Here is a bit of free-thinking... Who comes to Paradise (or close to it, from initial observations), and then destroys it? Cristóforo Colombo wrote in his journal that Taínos had beautiful, tall, slender bodies. Their color was DARK OR OLIVE , and they wore short haircuts with a long hank at the back of the head. They were clean-shaven and hairless. The islands were densely populated. According to Cristóbal Colón, the Taíno tongue was gentle, the sweetest in the world, always with a laugh. However, the point I would also like to make is this.. The social structure was as follows: Nitaínos were the noblemen and were the warriors, craftsmen & artesans. Naborias were the laborers and were the lower class. Caciques (chiefs) were inherited positions and came from the Nitaíno class. Bohikes (shamans) were from a lineage of bohikes. THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE WAS MATRILINEAL - the lineage was carried by the MOTHER. It is not clear if Nitaínos were born into or earned their social class. The Nitaínos ruled over the naborias. The Naborias were like serfs. (My Sidenote: I doubt like the english version of serfs.. More like skilled labor, with people continuing to do it, because they were generally good at it, and passed down their skill from generation to generation.) Naborias fished, hunted, and worked the conucos, and generally did the hard labor. Studying Anthropology in college and afterward, most native societies, especially in the Americas, and perhaps the world, were Matrilineal. Meaning that ownership and ascensions to chiefdom came down from the mothers lineage, and all possessions and clan affiliation came from that too. (Which makes sense, considering that women hold a record of parenthood and birth better than men). While not all chiefs were woman, and many werent (Men were often considered to be great executors), the power of the people still resided in woman (and their bloodline - VERY IMPORTANT - bloodline) in choosing who had the right to lead. For more info about matrilineal societies, read this: indiancountrytodaymedianetwork/…/why-do-tribes-h… Another quick point to add, was the importance of RITUALS and WASHING.. The first order of the day was RITUAL BATHING and PRAYERS. A morning meal of cassave bread dipped in the COMMUNAL pepper pot was served. Labor was then assigned by the leaders according to gender and group. I added this quick point, because in modern times, people carry their burdens with them, with most not having the ability to let their burdens wash away. Most people, if they are lucky, release their burdens before they die, after realizing they never really needed to have carried these burdens for so long in the first place. It seems to me that the Taino found a way to formalize a DAILY tradition of ritual cleansing, that gave space to the communal washing of such fears, besides just the act of physically being clean. I will do more research on this, but I believe you get the gist... elboricua/history.html
Posted on: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 06:36:02 +0000