We welcome you to join us as we explore our Taino culture

The Taino people occupied the four major islands of the Greater Antilles; Cuba, Kiskeya, Boriken and Jamaica. 

The Taino had a beautiful, spiritual life, in an idyllic paradise with a temperate climate, oceans and rivers filled with fish, fruit trees and fertile lands that yielded all they needed to survive.  They built homes and roads, and held feasts, festivities, ceremonies and games in their batey courts.  They had a royal class of leaders, councils of elders, spiritual leaders, healers, warriors, messengers, artisans, guards, workers, and more.  They travelled from island to island in their canoes, created from single lengths of logs.  The people are most often described as kind, generous and peaceful.  The very name Taino means, “the good people”. 

The lives and culture of the ancient Taino were disrupted by the arrival of Columbus and the Spanish Conquest. 

The goal of this page is to teach about the history of our Taino ancestors, with honor, dignity and respect, and to show that, despite what some people say about our extinction, we survived the conquest.  

Guakia Taino, Guakia Yahabo (We are Taino, We are still here).