The Ta�nos were seafaring indigenous peoples of the Ba*****, Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles. They were one of the Arawak peoples of South America, and the Ta�no language was a member of the Arawakan language family of northern South America.
At the time of Columbus' arrival in 1492, there were five Ta�no chiefdoms and territories on Hispaniola (modern day Haiti and Dominican Republic), each led by a principal Cacique (chieftain), to whom tribute was paid. Puerto Rico also was divided into chiefdoms. As the hereditary head chief of Ta�no tribes, the cacique was paid significant tribute. At the time of the Spanish conquest, the largest Ta�no population centers may have contained over 3,000 people each.
The Ta�nos were historically enemies of the neighboring Carib tribes, another group with origins in South America who lived principally in the Lesser Antilles. The relationship between the two groups has been the subject of much study. For much of the 15th century, the Ta�no tribe was being driven to the northeast in the Caribbean (out of what is now South America) because of raids by the Carib. Women were taken as captives, resulting in many Carib women speaking Ta�no.
The Spaniards, who first arrived in the Ba*****, Cuba, and Hispaniola in 1492, and later in Puerto Rico, did not bring women in the first expeditions. They took Ta�no women for their common-law wives, resulting in mestizo children. **** of Ta�no women by the Spanish was also common. Scholars suggest there was substantial mestizaje (racial and cultural mixing) in Cuba, as well, and several Indian pueblos that survived into the 19th century.
The Ta�no were wiped out by Spanish settlers, who arrived after Christopher Columbus landed on the island in 1492. The first recorded smallpox outbreak in Hispaniola occurred in December 1518 or January 1519. The 1518 Smallpox epidemic killed 90% of the natives who had not already perished. They succumbed primarily to new diseases, as well as warfare and enslavement by the colonists.
By 1548 the native population was under 500. By the 18th century, Ta�no society had been devastated by introduced diseases, intermarriages and forced assimilation into the plantation economy. To meet its demand for labor, Spain subsequently imported African slave workers to its Caribbean colonies.
At the time of Columbus' arrival in 1492, there were five Ta�no chiefdoms and territories on Hispaniola (modern day Haiti and Dominican Republic), each led by a principal Cacique (chieftain), to whom tribute was paid. Puerto Rico also was divided into chiefdoms. As the hereditary head chief of Ta�no tribes, the cacique was paid significant tribute. At the time of the Spanish conquest, the largest Ta�no population centers may have contained over 3,000 people each.
The Ta�nos were historically enemies of the neighboring Carib tribes, another group with origins in South America who lived principally in the Lesser Antilles. The relationship between the two groups has been the subject of much study. For much of the 15th century, the Ta�no tribe was being driven to the northeast in the Caribbean (out of what is now South America) because of raids by the Carib. Women were taken as captives, resulting in many Carib women speaking Ta�no.
The Spaniards, who first arrived in the Ba*****, Cuba, and Hispaniola in 1492, and later in Puerto Rico, did not bring women in the first expeditions. They took Ta�no women for their common-law wives, resulting in mestizo children. **** of Ta�no women by the Spanish was also common. Scholars suggest there was substantial mestizaje (racial and cultural mixing) in Cuba, as well, and several Indian pueblos that survived into the 19th century.
The Ta�no were wiped out by Spanish settlers, who arrived after Christopher Columbus landed on the island in 1492. The first recorded smallpox outbreak in Hispaniola occurred in December 1518 or January 1519. The 1518 Smallpox epidemic killed 90% of the natives who had not already perished. They succumbed primarily to new diseases, as well as warfare and enslavement by the colonists.
By 1548 the native population was under 500. By the 18th century, Ta�no society had been devastated by introduced diseases, intermarriages and forced assimilation into the plantation economy. To meet its demand for labor, Spain subsequently imported African slave workers to its Caribbean colonies.
Ta�no Indians were very passive compared to the Carib, and that's the main reason they were pushed north by the Carib who were very war like.
The Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico are the two main countries that have the highest population of Ta�no's in the world even though they are almost all extinct.
Chief Ag�eybana greeting Juan Ponce de Le�n in Puerto Rico
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