Group
Taíno
The Taíno are the Indigenous peoples of the Greater Antilles and surrounding islands. At the time of European contact in the late 15th century, they were the principal inhabitants of most of what is now The Bahamas, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and the northern Lesser Antilles. The Lucayan branch of the Taíno were the first New World people encountered by Christopher Columbus, in the Bahama Archipelago on October 12, 1492. The Taíno historically spoke an Arawakan language. Granberry and Vescelius (2004) recognized two varieties of the Taino language: "Classical Taino", spoken in Puerto Rico and most of Hispaniola, and "Ciboney Taino", spoken in the Bahamas, most of Cuba, western Hispaniola, and Jamaica. They lived in agricultural societies ruled by caciques with fixed settlements and a matrilineal system of kinship and inheritance. Taíno religion centered on the worship of zemis. The Taíno are sometimes also referred to as Island Arawaks or Antillean Arawaks. Indigenous people in the Greater Antilles did not refer to themselves originally as Taíno; the term was first explicitly used in this sense by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque in 1836.
Historically, anthropologists and historians believed that the Taíno were no longer extant centuries ago, or that they gradually merged into a common identity with African and Hispanic cultures. Scholarly attitudes to Taíno survival and resurgence began to change around the year 2000. Many people today identify as Taíno and many more have Taíno descent, most notably in Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Dominica. A substantial number of Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and Dominicans have Indigenous mitochondrial DNA, which may suggest Taíno descent through the direct female line, especially in Puerto Rico. While some communities describe an unbroken cultural heritage passed down through the generations, often in secret, others are revivalist communities who seek to incorporate Taíno culture into their lives.
Member Cities
- Almirante Bocas del Toro Panama Location
- Bajos de Haina San Cristobal Dominican Republic Location
- Baracoa Guantánamo Cuba Location
- Barcelona Cataluña Spain Location
- Basseterre Saint Kitts-Nevis Location
- Bottom Saba Island Netherlands Antilles Location
- Camagüey Camagüey Cuba Location
- Caparra Guaynabo Puerto Rico Location
- Carbet Martinique Location
- Chacachacare Trinidad Trinidad and Tobago Location
- Charlestown Saint Kitts-Nevis Location
- Christiansted U S Virgins (American) Virgin Islands Location
- Cienfuegos Cíenfuegos Cuba Location
- Columbus Channel Location
- Cádiz Andalucia Spain Location
- George Town Cayman Islands Location
- Grand Bourg Guadeloupe Location
- Guanabacoa Ciudad de la Habana Cuba Location
- Guanaja Islas de la Bahia Honduras Location
- Havana > La Habana Ciudad de la Habana Cuba Location
- Kingstown Saint Vincent Island Saint Vincent and Grenadines Location
- La Asunción Nueva Esparta Venezuela Location
- La Isabela Puerto Plata Dominican Republic Location
- La Navidad Nord Haiti Location
- Le Cap > Cap Haïtien Nord Haiti Location
- Lisbon > Lisboa Lisboa Portugal Location
- Little River Saint James Jamaica Location
- Madeira Madeira Islands Portugal Location
- Marsh Harbour Marsh Harbour Bahamas Location
- Melbourne Beach Brevard Florida United States Location
- Nuevitas Camagüey Cuba Location
- Oranjestad Sint Eustatius Netherlands Antilles Location
- Palos de la Frontera Andalucia Spain Location
- Peter Island British Virgins Virgin Islands Location
- Philipsburg Sint Maarten Island Netherlands Antilles Location
- Plana Cays Mayaguana Bahamas Location
- Plymouth Montserrat Location
- Point Nelson San Salvador and Rum Cay Bahamas Location
- Port Royal Kingston Jamaica Location
- Porto Santo Madeira Islands Portugal Location
- Providenciales Island Turks and Caicos Location
- Puerto Castilla Colon Honduras Location
- Redonda Island Antigua & Barbuda Location
- Road Town British Virgins Virgin Islands Location
- Roseau Saint George Dominica Location
- Salvaleón de Higüey La Altagracia Dominican Republic Location
- Samana Cay Long Island Bahamas Location
- Samaná Samana Dominican Republic Location
- San Juan San Juan Puerto Rico Location
- San Juan San Juan Puerto Rico United States Location
- San Sebastián de la Gomera Canary Islands Spain Location
- Sanlúcar de Barrameda Andalucia Spain Location
- Santo Domingo Distrito Nacional Dominican Republic Location
- Scarborough Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Location
- Seville > Sevilla Andalucia Spain Location
- Spanish Town British Virgins Virgin Islands Location
- St Ann's Bay Saint Ann Jamaica Location
- St George's Saint George Grenada Location
- St John's Saint John Antigua & Barbuda Location
- Villa de la Vega > Spanish Town Saint Catherine Jamaica Location
- Yara Granma Cuba Location
- Îles des Saintes Guadeloupe Location