Indigenous Caribbean Societies (1470s)

Timeline

1. 1471–1475Hispaniola · HispaniolaTaíno on Hispaniola and Puerto Rico farmed cassava, maize, and peanuts; villages (yucayeque) were ruled by chiefs (caciques). In the 1470s some caciques governed tens of thousands of subjects, maintaining power through tribute, dispute mediation, and ball-game ceremonies. The Taíno also traded shells, cotton cloth, and gold ornaments between islands.
2. 1473–1478Lesser Antilles · Lesser AntillesThe Caribs (Kalinago), based in the Lesser Antilles, raided Taíno settlements in the Greater Antilles by canoe, capturing women and incorporating them into their own society. Their name "Carib" later gave the whole sea its name. Taíno-Carib conflict continued in the 1470s, and large-island Taíno societies were already weakened by war and disease before colonization.
3. 1476–1480Cuba · CubaTaíno in western Cuba coexisted with Siboney in the east, with a heavier reliance on fishing, hunting, and gathering. The Lucayans of the Bahamas (a Taíno branch) were famed for conch fishing and inter-island voyaging. In the 1470s these peripheral communities had limited mainland contact but still held a place in the Caribbean canoe trade network, providing background for the society Columbus encountered on his first voyage in 1492.