The Taino names of the Caribbean islands based on Jalil Sued-Badillo (ed.), ‘General History of the Caribbean, vol. 1: Autochthonous Societies’ (Paris: UNESCO Publishing/London: Macmillan 2003) Plate 8.
Some names on this map are not Taino names but Kalinago names. Tainos were/are Arawak people. Kalinagos were/are Carib people. Tainos and Kalinagos were usually enemies since the Kalinagos were conquering Taino lands. Many Taino tribes fled from northern South America to the islands because of the Kalinagos.
You have quajira,quajataca,quanahani and others that have already been mentioned but the k was most used to describe items and places such as kanobanas, kajei, kaimito,etc. the language was extensive and developed over tens of thousands of years.
[…] Taino Kalingo, and Arawak Indigenous Names of the Caribbean, Source: #TheDeconialAtlas https://decolonialatlas.wordpress.com/2015/02/02/taino-names-of-the-caribbean-islands/ […]
Was there a single name all of the Caribs (Kalinagos) were known by? As a regional group? I spoke to a Kalinago in Dominica and he gave me the impression there were group names depending on where they were – NE south america, central america, SE north america, Caribbean.
I am looking for a single “tribe” name for the islands of whatt we now call the Caribbean Basin – from Cuba south-east to Trinidad inclusive.
Taino does not mean what you think…the indigenous never refereed to themselves as taino.the word taino means family,family member or kin…I will tell you the name of some of the tribes,,macorix,siboney,ciguayo,carib,guanahatabey,there are a couple moor,,,not to mention the calusa,creek,tequesta,nations from s.carolina and georgia,,,we were all trading and mixing…
So was there an overall name for all of them combined? What kind of grand scheme did they all think they belonged to? I am looking for a single word for that…
I don’t think so….there were to many ethnic groups and they all had there own part of the caribean…most of the islands have there original taino names..there was alot of competition…
[…] Taino Names of the Caribbean Islands Map: I first saw this map being circulated on Facebook as a shared photo. I shared it on my wall and a couple of friends shared it from me. When I did a google search for the image I found it came from this wordpress site, Decolonial Atlas. There is a lot of interesting conversation happening in the comments and some in Spanish that I can’t fully translate. […]
A muchas personas cuando se mudan a US u otros paises, les encanta que le cambien su nombre. Yo naci en el Caribe, por que no ser Carobeño? De donde sale el apodo “latino” o “hispano”( tengo idea). Pero por 26 años que vivi en US, nunca me considere ninguna. No permito ser nombrado con lo que no soy y/o comparto.
excellent reading…..los caribises…the most warrior tribe of the islands named after them…and the sea..are from this tribe that not only battled against spanish blood n gold thirsty dogs…..but battled even the vikings that went by breifly…the caribises ….now known as caribs….were not small in size nor vegitarians like the tainos n arawaks….guanahatabeyes..
ciguayos…they were big.tall muscular meat eaters….they were not interested in history nor did they leave much to be studied….they wete not canibals like noted when spoken of….they would cut the heart out of there fallen enemies and bite it…..meaning there enemies will not come back ever again…the zambos
were mixed indigenous peoe with the afrijan slaves that were brought in to the islands…after the conquistadors killed most of the men……and yes the conquistadors were of afrikan..muslims….moorish decendants….from spain…..
yes ayiti…was and is much closer to the actual na’e of this part of quiqueya…and its actually name of the last royal blood and last known cacique of the era…the color of the people changed when large porportion of the men got killed in bate and abuse of n by the conquistadors….the afrikan mixed with the slave women left after the slaughter…
The poeple of Ayti a.k.a Quizqueia are still here, as we are what we are: Autochtones people (copper-tones) of one of the Atlan islands and the 2 lands (The Americas).
La Isla de Mona al Oeste de Puerto Rico pertenece al municipio de Mayagüez , El nombre Taíno de esta Isla es Amoná … , En el Siglo XIX , en Isla de Mona había una compañía minera que extraía “El Guano” , el guano es el excremento de las aves , en este caso estamos hablando del de los murciélagos , Es un excelente fertilizante que en mí opinión personal se debería reactivar esta operación para el desarrollo económico de Puerto Rico y a su vez no habrá necesidad de los servicios de “Monsanto” … Obviamente esto requiere precaución porque en las cuevas hay tallados indígenas tanto en las paredes como en las rocas , Hay una operación parecida en Las Islas Galápagos (Ecuador) … La cual por no haberlo hecho con prudencia han habido daños quién sabe si irreparables , En la Cueva Negra en Isla de Mona todavía están los rieles que se utilizaban en esta operación…
El autor del comentario hizo la distinción cuando explicó que en el caso de ‘Mona’, el guano era de murciélagos. Queriendo significar que no era de aves.
Gua is a very common prefix in Taino language and many Spanish words borrowed from Taino have it. Its very common use today in Quiqueya and Boriken (that I know from personal experience).
We need to know the original peoples of the Caribbean. This type of information helps sensitise our modern natives to the genocide that occurred following 1492.
theres also personal names with Gua..in quiqueya for example, guarionex and guacanagarix…those were taino heros, there is also guarino, guariboa and some others…..and in present days, guarionex and guarino are names that are still in use.
it was thanks to the good ‘conquistadors’ and monks and priests who preserved and recorded the Taino names and traditions since the indigenous peoples had not evolved into a written language. As in all things throughout history , there were many good people who tried to do good.
The Decolonial Atlas 
[…] Image Via: The Decolonial Atlas […]
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Some names on this map are not Taino names but Kalinago names. Tainos were/are Arawak people. Kalinagos were/are Carib people. Tainos and Kalinagos were usually enemies since the Kalinagos were conquering Taino lands. Many Taino tribes fled from northern South America to the islands because of the Kalinagos.
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Kalinago/Carib are part of Greater-Arawak its just that they diverged more but yes the lesser antilles were carib named
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You have quajira,quajataca,quanahani and others that have already been mentioned but the k was most used to describe items and places such as kanobanas, kajei, kaimito,etc. the language was extensive and developed over tens of thousands of years.
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[…] Taino Kalingo, and Arawak Indigenous Names of the Caribbean, Source: #TheDeconialAtlas https://decolonialatlas.wordpress.com/2015/02/02/taino-names-of-the-caribbean-islands/ […]
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Was there a single name all of the Caribs (Kalinagos) were known by? As a regional group? I spoke to a Kalinago in Dominica and he gave me the impression there were group names depending on where they were – NE south america, central america, SE north america, Caribbean.
I am looking for a single “tribe” name for the islands of whatt we now call the Caribbean Basin – from Cuba south-east to Trinidad inclusive.
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Sorry ’bout that, I must be getting old… did they all claim to be tribes within the Taino? Is “Taino” what I am looking for?
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Taino does not mean what you think…the indigenous never refereed to themselves as taino.the word taino means family,family member or kin…I will tell you the name of some of the tribes,,macorix,siboney,ciguayo,carib,guanahatabey,there are a couple moor,,,not to mention the calusa,creek,tequesta,nations from s.carolina and georgia,,,we were all trading and mixing…
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So was there an overall name for all of them combined? What kind of grand scheme did they all think they belonged to? I am looking for a single word for that…
Thanks in advance.
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I don’t think so….there were to many ethnic groups and they all had there own part of the caribean…most of the islands have there original taino names..there was alot of competition…
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No, there wasn’t one collective name. It would be like grouping all the Indigenous of any nation into one name.
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“Quisqueya” is not a taino word, the word was invented by Pedro Mártir de Anglería around 1500s.
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Where did he hear that word?
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Isn’t Cuba’s full original indigenous name “Cubanacan”?
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Cubanacan is a taino word
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Se cree que el prefijo gua es usado para indicar pertenencia. http://cacreview.blogspot.com/2007/09/gua-prefix-working-hypotheses-on.html?m=1
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[…] Taino Names of the Caribbean Islands Map: I first saw this map being circulated on Facebook as a shared photo. I shared it on my wall and a couple of friends shared it from me. When I did a google search for the image I found it came from this wordpress site, Decolonial Atlas. There is a lot of interesting conversation happening in the comments and some in Spanish that I can’t fully translate. […]
LikeLike
A muchas personas cuando se mudan a US u otros paises, les encanta que le cambien su nombre. Yo naci en el Caribe, por que no ser Carobeño? De donde sale el apodo “latino” o “hispano”( tengo idea). Pero por 26 años que vivi en US, nunca me considere ninguna. No permito ser nombrado con lo que no soy y/o comparto.
LikeLike
excellent reading…..los caribises…the most warrior tribe of the islands named after them…and the sea..are from this tribe that not only battled against spanish blood n gold thirsty dogs…..but battled even the vikings that went by breifly…the caribises ….now known as caribs….were not small in size nor vegitarians like the tainos n arawaks….guanahatabeyes..
ciguayos…they were big.tall muscular meat eaters….they were not interested in history nor did they leave much to be studied….they wete not canibals like noted when spoken of….they would cut the heart out of there fallen enemies and bite it…..meaning there enemies will not come back ever again…the zambos
were mixed indigenous peoe with the afrijan slaves that were brought in to the islands…after the conquistadors killed most of the men……and yes the conquistadors were of afrikan..muslims….moorish decendants….from spain…..
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Would like to know more. This is very interesting.
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St. Thomas and St. John had no name then according to this map….
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[…] Source: Taino Names of the Caribbean Islands | The Decolonial Atlas […]
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This is cool, but Haiti should be Ayïti
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And Kiskeya, Quisqueya
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That is by Spanish spelling. Most indigenous people prefer the “k” to the “qu.”
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Kiskeya is in debate..it might of not been a taino word…im sticking to bohio or ayiti…
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yes ayiti…was and is much closer to the actual na’e of this part of quiqueya…and its actually name of the last royal blood and last known cacique of the era…the color of the people changed when large porportion of the men got killed in bate and abuse of n by the conquistadors….the afrikan mixed with the slave women left after the slaughter…
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The poeple of Ayti a.k.a Quizqueia are still here, as we are what we are: Autochtones people (copper-tones) of one of the Atlan islands and the 2 lands (The Americas).
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Reblogged this on kucintamalaysia.
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Correction: Its Guayama not Guayana
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amigo, hay Guayana también…
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Reblogged this on freedombyanymeans and commented:
know thyself
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La Isla de Mona al Oeste de Puerto Rico pertenece al municipio de Mayagüez , El nombre Taíno de esta Isla es Amoná … , En el Siglo XIX , en Isla de Mona había una compañía minera que extraía “El Guano” , el guano es el excremento de las aves , en este caso estamos hablando del de los murciélagos , Es un excelente fertilizante que en mí opinión personal se debería reactivar esta operación para el desarrollo económico de Puerto Rico y a su vez no habrá necesidad de los servicios de “Monsanto” … Obviamente esto requiere precaución porque en las cuevas hay tallados indígenas tanto en las paredes como en las rocas , Hay una operación parecida en Las Islas Galápagos (Ecuador) … La cual por no haberlo hecho con prudencia han habido daños quién sabe si irreparables , En la Cueva Negra en Isla de Mona todavía están los rieles que se utilizaban en esta operación…
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El murciélago no es un AVE
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El autor del comentario hizo la distinción cuando explicó que en el caso de ‘Mona’, el guano era de murciélagos. Queriendo significar que no era de aves.
LikeLike
Gua is a very common prefix in Taino language and many Spanish words borrowed from Taino have it. Its very common use today in Quiqueya and Boriken (that I know from personal experience).
LikeLike
We need to know the original peoples of the Caribbean. This type of information helps sensitise our modern natives to the genocide that occurred following 1492.
LikeLike
[…] Taino Names of the Caribbean Islands […]
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Reblogged this on badassafrofem and commented:
Great Project!
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Some of the Taino island names are similar to island names of today. I realize quite a few of the names begin with “Gua,” I wonder why.
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It is Taino idiom.
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Not the taíno idiom is Arawar.
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In Puerto Rico we have towns named Guaynabo, Guayana and Guaraguao.
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Do you know the origin of those names?
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Y un municipio que se llama Guayama.
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all are taino words
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theres also personal names with Gua..in quiqueya for example, guarionex and guacanagarix…those were taino heros, there is also guarino, guariboa and some others…..and in present days, guarionex and guarino are names that are still in use.
LikeLiked by 1 person
it was thanks to the good ‘conquistadors’ and monks and priests who preserved and recorded the Taino names and traditions since the indigenous peoples had not evolved into a written language. As in all things throughout history , there were many good people who tried to do good.
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In the Caribbean cost of Nicaragua and Honduras we got the Miskitos, Sumos y Ramas any body knows about them
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