Tainos Essay

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INTRODUCTION TO THE TAINOS The Tainos belongs to the Amerindian Tribe called Arawaks that settled in the Caribbean from Venezuela. The Arawaks were divided into several groups they settle in different part of the Caribbean. The Lucayanos occupied the Bahamas, the Borequinos were in Puerto Rico and the Tainos lived in Cuba, Jamaica and Haiti. Barbados and Trinidad was settled by the Ignerian Arawaks. "Taino" is an Arawak word meaning peace The language they spoke was called arawak. APPEARANCE AND DRESS The Tainos were of short to medium height with a slightly built body. Their skin was "olive" meaning smooth and brown. The Tainos were considered naturally good-looking but distorted their features by artificial means. 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. TAINO MAN AND WOMAN Dress In most islands, the tainos were naked. In Hispaniola and Cuba, married women wore a piece of cloth over their loins. Sometimes in Jamaica and Cuba, the woven cloth was not used as clothing, but for cotton bands around the arms and legs. Clay and fat mixed with bright colored dyes were smeared in patterns all over the body: "some of them…with black, others white and others red, most of them on their bodies, and some on their faces, and eyes, or only the nose". This was a common custom, especially in Hispaniola. Besides being colorful, the clay and grease kept off insects and rain. Several small amulets or charms were carried in sacks around the neck. Others made from clay; shell and cotton were woven into the hair HOW THE TAINOS LIVED. HOUSING Village sites were chosen on the top of hills and near seas as a precaution against surprise attacks and to obtain

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