Taíno Art

Abstract

This article briefly depicts the social and cultural works of the Taíno people: their particular characteristics, like the use they had of the Stone rings used during their religious offerings; at the same time, it shows other activities like their vocation towards agriculture through the use of relatively developed systems which did not hold them back from the historical dependency on hunting, and especially, on fshing. They proved to master the art of using yucca in different manners, like the extraction of what they called Cazabi—the same Casabe [or cassava] that the Dominicans eat today. Cazabi was the equivalent of bread for the Taínos, and this later became the bread for the Indias after Columbus´ arrival since no wheat was imported from Spain; the European settler, used to the taste of yucca, used it widely and it gained great acceptance from his people. Yucca plantations were known as conucos for the originary peoples.

Keywords: Taino art - Caribbean (region), Caribbean (region) - history - social life and customs, Taino art - Dominican Republic, Culture - Dominican Republic, Caribbean (region) - history - socioeconomic aspects.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5377/koot.v0i11.10738
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/11298/1194