Introduction

By the time Columbus arrived in the west, the island Arawaks were divided into several groups. In the west, the Lucayanos occupied the Bahamas, the Borequinos were in Puerto Rico and the Tainos lived in Cuba, Jamaica and Haiti. Note that "taino" is an Arawak word meaning peace. Barbados and Trinidad in the east was settled by the Ignerian Arawaks.

The Spaniards and other Europeans gave good descriptions of the Arawaks and it can be learned about their appearance from related tribes in South America today. Columbus described the Arawaks and Caribs "as a people in their original simplicity…stark naked as they were born, men and women".

Fig. 1.  An Arawak Family

The Arawaks were of short to medium height, well shaped, but slightly built, except in Hispaniola where they were plump. It appeared that they were physically weak in comparison with the Africans and Europeans. Their skin was "olive" meaning smooth and brown. The Arawaks were considered naturally good-looking but distorted their features by artificial means. Their heads were flattened at the foreheads as babies when the skull was bound between two boards. This elongated head was considered as a mark of beauty. This may have been done to thicken the skull thus it could withstand heavy blows. Tales were told of Spaniards who broke their swords on Arawak heads. The Arawaks had broad noses and their nostrils probably flared wide. Their hair was straight and black, but coarse, and was usually worn long. Fig. 1 shows how a typical Arawak may have dressed.

In most islands, the Arawaks were naked. In Hispaniola and Cuba, married women wore a piece of cloth over their loins. Sometimes in Jamaica and Cuba, the woven cloth was not used as clothing, but for cotton bands around the arms and legs. Clay and fat mixed with bright colored dyes were smeared in patterns all over the body: "some of them…with black, others white and others red, most of them on their bodies, and some on their faces, and eyes, or only the nose". This was a common custom, especially in Hispaniola. Besides being colorful, the clay and grease kept off insects and rain.

Several small amulets, as in Fig. 2, or charms, were carried in sacks around the neck. Others made from clay, shell and cotton were woven into the hair.

Fig. 2.  Amulets worn/carried by the Arawaks

Sometimes the Arawaks had gold in their noses as plugs or hanging ornaments. The Arawaks saw gold as nothing more than a form of decoration and were ready to trade it with the Europeans. They were bewildered at Columbus' excitement when he saw a woman with a "little gold plate hanging at her nose" and immediately ordered her to be brought on board his ship. It was the first western gold seen by any European.

Fig. 3.  Some crops that were part of the Arawaks' main diet. 

Fig . 4.  An Arawak grindstone

As fore mentioned, the women were also responsible for all food preparations. The main food of the Arawaks was cassava, which required special preparation since it was poisonous in its natural state. First, the root was grated on a board covered small pebbles or rough coral until it formed a paste. Fig. 4 is an indication of this tool. This was put into a wicker tube, one end of which was hung from a branch, while a weight was attached to the other end. This caused the tube to contract, and forced the poisonous liquid out through the wicker. The remaining paste was left to dry and then pounded into flour using a stone mortar and pestle. The flour was formed into flat cakes and baked on a clay griddle until they were hard and dry. In this way, the cassava flour could keep from an extended period of time.

Even though the Arawaks were mainly farmers, they did not lack protein, as they were proficient at fishing and hunting as well. As fore mentioned, Arawak villages were always near the sea or river. The surrounding bodies of water were rich in food which, required little effort or skill to obtain. Since there were no large animals in the Caribbean islands, then it was natural for the Amerindians to focus more on fishing rather than hunting. Huge piles of shells were found on the remains of campsites suggesting that snails, barnacles, shellfish and crab played an important role in the diets of the early West Indian peoples. Favorite fish were snapper, grouper, grunt, jack, parrotfish and barracuda. In Cuba, the tribes there actually bred their own fish in artificial ponds. Archaeologists have found a number of oval stones with notches cut in their sides, which may have been used as sinkers for fishing nets. Fishermen used nets, hooks, spears and the remora to catch turtles. This method showed some ingenuity on the part of the Amerindians. The remora is a fish with suction cups on the back of its head, which it uses to cling to larger fish. A long cotton line was tied tightly to the remora's tail and was gently let out. The remora would dive for the turtle (or fish) and attach itself to its unsuspecting victim. The remora and its captive were then carefully pulled back to the canoe. The manatee (sea cow) and the pedro seal, now extinct, were favorites among the Arawaks as well.

Fig . 5.  Catching turtles

Hunting was done on a small scale, because the islands were not the homes of larger animals that the ancestors of the Amerindians once chased across the plains and hills of the western world. Smaller animals and birds were caught using various types of traps, such as nooses, snares and nets. Birds such as doves were snared in finely woven nets strung between trees, where as parrots were trapped by slipping a noose over their heads. The method of catching water birds like ducks showed some cunning. First, they floated gourds downstream until the ducks became used to seeing them and then the hunter himself would drift downstream with a gourd over his head, breathing through a hole and seeing through eye-slits. Once he reached a bird, it would be pulled underwater and drowned.

A favorite prey was the hutia which was a type of coney. Armed with clubs and carrying torches, the men would chase the hutia at night, frightening it with shouts and the flames of their torches toward a corral which they built. There the coney was killed with their clubs. The iguana, or giant lizard, was caught by imitating its cry and then, when it opened its mouth to respond, jamming something inside its jaws to prevent its biting while they plucked it off the tree. To help them hunt, the Arawaks had small dogs called alcos which could not bark, but made a low, growling sound. This was their only domestic animal. Note that the alcos was fattened on cornmeal and eaten with great delicacy. Note that the yellow snake, bats, agouti, rabbits and several other small animals and birds, some of which are now extinct were are part of the Arawaks' diet.

Fig . 6.  Tobacco harvest 

The Arawak society was hierarchical and pacific. Each Arawak village was the home of related people who obeyed a hereditary headman or chieftain. The family life was reflected in daily village life. Property, land, food, canoes and tools belonged to everyone in common. Like any family, the village group shared what was available. Columbus wrote "I could not clearly understand whether these people possess any private property, for I observed that one man had the charge of distributing various things to the rest but especially meat provisions and the like". Often, several of these family villages were grouped into a clan headed by a clan chieftain, known as a cacique and below him were graded ranks down to the commoners. In Puerto Rico and Hispaniola, several clans were united under a paramount chieftain. Hispaniola was believed to have seven chieftains. These alliances were probably formed as a method of defending the Arawaks against Carib raids. However, in places like the Bahamas, Cuba and Jamaica where the risk of raids were less likely, the organization was seldom larger than a family village or a clan.

Caciques were treated with great respect and looked on as the father of the people, whom he ruled with gentleness, courtesy, and firmness, for all villagers had to obey his commands. As previously indicated, cacique was a hereditary title, passed from father to son and it was unlikely that a cacique would have no heir as he was allowed many wives, even though the Arawaks were monogamous by nature. If a cacique became sick or injured and could not carry out his duties, he was strangled or if he died, he was replaced by his eldest son in either of the situations outlined above. At the death of a cacique, he was either burned in his own hut or buried in a cave or a grave. As with many other tribes at this level of development, the Arawaks also buried a few of his favorite wives and his valuable articles to show a final mark of respect. The wives were given a calabash of water and a portion of cassava to help feed them on their journey to Coyaba, or heaven, where they may continue to serve their husband.

Because of his importance, the cacique was given special privileges. As with other Amerindian tribes, he was given a part of the harvest for himself and his family. Special cassava cakes were made for him and his dwelling or bohio was the largest in the village and was by the village men. The cacique and his family wore ornaments of gold and copper alloy called guanin, for gold was a sign of rank among them. In addition, his wives' skirts were longer than those of the village women, again showing his high rank. His canoe was made for him and it was the largest and the only one to be painted. When traveling by land, the cacique was carried in a litter, while his son was carried on servants' shoulders.

The cacique was more of a ceremonial leader than a lawmaker. He was responsible for the distribution of land, the ordering of labor on the land and the planting and distributing of crops. He also made decisions of war and peace and was the leader in war. However, he made few laws and keeping law and order was up to the individual. Arawak law supported the importance of working together for the good of the tribe. The greatest crime was theft since the whole tribe shared in the loss. A convicted thief suffered a horrible death, impaled on a sharpened stick. A murderer was treated more mercifully, by being banished or executed quickly by strangling.

Work in a village was divided between the men and women. The women and girls of the village worked together to plant the crops and they did the cooking. The men were the first to eat during mealtimes and were followed by the women and children. In addition, the women did the spinning and weaving of cotton and made the hammocks. Hammocks are indicated in Fig . 6. The men cleared the fields for the women's gardening plots or conucos and made houses and canoes.

Fig . 6.  An early hammock

The larger villages had a somewhat system of government. The cacique was helped by a number of nobles or nitayanos. These nitayanos were usually the oldest males who were expected to know the borders of their people's land and remember agreements with other groups. Discussion with the nitayanos was done whenever a new treaty with neighboring groups was considered. This discussion took place in a council meeting. Some nitayanos were also priests and sorcerers as they cared for the clan's gods, supervised religious rites and trained medicine men. Their songs and dances were a way of teaching the younger generation about the history and laws of their people.

· Guacaganari welcomed Columbus to Hispaniola in 1492 and was the ruler of the northwestern part of the island.

· Guarionex ruled over Magua in the central part of Hispaniola and he was sent back to Spain as a prisoner, but he dies at sea.

· Anacaona was the wife of Caonabo, a Carib who ruled as cacique in Hispaniola. The Spaniards hanged her.

· Hatuey controlled Cuba and courageously resisted Velasquez's conquest of Cuba. He was burnt alive in 1511 by the Spaniards.

Excerpts from Columbus' journal in 1492 addressing how the Arawaks' property and provisions were distributed:

Village sites were chosen on the top of hills as a precaution against surprise attacks. Most Arawak communities were small, although a few had more than a thousand houses and can be classified as a larger village.

The Arawaks had two types of houses. The bohio seen in Fig. 7 was the cacique's house, but the name was applied loosely to all houses. Because of his status, the bohio should be rectangular, but the Arawaks found that building this was difficult, so a round house was used instead. The other was the caneye or family house, indicated in Fig. 7. The construction of these houses is rather simple. Wooden posts were put into the ground in a circle and canes were woven between them and tied with creepers. The roof was thatched in a conical shape and a hole was left at the top to allow smoke to escape. There were no windows and only an opening was left for a door. The houses were thoroughly built and could withstand hurricanes.

Fig . 7.  Arawak houses

Fig. 8.  Arawak craft

The duho, depicted in Fig. 9, or ceremonial stool was carved out from one piece of wood or stone, in the shape of an animal, with short legs and often decorated with eyes and ears of gold. The tiny island of Petit Goave was famous for its duhos.

Fig. 9.  A duho

The Arawak's were not the warriors and their weapons were simple. Columbus noticed that the Lucayanos on the Bahamas were armed with only wooden javelins. On Hispaniola, the Tainos had darts with reed shafts and wooden points hardened with fire which was thrown with spear-throwers. The Tainos also used a stout wooden sword club, the macana, which the Spaniards soon came to fear as a well-aimed blow could crush even a skull protected by thick armor plating. Bows and arrows were utilized more by the Arawaks of Puerto Rico to defend themselves from Carib attacks.

Metal tools were not used in the skillful task of constructing dugout canoes. A wide silk cotton tree was first ringed and burnt of at the base. Chipping the upper side and slowly burning out the interior hollowed the trunk. Wetting the hollowed trunk and inserting wooden wedges of different lengths to widen it in the middle and taper it at the end shaped the canoe. It was buried in damp sand to cure before being dried in the sun. Some Arawak canoes were large enough to carry seventy or eighty people or a ton of trading goods.

Fig. 10.  A typical dugout canoe

Canoes made it possible for the Arawaks to carry out some trade between the islands in cloth, tools, weapons, furniture, tobacco, certain fruits and gold. Puerto Rico and Haiti exported gold to Cuba, Jamaica and the Bahamas. Some groups in Puerto Rico grew pineapples and exported then to other islands. The first European explorers used Arawak traders as guides and pilots. Some archaeologists believe that the Maya carvings found in Cuba showed that the Arawaks also traded with the mainland.

Each of these islands had a great number of canoes, built of solid wood, narrow and not unlike our double-banked boats in length and shape, but swifter in their motion; they steer them only by the oar. These canoes are of various sizes, but the greater number are constructed with eighteen banks of oars, and with these they cross to the other islands, which are of countless number, to carry on traffic with the people. I saw some of these canoes that held as many as seventy-eight rowers. In all these islands there is no difference of physiognomy, of manners, or of language, but they all clearly understand each other...

Fig. 11.  A carved zemi

They believed in a sky-god and an earth-goddess. The Arawaks had a creation story, which said that the first man escaped from a cave with the sun when the keeper of the cave forgot to close it. Another story said that men were turned into animals and plants because they looked at the sun, which was forbidden. Some of the Arawaks' religious stories are very beautiful, such as the one that explained the sound of frogs. It said that children playing by the river became lost and called out "toa , toa", the Arawak word for mother, which sounded like the noise frogs made, so they were turned into frogs.

Each village had its own zemi house, set aside from the other buildings. It was a shadowy place, and since ordinary people could not communicate with the gods or ancestors through the zemis, then priests had to pray, offered food and clothing, to cure sickness, or bring good fortune, or make crops grow, or keep away the Caribs. A bowl of tobacco or cohaba (powdered tobacco) was placed before the zemis. When the prayer starts, the tobacco was placed on the zemi's flat-topped head and burnt and the fumes were inhaled through a Y-shaped cane tube. This was done to induce a state of unconsciousness, the best state for communication with the zemis.

Religious ceremonies were important to the Arawaks since they depended on the advice of the zemis before making important decisions. The cacique announced the day on which the ceremony was to take place and a conch shell was blown to summon all the villagers, wearing their finest, of course. Their bodies were carefully washed, and were painted red, white and black. The men wore their feathered cloaks, and the women decorated their arms and legs with shell and coral.

Fig. 12.  A cotton zemi

People who did not know the true God believed that when you die you pas to another life where the souls eat, drink, sing, dance and have enough corporal rest. And why should we be surprised that, suffering so much in this life, they should wish and strive to leave it and go and enjoy the other life?

The Arawaks must have led very happy lives before the coming of the Spaniards. Life was easy, their diet ample and varied and they were kindly and more humane than other Amerindians. Columbus noted that they were very honest and stole nothing from the Spaniards. Sympathy, generosity and putting others before themselves were other virtues noted by Columbus.

The most well known of the Arawaks' pleasure was that of smoking. The Arawaks called the tobacco plant cohiba and the pipe for smoking the leaves, tabaco. The Arawaks liked tobacco for peace and contentment, and for helping them to meditate. They made cigars and smoked it in a pipe which they enjoyed very much.