The Taino's

Social Life
 Religion
 Religion played a very important role in the lives of the Tainos.
 The Tainos believed their land had been created by a male sky god and a female earth goddess.
 They also believed that there were many nature gods that controlled the weather, sickness, luck and misfortune.
 These gods as well as their ancestors were portrayed by Zemis, a wood, bone or shell in the shape of a human
or animal.
 Tainos had the belief that trees, rivers and rocks were the homes of evil spirits.
 Powered tobacco was sometimes taken by priests to induce unconsciousness which sent them in a trance that
allowed them to speak to the spirits.
 Important religious ceremonies were held by a cacique, the native chief, and during these ceremonies
priests would make themselves vomit in order to clear away any impurities before
communication with the Zemis.
 The Tainos believed in life after death in coyaba (heaven), a peaceful place which was free from
natural tragedies such as hurricanes.
 Tainos thought that the soul of the deceased left the body and wandered at night
feeding on mammy apples.
 Recreation
 The Tainos had sufficient leisure time in which they sang, danced and
recited poems referred to as areytos.

 Women and men danced separately, but when there was a marriage
ceremony of a cacique both sexes would dance together.

 During the dancing occasions the pleasure of drinking was added.

 They enjoyed smoking the tobacco plant which they called cohiba because
it gave them peace and contentment.

 The Tainos had a ball game referred as batos which was played on the
batey, an area in which Tainos built their settlements, with two teams who
try to hit the ball with any part of their body into their opponent’s goal line.
Gender Relations
Women Men
1. Provide labour for agriculture 1. Hunt for food and fish off the
2. Have children coast
3. Prepare food such as cassava 2. Build canoes
4. Design pottery 3. Use fire
5. Make jewelry 4. Cut down trees
6. Pick and weave cotton into 5. Make tools from stone
hammocks, baskets and white 6. Find gold used to make jewelry
skirts 7. Teach boys the ways of fishing
and hunting
 Architecture and Infrastructure
 In Taino villages, there were small houses. Most of these villages had over a thousand huts.
 The Taino houses were round and constructed with wooden posts that were placed in the ground
in a circle and canes were used between the posts and tied with creepers (plant that grows along
the ground).
 These houses were strongly built and contained little furniture such as hammocks.
 The rooves of these houses were thatched in a conical shape and a hole left in the top through
which smok could escape.
 Houses had no windows and only one opening door.
 They were built from wood and thatched; they were arranged around the
central plaza, batey.
 The two largest buildings in the community were the bohio, home of the
cacique, and the caney, the village meeting place used for public activities.
 Family Life
 The Tainos practiced polygamy in which they had
two or three wives but the cacique had as many as
30.
 Their society was divided into two classes: the
naborias, common people and the nitainos, the
nobles.
 These classes were governed by the caciques and
the bohiques, medicine men (cure man and
woman physically, mentally and emotionally).
 The Tainos hunted and grew an adequate amount
of food for themselves as well as their family.
 Arts and Crafts
 The Tainos used red, brown and grey clay to create pottery.

 Pots were made from several layers of clays and then cut patterns through the layers to give designs.

 Their pots were decorated with markings that were different for each village.

 Pots were often made in shapes of frogs, birds or heads with wide eyes and large ears that served as
handles.

 Complex pots were used as funeral urns, tall vase, to hold bones of ancestors.

 Taino’s tools were made from wood, stone, bone and shell.

 These tools were used to make baskets, fish traps and lobster pots.

 The Tainos also made baskets used for carrying water. These were made by double weaving wood
and leaves.
 Education

1 2 3
The Tainos could They knew little They also had no
not read and write. about metal knowledge of the
working except cultivation of food
from gold. and animals.