COLUMBUS AND THE TAINO CIVILISATION: FIRST CONTACT 1492On August 3, 1492, Columbus set sail from Spain to find an all-water route to Asia. On October 12, more than two months later, Columbus landed on an island in the Bahamas that he called San Salvador; the natives called it Guanahani.

Upon arrival Columbus was adamant that he had arrived in Japan, Asia but he had in fact landed in what is now the Bahamas. He named the first island they found San Salvador (modern day Bahamas) before going on to Juana (Cuba) and Hispaniola (Haiti and Dominican Republic). Initial ContactWhen Christopher Columbus arrived in San Salvador (Bahamas) in 1492, he encountered the Taíno people, whom he described in letters as "naked as the day they were born." The Taino people swam out to greet Columbus and his men and to get a closer look at the strange big boat. When Columbus and his sailors came ashore, carrying swords, speaking oddly, the Taino people, brought them food, water and gifts. He later wrote of this in his log:

“They ... brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks' bells. They willingly traded everything they owned... . They were well-built, with good bodies and handsome features.... They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They have no iron. Their spears are made of cane... .”The Tainos displayed remarkable hospitality and belief in sharing. These traits did not stand out in the Europe of the Renaissance, dominated as it was by the religion of popes, the government of monarchs and their quest for money and influence.

Taino CivilisationThe groups of native people incorrectly labelled “Indians” by Columbus were actually a diverse mix of different tribes which spanned the islands of the Caribbean. The three major native populations who lived on the islands were the Taino, the Island Carib and the Guanahatabey. Of the three groups —historians know most about the lives of the Tainos because they were the most numerous native population of the CaribbeanThe Tainos were an advanced people who were skilled farmers and navigators, who wrote music and poetry and created powerfully expressive objects. They lived in village communes and grew a large variety of crops, such as Yuca (cassava) and maize, to ensure that some of them would grow, and ripen regardless of the season. They used large, stable, slow rafts for trade between islands. Taino women did all the agricultural and craft work at home, whereas the men were generally warriors.The Taíno played games, one played in the batéy (an arena-like field) with rubber object. They also devoted their energy to creative activities such as pottery, basket weaving, cotton weaving, stone tools and stone sculpture. Men and women painted their bodies and wore jewellery made of gold, stone, bone, and shell. Tainos used the hamaca (hammock) which was adopted by the Spanish as a convenient means to increase the crew capacity and sanitary conditions on ships.

Columbus and his men were told stories by the Tainos about the Island Caribs to warn them of where it was safe to travel in the islands. Island-Caribs were thought to be, by the Tainos, violent, blood-thirsty savages. Tales of cannibalism and torture at the hands of these native peoples were told to Columbus; however these tales were never proven. The Island Caribs were not cannibals, as the Tainos feared and later argued by Columbus, but they did practice rituals and ceremonies in which they cut off the limbs of their enemies. They believed that by doing this they

would gain the skill and prowess of the opposing warrior. It was a sign of respect and admiration for their enemy.The hunt for gold They had no horses or work animals and no iron, but they wore tiny gold ornaments in their ears. This was to have enormous consequences: it led Columbus to take some of them aboard ship as prisoners because he insisted that they guide him to the source of the gold. He then sailed to Juana (Cuba), landing on October 28 1492. Thinking he had found China, he sent two men to investigate. The two men failed in their mission to find the Emperor of China, but did visit a native Taíno village. There they were the first to observe the smoking of tobacco, a habit which they promptly picked up. Leaving Juana (Cuba), Columbus arrived on the Island of Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic) on December 5. The natives called it Haití, but Columbus renamed it Hispaniola.

Guacanagarix, the Chieftain of the Tainos in Hispaniola, gave flattery and celebration to Columbus and his men by giving them presents; tobacco leaves and bits of gold – Tainos did not consider gold as important as it was not considered a form of currency, instead they considered it to be the ‘the excrement of the gods’. Columbus gave the Taino Chieftain a shirt and a pair of gloves and invited him to have dinner abroad the boat. In return Columbus and his men were given a lavish display of entertainment on the island by the Tainos. During the festivities provided by Tainos, the chieftain dressed in the shirt and gloves that Columbus had given him and gained the support of the Columbus in helping to prevent an attack from the Island Caribs – who the Tainos feared. Columbus ensured the Chieftain that the Spanish monarchs will order the destruction of the Island Caribs and to prove his point, he put on a display of Spanish weapons – which both impressed and frightened the natives. It was obvious from Columbus’s journal that the Tainos were not as used to battle and warfare as the Spaniards. Columbus noted that: “… with 50 men you could subject everyone and make them do what you wished”

And that the natives were “Such cowards and so fearful”

At the end of the festivities, Columbus was presented with a large gold mask that had golden ears and eyes. The gold mask led to wild visions of gold fields. Thus the information that Columbus wanted most was: Where is the gold? This quest for gold was to set the tone for the relationship between the natives of the ‘New World’ and the Spanish explorers in the future. Leaving for SpainBefore returning to Spain, Columbus left thirty-nine men to build a settlement in Hispaniola called La Navidad (Christmas) with instructions to find and store the gold. Columbus brought back to Spain small amounts of gold as well as native birds, the previously unknown tobacco plant, pineapple plant, chili peppers, turkeys and the hammock to show the richness of the continent he believed to be Asia. He also kidnapped several Taino people (between ten and twenty-five) to take back to Spain—however only eight survived the journey to Spain. When Columbus arrived back in Spain on March 15, 1493, he immediately wrote a letter announcing his discoveries to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, who had helped finance his trip. The letter was written in Spanish and announced the existence of the American continent throughout Europe. PRIMARY DOCUMENTATION – Columbus’s letter to Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand

“I have determined to write you this letter to inform you of everything that has been done and discovered in this voyage of mine.

On the thirty-third day after leaving Cadiz I came into the Indian Sea, where I discovered many islands inhabited by numerous people. I took possession of all of them for our most fortunate King by making public proclamation and unfurling his standard, no one making any resistance. The island called Juana, as well as the others in its neighbourhood, is exceedingly fertile. It has numerous harbours on all sides, very safe and wide, above comparison with any I have ever seen. Through it flow many very

broad and health-giving rivers; and there are in it numerous very lofty mountains. All these island are very beautiful, and of quite different shapes; easy to be traversed, and full of the greatest variety of trees reaching to the stars. . . .”

“In the island, which I have said before was called Hispaniola, there are very lofty and beautiful mountains, great farms, groves and fields, most fertile both for cultivation and for pasturage, and well adapted for constructing buildings. The convenience of the harbors in this island, and the excellence of the rivers, in volume and salubrity, surpass human belief, unless one should see them. In it the trees, pasture-lands and fruits different much from those of Juana. Besides, this Hispana abounds in various kinds of species, gold and metals. The inhabitants . . . are all, as I said before, unprovided with any sort of iron and they are destitute of arms, which are entirely unknown to them, and for which they are not adapted; not on account of any bodily deformity, for they are well made, but because they are timid and full of terror. . . . But when they see that they are safe, and all fear is banished, they are very guileless and honest, and very liberal of all they have. No one refuses the asker anything that he possesses; on the contrary they themselves invite us to ask for it. They manifest the greatest affection towards all of us, exchanging valuable things for trifles, content with the very least thing or nothing at all. . . . I gave them many beautiful and pleasing things, which I had brought with me, for no return whatever, in order to win their affection, and that they might become Christians and inclined to love our King and Queen and Princes and all the people of Spain; and that they might be eager to search for and gather and give to us what they abound in and we greatly need”

Christopher Columbus’s letter to Ferdinand and Isabella, after his first voyage, 1493.SPANISH SETTLEMENT AND THE TAÍNO SOCIETYSanto Domingo, Spain’s first colony, was founded on the Caribbean island Hispaniola in 1496. By the start of the 16th century, the combination of starvation, European diseases, and Spanish brutality contributed to the deaths of over 7 million Taíno. By 1535, Taíno society on Hispaniola had been virtually wiped out.

The treatment of the Taíno people - Christopher Columbus 1493-1500 By 1495, Columbus who had originally been welcomed by the Taíno, had managed to isolate them. Taíno chieftain Guacanagarix – who had helped rescue

the Santa Maria in 1492 - and some other chieftains decided that they had had enough and thousands of Taíno warriors gathered to do battle with Columbus and 200 of his men. The battle was unlike anything that the Taíno had ever experienced. It began with twenty Spanish soldiers, fully armored and riding warhorses inflicting great damage with their swords and lances. Then Spanish foot soldiers fired their guns, a terrifying weapon to Taínos who had never encountered it. Finally, the Spanish set loose their large dogs, trained to kill, upon the Taíno warriors. The Spanish goal seemed to be to kill as many Taíno as possible, a goal that was unheard of in traditional Taíno warfare. Following their defeat, Taínos tribe accepted their status as Spanish subjects. Columbus imposed a tribute system in which Taíno population had to agree to pay tribute in the form of food, cotton, and gold. The system demanded that every person over the age of 14 provide the Spanish settlers with a little copper bell filled with gold every three months. For Taínos this meant working in the mines, often being worked to death and those who failed to meet quota demands had their hands cut off.Providing gold, however, was not the greatest hardship on the Taíno: not only did the Spanish seem to eat far more than the Taíno, but they also ate the cassava that wasn’t ready to be harvested. The result was food shortages and starvation for the Taíno people.

Columbus viewed the Taíno themselves as a way to increase his personal wealth. He selected 500 to be exported to Spain as slaves on the grounds of their aggressiveness and their status as enemies, and 500 to serve as slaves to the Spanish on the Island. Columbus proudly boasted to the Spanish monarchs about the slave potential and its economic benefits, even though his petition to transfer Taínos had been refused by Queen Isabella who had heard rumors that Columbus governed the ‘New World’ with brutality. Columbus nevertheless would capture and export more Taíno slaves-about 5,000 — than any other single individual. In addition to capturing the Taínos as slaves, the Spanish also hunted them for sport and slaughtered them for dog food. The Spanish also viewed Taíno women as their sex slaves. Christopher Columbus was not a good leader, or particularly charismatic. Many of his men hated him. As a result, one of his men, Francisco de Roldán, led a small group of anti-Columbus settlers in Santo Domingo. He encouraged other Taíno chieftains to join with them in defeating Columbus. Bartholomew, the brother of Columbus, learned of the

rebellion and moved against the emerging uprising by organising a midnight raid on the Taíno villages, a serious breach of Taíno war custom, and capturing as many Taíno chieftains as possible. They killed the chieftains by burning them alive - 13 at a time – in memory of Jesus and his 12 Apostles. The treatment of the Taíno people - Nicolás de Ovando 1502-1509Continued hostility to Columbus’s rule eventually led to his removal by order of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella and the appointment of Francisco de Bobadilla as royal commissioner of Hispaniola in 1500. In 1502, Nicolás de Ovando replaced de Bobadilla as governor of Hispaniola, with an ambitious plan to expand Spanish influence in the region. It was he who dealt most brutally with the Taínos. For example, he arranged for the widely respected Taíno chieftss Anacaona, the widow of Caonabó who was murdered by Columbus in 1493, to organise a feast, supposedly to welcome him as the new governor to the island. When many of the island's chieftains were assembled in Anacaona's palace, Ovando ordered the Spanish soldiers to surround it and set it on fire. Those who were not killed immediately were brutally tortured to death. After a pretend trial in Santo Domingo, Anacaona was also hanged. Ovando ordered a similar campaign to kill all the Taíno chieftains in the eastern part of the island. With few remaining Taíno chieftain, future resistance from the Taíno was virtually eliminated because traditionally, Taíno chieftains not only directed their people in battle, but more importantly they mediated with the spirit helpers to ensure victory. Without their leaders, the Taíno people were in chaos and soon surrendered. To escape from the Spanish, some Taíno adopted the tactic of abandoning their villages and burning their crops. They fled to less populated parts of the island, forming "runaway" settlements, or fled to other islands. In the first decade of the 1500s, one of the Taíno chieftains, Hatuey, escaped to Cuba, where he organised armed resistance against the Spanish settlers. After a brave but uneven struggle, he was captured and burned alive. As the flames leaped upwards, a priest attempted to convert him to Christianity so that Hatuey could go to Heaven. Hatuey asked if there were Spaniards in Heaven, and when the priest answered, "Yes," Hatuey refused his blessing. European diseases

Diseases unknown to the Taíno spread rapidly because they lacked resistance to viruses and bacteria carried by the Spanish. As the Taínos travelled by canoe to trade and share news, they unknowingly took the germs to neighbouring populations. For example, the outbreak of the small pox epidemic in Hispaniola wiped out about one third of the native Taíno population. Measles, mumps, chickenpox, smallpox, diphtheria, influenza, pneumonia, typhoid, and the common cold reached Cuba and begin their deadly march through populations throughout the Caribbean. The destruction of the Taíno society, coupled with the demands for gold even though there was little gold to be found on the island, and the devastating impact of disease, led to the virtual extinction of Taíno society. With fewer than 50,000 Taínos remaining in Spanish-dominated parts of the island by 1515. For this reason many modern historians have classified the acts of the Spanish against the Taíno as genocide. Sadly this was a pattern that Spanish and other European colonizers carried into the rest of the Americas.