Some argue the Caribal were busy raiding the Tainos for women, when the Spanish arrived.
The Taínos, commonly called the Arawak Indians, were the main people who lived in the Caribbean when Columbus arrived in 1492. He called them “Indians”, thinking he was in Asia.
The Tainos in 1491:
- Population: about 3.5 million, maybe as many as 8 million (England at the time had about 5 million).
- Language: Taino, an Arawak language. Calling them “Arawak Indians” is like calling the English “Germanic Europeans”.
- Lands: LaTaína: mostly the islands of the northern Caribbean:
- the Bahamas,
- Turks & Caicos,
- most of Cuba,
- Jamaica,
- Hispaniola (Haiti, Dominican Republic),
- Puerto Rico,
- Virgin Islands,
- Anguilla,
- St Kitts & Nevis,
- Antigua and Barbuda,
- Montserrat.
- maybe Guadeloupe and part of Florida.
Towns: about 500 to 1000 people. At the centre was a town square where ball games, dances and religious ceremonies were held. Houses were bell-shaped with high pointed roofs. Each house held 10 to 15…
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