The People Who Were "Discovered"

     Columbus Day is coming up soon (October 12), and that day will be remembered as the day when the European Columbus discovered America. The question of how can you discover a country which already has people on it should be raised here, as well as a host of other arguments for why this day should be a day of mourning instead of a holiday, should be addressed. However, instead of a justified rant against this so-called "hero", this writing will instead be another narrative about the people who were "discovered" by Columbus on Haiti: the Taino. Here now is Estevanico's older brother, Esteban, to tell us more about the real settlers of Haiti.

     My brother told you some things about our ancestors, and I will tell you some more.
     I must first say that that murderer Columbus (for he caused the murder, torture, rape, and deaths of many of our ancestors) discovered nothing. My ancestors lived on Haiti (the true name for the island he called "Hispaniola") long before a white man ever knew of its shores. Our ancestors had a well established way of life on the island long before Columbus, and we were not "savages" by any stretch of the imagination.
     The real people who first peopled the North and South American continents came from the continent of Asia around 13000 B.C. They made their way to Haiti by about 4000 B.C. They were members of a people called the "Saladoid" people. From them the Taino descend. There is not as much known about my ancestors because they had no written language, and thus most of what we know about them may be slanted toward a European viewpoint, since Europeans recorded their views on my ancestors' way of life.
     There are many things I could say about our ancestors, but I will simply speak on two: Their generosity, and their complex society. First, their complex society. The Taino had well established cultural and religious systems in place. The cacique was the chief, and religious leaders were political ones as well. They had their own religion; their gods were called zemis. They were well established.
     The next and final thing I will say is that there is a common thread in all of what Europeans who went to Haiti wrote on my ancestors: the Taino were a gentle people. On reason, besides disease, why the Europeans were able to take advantage of the Taino was because the Taino were very generous. They had little concept of private property. They shared, and were a peaceful people who did not believe in fighting. Columbus looked at this and saw how easily they could be extorted and taken advantage of, and that is what he did: he and his men took advantage of a peaceful, generous people. And we celebrate that. How sad...but I digress.
     The Taino, my ancestors, were a very advanced people; hardly "savages", and unfortunately were nearly wiped out (there are still people alive today who descend from the Taino). It seems by my historical estimation that it was the Europeans, the Christ-bearing missionaries, who were the real savages.

     Thank you, Esteban. Next week we will hear more about the conflict between the Taino and the Europeans who came to Haiti. Stay tuned!

                                                                   Sources

Symcox, Geoffrey, and Blair Sullivan. Christopher Columbus and the Enterprise of the Indies: A Brief History with Documents. New York: St. Martins/Boston: Bedford. 2005. Print.

Geggus, David. "The Naming of Haiti."  KITLV  71.1&71.2 (1997): 43-44. www.kitlv-journals.nl. PDF file.

Keegan, William F. "Archaic Influences in the Origins and Development of Taino Societies." Caribbean Journal of Science 42.1 (2006): 1-5. University of Puerto Rico. PDF File.

McCann, Joseph M. "Before 1492: The Making of the Pre-Columbian Landscape. Part I: The Environment." Ecological Restoration 17.1&2 (1999): 17-19. PDF File.