Taino Indians Still Thrive in Cuba

Map




Arawak (or Taino) Indians inhabiting Cuba when Columbus landed on the island in 1492
died from diseases brought by sailors and settlers.

By 1511, Spaniards under Diego Velásquez had established settlements.

Havana's superb harbor made it a common transit point to and from Spain.

Christopher Columbus, whose name literally means "Christ-bearing colonizer," wrote
in his diary shortly after the landfall that he and his sailors saw "naked men" (there
were also women), whom they found "very healthy-looking."

Landing at Guanahani, in the Bahamas, and sailing on to Cuba and Bohio (Haiti/Santo
Domingo), renamed Española, Columbus soon noted a widespread language and system
of beliefs and lifeways. Conferring with various caciques (chiefs), he heard them call
themselves "Taino." (Tyler 1988)