Christopher Columbus meets indigenous Arawaks on Hispaniola.
Tales of the seafaring Arawaks stretch back more than a millennium with Arawak women acting as a guiding force in the society's continuing survival. The Arawak tribe began around 1000 AD as part of a large migration out of modern day Bolivia, Peru and Brazil. This group slowly moved into Venezuela and Guyana, eventually island-hopping across the Caribbean. Over time, some of the Arawaks divided into smaller groups, which became the Taino, Calusa, Lucaya, Carib and other tribes. Today, descendants of the Arawaks still live throughout the Caribbean islands.
Women and Agriculture
The Arawak women played a significant role in the day-to-day affairs of the tribe. During the pre-Columbian era, the Arawaks were mostly an agrarian, peaceful people. Upon his arrival, Columbus found them to be honest, unselfish and happy. The children and men of the tribe roamed the islands naked, bronzing their bodies in the tropical sun. The women dressed slightly more modestly, sometimes wearing short skirts. The Arawaks designed their villages so that work was equally divided between men and women. During migrations to a new area, the men would clear the raw farm land and then the women would begin planting. The Arawak women and girls shared responsibility for planting and harvesting all the crops, including corn, cassava and cotton. The women's duties also included preparing the meals.
The root crop cassava emerged as the Arawak's main staple food, despite it being poisonous in its natural state. The Arawak women followed a meticulous regimen when preparing a cassava bread that involved extracting the poison through a wicker tube hung from a tree.
Sewing, Spinning and Weaving
The Arawaks lived in thatched huts designed to withstand hurricanes. On the inside, families slept blissfully in cotton hammocks sewn together by the Arawak women. The hammocks had intricate designs that led researchers to believe the women had knowledge of advanced sewing techniques; in fact, evidence of spinning tools has been found at Arawak archaeological sites. The women also used cotton to weave fishing nets and bird traps.
Family Life
The role of the Arawak woman in the family was complex. Arawaks practiced polygamy, and most males had two or three wives. Most Arawak women aspired to marry the cacique, or chief. The caciques inherited their position, and the title holder was held in great esteem. In order to increase the likelihood of a male heir, the caciques were permitted to have as many as 30 wives. A cacique's wife had many benefits. She had the respect and admiration of everyone in her village and she, along with her children, would also enjoy a more luxurious lifestyle. But there was a downside. When the caciques died, they were buried, placed in a cave or burned in their homes. The Arawak custom of the time was to choose at least three of the cacique's favorite wives to suffer the same fate as a final tribute. The wives received water and cassava for sustenance on the journey to join their husband in Coyaba (heaven), where they would continue their spousal duties.
Arawak Demise
The Arawaks' simplistic lifestyles dramatically and irreversibly changed with the arrival of the Europeans in the 15th century. Within two generations, the Europeans decimated the Arawak population throughout the islands due to the introduction of new diseases, annihilistic warfare and a combination of malnutrition, overwork and physical abuse during Arawak enslavement.
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