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History Assignment

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16 views

History Assignment

Uploaded by

taneshawhite933
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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A) List four islands that were occupied by the Tainos.

● Cuba
● Jamaica
● Hispaniola
● Puerto Rico

B) Explain how THREE factors caused migration from The Americas to the Caribbean
1. Being seafarers, they travelled by sea often. While doing this, they might have
realised that the Caribbean was fit for their survival. The islands in the Caribbean
provided them with rivers (for food and water), seeing as they were the first
inhabitants this implies that the islands' flora and fauna would most likely be healthy,
and abundant and they would have a lot of space for their villages.
2. The Taino population was growing in number and they needed new lands to cultivate
crops. As there wasn't enough food to sustain them, they migrated to the Caribbean
hoping they would find the resources they lacked.
3. They sought refuge from their violent neighbours the Kalinagos. The Kalinagos were
known to be more aggressive than the Tainos and would attack, raid and even eat the
Tainos. Seeing as they were easily attacked being so close the farther they were the
better

C) Discuss three cultural characteristics of the Tainos


-The Taino were polytheists and worshipped many different gods, spirits and
ancestors; called zemis. The word zemi was also used to refer to icons and fetishes of the
gods, most often made from carved rocks. The Taino had two main gods, Atabry and Yucahu,
and many lesser deities. Atabry was the Taino mother goddess and goddess of fresh water.
Yocahu was the son of Atabey. He was the god of saltwater, agriculture, and of the cassava
root, the main food crop of the Taino people.

-The Taino practised a high-yielding form of shifting agriculture to grow their staple foods,
cassava and yams. They would burn the forest or scrub and then heap the ashes and soil into
mounds that could be easily planted, tended, and irrigated. Corn (maize), beans, squash,
tobacco, peanuts (groundnuts), and peppers were also grown, and wild plants were gathered.
Birds, lizards, and small animals were hunted for food, the only domesticated animals being
dogs and, occasionally, parrots used to decoy wild birds within range of hunters. Fish and
shellfish were another essential food source.

-Tainos lived in organised societies headed by caciques. The Taino society was divided into
two classes the Nitaino, the nobility or upper class and the Naboria, the working or lower
class. The Nitaino were caciques and his family, warriors and artists and they ruled over the
Naborias who were fishermen, hunters, and farmers. The Taíno are thought to have been
matrilineal, tracing their ancestry through the female line. The Taíno society, despite being
matrilineal with mother-determined name and rank, was not matriarchal, with most caciques
and nitaínos being men, although women held high status and privileges.

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