Tainos Flashcards

1
Q

What is another name for Tainos?

A

Arawaks

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2
Q

When did the first group of tainos arrive in the Caribbean?

A

via Trinidad around 250 BCE from the orinoco region in South America and they moved up the island chain.

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3
Q

What language did they speak?

A

They spoke a language called arawakan

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4
Q

What were reasons for the tainos migration?

A

Search for food and resources, they were seafaring people, creating new settlements and fleeing from enslavement or attacks

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5
Q

Why did different groups have different names?

A

Arawaks/tainos were given different names based on the island they lived

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6
Q

What was the group in the Greater Antilles called?

A

Tainos

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7
Q

What was the group in the Bahamas called?

A

Lucayans

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8
Q

What was the group in the lesser Antilles called?

A

Arawaks

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9
Q

Why was migration important?

A

It was an important part of their culture passed on to them by their ancestors

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10
Q

Why was the search for food important?

A

They were not able to live on limited resources in their land.

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11
Q

Why were resources important?

A

Because it was needed to construct homes.

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12
Q

Why were changes in climatic condition a reason for migration?

A

Changes in climate affected their health,

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13
Q

Why were Amerindian’s being a seafaring people a reason for migrations?

A

They could have accidently found an island as they use boats for fishing and other activities and chose to migrate there

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14
Q

Why was creating their own settlements a reason for migration?

A

The settlers may have wanted to set up their own communities away from larger ones

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15
Q

Why was fleeing enslavement or attacks a reason for migration?

A

They might have seen islands as places of refuge from the warlike kalinago who were moving into their territory

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16
Q

Why was the kalinago being warlike a reason to migrate?

A

They probably migrated in search of new prey or targets or in pursuit of the tainos

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17
Q

Why was the urge to explore important?

A

Some groups may have wanted to explore new lands

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18
Q

What were the reasons the Taino and kalinago settled in different Caribbean groups?

A

The tainos were the first to enter the Caribbean and when the kalinago came they attacked Taino villages

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19
Q

What was the pre-Colombian name for Jamaica?

A

Xymaca/Yamaye

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20
Q

What was the pre-Colombian name for Cuba?

A

Cubanakan

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21
Q

What was the pre-Colombian name for Haiti?

A

Haiti bohio/Quisqueya

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22
Q

What was the pre-Colombian name for Bahamas?

A

Lucayo

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23
Q

What was the pre-Colombian name for Puerto Rico?

A

Boriquen

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24
Q

When did different Taino groups enter the greater Antilles?

A

Between 250 AD and 1000 AD

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25
Q

What was the size of Taino settlements and the population of villages?

A

Taino settlements were towns of about 1000 houses and 3000-4000 people. On average, the villages had 150 people.

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26
Q

What were the locations of settlements?

A

Taino villages were mainly found near the sea, rivers or streams on fertile flat land on the coastal plains or hillsides.

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27
Q

Who ruled each village and province?

A

A headman ruled villages and a cacique ruled provinces

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28
Q

What were reasons certain locations were chosen?

A

For domestic use, trading, fishing, and on top of a hill to protect from kalinago attacks.

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29
Q

What were the reasons Amerindian settlements might have maintained contact with one another?

A

To maintain family ties, aid eachother against hostile groups, share cultural, social and religious activities, and trade with islands

30
Q

What is a cacique?

A

The leader of the arawaks who lives in a bohio.

31
Q

What was the role of the cacique?

A

Dealt with the distribution of land, ordering the labour of the land, the leader in war, and negotiated to maintain peace

32
Q

What were some privileges of the cacique?

A

his house was larger than others, he was given the best foods, he was carried in a litter and some of his wives were buried with him.

33
Q

What is a Duho?

A

A special ceremonial stool carved out of wood in the shape of an animal

34
Q

What would happen when a cacique was not able to perform his duties because he was gravely ill or seriously injured?

A

He was strangled or replaced by his eldest son

35
Q

What was the nitainos?

A

They were also called nobles and were lesser chiefs. They were usually the oldest men in society.

36
Q

What were duties of the nitainos?

A

They had to know the borders of their peoples land and remember agreements reached with other groups

37
Q

What were naborios?

A

They were the common people who made up most of the population.

38
Q

What were the daily activities of the Tainos?

A

Fishing, hunting, gathering and agriculture.

39
Q

Who always prepared food?

A

The women

40
Q

How was cassava prepared?

A

It was turned into a paste and the poison was extracted out of a wicker.

41
Q

What other dishes did the women prepare?

A

Pepper pot, and cassareep which was the juice of a cassava.

42
Q

What was the tainos favorite dish?

A

Pepperpot

43
Q

How was pepperpot made?

A

It was cooked in a large clay pot with cassava juice from which the juice was extracted, along with beans, peanuts, potato and meat like iguana, turtle and yellow snake and also pepper.

44
Q

What role did the children play in terms of crops?

A

They helped with clearing the crops of pests.

45
Q

What were signs of beauty in the Taino?

A

Flattened foreheads.

46
Q

What were the two main types of houses?

A

The bohio and the caneye.

47
Q

Who’s and how was the bohio shaped?

A

The caciques house was rectangular and had several rooms.

48
Q

Who’s and how was the caneye shaped?

A

The general populations house was round with a thatched roof

49
Q

What were reasons of celebration for the Taino?

A

The naming of a baby, the wedding of a cacique, the inauguration of a new cacique, harvest time and the return of a victorious war.

50
Q

What happened during celebrations?

A

On special occasions men and women painted themselves and wore jewelry made of gold.

51
Q

What were the economic practices of tainos?

A

They traded goods with each other over long distances.

52
Q

What are 2 items traded by the Taino?

A

Volcanic stone and conch shells.

53
Q

What were methods of obtaining food?

A

Fishing, hunting, gathering, agriculture, animal rearing and trade.

54
Q

What are 3 types of fish eaten by the Taino?

A

Manatee, crabs and lobsters

55
Q

What are 3 types of animals the Taino hunted?

A

Birds, lizards and small animals.

56
Q

What was Agriculture like?

A

Taino grew crops like cassava, sweet potatoes, yautia, groundnuts, maize and beans mainly for themselves.

57
Q

What was the slash and burn method?

A

They burnt the land to clear it of weeds and bush and cut down the trees to make space for planting.

58
Q

What was the conuco cultivation?

A

An organized system of large scale agriculture that produces starch-based foods and foods rich in sugar. A family would cultivate a conuco for 2-3 years and moved on to a new fresh plot after the soil became infertile. The old one would be left for the same amount of time and then brought back to production

59
Q

What was the main crop grown?

A

Manioc or Cassava. (Manioc is cassava)

60
Q

What was the tainos religion?

A

Animism.

61
Q

What is animism?

A

The belief that spirits inhabit natural objects.

62
Q

How many gods did the Taino worship?

A

More than one as they were polytheistic.

63
Q

What is a zemi?

A

Their gods, spirits or idols.

64
Q

What were the zemis made of?

A

Clay, cotton, wood, bones of their ancestors or stone

65
Q

What did each family have?

A

Each family had its own zemi.

66
Q

What was said about the cacique for him to hold his power?

A

The caciques zemi was said to be more powerful a than anyone else’s.

67
Q

What was believed about the zemi in terms of them controlling things?

A

It was believed that they controlled sickness, weather, crops, peace and war.

68
Q

Who were the most important gods among the Taino?

A

Yucahu and his mother Atabey.

69
Q

Who is the goddess of rivers and fertility?

A

Atabey

70
Q

Who is the god of cassava and the sea?

A

Yucahu

71
Q

Who and how was communicating with a zemi done?

A

Priests of caciques cleaned themselves by vomitong using a special vomit stick and they would inhale cohoba through a fork-tube which caused hallucinations.

72
Q

What were the various art forms of the Taino?

A

Architecture, music, painting, pottery, instruments, weaving cotton, basketry, tobacco, canoe building and making jewelry with gold.