Unit 6:

Taíno Peoples, From Discovery to Reclamation

The following lecture is presented by Emma Down, Roberto Pelayo Mazzone, & Grey Figueroa Mercado. 

 

Introduction

Hi everyone, welcome to our lecture! My name is Emma and I am joined today with Grey and Roberto. Today, we will be discussing the Taíno people of the Caribbean islands. The Taíno people today have a complex ethnogenesis that involves centuries of encounters and colonization among Indigenous, African, and European cultures. In the lecture that follows, we tease out how these diverse groups came into contact and survive to this day. Along the way, you’ll learn about foodways and agricultural practices that are still evident in Taíno descendants today.

History & Background

The Taíno peoples were the principal inhabitants of the West Indies, and were some of the first people to greet Columbus. However, the Taíno peoples lived throughout the Caribbean islands for generations before the Europeans arrived in 1492. The islands of the West Indies are divided into three parts: The Lesser Antilles, The Greater Antilles and the Bahamian Archipelago. The Lesser Antilles consist of the Windward Islands and the Leeward Islands. The Greater Antilles are composed of islands such as Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica. The Bahamian Archipelago consists of the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos (Plato 3). 

Many researchers agree that before 1492, the population of the Caribbean region was quite large. The islands had a population of approximately 5 to 13 million people, who all had a range of different cultures. Approximately 8 to 10 million Taíno people lived in the Caribbean territories at the time of European contact. Additionally, there were about 1 million of those Taíno people who are believed to have lived in Jamaica (Neeganagwedgin 378). Despite the Taíno peoples still existing today, it is important to note that many aspects of their history are complex and have thus been mainly recorded by Spanish explorers, Columbus, and archaeological information. Therefore, it is not consistently solely documented by the Taíno peoples themselves. 

 In 1871, ethnologist Daniel Brinton had suggested identifying the Indigenous people located in the West Indies, as “Island-Arawaks”. The Taíno spoke but did not write a type of Arawakan language, therefore he felt this was an appropriate name (Plato 5). Additionally, ethnohistorians have made some assumptions about the origins of the Taínos, stating that the Guanahatabeys were the original people who lived in the Antilles. The ancestors of the Taínos were the next people to inhabit these areas. By calling them Arawaks, ethnohistorians have inferred that they were perhaps a branch of the Arawaks that were originally from the Guianas and Trinidad in the time of Columbus (Plato 24). It is generally agreed that the ancestors of the Taínos most likely rode from the Orinoco River to the Windward Islands. From there, they would have continued through the Leeward Islands and the Greater Antilles into the Bahamian Archipelago, leaving only Guanahatabeys at the western end of Cuba (Plato 24). It is assumed that these events took place quite a long time before 1492, since the Taínos never mentioned or recorded having come from the mainland. Instead, they believed that they had emerged from caves in Hispaniola (Plato 24). 

Over time the suggestion of the prefix “Island” from “Island-Arawaks” was dropped for simplicity, but this eventually caused some confusion when discussing the different distinctions between Indigenous groups. As mentioned, during the time of Columbus, Indigenous people who self-identified as Arawaks only lived in the Guianas and in parts of Trinidad; and Columbus never met these individuals (Plato 5). Therefore, archaeologists realized that using the name Arawak (without the Island) had blurred distinctions between South American and West Indigenous people. In response to this blurred understanding of the Arawak and the Taíno, archaeologists decided to adopt the identifying term Taíno for those living in the West Indies; in order to respectively identity the two groups (Keegan and Carlson 11).We can make sense of this decision due to early Spanish explorers who have described that the Indigenous people of the West Indies would use the word Taíno, when greeting them. The word Taíno translates to “good” or “noble”, and this term was frequently used by members to most likely indicate that they were not Island-Caribs (Keegan and Carlson 11). The Taínos probably wanted this clear distinction, since Spanish colonists referred to Island-Caribs as cannibals (Plato 23). 

Despite these misrepresentations in the face of colonialism, Spanish records indicate that Taíno was not a collective name that they used. They identified themselves by individual yucayeque (meaning the population and village), and cazicazgo, meaning the control of a particular cacique (otherwise known as a chief) in specific regions (Ciment 823). For example, the islands to the north of Hispaniola were referred to as “Las Islas de Los Lucayos”. The Indigenous people of the Bahama archipelago were called the “Lucayan Taínos” which translated to the “good island people” (Keegan and Carlson 12). These regional distinctions between the Taínos can be further seen in broader terms, using the classification of the Classic Taínos, Eastern Taínos and Western Taínos. 

The Classic Taínos lived in Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. They believed that they had originally come from caves in a sacred mountain on the island of Hispaniola. They traced their familial ancestry through their mothers, and they lived within a matrilineal system (Plato 16). They were also spiritual people, and they centered their worship on deities, spirits or their ancestors, who were known as Zemis. They had two main deities who they worshipped that were referred to as: Yúcahu, the lord of yuca and the sea; as well as Atabey, his mother, who was the goddess of fresh water and fertility (Plato 13). At the time of the arrival of Columbus in 1492, he encountered  permanent villages in Hispaniola and Puerto Rico, which were each governed by a chief. Either men or women could take the role of a chief, and they were in charge of the village where they resided. The Taíno’s also had fairly advanced agricultural features, such as constructing fields called conucos with knee-high mounds of soil. In these fields they intercropped yuca, beans, squash, peppers, corn, sweet potatoes, and peanuts (Ciment 823). 

Due to limited information about the people who lived immediately to the west and east of the Classic Taínos, much information was gleaned from archeological research. Despite this lack of documentation on Western and Eastern Taínos, they have confirmed the presence of the Western Taínos in Jamaica, central Cuba, and the Bahama Islands. The rest of the Virgin Islands and a majority of the Leeward Islands were inhabited by Eastern Taínos (Plato 17). Their languages were significantly different from region to region, but were mutually intelligible. Furthermore, their agricultural techniques were slightly different from region to region, but Taínos’ spiritual beliefs and practices appear to have been relatively similar (Ciment 823). The Western Taínos are said to have been more peaceful than the Classic and Eastern Taínos. This is most likely due to them only living bordered by the Classic Taínos and the Guanahatabeys, who did not show any aggressiveness towards them (Plato 19). This non-hostile attitude worked in Columbus’ favour after his voyage through the Bahamas to central Cuba. The Western Taínos were hospitable and assisted them in recuperating from their voyage (Plato 19). In comparison, the Eastern Taínos were more hostile because they had to defend themselves from the South Island-Carib raids. Therefore, it was a natural reaction for them to react negatively towards Columbus when he encountered them during his second voyage (Plato 19). 

Columbus was notorious for his colonization of Indigenous land, and the Taíno cultural development was abruptly stopped with the arrival of Columbus and the Spaniards. Since the Taínos were the first people of the Western Hemisphere to come into contact with Europeans, they played a major role in what is referred to as the Columbian exchange. This was where the Spaniards and these Indigenous groups traded diseases, crops, artifacts, customs, and ideas (Plato 24). Additionally, Columbus gave new names to many of the places he landed. For example, the Lucayan Islanders called the island where Columbus first landed Guanahaní, but Columbus called it San Salvador (which translates to “Holy Savior”). Furthermore, Columbus asserted that the Indigenous peoples owed allegiance to the Spanish monarchs (Keegan and Carlson 10). Disease combined with the exploitation of labour, goods and resources, caused a drastic decline in the Taíno population. By 1524 they were deemed to no longer exist as a separate population group (Keegan and Carlson 14). However, the Taíno people still continue to exist. There is still a community of Taíno people, and a huge push for the reclamation of their cultural background and identities. It is extremely important to recognize that these people have not been completely lost to the violence of colonization. 

Globalization 

In the first lecture of the semester, Tamara defined globalization as “the increasing interconnectedness among peoples and communities across the globe”. Furthermore, scholars often mark the arrival of Europeans to the Americas as the beginning of globalization. However, the Taínos provide a convincing example of how globalization pre-existed their conquest, as evidenced by their movement and encounters in the region. The Taínos are believed to have lived in South America (Rouse 27). The Taínos are thought to have migrated towards northern South America, where they encountered the Kalinagos, who lived between the Amazon and Guiana (Rouse 27). These two groups fought for land rights that eventually resulted in the Taínos occupying most of the northwestern portion of the continent. In addition, once the Taínos arrived in Trinidad, they fought the Kalinagos, resulting in them occupying all but the northwestern part of that island, which the Kalinagos continued to occupy (Rouse 27). The Taínos also moved up to Florida, Hispaniola, Cuba, as well as other islands within the Caribbean (Rouse 27). The Taínos developed their distinctive culture within Hispaniola before the arrival of the Spanish (Granberry 130). In a reflection of globalization, the Taínos interacted with Ciguayo and Macroix peoples who lived on the island, which resulted in a hybrid ethnogenesis of present-day Taíno peoples, with roots in both South America as well as from other indigenous groups in Hispaniola (Rouse 27). The Taíno newcomers within Hispaniola did not oppress the other indigenous inhabitants on the island, allowing them to continue to express their cultural customs, however the Taínos became the ruling class (Granberry 130). 

Within the Taínos social class structures, there were three different ruling titles. The great lords or Matuheri were the highest on the social pyramid within the Taíno population, and were the rulers of the five Taíno kingdoms (Granberry 133). The second highest were the Bahari, or the lesser lords, who ruled the subkingdoms of the provinces that were divided amongst each kingdom (Granberry 133). The last on the ruling pyramid was the caciques, or gentlemen who filled lower roles within kingdoms and provinces (Granberry 133). Furthermore, women had a significant role within the Taíno kingdoms. Certain types of property, Duhos or ceremonial goods, and tools were inherited only by the female line (Deagan 600). In addition, the line of successions within the Taíno kingdom went from a male leader to his sister’s son, rather than his own son (Deagan 600). Upon the arrival of the Spanish, one of the Taíno kings was executed, and as result, his wife, Anacaona, took over as the monarch (Stoneking 5). This demonstrated a change in social structures amongst the Taínos due to globalization, as normally the King’s sister’s son would be the next in line to the throne. 

Spanish arrival as an element of globalization also had effects on Taíno autonomy. After relentless fighting for over five years, the Spanish established the encomienda (Deagan 602). As a result, Taíno men had to work for the Spaniards in exchange for (forced) instruction in Christianity and civilization. The Taínos spent from four to six months in service to the Spanish and the remainder of the year in their villages. This was also an opportunity for disease to spread between Spaniards and the Taínos which led to many indigenous people passing away (Deagan 602). Also, Taínos worked many hours in mines searching for gold for the Spaniards, which were dark, dirty and unsafe (Stoneking 18). As a result, many Taíno died from this labour (Stoneking 18). 

The Taíno economy was based on root crops and wild resources. Crops that they cultivated were, for instance, corn, beans, and squash (Stoneking 12). Cultivating and gathering manioc roots were not the tasks of a specific gender. However, the clearing of fields and the preparation of conucos—the raised mounds in which manioc was planted—are assumed to have been done by men (Deagan 601). Once the conucos were constructed, manioc cultivation required periodic planting, weeding, and harvesting, all tasks that both men and women carried out (Deagan 601). Furthermore, the Taínos played a significant role in the exchange of these foods, especially to tropical peoples of the Eastern Hemisphere (Rouse 170). Also, both men and women cultivated wild resources, for instance, through fishing (Deagan 601). However, upon the arrival of the Spanish, more Taíno men fought the colonizers and were killed. This led to more and more activities being done predominately by women in the Taíno culture  (Deagan 601). Also, the Spanish were able to cultivate the corn from the Taínos and send it to Spain (Stoneking 170). In addition, the Spaniards admired the quality and artistry of Taíno canoes (canoa) and their weaving of cotton into hammocks (Rouse 170). As a result, the Spanish added both of these items to their inventory and sent them to other parts of the world. Furthermore, the Spanish, who used  Taínos as forced labour, also used them for the cultivation of conucos (Stoneking 17). Taínos worked six hours a day for one month planting conucos that would provide bread for Spaniards for two years (Stoneking 17). Furthermore, tobacco and rubber from the Taínos was also part of the Columbian exchange (Rouse 170).   

Through globalization, Taíno foodways were destroyed in part by animals brought from Spain. The lack of fencing allowed for animals brought by the Spaniards to roam free around Caribbean islands (Stoneking 17). These animals ate food, including the crops cultivated in the conucos, which were the main subsistence crops for the Taínos. This furthered the Taínos problems with food scarcity following the arrival of the Spanish (Stoneking 17). As a result, with these persistent food problems due to invasive animal species, coupled with the disease the Spanish brought, and the food that the Spanish had already taken from them, a large portion of the Taíno population were unable to survive (Stoneking 17).   

 

Yuca, First Foods & Areytos 

Cooking and the consumption of food were important components in a Taíno society. Food offerings were central to ceremonies honoring their cemís, which were spiritual guardians or gods, and the process of eating had great meaning, especially when hosting a visitor. For instance, as a presentation of power, the cacique would occasionally eat first although normally the cacique would eat meals along with their community members (Lefebvre 76-7).

The Taíno peoples also hosted festivals with song and dance called areytos. The songs narrated and honoured the heroic deeds of their ancestors and acted as an oral telling of their history. These ceremonies were also performed to celebrate a good harvest and to observe the first moon cycle for young women (Castanha 25). These performances included the entire community and lasted several hours to several days until the storyteller or lyricist told their full history. Because the Taíno peoples did not have a written language, oral communication was vital in the transfer of Indigenous knowledge and histories. While the areytos died along with a lot of Taíno cultural knowledge, today there is a revitalization of this symbolic performance in the Borikén and Taíno identity movement.

(El Grupo Concilio Taíno performing an areyto at the 2011 International Book Fair in Puerto Rico)

Taínos were skilled agriculturists who practiced ‘slash-and-burn’ horticulture. This involved clearing plots of land that contained trees and bushes, allowing these to dry, then burning the soil and brush just before a rainy season to release nutrients. Using a coa, or digging stick, the tough, clay-like soil was broken to cultivate crops. After about four years of harvests, the fields would usually lay fallow for decades (Keegan 72).

The Taíno diet consisted of more than eighty different cultivated plants and vegetables including beans, gourds, corn, palm fruits, groundnuts, yautia, cocoyam, boniata (sweet potato) and most importantly, yuca, also known as manioc or cassava. For this lecture, we refer to manioc as yuca. Yuca is extremely drought resistant, has a high caloric content and can be stored underground for long periods of time, often only harvested when needed.

As we learned in our studies of the Garifuna peoples, yuca required a strenuous production due to the poisonous hydrocyanic acid found in the root. The process involves peeling the skin and grating the flesh on a guayo, a grater made of wood. The grated shreds are placed in a basket to release all the poisonous juices. The paste is then dried into a flour and cooked on a clay griddle, or burén, to make yuca bread or casabi. The burén was made of red loam and burnt conch shells (Keegan 4).

After boiling out the poison in the leftover yuca juice, it was used in their main dish, casiripe, or Pepper Pot Stew. This dish most often includes meat, fish and vegetables on the verge of spoiling and is served with casabi. After the colonization of the Taíno people, the Spanish recognized the stability of casabi bread and it became a staple food on long voyages throughout the Americas. Casabi also became a common tribute item from the Taíno people to the Spanish (Keegan 76). Speaking of the Spanish, oral history states that the Taínos fed them the fruit of the prickly pear cactus, or tuna, which turns urine red when consumed in an effort to scare them and discourage their invasion to little avail (Keegan 70).

According to Taíno oral mythology, Yúcahu (son of Atabey, the supreme goddess) was the god of yuca, agriculture, goodness and male fertility. It is believed that Yúcahu created the sun and moon and brought yuca to the Taíno people. In return, he is worshipped with triangular stone carvings buried at the start of harvest and hurricane seasons in the soil. The triangular stones represent an open mouth that eats the soil, allowing crops to grow underground (Keegan 73). Today, it is believed Yúcahu lives in the Puerto Rican national park, El Yunque (one of the most beautiful places in the world). Taínos had an extensive relationship with different gods and deities that each

represented different phases of life: Maboyas, the Lord of the Dead ruled the underworld; Guabancex controlled the winds and demanded respect; and Jurakán, the storm god, who unleashed his powers when Guabancex was not respected. Does Jurakán sound familiar? The word hurricane stems from the warrior’s name in Indigenous mythology and represents Guabancex’s wrath. The Taínos believed that worshipping these gods with offerings would protect them from illness, hurricanes and misfortunes (Keegan 6).

While plant foods dominated the Taíno diet, land and sea creatures were also eaten with a major part of the protein coming from their proximity to the coast. Marine habitats provided several ecologically diverse areas to exploit animals on the island. Fish was established as a daily fixture including snapper, grunts, jacks, parrotfish, and bonefish (Lefebvre 59). Other land mammals were eaten as well including lizards, rodents, guinea pigs and spiny rats known as hutia (Lefebvre 61).

Espiritismo

The practice of Espiritismo is essential to the revitalization of Indigenous practices in the Caribbean. It is a product of the synthesis of polytheism and Catholicism from the encomienda systems of colonized Caribbean peoples. Espiritismo is a term that refers to the sacred beliefs that link the spiritual world, the physical world and the ancestral world together. Cemís are familial guardians (or gods) with spiritual significance that are honoured with tokens made out of wood and stone. These tokens are used to invoke the spirits of the cemís in times of need during the cohoba, a native plant ceremony. Similar to the Ayahuasca Shaman ceremony, cohoba is inhaled by a medicinal healer or curandero, and used to heal the sick, assist in childbirth, bring on a bountiful harvest and make prophecies for the future (Castanha 110). Today, Espiritismo is practiced among the Taíno and Borikén diaspora in the United States and abroad. The tradition includes the setting of the mesa blanca or white table. The table is covered with candles, idols, offerings, books, and other symbolic objects where a group of people can gather around it and communicate with their ancestors or connect themselves to the spiritual world. 

The ‘Revival’ of the Taínos of Borikén

The Taíno peoples of Borikén (a Taíno name for present day Puerto Rico) are very much alive and thriving. The sixteenth-century extinction theory during Western Imperialism invalidates the existence of Taíno communities and their descendants. While the violence endured during the colonization of the Caribbean Islands did lead to their genocide, Indigenous communities maintained a presence especially in Borikén. After the Indian war of 1511, many people escaped to the interior mountains of the island and remained there until Puerto Rico was colonized in the mid-nineteenth century (Castanha 23). Today, there is a global Indigenous movement aiming to reconnect Indigenous peoples with their cultural backgrounds and identities to revitalize their traditional lifeways especially in Puerto Rico (Castanha 18). More importantly, this movement is about reclaiming a rightful place in history and advocating for self-determination. Scholar Jose Barreiro said it best that Indigenous movements “have become a defining social actor, either in government or in opposition, so that the voices of the original inhabitants can no longer be ignored” (Neeganagwedgin 384).

According to a 2014 U.S. census, there are over 30,000 Indigenous Taíno people living in the United States and Puerto Rico. A Borikén Taíno community leader and President of the United Confederation of Taíno People, Roberto Múkaro Borrero, advocates for the self-determination of Taíno peoples, “this is about the right to affirm who we are as Indigenous peoples, the original nations of these lands. Our right to self-determination is an inherent human right” (LaRobardier). Borrero calls the erasure of Taíno identity from the 1800 census of Puerto Rico a ‘paper genocide.’ The Spanish implemented a ‘Puerto Rican’ identity as a mixture of African and Spaniard heritage effectively eliminating the Indigenous presence (Castanha 16). This concept of ‘cultural mestizaje’ attempted to erase a colonized history with a movement towards a homogenous white society. This also removed the Taíno claim to ancestral land (Parker). Currently, the Indigenous peoples of Borikén are still struggling to maintain autonomy under the current neocolonial system. The Indigenous movement maintains their continuity by resisting and challenging imperialism to fight for their rightful place in history.

On the topic of reclaiming a Taíno identity, a major part of that process involves the decolonization of the Caribbean diet. Researchers Vanessa García Polanco and Luis Alexis Rodríguez-Cruz consider the term ‘resurgent indigeneity’ important in relation to Taíno reclamation of their food culture:

What it means to “be” or “become” Indigenous for a people who are not typically seen, or who are no longer accepted, as Indigenous. To do this, [they are] investigating Indigenous consciousness among Antillean Latinos, particularly among Puerto Ricans who are recovering an Indigenous Taíno heritage, reclaiming Taíno identity, and reconstituting Taíno community (26).

The Taíno diet evolved over time especially after colonization and the start of the African slave trade. Eating patterns were shaped by the agriculture trade and, over time, staple Taíno foods, like casabi bread and iguanas, were no longer as significant. In order to revitalize the Taíno diet, Polanco and Rodríguez-Cruz conclude that it is difficult to decolonize an Indigenous foodway when an Indigenous people is still colonized. But incorporating traditional foods and agricultural relationships is essential to the continuity of the Taíno peoples. That can be achieved in many ways including supporting local agriculture, recovering and reclaiming traditional knowledge and foodways, and understanding how food intersects with gender, class and socio-economic position (27-9).

A final note from Grey, my ancestors are Taíno. They are buried in the land that my family in Puerto Rico walks on and are connected to our spirits. Our histories have been greatly minimized but if there is one thing that’s for sure, Boricuas are resilient and will weather any storm. I want to share with you folks a few excerpts from a comic book, Puerto Rico Strong, which is a comic anthology supporting Puerto Rico disaster relief and recovery after Hurricane María. I am so proud to be Boricua, I could probably go on for hours about our histories and cultures but instead, I encourage you to check this book out, as it includes honest insight on the devastation of the hurricanes on Puerto Rico, the diaspora, and the resilience of Taínos.

I also want to share with you a family recipe for Sancocho. As I mentioned before, Pepper Pot Stew was a common Taíno dish that used various proteins and vegetables, including yuca. Sancocho (spanish for pig slop) is said to have been derived from Pepper Pot Stew, evolving over many generations as a hodge-podge soup. For Puerto Ricans, Sancocho is the mother soup. It can be made with whatever meat or veg, similar to Pepper Pot Stew, and it is eaten to cure the soul. My mama’s (grandmother) recipe, or rather the recipe of her mama, is incredible. It’s the first thing I crave when I visit home. I have modified the recipe to include ingredients you can actually find in Vancouver. Hope you enjoy it! 

 

Podcast Works Cited and Consulted Official

Castanha, Tony. The Myth of Indigenous Caribbean Extinction: Continuity and Reclamation in Borikén (Puerto Rico). Palgrave Macmillan US, New York, 2010.

Ciment, James. Colonial America: An Encyclopedia of Social, Political, Cultural, and Economic History: An Encyclopedia of Social, Political, Cultural, and Economic History. Taylor and Francis, 2016, doi:10.4324/9781315705545.

Deagan, Kathleen. “Reconsidering Taíno Social Dynamics after Spanish Conquest: Gender and Class in Culture Contact Studies.” American Antiquity, vol. 69, no. 4, 2004, pp. 597–626. Crossref, doi:10.2307/4128440.

Granberry, Julian. The Americas That Might Have Been: Native American Social Systems through Time. 2nd ed., University Alabama Press, 2005.

Keegan, William F., Lisabeth A. Carlson, and Project Muse University Press Archival eBooks. Talking Taino: Essays on Caribbean Natural History from a Native Perspective. University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa, 2008.

LaRobardier, Valerie. “’Written out of History,’ Taino Write Themselves In.” Poughkeepsie Journal, Poughkeepsie, 21 May 2016, www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/local/2016/05/21/local-history-schaghticoke/84711390/. 

Lefebvre, Michelle J. “Animals, Food, and Social Life among the Pre-Columbian Taino of En Bas Saline, Hispaniola.” Order No. 10646400 University of Florida, 2015. Ann Arbor: ProQuest. Web. 1 Nov. 2020.

Lopez, Marco, Desiree Rodriguez, Hazel Newlevant, Derek Ruiz, and Neil Schwartz. Puerto Rico Strong: A Comics Anthology Supporting Puerto Rico Disaster Relief and Recovery. , 2018. 

Neeganagwedgin, Erica. “Rooted in the Land: Taino Identity, Oral History and Stories of Reclamation in Contemporary Contexts.” AlterNative : An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, vol. 11, no. 4, 2015, pp. 376-388.

Parker, Courtney. “Taino Rising.” Intercontinental Cry, 3 Aug. 2018, intercontinentalcry.org/taino-rising/. Accessed 25 Nov 2020.

Plato.”Chapter I. Introduction”. The Tainos. New Haven (CT): Yale University Press, 2017. https://doi.org/10.12987/9780300161830-003

Polanco, Vanessa G., and Luis Rodríguez-Cruz. “Decolonizing the Caribbean Diet.” Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, vol. 9, no. B, 2019.

Rouse, I. The Tainos: Rise and Decline of the People Who Greeted Columbus. Reissue, Yale University Press, 1983.

Stoneking, Cain. “The Decline of the Tainos, 1492-1542: A Re-Vision.” 1492-1542: A Re-Vision, 2009, pp. 1–22, digitalcommons.wou.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1222&context=his.

Wallace, E. Bert. “Certain Kinds of Dances Used among Them: An Initial Inquiry into Colonial Spanish Encounters with the Areytos of the Taíno in Puerto Rico.” Theatre Symposium, vol. 25, 2017, p. 29-36. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/tsy.2017.0002

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