Taíno genocide
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The Taíno genocide was committed by the Spanish conquerors to the Taíno indigenous people during the conquest of America developed in the Caribbean during the 16th century. It is estimated that before the arrival of the Spanish Empire to the island of Quisqueya[1] (which Christopher Columbus baptized as Hispaniola), the Taíno community had between 100,000 and 1,000,000 inhabitants[2] who were subjected to slavery and other treatment violent after the last Taíno chief was deposed in 1504. By 1514, the population had been reduced to just 32,000 Taíno,[2] by 1565 the number was 200, and by 1802 they were declared extinct However, National Geographic carried out a report in 2019, revealing that descendants did exist and that their disappearance from records was part of a fictional story created by the Spanish Empire with the intention of erasing them of history.[3]
The Taíno were people of Arawak languages who arrived in America approximately 4000 years before the conquest, [3] and were settled in the Bahamas, in the Greater Antilles and in the Lesser Antilles.[4] Christopher Columbus was looking for gold, however, when he did not find it, he focused on the slave business. Upon arriving at the island, a confrontation occurred between the colonizers crew of Santa María and the Taíno after the first sexually abused of the native women.[1] In 1503 most of the caciques were captured and burned alive.[1] Fray Bartolomé de las Casas wrote that in that massacre the Spanish also attacked the other inhabitants, cutting off the children's legs as they ran.[1]
For several months after that event, Nicolás de Ovando continued a campaign of persecution against the Taíno until their numbers became very small, [1] according to historian Samuel M. Wilson in his book Hispaniola. Caribbean Chiefdoms in the Age of Columbus. The Taíno suffered physical abuse in the gold mines and sugar cane fields, as well as religious persecution during the Spanish Inquisition, along with the exposure to diseases who arrived with the colonizers.[3] Others were captured and taken to Spain to be traded as slaves, which resulted in numerous deaths due to poor human conditions during the journey.[5]
Subsequently, Yale University in the United States listed the Taíno case as «genocide» in its Genocide Studies Program.[2]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e Carolina Pichardo (October 12, 2022). "Anacaona, the Aboriginal chieftain who defied Christopher Columbus and was sentenced to a tragic death". BBC News Mundo.
- ^ a b c "Hispaniola - Genocide Studies Program". Yale University.
- ^ a b c "Meet the survivors of a "genocide on paper"". National Geographic. October 15, 2019.
- ^ Luis Méndez (October 12, 2022). "The Taínos: the indigenous people who became extinct in the Caribbean after the Spanish conquest". The News.
- ^ "How the Conquest of America claimed the lives of more than 50 million people". CNN in Spanish. October 11, 2022.