CLASS OVERVIEW

Learn about the continuing destruction of the Tainos’ island and the beginning of the African slave trade.

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The transcript

So as of Taino started to die out, the, priest, the priest, let me say that again, the priest suggested, why don’t you go over to Africa and, get some enslaved people from there.

So, they decided, to start importing Africans to do the work that they wanted  done.

Anyway, so, I was saying Spain wanted to reestablish their place in the European world was so important.

So, as I said, the priest said, let’s go over to Africa and get Africans, to enslave.

What was happening in Africa. There were wars between different nations and  tribes.

Africans would sell the captives from the tribes that were, instead  like, in Benin.

The women warrior would throw the, the warriors over a wall.

Going back to the Pirates, the people on the mainland started selling and trading with the pirates and things, uh, uh, things like bacon and some of the, the meat and livestock. That’s what they started, uh, trading with the pirates.

They started to plant tobacco and other crops, which was doing very well.

The French settled and formed a treaty. So things were going well. They were planning tobacco, they were growing tobacco.Tobacco was being shipped back to Europe and other places. So the French made a treaty with the Spanish.

They split the island, in two parts so there was a French side and the Spanish side. There was San Domingo was the Spanish side, and Santo Domingo was the French side.

The French, uh, were not intereste in mining. They were interested in their tobacco and they introduced another crop sugar. Because they were interested in sugar cane, they needed to bring more enslaved people.

Europe got most of the Africans from sub Sahara Africa to work on the sugar cane.

So even now we can see why, sometimes we wonder why  our people, are prone, some of our people are prone to being part of gangs and what have you. That whole warring mentality, wanting to belong to something that has a purpose. Unfortunately, the purpose is not a good purpose.

1. The name of the first people of Haiti was Tainos.
2. How many chiefs did the Tainos have? 5
3. What was the makeup of the Taino’s rulers? There had to be a least one male Chief if there were all femals Chief or one female if there were all male chiefs for balance.
4. Who came to The Haiti? Christopher Columbus 
5. What did he bring? Destruction

CLASS OVERVIEW

Learn about the original people of Haiti the Tainos and how they lived their lives until the arrival of Christopher Columbus.

BEFORE YOU GET STARTED:

• Please check the materials that go with this lesson and print relevant materials.

• Also, check out the books and products the teachers use for further learning.

• Reach out to support@urbanintellectuals.com if you have any questions or issues.

• Some links may be affiliate links where we may earn a small commission from purchases.

Haiti sits in the middle of the greater Antilles which are islands in the northern part of the world near the Americas.

Before 1492, Haiti was divided into five separate kingdoms: Jaraqua, Maguana, Marien, Maguana and Highey.

There were five Chiefs or Caciques. Many more had ruled before Columbus.

In their governing system, there were always mixed genders in governing. There could not be all men or all women chiefs, there must always be at least one male chief, if the other chiefs were all women or one woman chief if the other chiefs were all men, to rule Haiti.

The chief’s job was to keep order, make sure people were taken care of with enough food and dwellings.

They’re dwellings, called Bohios, consisted of homes that were circular for very large families, up to 10 to 15 men and families. The Chiefs would have rectangular homes and they could have up to 30 wives and all live together.

The Tainos used hammocks the same as we use today and they were made out of cotton. 

They also used canoes for transportation and the canoes could hold up to 10 to 15 people and larger canoes would hold up to 150 people depending on the size. Many people came from South America using these kinds of canoes. 

The Tainos were very agricultural people and the main part of their diet was the Yuca plant which looks like a potato. They made it into cassava and also made bread. They also had fish, and would barbecue the fish. They also hunted for small animals. They had cooking Huts. The women were the agriculturalist and the men would hunt and fish; they also hunted turtles. 

They had a language and had a lot of symbols to add to communications. Petroglyphs were carved on walls and stone. 

They had birds for pets and also they use the birds as Messengers. They train the birds to go across the island to give warning and messages.

The Tainos believed in many gods and they represented their gods with Zemis or Cemis. They would sculpture their gods in a triangular form. They had strong beliefs in ancestors and in the Chiefs. They use these Zemis for guidance. The main Zemi was for water and food which sustain them for their survival.

The Tainos were a peaceful people, but they had an enemy that would come and raid their villages called the Caribs. They used bows and arrows and clubs to defend themselves. The  Caribs were sometimes known to be cannibalistic 

Chief Anacona, who was the only woman Chief at the time to provide balance,  was from the bloodline of chiefs. She was talented with poetry and dance and was very athletic. She was honored all over Haiti. She was also a religious expert as well. After her brother’s death she went with her husband and became ruler in her kingdom.

There was no jealousy in their kingdom. They were peaceful people living a simple life. No one owned any land and the land belonged to everyone. 

In 1492, Columbus came to Haiti where Anacona was Chief. When Columbus’s ship came to the island, it wrecked, the Tainos jumped in the ocean to save the wreckage thinking that the people might need what was floating in the ocean. As Columbus saw the kindness of the Tainos and the gold that they had around their necks and wrist, he began to think that these people would be easy to make servants and get gold from them. Columbus had at least 100 people with him on this voyage.

Columbus and his people built a fort and named the island Hispaniola for Spain.

Columbus return back to Spain and left the 30 people in Haiti where they were making the Tianos dig for gold, disrespecting them and treating them very harshly.  At the beginning, the missionaries and soldiers held a Christmas dinner for everyone but the Taino’s realized that these people meant them no good and killed all of them by burning down the fort. 

When Columbus return, he brought back hundreds of Conquistadors to enslave the population and take all the gold. The Conquistadors ruled with terror and killed the Tainos with cruel acts of violence. They burnt the Chiefs alive. 

The priest tried to convert the people.

Before Columbus, the Tainos were 500,000 to 2 or 3 million, after Columbus, the number was below 50,000 after murders slavery disease, rape and other atrocities. 

There was fierce resistance by the Tainos and some went up in the mountains.

There was a new governor in the area who was cruel and crushed the rebellion with much cruelty. He used the lies that things would change but that’s what they were, lies. There were two chiefs who were brothers who wanted to speak to the king of Spain and were told that they were going to be brought to the King but either they were killed on the ship or the shipwreck but they never got to Spain. 

Anacona prepared a party for the Spanish to offer peace for her kingdom and the Spanish came but they closed the Tainos up in the building and set the building on fire. Anaconda was rescued. They told Anacona if she would become a Christian and marry the governor, that her life would be spared and she said no, and they killed her. 

After all of these experiences there were no full-blooded Tainos left in Haiti after Columbus.

1. Alexander Pushkin is known as The Father of Russian literature.

2. Yasuke was known as the African Samurai of Japan.

3. St. Augustine of Hippo was one of the most influential men the Christian church has ever known. Quote: Pray as though everything depends on god. Work is so everything depends on you.