Arawak/ Taino Indians First Natives of Hispaniola Island

September 2, 2014 7:35 PM

Christopher Columbus discovered the hamlet, Mole St. Nicolas, in northern Haiti in 1492. An indigenous tribe, the Arawak/Taino (A/T) inhabited the area, who were good-natured and friendly. They had a structured, paternal, and hierarchical system, which consisted of rulers called caciques, who ruled over different domains. Polygamy was an accepted practice and wives could number as high as 30.

Homes were constructed of straw and palm leaves. Caciques' houses were rectangular with tiny porches, and families lived together, with commoners living with as many as 100 other people. Men wore no clothes, women occasionally skirts. Both used body art to make fashion statements.

Taíno Museum - In The Middle Of A Tropical Garden

Arawak/ Taino Indians's diet consisted of meat or fish primarily, but they also consumed small animals and insects. They raised crops such as corn, beans, peppers, sweet potatoes, yams, and peanuts, planting them in a heap, stuffed with leaves to prevent soil erosion.

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