ETHNOMUS 108B Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Bartolomé De Las Casas, Island Caribs, Hatuey
13 Dec 2016
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Lecture 3 04/05/2016 Indigenous Peoples of the Americas
Indigenous Peoples of the Americas
● Indigenous people in Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Dominican Republic
● Indigenous (Spanish indigena)
○ Many in Latin America use this term
● Pueblos Originarios: first peoples/ first nations (as in Canada)
● Native American/ American Indian
● Amerindian
○ Caribbean, South America (Amazon)
● Indian (Spanish: indio)
○ Columbus
● At least 40 million people in the Americas at time of Encounter
○ Some say 100 million
● Over 2,0000 languages spoken
○ Today: over 60 official indigenous languages and other dialects
● Multiple empires at time of encounter
● Many cities larger than those of Europe at the time
The Caribbean at the Encounter
● Two primary linguistic groups:
○ Caribs (or “Island Caribs”)
■ Where the word Caribbean comes from
■ Smaller islands closer to Southern America
■ Inhabited Lesser Antilles
○ Taino people
Taino people
● Included a number of different peoples
● A very broad and disputed term
○ Often synonymous with Arawak
● Included various peoples and likely dialects
○ Siboney of Cuba
○ Bahamas
● Spanish Encounter:
○ The decimation of the Taino:
■ Open warfare or attacks between the Spanish and indigenous peoples
■ Diseases: smallpox, measles, influenza
● Often arrived before the Spanish themselves
■ Worked to death
● Gold mines
● Bartolome de las Casas: Dominican friar, political activist arguing
against indigenous people oppression
■ Result: total or near-total genocide
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
● In Puerto Rico:
○ 1509: 30,000 Tainos
○ 1514: only 3,000
○ Twenty years later, almost completely gone
● Taina women becoming wives of Spaniards
○ DNA evidence, but no sustained cultural inheritance
■ This was not the case in all colonial areas (millions of Indigenous people are
alive today)
Taino Resistance
● Hatuey
○ A cacique (chief/leader) from island of Hispainola
○ “The first freedom fighter of the Americas”
○ Attempted to thwart conquest of Cuba (1511) by Diego Velazquez
● Hatuey reached Cuba before Velazquez in a failed attempt to keep the Spanish out
○ 400 Tainos mounted a resistance
○ Residents of Cuba did not join Hatuey in resistance
○ Eventually caught and burned at the stake
Taino Culture
● Linguistic remnants you might recognize:
○ Canoe (canoa)
○ Hurricane (huracan)
○ Tobacco (tabaco)
○ Hammock (hamaca)
● Religion
○ Polytheistic and ancestor-oriented
○ Behique (priest): interact with cemis (spirits/ deities)
○ Focused on ancestor spirits
○ Ostensibly later “syncretized: mixed with Catholicism and African influences
■ Ex: Caridad de Cobre related to Atabey
Taino Music
● Musical instruments (histographic record)
○ History of Taino music mostly from third accounts such as Spaniards describing the
music instruments during Colonization
○ Mayohuacan (a slit drum) (also maiohaua)
■ Size and description varied (some 1 meter long)
■ Log with H
○ Possibly various shakers
■ Cascabeles: like maracas (but that word indigenous to South America)
○ Strung shells (like necklaces, anklets, belts)
○ Possibly small drums
● Other musical instruments (archaeological evidence)
○ Conch shells (instruments, but also used for tools)
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Lecture 3 04/05/2016 indigenous peoples of the americas. Indigenous people in cuba, puerto rico, haiti, dominican republic. Many in latin america use this term. Pueblos originarios: first peoples/ first nations (as in canada) At least 40 million people in the americas at time of encounter. Today: over 60 official indigenous languages and other dialects. Many cities larger than those of europe at the time. Open warfare or attacks between the spanish and indigenous peoples. Bartolome de las casas: dominican friar, political activist arguing against indigenous people oppression. Dna evidence, but no sustained cultural inheritance. This was not the case in all colonial areas (millions of indigenous people are. A cacique (chief/leader) from island of hispainola. The first freedom fighter of the americas . Attempted to thwart conquest of cuba (1511) by diego velazquez. Hatuey reached cuba before velazquez in a failed attempt to keep the spanish out. Residents of cuba did not join hatuey in resistance.
