Dec 4, 2008

Anna in the Tropics | Historical Context

Taino Indians
When Christopher Columbus first arrived on the island of Cuba he and his men were met by the indigenous Taino Indians. The word Taino meant ‘‘men of the good,’’ for the Taino were a gentle race of people whose lives where inextricably linked with their natural surroundings. The Tainos were a seafaring people who lived on the verge of dense jungle, but they also developed sophisticated agricultural practices that produced cassava, corn, squash, and peanuts. The Tainos wandered about naked, their bodies decorated with colorful dyes made from earth, and they...