Taino, Arawak, Carib, Boriken! These
names aren't exactly household words to
most Americans, but ask anyone from Cuba,
Puerto Rico, or the Dominican Republic and
they will recognize them
immediately. They are as familiar to
them as the names Cherokee, Sioux, or
Navajo here in the United States.
They were the first
inhabitants Christopher Columbus and his
men came into contact with when they
arrived in the New World. And the
fate they met at the hands of the
Spaniards wasn't any better than that of
the indigenous people anywhere in the
Americas.
The
very name Caribbean can be traced back to
the Carib "Indians" who lived in
some of the islands where Spanish is not
the main language. However, most of the
indigenous people of the Spanish-speaking
Caribbean were Taino, and of the common
origin. However, their name changed
as they migrated from island to island!
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Since the indigenous peoples
of the Caribbean didn't leave the great
stone cities or massive temples of their
counterparts on the mainland, we know much
less about them.
That is where your expedition
begins! You have been accepted as an
Archaeologist Intern for the summer, and
you are traveling to the Caribbean islands
to help
unravel the great mysteries of the Taino
and Caribs!
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