Pre-Colombian Era Defined
Pre-Colombian Era refers to the time period before Christopher Columbus sailed west from Spain in 1492 and landed in the Caribbean islands. When researching this topic I found it odd that "Pre-Columbian" was a common way of describing this specific time period for this area of the world. It seems to discredit the cultural value that these people held. To explain what life was like before European contact is a tricky thing, there were many different groups people living in the mericas before European influence. These communities had different cultures and beliefs but are often lumped together as either Native Americans, Latino's, or Hispanics. So who are we actually talking about here? Well some of the predominant groups of people that lived in the Americas pre-contact include the Inca's, Aztec's, Taino's, Apache's, Comanche's, Navaho's. These tribes of people were deemed less developed then their European counterparts but looking back that seems far from the truth.
The Taino People
Since the Taino were the first people Christopher Columbus came across, I will focus on them. Google defines "Taino" as "A member of an extinct Awarak people formerly inhabiting the greater Antiles and the Bahamas”. To further define that location, Taino inhabited what is present day Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, The Bahamas, and the Northern Lesser Islands (1). The Taino practiced a "high-yielding" type of farming, which included burning unusable surrounding vegetation to enrich their soil with nutrients. Taino cultivated cassava, yams, maize, beans, squash, tobacco, peanuts, and peppers. Taino also relied on hunting small game including birds and lizards, and also relied on fish and shellfish (1). It was also known that the Taino domesticated dogs and occasionally parrots which aided in hunting birds(1). The Taino had twenty-nine Taino chiefdoms in Cuba and communities ranged from small villages to large centers of up to 3,000 people. It is estimated that there were a total of 2 million people Taino living pre European contact (1). Highlight on "pre European contact". Going back to the definition of Taino, they are considered to be an extinct people and are not officially recognized by any governments to date. This is due to the Spanish enslavement and spread of disease that the Taino were not immune to. This resulted in only a few thousand Taino being alive by 1520 and near extinction in 1550 (1). This lead to a dilution of the Taino blood line, which has been shown to be influenced by the Spanish themselves but also by African Americans and other Native Americans that were brought in to fill the depleting work force (2).
Conclusion
In conclusion, there were many tribes of people that lived in the Americas before European contact. The Taino were just one example of a vast cultural heritage that was dismissed in the face of greed. Brought to near extinction through disease and enslavement but also through the dilution of their bloodline.
(1) Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Taino.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 12 Jan. 2015, www.britannica.com/topic/Taino.
(2) Madrigal, Lorena. “Human Biology of Afro-Caribbean Populations.” Google Books, Cambridge University Press, books.google.com/books?id=ddnkIaZRHxEC&pg=PA121&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false.
(2) Madrigal, Lorena. “Human Biology of Afro-Caribbean Populations.” Google Books, Cambridge University Press, books.google.com/books?id=ddnkIaZRHxEC&pg=PA121&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false.