History of the Taínos in the Dominican Republic I

Part of the culture and history of the Dominican Republic is linked to the existence of the Taíno population, which were an ethnic group from the mouth of the Orinoco River, in South America (current country of Venezuela). The Taínos were populating the different islands of the Caribbean from the seventh centuryOne of them was Hispaniola, the name of the island where the Dominican Republic currently shares its territory and population with the sister country of Haiti.

The language used by the Taínos was Arawak, which belongs to the Arawak linguistic family., now extinct, however, there are still some words such as arepa, sweet potato, caribbean, boricua, termite, etc. which were adapted to the popular language of the Spanish at the time of the conquest in the XNUMXth century.

The Tainos, once settled on the island, subdued or assimilated other Arawak populations such as the Iñeris and the Guanahatabeyes-Archaic, Ciguayos and Macoris.

Taino Society

The Tainos weren't that tall, olive skinned, muscular, the men wore their hair short in the front (bangs) and long in the back, they did not have beards. Taina women wore long hair, braided themselves, and part of the aesthetic beauty was to get holes in both their ears and lips.

They practically did not wear clothes due to the weather conditions of the Island, however, the men wore a tailored cloth and the women wore skirts.

The Taínos which means "good and noble" It was a peaceful ethnic group and that was demonstrated within its social environment where solidarity was practiced among its own, fights between families or clans were rare.

The patriarch was the head of the familyHe was the one who maintained order and made decisions within the house that, in a large percentage, was inhabited by several families (direct or close relatives of the patriarch), which is why the importance of patriarchy. The succession of the patriarchy generally corresponded to the eldest male son and, secondly, to the brother or sister of the patriarch. We will continue…/