Gracias Rincon Criollo!
Taino History & Tainos Today
Christopher Columbus landed in Puerto Rico on his second voyage to the New World, November 19, 1493. At that time the Island was populated by Tainos, a peaceful, gentle indigenous people who called the island Boriken, the Great Land of the Valiente and Noble Lord. They lived in small yucayeques (villages) led by a Cacike (chief) and subsisted on hunting, fishing and gathering of native cassava root and fruits. At the center of a yucayeque was a batey (ceremonial plaza). At one end was a caney, a rectangular-shaped home of bamboo and palm belonging to the Cacike. All around the batey were bohios, round homes of the same materials, belonging to the Tainos of the village. The Tainos believed in one God and held a deep sense of spirituality that was present in every aspect of life. They held many ceremonial events in the batey, including ballgames called batu' as well as ceremonial dances called areytos.
The Tainos welcomed the Conquistadores, shared their homes and food and
gave the Spaniards many gifts. The Spaniards treated the indigenous
population severely, enslaving and exploiting them, forcing them to work
in mines to search for gold, in construction, and in agriculture. The
Taino population rapidly declined from the slave labor conditions and the
new European diseases for which they had no immunity. Horrific numbers
were slaughtered. Some took their own lives to escape the brutalities and
indignities that were being repeated on other islands across the
Caribbean.
History recorded that by the mid-sixteenth century the Spanish Conquest had decimated Puerto Rico's indigenous people, and declared the Taino extinct by the late eighteenth century. However, as we know "history is written by the victors" (Winston Churchill). In reality, Taino were not completely extinguished. Petroglyphs in mountain caves and restored ceremonial grounds testify that Tainos escaped high into the Cordillera Central, the mountain range that runs across the central interior of Puerto Rico, and quietly continued living their traditions. Others escaped from the island in canoes. A census in 1514 found that 40 percent of the officially recognized wives of Spanish men were Taina.
Because of these survivors, it's not surprising (in retrospect) to learn that in his year 2000 National Science Foundation research, Juan Carlos Martinez Cruzado, Professor of Genetics at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez, found that 61 percent of all Puerto Ricans carry Amerindian mitochondrial DNA from their maternal lines. In other words, Tainos were not extinguished, they were assimilated! Taino traditions survived, handed down from mother to child -- the food they ate, home remedies when they didn't feel well, songs, music, dances, storytelling, spiritual beliefs, and more -- to become a permanent part of our island's heritage. Musical instruments such as maracas and guiro, words like iguana, manatee, and huracan (hurricane), inventions like the hamaca (hammock), tabaco (tabacco) and barbacoa (barbeque) are all part of that legacy.
In Puerto Rico and other Caribbean islands, actual surviving Native
communities and families of Native ancestry are increasingly revealing
themselves. A 2002 study by the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of
the American Indian documented families in high mountain regions across
the Caribbean where the inheritance and legacy of Taino ancestors are
still present. They live indigenous lives and have preserved traditions
that have been passed down through the generations, from very early
contact times. These descendents hold land and maintain a social and spiritual
culture. They continue traditions such as the preparation of cassava bread,
traditional weaving, instrument making and other artisania, canoe crafting,
and the observance of important ceremonies. To this day, there are many in Puerto Rico who use medicinal plants and farming methods that come directly from our Taino heritage.
Over the last 20+ years there has been a "resurgence" of people on
the Island and on the mainland who are "waking up" to a calling to learn
more about their Taino heritage.
Taino culture is very much alive in all of Puerto Rico, through our vocabulary, music, customs, culture, beliefs and the nature of our people. For that reason, it is important that we learn more about our first root, our Primera Raiz. We cannot be a complete people without knowing the Taino History that is part of our fabric and the legacy of Taino traditions that we still enjoy today.
Photo Credits: Photos of The Concilio Taino Guatu Ma Cu A Boriken by Hilda Morales & Taino Nation. Copyright protected photos, used with Permission.
Wagenheim, Kal and Jimenez de Wagenheim, Olga, "The Puerto Ricans: A Documentary History," Markus Wiener Pub., 1996.
An Interview On the Taino DNA testing in Puerto Rico Of Juan Carlos Martinez, Delware Review of Latin American Studies, "Profiles", Vol. 1, no. 2, 15 August 2000.
Surviving Columbus in Puerto Rico: the myth of extinction, Editorial in Indian Country Today, 06 October, 2003.
"The New Old World: Antilles Living Beyond the Myth," Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, 2002. http://www.nmai.si.edu/exhibitions/the_new_old_world/
Irving Rouse, "The Tainos: Rise and Decline of the People Who Greeted Columbus," Yale University Press, 1992.
Antonio M Stevens-Aroyo, "Cave of the Jagua," University of Scranton Press, 2006.
Ricardo Alegria, "History of the Indians of Puerto Rico," Editorial Collection de Estudios Puertorriquenos, 1970.
