The Arawak Indians originally lived in South America and on the Greater and Lesser Antilles, two groups of islands in the Caribbean Sea. The island Arawak, or Taino, were the Indians Italian explorer Christopher Columbus encountered on his journeys to North America.

Society

The Arawak lived in villages, some with thousands of inhabitants. They built their houses from logs, poles, and the leaves of palm trees. The Arawak obtained most of their food by farming. Among the crops they grew were corn (maize), yams, beans, squash, peanuts, cassava and tobacco. They also fished, caught shellfish, and hunted birds, lizards, and other small animals.

Villages were ruled by powerful chiefs, who inherited their positions. Male chiefs were called cacique. The chiefs' relatives made up a class of nobles. They advised the chiefs on how best to govern their villages.

Because their climate was warm year-round, the Arawak wore little or no clothing. Both men and women painted their bodies for special occasions. They also wore earrings, nose rings, and necklaces, that were sometimes made of gold.

History

Although the Arawak originally lived on both the Greater and the Lesser Antilles, they were driven out of the Lesser Antilles by the Carib shortly before the appearance of the Spanish. When Columbus arrived in the Caribbean, he was greeted by the Arawak on the islands of the Greater Antilles. The explorers, however, were not impressed by the unfamiliar culture they saw. They treated the Arawak harshly and took their gold by force.

Columbus' men and the Spaniards that followed them also considered the Arawak to be their slaves. They forced the Indians to work in fields and in mines. The Indians were given so little food that some died of starvation. Many others died of such Old World diseases as smallpox and measles.

Hunger, disease, and slavery quickly took their toll. By 1550, the original island Arawak population of 1 million or more had been reduced to almost nothing. Their traditional way of life largely disappeared as well.

Small groups of Arawak managed to survive. Their descendents now live in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Florida. In 1998, the United Confederation of Taino People was created to help revive Arawak culture, language, and religion.