Various scholars have addressed the question of who were the native inhabitants of the Caribbean islands to which Columbus voyaged in 1492. The assumption that European accounts can be read as objective

 ...

Two schools of thought have emerged regarding the origin of the indigenous people of the Caribbean.
• One group of scholars contends that the ancestors of the Taíno

 ...

Taíno society was divided into two classes: naborias (commoners) and nitaínos (nobles). They were governed by male chiefs known as caciques, who inherited their position through their mother's noble line. (This was a matrilineal kinship system, with

 ...

Taíno staples included vegetables, fruit, meat, and fish. There were no large animals native to the Caribbean, but they captured and ate small animals, such as hutias and other mammals, earthworms, lizards, turtles, and birds. Manateeswere speared and fish were

 ...

Taíno spirituality centered on the worship of zemís. A zemí is a spirit or ancestor. The major Taíno zemis are Atabey and her son, Yúcahu. Atabey was the zemi of the moon, fresh waters, and fertility. Other names for her include Atabei, Atabeyra, Atabex, and Guimazoa. The Taínos of

 ...

Columbus and the crew of his ship were the first Europeansto encounter the Taíno people, as they landed in The Bahamas on October 12, 1492. After their first interaction, Columbus

 ...

The Taíno were the most culturally advanced of the Arawak group to settle in what is now Puerto Rico. Individuals and kinshipgroups

 ...