Research and Articles

Research & Articles: Learning About Our World - World History

Gretchen May
Extension Educator 4-H Youth and Family Development
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Cooperative Extension

Canoe . . . Barbecue . . . Hammock . . . Tobacco . . .

These are all common words in our everyday lives. Do you know that they are Arawakan in origin? Do you know who the Arawaks were? Have you ever heard of the Tainos? These groups of people were very important in the history of
the "New World" yet are not often mentioned in traditional history books. Learning about them will help you and the children in your care gain a more balanced view about the European settlement of the Western Hemisphere. In reading *Encounter* to the children, you will have ample opportunity to talk about how they would feel if they were the children in the book.

The Tainos were native people living on the Caribbean Islands when Christopher Columbus arrived. Their ancestors were the Arawaks who migrated northward along the islands from South America. The Arawaks, a peaceful people who fished, hunted and farmed, were noted for their white-on-red pottery. Their northward migration ended on what are now the islands of Puerto Rico and Haiti, where they were confronted by the Caribs, a fierce, cannibalistic people. About the same time, Columbus landed and changed the fate of the natives forever. The Tainos had never seen white men or ships with sails before. They believed the explorers to be gods and welcomed them. This proved to be disastrous.

The exploration and settlement of the islands continued for a few hundred years. The Spaniards wanted to convert the natives to Catholicism and to find treasure on the islands. Within fifty years of Columbus' arrival, the Tainos had been virtually wiped out by disease, murder, and enslavement. (Some fifteen hundred Caribs, including only a few pure-blooded, survive today on a reservation on the island of Dominica.) When the work force of natives dwindled, the Spaniards stole slaves from Africa and brought them to the islands to work the mines. The blending together of all these cultures and peoples - Spaniards, Arawakan, Taino, Carib, and African - resulted in the populations that inhabit the islands today.

BOOKS TO READ:

For youngsters: *Encounter*, by Jane Yolen; Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich Publishers: New York; 1992.

For older children and adults: *The Tainos*, by Francine Jacobs; G.P. Putnam's Sons Publisher: New York; 1992.

DOCUMENT USE/COPYRIGHT
National Network for Child Care - NNCC. Part of CYFERNET, the National Extension Service Children Youth and Family Educational Research Network. Permission is granted to reproduce these materials in whole or in part for educational purposes only (not for profit beyond the cost of reproduction) provided that the author and Network receive acknowledgment and this notice is included:

Reprinted with permission from the National Network for Child Care - NNCC. (1994). Learning about our world: A bit of "New World" history. In M. Lopes (Ed.) CareGiver News (September, p.4). Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Cooperative Extension.

Any additions or changes to these materials must be preapproved by the author.

COPYRIGHT PERMISSION ACCESS
Gretchen May
Draper Hall
Univeristy of Massachusetts
40 Campus Center Way
Amherst, MA 01003-9244
VOICE: 413-577-0332
FAX: 413-545-1002
E-MAIL: gmay@umext.umass.edu