The Taino also made
pottery, baskets, and implements of stone and wood
. A favourite form of recreation was a ball game played on rectangular courts. The Taino had an elaborate system of religious beliefs and rituals that involved the worship of spirits (zemis) by means of carved representations.
What did the Tainos do?
The Taíno culture impressed both the Spanish (who observed it) and modern sociologists. The Arawakan achievements included construction of ceremonial ball parks whose boundaries were marked by upright stone dolmens, development of a universal language, and
creation of a complicated religious cosmology
.
What kind of games did Tainos play?
Ethnographer Ralph Beals reported in the early 1930s that the Acaxee tribe from western Mexico played a
ball game
called “vatey [or] batey” on “a small plaza, very flat, with walls at the sides”.
What was the Tainos main economic activity?
The foundation of the Taíno economy was
farming
, and plants were grown for both subsistence and trade. Taíno farmers grew cassava, garlic, potatoes, chilies, guava, beans, peanuts, mamey, cotton, and other things as well. Besides that, they were also expert hunters and, of course, anglers.
What traditions did the Tainos have?
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.
What was the Tainos Favourite dish?
Their daily diet consists of vegetables and fruits such as papaya, yams, guavas, and cassava. The Taino began the process of preparing meat and fish in large clay pots. The Carib Indians introduced spices and lemon juice to their meat and fish recipes. In general, the favorite Caribbean dish is
seasoned jerk chicken
.
What food did the Tainos eat?
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.
How did the Tainos behave?
The culture of the Taino was very well organized. They
practiced shifting agriculture
, had a religion where they worshiped spirits, and had a social hierarchy that put hereditary chiefs at the top.
How did the Tainos worship?
The Taino had an elaborate system of religious beliefs and rituals that involved the
worship of spirits (zemis) by means of carved representations
. They also had a complex social order, with a government of hereditary chiefs and subchiefs and classes of nobles, commoners, and slaves.
What is the name of the Tainos leader?
Cacique
comes from the Taíno word kassiquan, meaning “to keep house”. In 1555 the word entered the English language as “prince”. In Taíno culture, the cacique rank was hereditary and sometimes established through democratic means.
How did the Taínos organize their society?
Each society was a small kingdom and the leader was called a cacique. The cacique’s function was to
keep the welfare of the village
by assigning daily work and making sure everyone got an equal share. The relatives of the caciques lived together in large houses in the center of the village.
Why did the Taínos painted their body?
Body painting was common among Arawakan peoples, partly for the sake of aesthetics but mostly
as an act of spirituality
.
What is the name of the Taínos house?
The cacique and his family lived in a rectangular house called
bohio
. People slept on cotton hammocks (hamacas).
What did the Tainos drink?
The Tainos also made intoxicating drinks
from cassava as
well as from maize. Another of their discoveries was that meat could be made tender if wrapped in papaya (pawpaw) leaves. Today, tenderisers are made from papain, extracted from papaya.
What did the Tainos speak?
Taíno Language Wikipedia Entry
Taíno is
an extinct Arawakan language
that was spoken by the Taíno people of the Caribbean. At the time of Spanish contact, it was the most common language throughout the Caribbean.
What did Christopher Columbus do to the Taíno people?
Throughout his years in the New World, Columbus enacted
policies of forced labor in
which natives were put to work for the sake of profits. Later, Columbus sent thousands of peaceful Taino “Indians” from the island of Hispaniola to Spain to be sold. Many died en route.
