The original inhabitants of the Bahamas were indigenous Taino (Arawak) who are also known as Lucayan. They originated from both Hispaniola
Hispaniola
Hispaniola is an island in the Caribbean archipelago known as the Greater Antilles. It is the most populous island in the West Indies and the region's second largest after Cuba.
Who are the Arawak?
Jump to navigation Jump to search. The Arawak are a group of indigenous peoples of South America and historically of the Caribbean. Specifically, the term "Arawak" has been applied at various times to the Lokono of South America and the Taíno, who historically lived in the Greater Antilles and northern Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean.
What is the history of the Lucayan people?
Lucayan people. They were a branch of the Taínos who inhabited most of the Caribbean islands at the time. The Lucayans were the first inhabitants of the Americas encountered by Christopher Columbus. The Spanish started seizing Lucayans as slaves within a few years of Columbus's arrival, and they had all been removed from the Bahamas by 1520.
How did many Arawaks die when the Spanish colonizers came?
When the Spanish colonizers came, many Arawak people were killed by disease or violence. Polygamy may have been common among the Arawak people. The Arawak are a group of peoples Indigenous to the Caribbean and South America. They are believed to have originally been from the Orinoco River basin in Venezuela.
How did the Arawaks become Mestizo?
Intermarriage between the Taíno or Lokono and the Spanish gave rise to the mestizo population, who further mixed with Africans brought to the Caribbean through the international slave trade. Because of this, the number of descendants of the Arawak peoples is unclear.
Who were the Lucayans?
Where did the Lucayans come from?
What type of houses did the Lucayans live in?
What did Columbus think of the Lucayans?
What ethnic group was the first to live in the Bahamas?
What is the Lucayan culture?
What did Peter Martyr d'Anghiera say about the Lucayan women?
See 4 more
About this website
What race were the Arawaks?
Arawak, American Indians of the Greater Antilles and South America. The Taino, an Arawak subgroup, were the first native peoples encountered by Christopher Columbus on Hispaniola.
What was the Arawak tribe known for?
Yes, the Arawaks were well-known for their dugout canoes. In fact, the English word "canoe" comes from the Arawakan word canoa. The largest Arawak canoes could hold fifty people and were used to travel long distances.
Who were the Caribs and Arawaks?
Carib, American Indian people who inhabited the Lesser Antilles and parts of the neighbouring South American coast at the time of the Spanish conquest. Their name was given to the Caribbean Sea, and its Arawakan equivalent is the origin of the English word cannibal.
Are Arawak and Taíno the same?
The Taino, also known as the Arawaks, migrated from the Caribbean coast of South America, moving northward along the island chain of the lesser Antilles to the greater Antilles, around 1200 ce. They were agriculturalists whose basic food crops—corn, manioc, and beans—were supplemented by hunting and fishing.
How did the Arawaks look?
The Arawaks or the Tainos, as some of them were called, were not tall people; they were of medium height or short and generally slim. Christopher Columbus in his journals described them as neither black nor white. It is believed that they had an olive complexion. They also had long, straight, coarse black hair.
Who came before the Tainos?
Arawak IndiansThe first inhabitants of Puerto Rico were hunter-gatherers who reached the island more than 1,000 years before the arrival of the Spanish. Arawak Indians, who developed the Taino culture, had also settled there by 1000 ce. The clan-based Taino lived in small villages led by a cacique, or chief.
What did Caribs look like?
The Carib people were medium in height and lean. They had straight, long, black hair that was worn loose. Their brown skin was always painted with a vegetable dye called roucou. They had flattened foreheads that were considered a beauty.
Where did the Caribs originally come from?
The Caribs are believed to have migrated from the Orinoco River area in South America to settle in the Caribbean islands about 1200 BCE, according to carbon dating.
Are Caribs still alive?
The last survivors of the once-powerful Carib people, the original inhabitants of most of the Lesser Antilles, now live on the two eastern Caribbean islands of Dominica and St. Vincent, and in Belize, Guyana, and Suriname.
Are all Puerto Rican Tainos?
According to a study funded by the National Science Foundation, 61 percent of all Puerto Ricans have American Indian mitochondrial DNA, probably from a common Taino ancestry.
Do the Taíno still exist?
The Taíno were declared extinct shortly after 1565 when a census shows just 200 Indians living on Hispaniola, now the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The census records and historical accounts are very clear: There were no Indians left in the Caribbean after 1802.
Where did the Tainos originally come from?
The ancestors of the Taino are thought to have been Arawakan speakers who entered the Caribbean from South America, starting as early as 2,500 y cal BP (2). The Bahamas were not settled until 1,000 y later, as part of the Ostionoid expansion that started around 1,400 y cal BP (1).
Why are the Arawak significant?
The Arawak people were the first Native American tribe to encounter Christopher Columbus when he landed in the Americas. The definition of Arawak is a group of indigenous people of South America, Central America, and the Caribbean.
What did the Arawaks invent?
They also developed weaving techniques and produced baskets from palm fibers. Cotton was used for crafting fishing nets and hammocks for sleeping. Some Arawak groups made small figurines, in the form of animals and humans, out of stone and wood.
Why did the Arawaks flatten their babies foreheads?
Their heads were flattened at the foreheads as babies when the skull was bound between two boards. This elongated head was considered as a mark of beauty. This may have been done to thicken the skull thus it could withstand heavy blows. Tales were told of Spaniards who broke their swords on Arawak heads.
What is the Arawak God called?
ZemiThe Arawak/Taíno were polytheists and their gods were called Zemi. The zemi controlled various functions of the universe, very much like Greek gods did, or like later Haitian Voodoo lwa.
Lucayan Legacy
The Lucayans were descendants of the Arawaks of South America, who made their way through the Caribbean chain aboard dugout canoes. The Arawaks left South America in their quest for peace away from the war-faring Caribs, who were also from South America.
The Lucayans · Bahamianology
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Where did the Arawak people gather?
Arawak people gathered for an audience with the Dutch Governor in Paramaribo, Suriname, 1880. The Spaniards who arrived in the Bahamas, Cuba, and Hispaniola (today Haiti and the Dominican Republic) in 1492, and later in Puerto Rico, did not bring women on their first expeditions.
Where did the Arawak live?
Specifically, the term "Arawak" has been applied at various times to the Lokono of South America and the Taíno, who historically lived in the Greater Antilles and northern Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. All these groups spoke related Arawakan languages.
What did the Taino believe?
The Taino believed that the explorers were mythical beings associated with the underworld who consumed human flesh. Thus, the Taino would go on to burn down La Navidad and kill 39 men.
How many people were in Hispaniola in 1514?
The population of Hispaniola at the point of first European contact is estimated at between several hundred thousand to over a million people, but by 1514, it had dropped to a mere 35,000. By 1509, the Spanish had successfully conquered Puerto Rico and subjugated the approximately 30,000 Taíno inhabitants.
What is an arawak?
Group of indigenous peoples of South America and of the Caribbean. For other uses, see Arawak (disambiguation). Arawak. Arawak woman, by John Gabriel Stedman. Regions with significant populations. South America, Caribbean. Languages.
Why were the Arawak and Caribs called the Arawak?
Early Spanish explorers and administrators used the terms Arawak and Caribs to distinguish the peoples of the Caribbean, with Carib reserved for indigenous groups that they considered hostile and Arawak for groups that they considered friendly. In 1871, ethnologist Daniel Garrison Brinton proposed calling the Caribbean populace "Island Arawak" due ...
Where did the Arawakan language originate?
The Arawakan languages may have emerged in the Orinoco River valley. They subsequently spread widely, becoming by far the most extensive language family in South America at the time of European contact, with speakers located in various areas along the Orinoco and Amazonian rivers and their tributaries.
What did the Arawak do?
A Taíno hut in the Dominican Republic. Arawak groups were small and each group had a leader known as a Cacique. As is the case with many ancient cultures, some Arawak peoples likely practiced polygamy, where men and sometimes women had more than one partner. The Cacique, by virtue of his status, had more wives.
What happened to the Arawak people?
When the Spanish colonizers came, many Arawak people were killed by disease or violence. Polygamy may have been common among the Arawak people. The Arawak are a group of peoples Indigenous to the Caribbean and South America. They are believed to have originally been from the Orinoco River basin in Venezuela. This once vibrant community had an ...
Where do Arawak people live?
However, some 15,000 self-identify as Lokono or Taíno, which is a shadow of what they once were. Most live in Guyana, Venezuela and Suriname and a small percentage in other countries.
What is the name of the people who lived in the Caribbean?
Over the years, the name “Arawak” was also used for the Taíno (Caribbean) and Lokono (South America) peoples. The Arawak people, who spoke Arawakan languages, were mostly wiped out by new illnesses and violence and enslavement by the Spanish explorers.
Who were the Lucayans?
Lucayan people. The Lucayan ( loo-KY-ən) people were the original residents of the Bahamas before the European conquest of the Americas. They were a branch of the Tainos who inhabited most of the Caribbean islands at the time. The Lucayans were the first indigenous Americans encountered by Christopher Columbus.
Where did the Lucayans come from?
From an initial settlement of Great Inagua Island, the Lucayans expanded throughout the Bahamas Islands in some 800 years (c. 700 – c. 1500), growing to a population of about 40,000. Population density at the time of first European contact was highest in the south central area of the Bahamas, declining towards the north, reflecting the progressively shorter time of occupation of the northern islands. Known Lucayan settlement sites are confined to the nineteen largest islands in the archipelago, or to smaller cays located less than one kilometre from those islands. Keegan posits a north-ward migration route from Great Inagua Island to Acklins and Crooked Islands, then on to Long Island. From Long Island expansion would have gone east to Rum Cay and San Salvador Island, north to Cat Island and west to Great and Little Exuma Islands. From Cat Island the expansion proceeded to Eleuthera, from which New Providence and Andros to the west and Great and Little Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama to the north were reached. Lucayan village sites are also known on Mayaguana, east of Acklins Island, and Samana Cay, north of Acklins. There are also village sites on East, Middle and North Caicos and on Providenciales, in the Caicos Islands, at least some of which Keegan attributes to a later settlement wave from Hispaniola. Population density in the southernmost Bahamas remained lower, probably due to the drier climate there (less than 800 millimetres (31 in) of rain a year on Great Inagua Island and the Turks and Caicos Islands and only slightly higher on Acklins and Crooked Islands and Mayaguana).
What type of houses did the Lucayans live in?
Houses. Lucayans, like other Tainos, lived in multi-household houses. Descriptions of Lucayan houses by the Spanish match those of houses used by Tainos in Hispaniola and Cuba: shaped like a round tent, tall, made of poles and thatch, with an opening at the top to let smoke out.
What did Columbus think of the Lucayans?
Columbus thought the Lucayans resembled the Guanche of the Canary Islands (in part because they were intermediate in skin color between Europeans and Africans). He described the Lucayans as handsome, graceful, well-proportioned, gentle, generous and peaceful, and customarily going almost completely naked. Peter Martyr d'Anghiera said that the Lucayan women were so beautiful that men from "other countries" moved to the islands to be near them. Women past puberty wore a small skirt of cotton, and the men might wear a loincloth made of plaited leaves or cotton. Some people wore head bands, waist bands, feathers, bones and ear and nose jewelry on occasion. They were often tattooed and usually applied paint to their bodies and/or faces. They also practiced head flattening. Their hair was black and straight, and they kept it cut short except for a few hairs in back which were never cut. Columbus reported seeing scars on the bodies of some of the men, which were explained to him as resulting from attempts by people from other islands to capture them.
What ethnic group was the first to live in the Bahamas?
Related ethnic groups. Taínos. The Lucayan ( loo-KY-ən) people were the original residents of the Bahamas before the European conquest of the Americas. They were a branch of the Tainos who inhabited most of the Caribbean islands at the time. The Lucayans were the first indigenous Americans encountered by Christopher Columbus.
What is the Lucayan culture?
Lucayan society was based on descent through the mother's line, which was typical of Taino culture as a whole. The Spanish reported that a woman resided with her husband's family, but Keegan argues that this was not patrilocal residence in the strict sense, but rather residence in the husband's uncle's household ( avunculocal residence ).
What did Peter Martyr d'Anghiera say about the Lucayan women?
Peter Martyr d'Anghiera said that the Lucayan women were so beautiful that men from "other countries" moved to the islands to be near them. Women past puberty wore a small skirt of cotton, and the men might wear a loincloth made of plaited leaves or cotton.
Overview
The Lucayan people were the original residents of the Bahamas before the European conquest of the Americas. They were a branch of the Tainos who inhabited most of the Caribbean islands at the time. The Lucayans were the first indigenous Americans encountered by Christopher Columbus. Shortly after contact, the Spanish kidnapped and enslaved Lucayans, with the genocide culminating in complete eradication of Lucayan people from the Bahamas by 1520.
Origin and settlement
Sometime between 500 and 800 CE, Tainos began crossing in dugout canoes from Hispaniola and/or Cuba to the Bahamas. Hypothesized routes for the earliest migrations have been from Hispaniola to the Caicos Islands, from Hispaniola or eastern Cuba to Great Inagua Island, and from central Cuba to Long Island (in the central Bahamas). The settlement sites in the Caicos Islands differ from those …
Connections
The Lucayans were part of a larger Taino community in the Greater Antilles. The Lucayans, along with the Tainos in Jamaica, most of Cuba and parts of western Hispaniola have been classified as part of a Sub-Taino, Western Taino or Ciboney Taino cultural and language group. Keegan describes any distinctions between Lucayans and Classical Tainos (of Hispaniola and eastern Cuba) as largely arbitrary. The Lucayans lived in smaller political units (simple chiefdoms, compa…
People
Columbus thought the Lucayans resembled the Guanche of the Canary Islands (in part because they were intermediate in skin color between Europeans and Africans). He described the Lucayans as handsome, graceful, well-proportioned, gentle, generous and peaceful, and customarily going almost completely naked. Peter Martyr d'Anghiera said that the Lucayan women were so beautiful that men from "other countries" moved to the islands to be near them. Women …
Genetics
In 2018, researchers successfully extracted DNA from a tooth found in a burial context in Preacher's Cave on Eleuthera Island. The tooth was directly dated to around 776–992 AD. Genetic analysis revealed that the tooth belonged to a woman. When compared against contemporary populations, the ancient individual shows closest genetic affinity to Arawakan speakers from the Amazon and Orinoco Basins, with closest affinity to the Palikur. The individual was assigned to m…
Customs
Lucayan society was based on descent through the mother's line, which was typical of Taino culture as a whole. The Spanish reported that a woman resided with her husband's family, but Keegan argues that this was not patrilocal residence in the strict sense, but rather residence in the husband's uncle's household (avunculocal residence).
Houses
Lucayans, like other Tainos, lived in multi-household houses. Descriptions of Lucayan houses by the Spanish match those of houses used by Tainos in Hispaniola and Cuba: shaped like a round tent, tall, made of poles and thatch, with an opening at the top to let smoke out. Columbus described the houses of the Lucayans as clean and well-swept. The houses were furnished with cotton nets (some kind of hammocks) for beds and furnishings, and were used mainly for sleepi…
Diet
The Lucayans grew root crops and hunted, fished and gathered wild foods. The staple crop of the Lucayans was manioc (cassava). The Spanish reported that the Tainos also grew sweet potatoes, cocoyams, arrowroot, leren, yampee, peanuts, beans and cucurbits, and the Lucayans probably took most, if not all, of those crops with them to the Bahamas. Maize was a recent introduction to the Greater Antilles when the Spanish arrived, and was only a minor component of the Taino and, pr…
Overview
The Arawak are a group of indigenous peoples of northern South America and of the Caribbean. Specifically, the term "Arawak" has been applied at various times to the Lokono of South America and the Taíno, who historically lived in the Greater Antilles and northern Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. All these groups spoke related Arawakan languages.
Name
Early Spanish explorers and administrators used the terms Arawak and Caribs to distinguish the peoples of the Caribbean, with Carib reserved for indigenous groups that they considered hostile and Arawak for groups that they considered friendly.
In 1871, ethnologist Daniel Garrison Brinton proposed calling the Caribbean populace "Island Arawak" due to their cultural and linguistic similarities with the mainland Arawak. Subsequent sc…
History
The Arawakan languages may have emerged in the Orinoco River valley. They subsequently spread widely, becoming by far the most extensive language family in South America at the time of European contact, with speakers located in various areas along the Orinoco and Amazonian rivers and their tributaries. The group that self-identified as the Arawak, also known as the Lokono, settled the coastal areas of what is now Guyana, Suriname, Grenada, Bahamas, Jamaica and part…
Modern population and descendants
The Spaniards who arrived in the Bahamas, Cuba, and Hispaniola (today Haiti and the Dominican Republic) in 1492, and later in Puerto Rico, did not bring women on their first expeditions. Many of the explorers and early colonists interbred with Taíno women, who subsequently bore mestizo or mixed-race children. These races include other Indigenous groups, Spaniards/Europeans, and the African slaves brought over during the Atlantic slave trade. Through the generations, numerous …
Notable Arawak
• Damon Gerard Corrie, Barbados Lokono of Guyana Lokono descent, radical International Indigenous Rights activist, and creator of the militant Indigenous Democracy Defence Organization/IDDO, the only such global Pan-Tribal & Multi-Racial Indigenous NGO in existence. He is also the creator of the only Phonetic English to Arawak dictionary (2021), and the only comprehensive books about Lokono-Arawak Culture called 'Lokono Arawaks' (2020), and on tra…
See also
• Adaheli, the Sun in the mythology of the Orinoco region
• Aiomun-Kondi, Arawak deity, created the world in Arawak mythology
• Arawakan languages
• Cariban languages
Bibliography
• Jesse, C., (2000). The Amerindians in St. Lucia (Iouanalao). St. Lucia: Archaeological and Historical Society.
• Haviser, J. B.,Wilson, S. M. (ed.), (1997). Settlement Strategies in the Early Ceramic Age. In The Indigenous People of the Caribbean, Gainesville, Florida: University Press.
• Hofman, C. L., (1993). The Native Population of Pre-columbian Saba. Part One. Pottery Styles and their Interpretations. [Ph.D. dissertation], Leiden: University of Leiden (Faculty of Ar…
• Jesse, C., (2000). The Amerindians in St. Lucia (Iouanalao). St. Lucia: Archaeological and Historical Society.
• Haviser, J. B.,Wilson, S. M. (ed.), (1997). Settlement Strategies in the Early Ceramic Age. In The Indigenous People of the Caribbean, Gainesville, Florida: University Press.
• Hofman, C. L., (1993). The Native Population of Pre-columbian Saba. Part One. Pottery Styles and their Interpretations. [Ph.D. dissertation], Leiden: University of Leiden (Faculty of Archaeolo…