tuber for food. They
grated the cassava on a board (metate), covered with small pebbles or rough coral, until it formed
a paste. This was put in a wicker tube, one end of which was hung from a branch, while a weight
was attached to the other end. This squeezed the tube, forcing the juice out. The paste which
remained was left to dry and then pounded into a powder using a stone mortar and pestle. The
flour was formed into flat cakes and baked on a clay griddle until they were hard and dry.

Making cassava cakes Metate

Other major crops grown were sweet potato, maize (corn), cotton, beans, pepper and tobacco.
Platforms were often built in the fields, where young children were stationed to scare away birds
from the corn crops, in particular. In addition to these crops the Tainos grew or collected a wide
range of fruits (guava, pineapple, star apple, pawpaw (papaya), cashew, plums and peanut, for
example). There were also many wild plants which were valuable as medicines, dyes and for
household purposes, such as rope-making and basket work.

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Guava Pineapple
Fishing and hunting were valuable sources of food also. Shellfish (conch, lobster, crab and
shrimp) were easily collected by the seashore, by hand or with harpoons. The sea teemed with
fish such as parrot, grouper, snapper, jack and grunt, which were caught with nets or harpoons.
Turtles were caught when they came to lay their
eggs on the beach, or with the use of the remora
(sucker fish), which attached itself to a swimming
turtle at sea. The fishermen would then gently reel
in the fish, which had a cord tied around its body
and the turtle. This was widely done in Cuba.
Harpoons and hooks were made from shell or
bone, while nets were woven from cotton threads and fitted with stone sinkers. A great treat for
the Tainos was capturing a manatee, as it provided a large amount of meat for the village. On
such occasions other villages were invited to a special feast, to share in the good fortune.

Turtle Manatee
Few large animals existed in the islands, so hunting was less rewarding. The main animals
hunted were the agouti, coney (hutia), iguana, snakes and birds (ducks, pigeons and doves).
Nooses, snares and nets were used for catching birds. The coney and agouti were hunted at night
by men armed with torches and clubs. With shouts and the flames the men frightened the animals
into running into a corral, where they were clubbed to
death. Iguanas were caught by imitating their calls and
jamming a stick into their open mouths, when they
responded. Most meats were usually smoked slowly
over the fire on a clay stand (barbacoa), across which
sticks were arranged for the fish to smoke on. This
barbecuing helped to preserve the meat. Another way
of cooking meat was in the pepper pot stew, in which
various meats were slowly cooked in cassava juice that
had its poison removed. Pepper, sweet potato, beans
and nuts were added. This was cooked for days, with
new ingredients being added daily.

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Agouti Coney Iguanas

Canoes were often the most valuable property of the Tainos.

These wooden vessels were the only means of transport
between the islands, for fishing and for engaging in trade.
The men were involved in the process of felling a tree and
making the canoe. Cotton or cedar trees were usually
chosen for this process. Sometimes they built a fire around
the base of the tree and kept the fire going for days, until the
tree collapsed. Or else they would gather together around
the tree with stone axes chip into the trunk until it fell. Most
of the carving, gouging and burning of the canoe was done
in the forest where the tree had fallen. When it was finished,
the canoe was dragged to the beach, where it was made smoother, planked seats installed and
painted, if it was the cacique’s canoe. Taino canoes had a square bow and could hold up to 50
people.
Men made stone tools by chipping and grinding bits of rock, by the side of the river or the sea.
Hammocks (hamacas) were made of cotton and bark rope by women. Women also made the
pottery, most of which were made in the shape of animals and spirits.
Trade was an important aspect of Taino life. They engaged in inter island and intra island trade,
which was carried out on the barter principle. Cassava, pepper, stools, pottery, carved stone
objects and especially gold were among the things they exchanged. Some places specialised in
certain commodities. Hispaniola was renowned for its gold and Gonaives, an island on the west
coast of Hispaniola was noted for its woodwork. Tainos in Trinidad traded extensively with the
South American mainland for gold, while Jamaica was noted for its cotton products.

Bibliography
Honeychurch, Lennox. The Caribbean People Book One . Kingston: Nelson Caribbean, 1979.

Norman, Alma. The People Who Came Book One. Longman Caribbean, n.d.