Atlantis Online
March 29, 2024, 07:33:23 am
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
News: Plato's Atlantis: Fact, Fiction or Prophecy?
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=CarolAnn_Bailey-Lloyd
http://www.underwaterarchaeology.com/atlantis-2.htm
 
  Home Help Arcade Gallery Links Staff List Calendar Login Register  

Taino Indians Still Thrive in Cuba

Pages: 1 2 3 4 [5]   Go Down
  Print  
Author Topic: Taino Indians Still Thrive in Cuba  (Read 24259 times)
0 Members and 62 Guests are viewing this topic.
Bianca
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 41646



« Reply #60 on: February 29, 2008, 06:01:04 pm »









Before Columbus



The Taino first journeyed to Cuba from what is now South America about 300 years before
Christopher Columbus came ashore in 1492.

Columbus wrote that the Indians, then thought to number at least 120,000, impressed him
with their "naked innocence. ... They are very gentle without knowing what evil is, without
killing, without stealing."

Columbus later decided the Indians should be enslaved, writing in his journals, "They will make
excellent servants." His vision never came to be.

During the Spanish conquest, hordes of the Taino –no one knows precisely how many– died
of smallpox, malaria, abuse or starvation. Others were killed in battle.

One Indian leader, Hatuey, tried to organize a rebellion against the Spanish in the 1530s.
He was captured and burned alive, and is remembered as a hero in Cuban classrooms today.

By 1508, only an estimated 20,000 to 50,000 Tainos remained, according to the magazine
Native Peoples. By 1544, a Catholic bishop reported that 60 were left.

Today, descendants of the Indians can be found throughout the island's eastern tip.

José Ramón Pérez, 57, lives with his family in a tiny settlement called Los Enanos, or The
Dwarves, a 30-minute walk from the highway that stretches from Baracoa to Guantánamo.
He grows yucca, plantains, corn, beans and other crops the Indian way – all mixed in toge-
ther in the same garden, a method that he says keeps the soil rich.

Mr. Pérez also cultivates at least a dozen medicinal plants.

"This one's good for colds," he said, bending down to touch a leafy plant growing outside his home. "This other plant is good for aches and pain, and this one will improve your eyesight.
My grandfather taught me all about these plants. Now I'm teaching my children."

His eldest son, Luider Pérez, 37, said he enjoys learning the Taino customs.

"You realize just how much you can do with plants and natural medicine," he said. "Every-
thing's here right in this yard, practically an entire pharmacy. I have plants that will cure your
kidneys, your stomach and ones that will calm your nerves."

His father, a rugged man with an easy smile and bronze, sun-baked skin, picked up a gourd.
"I'll tell you what this is for," he said, balancing the gourd on his head. "Find a pond, go into
the water up to your neck and put the gourd on your head. Then wait until a bird lands on it.
Stay still and then snatch the bird with your hands. Real fast. And it's dinnertime!"
Report Spam   Logged

Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
Pages: 1 2 3 4 [5]   Go Up
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by EzPortal
Bookmark this site! | Upgrade This Forum
SMF For Free - Create your own Forum
Powered by SMF | SMF © 2016, Simple Machines
Privacy Policy