History of the Taínos in the Dominican Republic II

The Taínos who settled in the Dominican Republic were an indigenous population from the Orinoco River basins, place of present day Venezuela, which after several migratory waves through the centuries were populating and settling in the different islands of the Caribbean, one of them was the Hispaniola Island, where they subdued other ethnic groups of the same linguistic family, this happened in the XNUMXth century.

The social, economic and political structure It was fundamental for the Taínos to live in conditions of peace and harmony.

Social organization

We have already seen that the Tainos were supportive and sociable because they allowed up to 15 families to live in a house, all close to the patriarch; parents, siblings, children, grandchildren, cousins ​​and the political family composed of the spouses of their direct relatives.

The society of the indigenous Taínos was divided into four social classes: The Naborías that it was the lowest class, it was made up of the villagers who worked the land, hunted, fished, and were in charge of doing the hardest jobs; the Bohiques or Priests who represented religiosity, fulfilled the role of teacher of the youngest, transmitted religious beliefs, was also a healer; the Nitaínos that they belonged to the noble class because they were the family of the caciques, they had ancestry over the Naborías, they were warriors and artisans; Y the chief that he was the highest chief of the tribe, one of his functions was to protect his chiefdom in case of war.

The chief came from the upper class (Nitaínos), he had social and political responsibility over the yucayeque (village). The successions were hereditary, generally to the eldest son, he also had the best house called "caneyes" which were rectangular, spacious and with good ventilation. The chief had certain privileges such as having more than one wife in different provincesHowever, polygamy had a certain political background because it allowed the chief to form alliances with other chiefdoms to strengthen himself and protect himself against possible attacks from other tribes.

Religion

The Taínos practiced the polytheistic religionThat is, they worshiped many gods but the main one was Yocajú Bagua Maorocotí or Yokiyú (God of good), then they worshiped the sun, the moon, the fire and the sea. Just as there were the good Gods who protected the population, their crops and their animals, there were also the evil Gods that they called juracán (hurricane) because when they joined they caused harm to the population. To be continue…/