Culture
What is a zemi?
A zemi's were carved representations that was either depicted as an ancestors or gods.
What did the Tainos have a resource's?
The Taino's had a very sophisticated agriculture system, growig three main crops: cassava (casaba), corn (mahiz). and sweet potatoes (batata). They grew their own food, hunted/fished/gathered for their own food. they made homes from bamboo and palm trees. They cultivated canoes, gold ornaments and pottery.
Besides Carib people, did the Taino's have any negative interactions with any other people?
ABSOLUTELY! The Spanish easily conquered the Taino's, enslaving them. Under harsh conditions many died of starvation, disease, or suicide. Even before that, Christopher Columbus wrote about their friendliness, how easy it would be to overpower them. Later he captures at least 24 people, sent them back to spain as slaves. Later he launched a slave raid. The Taino's tried to fight back by killing, hiding food from the Spaniards. They even burning Spaniards who were left behind.
After hundreds of years later, What remains of the Taino's? Physical Taino remains can be found in The Greater Antilles (Where they lived), but also in the small things we most likely looked over. Artwork of the zemi's found across Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, ceremonial celts (smooth polished stones as offerings, a status symbol or exchange), and throughout the entirety of the Greater Antilles, a Caibbean network of exchange.
We can find Taino heritage in our DNA, mixed in with African and Spaniard. We can find the culture in the food, remedies, music and dances that were passed down through generations. We can find the Taino legacy in words and inventions: maraca, guiro, hammock (hamaca), barbeque (barbacoa), even common words: hurricane(huracan), corn(maisi/maiz), and animals: iguanna and manatee. (Etc)
What language did the Taino people speak?:
1)Navajo?
2)Arawak?
3)Miskito?
2) Arawak
The Taino's were Arawakan-speaking natives of the Greater Antilles which took up Puerto Rico, Cuba, Haiti, DR, Jamaica, The Bahamas, Cayman Islands.
What did the Taino's trade?
I did not come across anything that told me what they traded but I can assume that they traded anything that they had. That could be food, clothing, small animals, and materials.
Besides Europeans and Spaniards, did the Taino's have any positive interactions with any other tribes?
Being that the Taino's were on the entire Greater Antilles, I can only guess they did not have any positive interactions with any other Native Americans. But given that they built canoes, I can also guess that the Taino's in Cuba (specifically the western side) canoed to Mexico (what would now be Cancun) most likely coming in contact with the Mayans.
(No specific document told such.)
Where the Taino's:
A)Polytheistic
B)Monotheistic
The Taino were polytheistic, believing in many gods. The Taínos worshiped two main gods, Yúcahu, the lord of cassava and the sea, and Attabeira, his mother and the goddess of fresh water and human fertility, as well as other lesser gods associated with natural forces, were worshiped in the form of zemís, sculptural figures that depicted either gods or ancestors.
Besides Europeans and Spaniards, did the Taino's have any negative interactions with any other tribes?
Yes. Despite taking up the entire Greater Antilles and being very peaceful, the Taino's were on the defensive against their cannibal neighbors: The Caribs. The Tainos spears and developed a poisoned to put on their arrows as defense against the cannibals.
Did the Tainos have any music or dance?
Yes. Like most Native American's, the Taino's had music and dance. ceremonial dances were called 'areytos'. The Tainos use music to tell tales of their history, to celebrate special events and to ask for protection from Mother Nature.
Besides the Caribs, did the Taino's have any positive interactions with any other people?
Yes. The Taino's, being the peaceful people that they are, they welcomed the Conquistadores. They opened their homes to the Spanish, sharing their food and gave them many gifts who in which were peaceful at first.