Background Information
History of Jamaica – the first people
Arawak was the language of the first settlers on the island of Jamaica, the Tainos.
The Tainos arrived in Jamaica somewhere near 600 AD. It is assumed that the Tainos
were the natives of the northern coast of South America.
The Arawakan speaking Tainos belonged to the Stone Age. They were peace-loving
people. They settled down in Jamaica and continued to live there for almost 900
years. The existence of the Tainos was threatened when the Spanish invaded
Jamaica in 1494. The search of Cathay, the land of gold in the East motivated the
Spanish Conquest.
The Tainos became an extinct race within 50 years of the arrival of the Spanish.
People were killed, some died of hunger, some were unable to survive the diseases
brought in by the Spanish. Many committed suicide to escape being enslaved by the
Spanish.
With the extinction of the Taino from Jamaica, their language Arawak was almost
led to complete annihilation. The ups and downs in the history of Jamaica was
enough to erase the Arawak language. The language belongs to the Arawakan
Group of languages. Though some parts of the Caribbean still has other dialects
belonging to the group, the Arawak as spoken by the Taino is absent.
Arawak has however contributed certain words to the English language. The list of
Arawak words adopted into English include words like 'hammock', 'hurricane',
'tobacco', 'barbeque', 'cassava', 'guava' and 'canoe'.
Interestingly the word Jamaica has been derived from the Arawak word 'xaymaca'
which means the 'land of wood and water' or the 'land of forest and water'.
Arawak as a language of the Tainos may not be in vogue but it has definitely
contributed to the enrichment of the English language. Originally this came from a
Taino word "Hamaika", or "Haymaica", meaning "land of wood and streams". This
was hispanicised as "Xaymaica" and anglicized as Jamaica.
The Tainos were a people of the northern Caribbean islands, originating in South
America but distinctively altered by Amerindian influences, especially Mayan. They
were historically referred to as Arawak by the English-speaking world, with the term
"Taino" pronounced tie-ee-no and meaning good, or, noble) used only by
archaeologists. However, it survived in the Spanish- and French-speaking islands and
is now generally accepted scholarly use. Their traditional enemies were the Caribs,
but the Tainos were virtually extinct as a people within thirty years of their first
contact with Europeans in 1492. A census of 1611 numbered only seventy-four
Indians in Jamaica and when Spanish colonisers were succeeded by the English in
1655, it was claimed no Taino could be found. Taino heritage has been claimed by
the Maroons of African descent and Taino artefacts have been found in other
Maroon strongholds like Nanny Town (Blue Mountains in the parish of Portland).
There are over three hundred known Taino sites in Jamaica, mostly in the parish of
St. Ann. Watson's Hill, is a relatively unknown site. The Jamaican Coat of Arms
contains two Tainos.
The Arawak World
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The Arawaks people inhabited the lands that extend from Florida through
the Caribbean to Bolivia, Paraguay and northern Argentina. See maps of the
Caribbean.
Social Organization
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The Arawaks were a very gentle culture, they preferred negotiation and
commercial exchange to war. Their society was characterized by happiness,
friendliness and a highly organized hierarchical, paternal society, and a lack of
guile. Each group was a small kingdom and the leader was called a cacique.
They practiced polygamy and most men had 2 or 3 wives, but the caciques
had as many as 30. It was a great honor for a woman to be married to a
cacique. Not only did she enjoy a materially superior lifestyle, but her
children were held in high esteem.
There was clear distinction between caciques and certain social strata that
considered themselves superior, (this developed more so in the Arawaks of
the Caribbean) and their existed some degree of slavery. The Arawaks
employed prisoners and other individuals in services that were not expected
of natural members of their communities. It was not a hereditary slavery as in
the old world culture, it was simply the initial stage of submission of
strangers to the tribe, who had to work so as to be eventually assimilated.
The Arawaks practiced the custom of couvade/covada, that is they
considered that the father is affected in some way by the birth of his
children. For this reason the father had a special diet parallel to that of the
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mother after child birth. Laying in his hammock, abstaining from work and
eating and drinking specific foods for a period of time.
The duties of the sexes were well defined:
The men cleaned the land for planting, but the rest of the agricultural activity
was done by the women.
The men worked wood and fabricated armament, hunted, fished, wove
baskets and collected in the forest.
The women, wove, made hammocks, cooked and prepared the cassava. They
also attended to their husbands hair and painting their bodies according to
ceremonial rules.
The Arawaks walked naked. Their women if single,were naked and if they
were married they would use a "nagua" a kind of apron that covered them
from their waist to the middle of their legs.
Housing
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The Arawaks used two primary architectural styles for their homes. The
general population lived in circular buildings with poles providing the primary
support and these were covered with woven straw and palm leaves.
The caciques were singled out for unique housing. Their house were
rectangular and even featured a small porch. Despite the difference in shape,
and the considerably larger buildings, the same materials were used.
The house of the cacique contained only his own family. However, given the
number of wives he might have, this constituted a huge family. The round
houses of the common people were also large. Each one had about 10-15
men and their whole families. Thus any Arawaks home might house a
hundred people.
The houses did not contain much furniture. People slept in cotton hammocks
or simply on mats of banana leaves. They also made wooden chairs with
woven seats, couches and built cradles for their children.
In addition to houses the typical Arawaks village contained a flat court in the
Centre of the village which was used for ball games and various festivals,
both religious and secular. Houses were around this court. This was a
hierarchical society, and while there was only one cacique who was paid a
tribute (tax) to oversee the village, there were other levels of sub-caciques,
who were not paid, but did hold positions of honor. They were liable for
various services to the village and cacique.
Technology
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Stone making was especially developed among the Arawak, but they seem
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not to have used it at all in building houses. It was primarily used for tools
and especially religious artifacts.
They developed a system for extracting the poisonous liquid out of the bitter
cassava using a sebucán
They also introduced their art of weaving, basket making, carving and painted
ceramics which incorporated symbols from their spiritually evolved beliefsystem. Weaving fibers and making hammocks
Dress
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The men were generally naked, but the women sometimes wore short skirts.
Men and women alike adorned their bodies with paint and shells and other
decorations.
Diet
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The Arawak diet, was cantered around wild meat or fish as the primary
source of protein. They also ate snakes, various rodents, bats, worms, birds,
in general any living things they could find with the exception of humans.
Cassava bread which they made from grated yucca was the staple of the
Arawaks that lived in the forest, the coastal inhabitants used corn.
They were able to hunt ducks and turtles in the lakes and sea. The coastal
natives relied heavily on fishing, and tended to eat their fish either raw or
only partially cooked.
The natives of the interior relied more on agriculture and hunting, using less
fish in their diet.
Agriculture
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The Arawak raised their crops in conucos, a system of agriculture they
developed.
One of the Arawak's primary crops was cassava. This is a root crop from
which a poisonous juice must be squeezed. Then it is baked into a bread like
slab. They also grew corn (maize), squash, beans, peppers, sweet potatoes,
yams and peanuts.
Cotton was grown and woven into fishing nets. but they raised tobacco and
enjoyed smoking very much. It was not only a part of their social life, but was
used in religious ceremonies too.