The Economic Organization of the Tainos Community Hunting

The Economic Organization of the Tainos Community (Hunting and Trading Activities) CLASS: 1 -33 TEACHER: Ms. Layne

Storytelling TAINO BOY BY JEAN GOULBOURNE Stephen and his classmates who have been “studying the Tainos for two weeks are on a school outing to the Taino Museum where they expect to get first-hand perspectives on Taino customs. However, Stephen falls ill on the outing and passes into unconsciousness. In this dreamlike state he goes back as a Taino boy into Jamaica’s Amerindian past, where he becomes Tailo, the younger brother of a family whose father had

Storytelling Tailo wants to prove his manliness by providing ducks for the village feast for the night. Using Taino hunting lore based on their knowledge of nature to aid him in his quest, Tailo swims among the ducks below water and grabs their feet, pulling them underwater and drowning them, thus succeeding in bringing home his trophy.

Storytelling During the feast, as Lai “storyteller and village historian” pays tribute to ancestors (brave men who had killed the Caribs when they came to raid and to kill the men and take the women for themselves as their wives”), Tailo drifts away to the beat of the drums and Stephens returns from the ancient world of the Tainos into his Jamaican self. His fever has broken and he is on the mend.

Hunting Activities An Agouti A Hutia or Indian Coney

Methods of Hunting the Agouti and Hutia 1. The animals were chased through the forest into fenced or coral enclosures where they were trapped. 2. They were clubbed while they ran or smoked from their trees or holes.

The Hutia or Indian Coney The Influence of the Hutia on the Jamaican’s Culture

Hunting the Iguana

How did the Tainos Hunt Iguanas? 1. The Tainos imitated the iguana’s call or 2. Whistled gently to catch it while it remained stunned or hypnotised.

This iguana was caught in Valsayn, Trinidad.

Tainos and Duck Hunting

Tainos’ Method of Duck Hunting 1. The Tainos floated gourds downstream until the ducks became accustom to them. 2. They would drift downstream with the gourds over their heads while breathing through a hole and seeing through eye slits.

Tainos’ Method of Hunting Ducks (cont’d) 3. The ducks were then pulled underwater by their legs and drowned.

The Tainos’ Method of Catching Other Birds A Dove Parrots

Hunting Doves and Parrots 1. 1. The Tainos used nets to catch doves. 2. 2. They slipped a noose over the neck of a parrot.

The Tainos Involvement in Trading

How did the Tainos Trade? 1. The Tainos travelled long distances from island to island in their canoes which were as long as 80 ft. in length. Such islands included Cuba, Jamaica and Hispaniola. 2. They bartered their goods with the natives of the other islands.

Goods the Tainos Bartered Cassava or Manioc

Goods the Tanios Bartered (cont’d) A Stool

Goods the Tainos Traded (cont’d) Carved stone objects

Goods the Tainos Traded (cont’d) pottery

Goods the Tainos Traded (cont’d) Gold items