0:00:04 > 0:00:08In October 1492, on a Caribbean beach,
0:00:08 > 0:00:12the indigenous people spotted distant white specks on the horizon.
0:00:16 > 0:00:20They were Spanish ships, travellers from another world.
0:00:24 > 0:00:29Christopher Columbus will forever be lauded for that famous first voyage.
0:00:30 > 0:00:32But for centuries, those who welcomed him
0:00:32 > 0:00:34to the Americas have been ignored.
0:00:39 > 0:00:41The people on the beach were called the Taino.
0:00:41 > 0:00:45And when Columbus met the Taino, the Old World met the New.
0:00:45 > 0:00:49History typically caricatures that moment as when those from
0:00:49 > 0:00:51the periphery met those from the centre,
0:00:51 > 0:00:53when primitives met progress.
0:00:56 > 0:01:00But when we understand more about that first fateful encounter,
0:01:00 > 0:01:03who will go down in history as primitive?
0:01:05 > 0:01:08The violent, gold-hungry Spanish?
0:01:08 > 0:01:09Or the little-known,
0:01:09 > 0:01:12but highly-developed culture they colonised?
0:01:17 > 0:01:19My name is Jago Cooper.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23I'm a specialist in the archaeology of the Americas.
0:01:24 > 0:01:27In this series I will be exploring the rise and fall
0:01:27 > 0:01:30of forgotten civilisations,
0:01:30 > 0:01:33from the crystal clear seas of the Caribbean,
0:01:33 > 0:01:36to the New World's most impressive pyramids...
0:01:38 > 0:01:41..over the smoking volcanoes of Costa Rica
0:01:41 > 0:01:45and deep underground in the caves of central Mexico.
0:01:48 > 0:01:51I'll travel in the footsteps of these peoples
0:01:51 > 0:01:55to reveal their secrets, to unearth the astonishing cultures that
0:01:55 > 0:01:59flourished amongst some of the most dramatic landscapes in the world.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05The story of the peoples of the Caribbean,
0:02:05 > 0:02:07whose sophistication allowed them to share
0:02:07 > 0:02:11a common culture across hundreds of islands,
0:02:11 > 0:02:14who developed belief systems that were both spiritual
0:02:14 > 0:02:16and functional,
0:02:16 > 0:02:20and who welcomed Columbus to the Americas with fateful consequences.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28This is one of the most fascinating stories of all.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31It's the story of the Taino.
0:02:33 > 0:02:37Columbus destroyed as he discovered and it's only now,
0:02:37 > 0:02:40by exploring the archipelago's archaeology,
0:02:40 > 0:02:41that we can solve the riddle.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44How did a dynamic culture survive, thrive
0:02:44 > 0:02:48and bloom in this string of glistening islands?
0:03:09 > 0:03:13The islands of the Caribbean archipelago have long been
0:03:13 > 0:03:14a magnet for people.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26But the human story begins long before tourists
0:03:26 > 0:03:28and cruise ships, deep in the ancient past.
0:03:32 > 0:03:36This chain of islands has had many names over the centuries.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39It's been the West Indies, the Antilles Archipelago
0:03:39 > 0:03:42and of course, simply, the Caribbean.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49I'm starting on the island of Hispaniola.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52The western half is Haiti and where I am in the east,
0:03:52 > 0:03:54is now the Dominican Republic.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01For over 15 years, I've been working here excavating the rich,
0:04:01 > 0:04:04red soils of the Caribbean.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08It's a stunning place, a mix of European, African, Latino
0:04:08 > 0:04:10and indigenous influences.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13But what I've discovered is that it's always been
0:04:13 > 0:04:15a place of huge ethnic diversity.
0:04:17 > 0:04:21The modern, multicultural Caribbean is unwittingly following in
0:04:21 > 0:04:25the footsteps of the much earlier, much neglected Taino culture.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30When the Spanish Conquistadors claimed these islands
0:04:30 > 0:04:32500 years ago,
0:04:32 > 0:04:34they left some accounts of the people they encountered.
0:04:36 > 0:04:40But the testimony of invaders tends to justify their actions,
0:04:40 > 0:04:42and can only be trusted so far.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51To learn the truth, we must supplement their stories with
0:04:51 > 0:04:54the evidence archaeology can painstakingly uncover.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06The first traces of the Taino can be found here in the remote
0:05:06 > 0:05:10southeast corner of the Dominican Republic, buried deep in the jungle.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19Joining our expedition is Fatima Portorreal, a local
0:05:19 > 0:05:23anthropologist, who has studied the art of the indigenous population.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35This dense rainforest is difficult to penetrate.
0:05:38 > 0:05:39Uno, dos, tres.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46But the thorns and fallen trees that impede progress have helped preserve
0:05:46 > 0:05:48this secret site for centuries.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09Critical to the understanding of any culture is
0:06:09 > 0:06:14an understanding of how they saw their place in the world.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19And at the heart of a worldview is a belief about your origins.
0:06:19 > 0:06:21Gracias.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29To begin to understand the Taino, you need to understand
0:06:29 > 0:06:31where they believed they came from.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33And significantly, they believed that they came from
0:06:33 > 0:06:35the heart of these islands.
0:06:35 > 0:06:37In order to find out more, we've come to
0:06:37 > 0:06:40these remote and quite inaccessible caves, two hours on horseback
0:06:40 > 0:06:43into the heart of the national park of the Parque del Este.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03This is known as the cave of Jose Maria.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13Amid the stalactites, stalagmites, guano
0:07:13 > 0:07:18and exotic insects are clues to the Taino belief system.
0:07:21 > 0:07:26Deep in this huge, natural limestone chamber, are wall paintings,
0:07:26 > 0:07:29or pictographs, which remained hidden for hundreds of years.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37They show how the Taino told their own story.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42Some of the pictographs are recognisably similar to
0:07:42 > 0:07:45others found in caves across the Caribbean.
0:07:59 > 0:08:03But others are unlike anything I've ever seen before.
0:08:03 > 0:08:05Stunning.
0:08:05 > 0:08:07Beautiful.
0:08:07 > 0:08:08Enigmatic.
0:09:17 > 0:09:21There are more than 1,200 pictographs in this cave alone,
0:09:21 > 0:09:26and it's incredible to think of the Taino clambering down here
0:09:26 > 0:09:30barefoot, with naked flames and the most basic of painting materials.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35Scientific analysis tells us that the first people
0:10:35 > 0:10:39arrived on these islands around 5,000 BC.
0:10:39 > 0:10:43And these first people must have arrived from overseas.
0:10:46 > 0:10:50But the Taino origin myth, written on the walls around me, emphasises
0:10:50 > 0:10:54that the Taino were rooted on these islands and belonged here.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03What's important and why this cave creation myth is
0:11:03 > 0:11:05so significant is that people have been living
0:11:05 > 0:11:07continuously in these islands for millennia.
0:11:07 > 0:11:11This isn't a developed culture that migrated into the Caribbean,
0:11:11 > 0:11:15this is culture that was born here on these islands.
0:11:22 > 0:11:27So Taino beliefs helped to create a sense of belonging and community.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31But what about their more tangible traits?
0:11:31 > 0:11:34What did they wear, what did they look like?
0:11:37 > 0:11:41To find out, I'm travelling to a small private museum to meet
0:11:41 > 0:11:45with Hayley Mickleburgh, who's been studying Taino skeletal remains.
0:11:48 > 0:11:50I asked Hayley just what I'd see
0:11:50 > 0:11:53if I came face to face with an ancient Taino islander.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59They were generally a lot smaller than we are
0:11:59 > 0:12:04so let's say 1.5m, 1.60, a little bit bigger.
0:12:04 > 0:12:09And we also know that they were relatively robust.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12They were quiet muscular. We also know from muscle attachments
0:12:12 > 0:12:18on the bones that people were very physically active,
0:12:18 > 0:12:22so we know that they had a strenuous, active lifestyle.
0:12:22 > 0:12:26They would have worn less clothes than we're used to but they would
0:12:26 > 0:12:29have been fully dressed in the sense that they wore body ornamentation.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32For example, what we have here is a body stamp.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35This one's interesting because it has two different sides,
0:12:35 > 0:12:38so there's two different images on that.
0:12:38 > 0:12:39I really like it, it's nice.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42And what they would have done is they would have applied the paint to
0:12:42 > 0:12:46the body stamp and then applied it to their body in various locations.
0:12:47 > 0:12:51But one of the most visually striking things about the Taino
0:12:51 > 0:12:55is not their nakedness, their body paint or their short stature.
0:12:56 > 0:12:58It's the startling shape of their skulls.
0:13:00 > 0:13:06What we have here is four skulls of people excavated in Hispaniola.
0:13:06 > 0:13:11One of the things we can see here, for example, in this individual,
0:13:11 > 0:13:14is what's called cranial modification, and this is
0:13:14 > 0:13:19something people did to purposefully change the shape of their head.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23What happened was when the child was very young they would use
0:13:23 > 0:13:27different pressure points on the skull using wooden planks
0:13:27 > 0:13:30or bandages or whatever, and they would wrap them around the skull
0:13:30 > 0:13:32for about a year to 18 months
0:13:32 > 0:13:35until the skull had grown naturally into this shape
0:13:35 > 0:13:39and you can see it very nicely in this person that we have here.
0:13:39 > 0:13:42One of the traditional views was that modified skulls
0:13:42 > 0:13:45belonged to the elite class but we now know from more recent
0:13:45 > 0:13:49research that up to 80% of skeletal populations show different types
0:13:49 > 0:13:52of cranial modification, so it's probably not associated
0:13:52 > 0:13:56with elite but other types of expression of identity.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12So how did these curious-looking people live?
0:14:12 > 0:14:16Early in their culture they began as fisherman and hunter-gatherers.
0:14:18 > 0:14:22But the first major settlements date from around 600 AD.
0:14:23 > 0:14:27The Taino's ancestors began to give up their hand-to-mouth existence
0:14:27 > 0:14:29and built villages.
0:14:33 > 0:14:37Here they interacted on a daily basis, beginning to share
0:14:37 > 0:14:41not only resources, but ideas, values and customs.
0:14:41 > 0:14:42From these,
0:14:42 > 0:14:46the distinctive Taino culture began to emerge around 900 AD.
0:14:48 > 0:14:52On the palm-fringed east coast of the Dominican Republic, my friend
0:14:52 > 0:14:53and colleague, Alice Samson,
0:14:53 > 0:14:56has been excavating a newly discovered site.
0:14:57 > 0:14:59- Welcome to the village. - How're you doing?
0:15:01 > 0:15:03This is one of the largest Taino settlements
0:15:03 > 0:15:05ever found in the Caribbean.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08And yet, at first, there doesn't seem much to see.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12Looking at the trees, it's really hard to see what was actually here.
0:15:12 > 0:15:15Pre-Columbian, Caribbean culture is built with organic
0:15:15 > 0:15:18materials - wood, leaves, thatch, that kind of thing -
0:15:18 > 0:15:24so everything basically degrades and the only thing that is left behind
0:15:24 > 0:15:27are the durable artefacts like shell and pottery and things like that.
0:15:27 > 0:15:29Where would the houses have been?
0:15:29 > 0:15:32We're in one right now. You see this depression here,
0:15:32 > 0:15:35this would have possibly been the centre of a house,
0:15:35 > 0:15:38about six to ten metres in diameter.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41- Six to ten metres? That's like... - So we're now standing on the walls.
0:15:41 > 0:15:45The walls would have been made of tropical hardwood poles
0:15:45 > 0:15:49with a thatched roof, a small doorway, would have housed
0:15:49 > 0:15:52a multi-generational family, maybe six to ten people.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55People would have slung their hammocks between the poles
0:15:55 > 0:15:58in the house, they would have slept there. They also would have received
0:15:58 > 0:16:02guests to the house, maybe consulted their ancestors, carried out
0:16:02 > 0:16:04healing rituals, that kind of thing.
0:16:04 > 0:16:06These were multi-functional arenas.
0:16:07 > 0:16:11These barely perceptible little habitation mounds are not the sort
0:16:11 > 0:16:15of spectacular archaeological sites that tourists flock to.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18But whilst there's not much to see on the surface, Alice's discoveries
0:16:18 > 0:16:23are providing evidence of a thriving community early in Taino culture.
0:16:23 > 0:16:25Well, this particular place runs for almost
0:16:25 > 0:16:28a kilometre along the coast, and maybe 100 to 200 metres inland,
0:16:28 > 0:16:30so we call them villages.
0:16:30 > 0:16:32They were towns.
0:16:32 > 0:16:36If this was a site in medieval Europe, this would be a city.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40Whilst the sheer scale of the settlement is striking,
0:16:40 > 0:16:43smaller artefacts now being unearthed provide more evidence
0:16:43 > 0:16:45of how advanced the Taino were.
0:16:47 > 0:16:49All the things you see here are everyday household items,
0:16:49 > 0:16:53so we have pieces of pottery, for example, these two pottery faces
0:16:53 > 0:16:57would have decorated maybe a bowl or a household vessel.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00People in pre-Columbian villages were very house-proud.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03Their houses were the arena of aesthetic elaborations.
0:17:03 > 0:17:05People had beautiful things in their houses,
0:17:05 > 0:17:08beautifully-crafted objects, they didn't just save these things
0:17:08 > 0:17:11for special occasions like burials or ceremonies.
0:17:11 > 0:17:12What's that piece there?
0:17:12 > 0:17:15This is beautiful. This is a little adorno, so it's a decorative handle
0:17:15 > 0:17:19for a pottery vessel and it's in the form of a pelican,
0:17:19 > 0:17:22so people were depicting on their household utensils things
0:17:22 > 0:17:25that they saw in the environment around them. If you look along
0:17:25 > 0:17:29the coast here, you've got pelicans flying by every few minutes.
0:17:29 > 0:17:33And this is the quintessential pre-Columbian household item.
0:17:33 > 0:17:35A fragment of a ceramic griddle.
0:17:35 > 0:17:39A ceramic griddle is the ultimate pre-Columbian cooking vessel.
0:17:39 > 0:17:41Recent research done by colleagues
0:17:41 > 0:17:44in the Caribbean has shown that they were used for cooking everything on.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49Living in settled, larger groups poses challenges.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53Most importantly, how to provide food
0:17:53 > 0:17:54and sustenance for so many people.
0:17:56 > 0:18:00According to the Spanish chronicles, the Taino grew corn,
0:18:00 > 0:18:01sweet potato and cassava.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10Cassava is extremely nutritious and hardy.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13It can be left in the ground for three years without spoiling.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20They used rough coral or even sharks' teeth
0:18:20 > 0:18:24to grind the cassava into flour and then bake into bread.
0:18:25 > 0:18:30Now, as then, cassava bread remains a staple food in the Caribbean.
0:18:36 > 0:18:39This is one of the Cassava pancakes fresh off the oven.
0:18:40 > 0:18:45It's delicious. It's like lightly-fried garlic bread.
0:18:45 > 0:18:49This one's been mixed with a bit of peanut. It's fantastic.
0:18:49 > 0:18:53They bring it in, they grind up the cassava,
0:18:53 > 0:18:56pile it up in that little tub, put it down here on top of the oven
0:18:56 > 0:18:59and then toast it up and sell it just out in the shop on the road.
0:19:05 > 0:19:06Lean times were rare.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09The subtropical forests of these islands were a rich larder
0:19:09 > 0:19:12of vegetables, small animals and fruit.
0:19:20 > 0:19:24And, of course, the crystal clear waters of the Caribbean also
0:19:24 > 0:19:27provided resources that the indigenous inhabitants exploited.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34Being an island, the Taino had aquaculture
0:19:34 > 0:19:35as well as agriculture
0:19:35 > 0:19:38and, just as they did on land, they showed great skill
0:19:38 > 0:19:41understanding an ability to harness the best of their environment.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44They could capture fish and turtles in their hundreds,
0:19:44 > 0:19:47preserve and store them for the future and, just like island peoples
0:19:47 > 0:19:51all around the world, the seas were just as important as the lands.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21Just as the Taino did hundreds of years ago,
0:20:21 > 0:20:23free divers in the Dominican Republic
0:20:23 > 0:20:25still collect food from the seabed.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30And, being characteristically innovative,
0:20:30 > 0:20:32they didn't waste the remains.
0:20:36 > 0:20:41This a conch. It's an almost totemic creature here in the Caribbean.
0:20:41 > 0:20:45Of course, people eat the flesh within its shell.
0:20:45 > 0:20:49But the conch itself was always much more than just a source of food.
0:20:52 > 0:20:56After extracting the meat, the Taino dumped the shells
0:20:56 > 0:20:58in huge shell middens along the shore.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01After all, ancient free divers didn't want to plunge to
0:21:01 > 0:21:04the bottom of the ocean only to pick up empty shells.
0:21:06 > 0:21:07But they didn't throw them all away.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10The conch was a resource that allowed people to innovate,
0:21:10 > 0:21:15to create artefacts, to develop a shared material culture.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18They used them to make jewellery, harpoons, axes
0:21:18 > 0:21:22and even this, this iconic object of the Caribbean, the conch trumpet.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25I've borrowed this one from the Museo de Altos de Chavon
0:21:25 > 0:21:27and I'll see if it makes a sound.
0:21:28 > 0:21:32CONCH REVERBERATES
0:21:42 > 0:21:46The shells, the abundance of food and medicinal plants,
0:21:46 > 0:21:51clusters of beach-side villages, the lack of evidence of violence.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56It's a combination that paints an idyllic picture.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09It's seductive to think of this happy culture, secluded in these
0:22:09 > 0:22:13island paradises but that implies that they're isolated, curtailed,
0:22:13 > 0:22:16cut off - that noble savage
0:22:16 > 0:22:19so popular in romantic Victorian literature.
0:22:19 > 0:22:21Nothing could be further from the truth.
0:22:27 > 0:22:31It's important to remember that this is an archipelago,
0:22:31 > 0:22:32a string of islands.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37For Taino culture to have spread across the Caribbean,
0:22:37 > 0:22:39sea transportation was essential.
0:22:40 > 0:22:42They had a word for it - canoa.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46The Taino were a water-borne people
0:22:46 > 0:22:49and when you can travel distances great and small in a canoe,
0:22:49 > 0:22:52it shifts your boundaries, expands your horizons.
0:22:52 > 0:22:57The canoa for Taino society meant that they scarcely differentiated
0:22:57 > 0:22:59between land and water.
0:22:59 > 0:23:01And far from being a barrier, these rivers, these seas
0:23:01 > 0:23:06were a gateway, a super highway connecting the communities together.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13So interaction could happen and culture spread,
0:23:13 > 0:23:16not just between villages, but between islands.
0:23:18 > 0:23:20The inhabitants of the larger islands -
0:23:20 > 0:23:24now known as Jamaica, Cuba and Hispaniola - shared common beliefs
0:23:24 > 0:23:28and practices, which we broadly call Taino.
0:23:33 > 0:23:38And far from separating them, the Caribbean Sea brought them together.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49We've seen where the Taino believed they came from,
0:23:49 > 0:23:52how they looked, what they ate and how they travelled.
0:23:54 > 0:23:58But what about how they actually functioned as a society?
0:23:58 > 0:24:00I've come to the Museo del Hombre in the capital
0:24:00 > 0:24:02of Santo Domingo to find out.
0:24:05 > 0:24:08The Spanish chronicles described the Taino as being egalitarian,
0:24:08 > 0:24:10all working in the fields,
0:24:10 > 0:24:12but the reality is they did have leaders.
0:24:12 > 0:24:17Each village had their own chief and that chief was called a cacique.
0:24:23 > 0:24:28The caciques were village elders, part leader, part chief,
0:24:28 > 0:24:30part priest.
0:24:30 > 0:24:31And they could be male or female.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36They ran the village, making the crucial decisions,
0:24:36 > 0:24:38distributing food,
0:24:38 > 0:24:42forming political alliances and organising daily activities.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46Interestingly, after death,
0:24:46 > 0:24:48their importance to the community continued.
0:24:52 > 0:24:56Because the caciques' most vital function was spiritual,
0:24:56 > 0:25:01they weren't seen as gods themselves, but it was believed
0:25:01 > 0:25:03the caciques could commune with their spirits
0:25:03 > 0:25:05in a quite extraordinary way.
0:25:14 > 0:25:18Evidence of how these Taino deities manifested themselves is found
0:25:18 > 0:25:22just a short flight away on the neighbouring island of Puerto Rico.
0:25:24 > 0:25:29Puerto Rico is the furthest east of the major islands of the Caribbean.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32It's home to some of the finest surviving Taino sites and artefacts.
0:25:36 > 0:25:38And these artefacts give us
0:25:38 > 0:25:41a clearer picture of the Taino hierarchy.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47The villages were ruled by chieftains known as caciques
0:25:47 > 0:25:51and the caciques were ruled by gods known as cemis.
0:25:59 > 0:26:02The Taino believed that the cemis were spirits
0:26:02 > 0:26:06found in the environment, that they were supernatural,
0:26:06 > 0:26:09and that they guided and advised the Taino people.
0:26:14 > 0:26:19They could be forces of nature, cave paintings or almost any
0:26:19 > 0:26:22material object that the Taino believed possessed a spirit.
0:26:27 > 0:26:28But most commonly,
0:26:28 > 0:26:32they were represented in these beautifully-carved stone icons.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01Some of the most spectacular cemis where found at one
0:27:01 > 0:27:05of the earliest ceremonial sites uncovered in Puerto Rico - Tibes.
0:27:10 > 0:27:12Throughout the Caribbean, archaeological sites have
0:27:12 > 0:27:16produced portable little artefacts like this and larger, immovable
0:27:16 > 0:27:17artefacts like this.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20Let me put some water on it so you can see.
0:27:24 > 0:27:27Both of these are cemis. The Taino believed that they were
0:27:27 > 0:27:30infused with a life force making them sacred.
0:27:31 > 0:27:35These cemis connected the physical and spiritual worlds together.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40For the Taino, these simple yet striking objects
0:27:40 > 0:27:43and motifs were part icon, part deity.
0:27:46 > 0:27:50I asked Antonio Curet to be my guide to the enigmatic cemis,
0:27:50 > 0:27:52found here at Tibes.
0:27:53 > 0:27:57This is a traditional cemi and you can see
0:27:57 > 0:28:00the concave shape on the bottom, but traditionally
0:28:00 > 0:28:04if they have some carving you have a face on one side, you have
0:28:04 > 0:28:08the mountain tree or the yucca and then you have the legs on the back.
0:28:08 > 0:28:11And the face, we have the empty eye sockets,
0:28:11 > 0:28:15and the empty mouth. The chance is they had encrustations here
0:28:15 > 0:28:19made of shell, sometimes in other objects we find gold
0:28:19 > 0:28:22or it could be other stones so it might have been different things.
0:28:22 > 0:28:25Is the cemi the object or is the cemi the spirit within it?
0:28:25 > 0:28:29The cemi is both, it's both. The object becomes the cemi
0:28:29 > 0:28:34and the cemi is almost considered like an individual with its own
0:28:34 > 0:28:37identity and it's the spirit and the rock.
0:28:41 > 0:28:45The cemis were the spiritual link between the Taino people,
0:28:45 > 0:28:47the Taino chiefs and the Taino deities.
0:28:49 > 0:28:53They came in many different forms, some carried around,
0:28:53 > 0:28:56consulted, others worshipped in sacred sites.
0:28:58 > 0:29:02The Taino believed these objects had supernatural power.
0:29:02 > 0:29:05But they also served a practical purpose.
0:29:05 > 0:29:08Each cemi had particular allegories, stories
0:29:08 > 0:29:12and associations that were known and re-told among the community.
0:29:13 > 0:29:17And within an oral culture, parables that are passed down through
0:29:17 > 0:29:21the generations are a crucial way of sharing knowledge.
0:29:22 > 0:29:24Within the Taino these cemis actually form a really
0:29:24 > 0:29:28important way of learning about their environment, learning
0:29:28 > 0:29:31about their ancestors, learning about their own society.
0:29:31 > 0:29:35In a way, it's a form of education that can pass through generations.
0:29:35 > 0:29:38It's looking back to move forward, basically.
0:29:38 > 0:29:41This is true of many religions around the world.
0:29:41 > 0:29:45Jesus behave...told us how to behave. He's coming from
0:29:45 > 0:29:49the supernatural and this happens with many other religions.
0:29:49 > 0:29:53It is indicating what is the order that we should be having here
0:29:53 > 0:29:55is the same as up there.
0:29:57 > 0:29:59In villages, at ceremonial centres,
0:29:59 > 0:30:04the stories of the cemis would have been recounted, from the cacique
0:30:04 > 0:30:07to the people of the village, from one generation to the next.
0:30:10 > 0:30:12It's a culture of oral history
0:30:12 > 0:30:16and the stories of the cemis were critical to the Taino,
0:30:16 > 0:30:20because they could help them understand their environment.
0:30:20 > 0:30:22Each of the cemis had an associated parable,
0:30:22 > 0:30:25and that parable could impart advice and wisdom
0:30:25 > 0:30:30and in the Caribbean, the spirits can be very threatening indeed.
0:30:35 > 0:30:38HURRICANE HOWLS
0:30:40 > 0:30:44The word "hurricane" is derived from the Taino word "hurukan",
0:30:44 > 0:30:47which described the violent wrath of the spirits.
0:30:50 > 0:30:54Every year the Caribbean is battered by winds of over 100mph.
0:30:56 > 0:31:00Crops, canoes and villages can be destroyed in an instant.
0:31:01 > 0:31:07To this day, insurance companies class hurricanes as acts of God.
0:31:07 > 0:31:10But whilst some Taino spirits unleashed destruction,
0:31:10 > 0:31:11others gave direction.
0:31:13 > 0:31:16The stories associated with the cemis,
0:31:16 > 0:31:19and passed down through the generations,
0:31:19 > 0:31:20taught the people how to survive.
0:31:22 > 0:31:25They knew to build houses that could be easily reconstructed
0:31:25 > 0:31:27and to seek refuge in the caves.
0:31:31 > 0:31:35The Taino actually had three cemis associated with the hurricane -
0:31:35 > 0:31:39Guatauba, Guabancex and Coatrisque.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42Each of these cemis has an associated parable,
0:31:42 > 0:31:45which explains their role in the process of the hurricane -
0:31:45 > 0:31:48Guatauba, the swirling winds, Guabancex, represented here
0:31:48 > 0:31:50in this pictograph,
0:31:50 > 0:31:52which is the destructive force of the hurricane
0:31:52 > 0:31:56and Coatrisque, which represents the post-hurricane flooding.
0:31:56 > 0:31:58Each Taino would have known these parables
0:31:58 > 0:32:01and understood the stories behind them.
0:32:01 > 0:32:04So when they saw the swirling skies of Guatauba they would come here
0:32:04 > 0:32:07and have refuge in the cave before the destructive winds
0:32:07 > 0:32:10of Guabancex would destroy their lands.
0:32:13 > 0:32:16The cemis provided a way for very practical knowledge to be
0:32:16 > 0:32:19passed from one generation to the next.
0:32:21 > 0:32:22But for the Taino, of course,
0:32:22 > 0:32:25this was inextricable from their religious beliefs.
0:32:29 > 0:32:31And when they worshipped their gods,
0:32:31 > 0:32:33they put on equally elaborate ceremonies.
0:32:36 > 0:32:39- Hola!- Hola! Como estas?- Muy bien.
0:32:39 > 0:32:44I've come to the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriquena in San Juan
0:32:44 > 0:32:47to see an artefact that was part throne, part seat,
0:32:47 > 0:32:48and part-time machine.
0:32:50 > 0:32:51The duho stool.
0:32:57 > 0:32:59So this is a duho, which is
0:32:59 > 0:33:04a seat or a stool for the cacique or chief within the Taino society.
0:33:04 > 0:33:07The caciques sat on these stools to commune with their gods.
0:33:07 > 0:33:10One perspective that is interesting is it gives you
0:33:10 > 0:33:13a slight elevation within a group, which can be linked to
0:33:13 > 0:33:14a sense of hierarchy, a sense of power.
0:33:14 > 0:33:19And also the iconography is often representative of the idea
0:33:19 > 0:33:22of a journey between the realm of the present, the realm of the past
0:33:22 > 0:33:25and the realm of the future.
0:33:25 > 0:33:28Helping them on that journey is this throne.
0:33:32 > 0:33:35But just sitting on the duho stool wasn't enough for the cacique
0:33:35 > 0:33:39to be transported to the realm of the ancestors.
0:33:39 > 0:33:44There was an elaborate ritual that he or she had to perform each time.
0:33:44 > 0:33:47The clue to what was involved is in another artefact.
0:33:50 > 0:33:53These rather ornate objects were used to prepare the caciques
0:33:53 > 0:33:55to meet their cemis.
0:33:55 > 0:33:58Before sitting down on their duhos, they would want to
0:33:58 > 0:34:01purge themselves - that is, rid their bodies of impurities.
0:34:01 > 0:34:04They would do this by putting these sticks down their throats
0:34:04 > 0:34:05to make themselves vomit.
0:34:12 > 0:34:16Sitting on their duho stool and purged of impurities,
0:34:16 > 0:34:19the Taino caciques were ready to meet their spirits.
0:34:21 > 0:34:24And to do this, they took a powerful hallucinogenic drug.
0:34:26 > 0:34:31I've come to a sacred Taino spot, where I'm meeting Martin Veguilla.
0:34:31 > 0:34:33THEY SPEAK SPANISH
0:34:34 > 0:34:37Martin is a 21st-century cacique,
0:34:37 > 0:34:41part of a new Taino movement for Puerto Ricans keen to reconnect
0:34:41 > 0:34:45with the traditions, beliefs and culture of their ancestors.
0:34:59 > 0:35:02The Taino drug that empowered the spirits to speak
0:35:02 > 0:35:04was called cohoba.
0:35:04 > 0:35:08It was made by drying the seeds from the cohoba tree
0:35:08 > 0:35:11and crushing them into a potent snuff-like powder.
0:35:12 > 0:35:15Over the years, Martin has pieced together fragments
0:35:15 > 0:35:18of oral history to recreate this sacred ceremony.
0:35:45 > 0:35:50As a cacique, Martin has experienced cohoba before,
0:35:50 > 0:35:52and today, based on his experiences,
0:35:52 > 0:35:56he and his companions are re-enacting the rarely-seen ritual.
0:35:58 > 0:36:01We're preparing for the cohoba ceremony
0:36:01 > 0:36:04here on the banks of the river.
0:36:04 > 0:36:07These guys are preparing themselves with body paints.
0:36:08 > 0:36:12Cohoba is incredibly painful to snort and extremely potent,
0:36:12 > 0:36:18so today they are not taking the drug but basing their reactions
0:36:18 > 0:36:21on their cacique's own experiences and ancestral precedents.
0:36:25 > 0:36:28The Taino believe that if you actually take cohoba,
0:36:28 > 0:36:31you enter the ancestral realm of the spirit world.
0:36:36 > 0:36:40RHYTHMIC DRUMBEAT
0:36:49 > 0:36:54They have this rhythmic music and it all helps to create this
0:36:54 > 0:36:57atmosphere on the journey of the hallucinogenic trance.
0:36:57 > 0:36:59This helps in that process of travelling
0:36:59 > 0:37:01yourself between the different dimensions.
0:37:01 > 0:37:05ISOLATED SCREAMS
0:37:07 > 0:37:11Taking cohoba results in vivid visions, altered colours
0:37:11 > 0:37:13and skewed perceptions of time.
0:37:16 > 0:37:20ISOLATED SCREAMS
0:37:32 > 0:37:36Hallucinogens are a big part of indigenous cultures
0:37:36 > 0:37:39throughout the Americas and it's about the ability to
0:37:39 > 0:37:43transcend time and place, to be able to travel back to your ancestors
0:37:43 > 0:37:47and also to your descendants, to communicate and create
0:37:47 > 0:37:51a balance and understanding between the generations.
0:37:59 > 0:38:04These frenzied, hallucinogenic rituals took place on a large scale.
0:38:04 > 0:38:09Each intoxicated celebration saw hundreds of Taino joining together,
0:38:09 > 0:38:13convinced that spirits had come alive and were dancing among them.
0:38:16 > 0:38:18The Taino party for mighty cemis
0:38:18 > 0:38:22and mere mortals took place in the heart of Puerto Rico
0:38:22 > 0:38:25at the most significant Taino site in the Caribbean.
0:38:29 > 0:38:32This site reveals the Taino as a culture bursting with ideas
0:38:32 > 0:38:33and energy.
0:38:33 > 0:38:36A place where people would gather from all over the island.
0:38:36 > 0:38:41The centre of the Taino world. This is Caguana.
0:38:51 > 0:38:55Rediscovered in 1915, archaeologists think that this site played
0:38:55 > 0:38:58a critical role in the Taino world.
0:39:00 > 0:39:04There are ten plazas, including a vast central court
0:39:04 > 0:39:06surrounded by carved images of the cemis.
0:39:12 > 0:39:15Shards of pottery found here suggest it was in continuous use
0:39:15 > 0:39:18for nearly 500 years before the Spanish arrived.
0:39:23 > 0:39:26This was a critical centre of power that witnessed spectacular
0:39:26 > 0:39:30ceremonies to unite the people, the caciques and the cemi gods.
0:39:35 > 0:39:37I met up with the man who first taught me
0:39:37 > 0:39:41Caribbean archaeology, my former tutor, Jose Olivier, to discuss the
0:39:41 > 0:39:45mysterious and bizarre ceremonies that went on here at Caguana.
0:39:48 > 0:39:51We are lucky that we have enough information from contact period,
0:39:51 > 0:39:55that is about 1508, when the Spanish arrived here,
0:39:55 > 0:39:59that spaces like these that we have over in this area,
0:39:59 > 0:40:01which are the central part of the site,
0:40:01 > 0:40:06are described in a detailed way what sorts of activities took place here.
0:40:06 > 0:40:11So this is the place... This whole area is where
0:40:11 > 0:40:13the chant and dances took place
0:40:13 > 0:40:18and what's really interesting is how strictly controlled was
0:40:18 > 0:40:22the choreography. They would follow exactly what
0:40:22 > 0:40:26the leader of the dance would do, which means it was an idealised
0:40:26 > 0:40:32representation of how society should work - it should work on step.
0:40:32 > 0:40:35So at Caguana we're seeing cemis, we're seeing caciques,
0:40:35 > 0:40:39we're seeing duhos, we're seeing the dances. We're seeing it all
0:40:39 > 0:40:42come together as part of a big central ceremony.
0:40:42 > 0:40:44That's what it was.
0:40:44 > 0:40:48It was a major spectacle, it was also a spiritual experience.
0:40:48 > 0:40:53It was, in essence, the biggest party you can imagine.
0:40:53 > 0:40:58I can see groups of long lines of people chanting, dancing,
0:40:58 > 0:41:03I can see all of this iridescent feathers moving out,
0:41:03 > 0:41:06with the resplendent necklaces.
0:41:06 > 0:41:09It must have been quite a sight to see.
0:41:13 > 0:41:16Hundreds of spectacularly-dressed Taino,
0:41:16 > 0:41:19in a carefully choreographed dance with their chiefs,
0:41:19 > 0:41:23would have reinforced a sense of togetherness and belonging.
0:41:27 > 0:41:31But the climax of the ceremony was when the spirits themselves
0:41:31 > 0:41:35seemed to come alive and left their stones to dance among them.
0:41:38 > 0:41:41I think that these icons that you see here,
0:41:41 > 0:41:46were not just merely decorations for the festival
0:41:46 > 0:41:50but they're actually in many ways participants in this festival.
0:41:50 > 0:41:54They used the hallucinogenic drug known as cohoba
0:41:54 > 0:41:59and that already creates, animates the images -
0:41:59 > 0:42:03so these images you can imagine they begin to get vitality,
0:42:03 > 0:42:08move around in your eyes and so they became, at certain moments,
0:42:08 > 0:42:11part of the whole festivity that was taking place here.
0:42:14 > 0:42:16Vomiting, multiple gods
0:42:16 > 0:42:20and drug-infused hallucinations might appear peculiar practices.
0:42:22 > 0:42:27But these ceremonies forged social cohesion, community,
0:42:27 > 0:42:29shared values and interdependency.
0:42:30 > 0:42:32And the Taino flourished.
0:42:42 > 0:42:45By the 15th century, some estimates put
0:42:45 > 0:42:48the Taino population on Hispaniola alone at around one million people.
0:42:51 > 0:42:54And from the Bahamas to the Virgin Islands, there was a mosaic
0:42:54 > 0:42:59of peoples and places who all shared the traits of Taino culture.
0:43:03 > 0:43:06There were differences from island to island.
0:43:06 > 0:43:09SHE SPEAKS SPANISH
0:43:09 > 0:43:11But what's amazing is that, in a society that only had
0:43:11 > 0:43:15the humble canoe for transport, there was significant ethnic mix.
0:43:15 > 0:43:17HE SPEAKS SPANISH
0:43:18 > 0:43:21And we know this thanks to modern archaeological techniques.
0:43:26 > 0:43:28Strontium isotope analysis is basically just looking
0:43:28 > 0:43:31at the chemical signature of our bones.
0:43:31 > 0:43:34These strontium isotope analyses can tell where we are as children
0:43:34 > 0:43:37by the chemical signature of our teeth
0:43:37 > 0:43:40and it can tell where we are as adults and where we are when we die
0:43:40 > 0:43:43by the chemical signature of some of our long bones.
0:43:43 > 0:43:47So we can start to reconstruct exactly where people are born,
0:43:47 > 0:43:49where they live and where they die.
0:43:49 > 0:43:52And what is unique about the Caribbean is just the sheer scale
0:43:52 > 0:43:57of interaction and movement of people throughout these islands.
0:43:57 > 0:43:58What this tells me
0:43:58 > 0:44:03is that the Taino are a multiethnic society, that people are coming
0:44:03 > 0:44:07from all over the region and mixing their communities together.
0:44:14 > 0:44:18Caribbean archaeology constantly surprises.
0:44:20 > 0:44:23The numerous communities across the archipelago were united
0:44:23 > 0:44:27by many of the same beliefs and ceremonial practices.
0:44:29 > 0:44:31Yet there were also significant differences.
0:44:33 > 0:44:35But the constant movement of people
0:44:35 > 0:44:38was like a cultural cross-fertilisation
0:44:38 > 0:44:41that gave these islands a rich, multiethnic character.
0:44:47 > 0:44:50You have to see them as connected communities, intermingling
0:44:50 > 0:44:53and enriching one another.
0:44:53 > 0:44:56For thousands of years, the people of these islands were
0:44:56 > 0:44:59interacting, intermarrying and trading.
0:44:59 > 0:45:02And all of the archaeological evidence suggests that far from
0:45:02 > 0:45:04being isolated,
0:45:04 > 0:45:06these islands were full of diverse
0:45:06 > 0:45:09and multiethnic communities for millennia.
0:45:16 > 0:45:18The 15th century saw the high point
0:45:18 > 0:45:22but also the final days of the cosmopolitan Taino.
0:45:29 > 0:45:33Despite being marginalised by the history books, the Taino have left
0:45:33 > 0:45:37a legacy in the Caribbean, a part of the world known for its diversity.
0:45:37 > 0:45:40WAVE CRASHES
0:45:43 > 0:45:45On the south coast of Puerto Rico,
0:45:45 > 0:45:49in a sea cave surrounded by an eclectic array of petroglyphs,
0:45:49 > 0:45:51I met with my compadre and fellow archaeologist,
0:45:51 > 0:45:56Reniel Rodriguez Ramos, to celebrate the importance of the Taino.
0:45:59 > 0:46:00But I began by asking
0:46:00 > 0:46:03whether a culture shaped across differing islands
0:46:03 > 0:46:05meant that they could all be categorised as Taino?
0:46:08 > 0:46:13For me, this notion of Taino as a society, as a single entity,
0:46:13 > 0:46:20is not necessarily appropriate. I think that the essence of what
0:46:20 > 0:46:23I call Taino-ness, is a context of different peoples engaging
0:46:23 > 0:46:26with one another while retaining their differences.
0:46:26 > 0:46:29That's something that we in the modern society tend to forget
0:46:29 > 0:46:33and so that perhaps serves as an example
0:46:33 > 0:46:35of how in a multicultural setting
0:46:35 > 0:46:40we can still find ways to communicate with one another,
0:46:40 > 0:46:42to cooperate with one another
0:46:42 > 0:46:47in order to be successful as a collective.
0:46:47 > 0:46:50The Taino people - or perhaps that should be peoples -
0:46:50 > 0:46:53spoke different languages throughout the islands.
0:46:55 > 0:46:58But remarkably, and significantly,
0:46:58 > 0:47:01when they encountered one another, they spoke a common tongue.
0:47:04 > 0:47:08People talked a single language. It's the language they talked
0:47:08 > 0:47:10to outsiders - the Arawak - and that's why
0:47:10 > 0:47:14when they write, they think everyone spoke Arawak in the Caribbean, no?
0:47:14 > 0:47:18It's the language that you speak to outsiders, much like English
0:47:18 > 0:47:23is being used today to engage with people from other areas.
0:47:23 > 0:47:30That's why I think that this indigenous cultural scape served as
0:47:30 > 0:47:34a substratum for the Caribbean that we see at this point in time.
0:47:37 > 0:47:41Reniel is a brilliant archaeologist and just as importantly,
0:47:41 > 0:47:43a proud Puerto Rican.
0:47:43 > 0:47:47And throughout the Caribbean the story of the Taino is
0:47:47 > 0:47:48growing in significance.
0:47:48 > 0:47:50WAVE CRASHES
0:47:50 > 0:47:54Why do you want to study the Taino and what have you've really
0:47:54 > 0:47:57got out of the experience of studying this culture?
0:47:57 > 0:48:02Well, the way I engage with this indigenous past...
0:48:04 > 0:48:08..is in the sense that I'm trying to trace back my own history.
0:48:08 > 0:48:14And so I think that, in a way, that allows me
0:48:14 > 0:48:19to provide historical roots to the people of Puerto Rico that go
0:48:19 > 0:48:23back deep in time. Right now in Puerto Rico we are told
0:48:23 > 0:48:27that we only have 500 years of history and that's not true.
0:48:27 > 0:48:31All that indigenous past is part of our history. It's not
0:48:31 > 0:48:36written in the same way as Europeans wrote it but it's actually portrayed
0:48:36 > 0:48:40in the rock art, in the artefacts that we study as archaeologists.
0:49:00 > 0:49:05In October 1492, three Spanish ships appeared over the horizon.
0:49:08 > 0:49:10The Taino people, the Caribbean,
0:49:10 > 0:49:13the Americas were on the verge of traumatic change.
0:49:15 > 0:49:19History didn't begin with the arrival of Christopher Columbus.
0:49:19 > 0:49:23But when he walked ashore, nothing would ever be the same again.
0:49:24 > 0:49:27Columbus arrived in the New World
0:49:27 > 0:49:30and decreed that this island should be called Hispaniola, meaning
0:49:30 > 0:49:36"Land of the Spanish". First contact Between the Old World and the New.
0:49:36 > 0:49:40It's an era-defining moment, the repercussions of which are still
0:49:40 > 0:49:42reverberating down through the centuries.
0:49:47 > 0:49:51By the Spaniards' own accounts, the Taino people received
0:49:51 > 0:49:54the Europeans with generosity and kindness.
0:49:54 > 0:49:57Indeed Columbus himself wrote, "They were very friendly to us
0:49:57 > 0:50:01"and became wonderfully attached to us."
0:50:01 > 0:50:04More ominously he noted, "They should be good servants."
0:50:06 > 0:50:09Christopher Columbus's name has been translated by some as
0:50:09 > 0:50:11"Christ-bearing Coloniser".
0:50:12 > 0:50:16Perhaps it should be no surprise he wanted to claim gold for Spain,
0:50:16 > 0:50:19and to leave a Christian God for the indigenous peoples.
0:50:20 > 0:50:23He founded the first ever European settlement
0:50:23 > 0:50:27in the Americas, La Isabella, on the north coast of Hispaniola.
0:50:38 > 0:50:42Just inland, an exciting project is excavating indigenous sites
0:50:42 > 0:50:44along Columbus's route.
0:50:46 > 0:50:49I spoke to archaeologist Corine Hoffman about the collision
0:50:49 > 0:50:53between Europe and the so-called New World.
0:50:53 > 0:50:57This is the first region of the encounters of the Americas
0:50:57 > 0:51:00and nothing is known about this region, nothing is
0:51:00 > 0:51:04known about its people, therefore it's really, really important.
0:51:04 > 0:51:07The encounter is always seen as this moment of disease,
0:51:07 > 0:51:12of slavery, of rapid depopulation. Do you think that message is true?
0:51:12 > 0:51:15That message is partly true.
0:51:15 > 0:51:18I think that the encounter had
0:51:18 > 0:51:24a dramatic impact on the indigenous populations of the Americas -
0:51:24 > 0:51:30decimation of language, of culture, of people, of identities.
0:51:32 > 0:51:37The Taino initially welcomed the tall, strange white men.
0:51:37 > 0:51:39But the relationship between the islanders
0:51:39 > 0:51:41and the Spanish quickly turned sour.
0:51:42 > 0:51:45The Spanish had swords, horses, ferocious dogs,
0:51:45 > 0:51:50all of which they used against the unprepared islanders.
0:51:50 > 0:51:52Columbus and his followers showed no mercy for the culture
0:51:52 > 0:51:54they encountered.
0:51:55 > 0:51:59To this day there are still statues in the Puerto Rican capital,
0:51:59 > 0:52:02which credit the invading Spanish with populating the island.
0:52:04 > 0:52:06Perhaps this is due to the chronicles
0:52:06 > 0:52:09they left behind about their conquest, which painted
0:52:09 > 0:52:13the invaders as patriotic Christian heroes with noble motives.
0:52:18 > 0:52:21What do you think the Spanish used to justify
0:52:21 > 0:52:24their domination of these islands?
0:52:24 > 0:52:27When they came across the first Taino village, what did they see and
0:52:27 > 0:52:32how did they use what they saw to justify what they were going to do?
0:52:32 > 0:52:36Well, I guess that the most important thing is
0:52:36 > 0:52:39they were explaining to the Spanish court that they were
0:52:39 > 0:52:44encountering savages, cannibals, wild people, useless people
0:52:44 > 0:52:49and that was their legitimation. They asked for legitimation to be
0:52:49 > 0:52:54able to continue their colonisation of the Caribbean and later of
0:52:54 > 0:52:56the Americas.
0:52:56 > 0:52:59The only thing that the Spanish wanted, of course, was gold
0:52:59 > 0:53:05because that was their prime search here and they couldn't find it.
0:53:05 > 0:53:09Changing our understanding of that indigenous perspective can really
0:53:09 > 0:53:11play into modern day education of communities here.
0:53:11 > 0:53:15Absolutely. The strange thing is that even if you would ask
0:53:15 > 0:53:19people in this region about their knowledge about the
0:53:19 > 0:53:22pre-Columbian period, they would say,
0:53:22 > 0:53:25"For us, history begins in 1492."
0:53:25 > 0:53:28The history that is still taught in schools in
0:53:28 > 0:53:31the Dominican Republic but all over the Caribbean is still about
0:53:31 > 0:53:38the savage Indians and that is an image we have to deconstruct.
0:53:44 > 0:53:46For 60 years following contact,
0:53:46 > 0:53:49the Spanish attacked then subjugated the Taino.
0:53:51 > 0:53:55Important caciques were drowned, hanged or burned at the stake.
0:53:57 > 0:54:01Cemis were destroyed in the name of Christianity.
0:54:01 > 0:54:02The chronicles tell us
0:54:02 > 0:54:06horror stories of a female chief known as Anacoaona,
0:54:06 > 0:54:09forced to witness 80 of her fellow caciques being burned alive.
0:54:14 > 0:54:17It was decreed that any Taino who refused to convert to
0:54:17 > 0:54:19Christianity was to be enslaved.
0:54:22 > 0:54:26By 1504, just 12 years after first contact,
0:54:26 > 0:54:29all the caciques who had originally welcomed Columbus were dead.
0:54:31 > 0:54:36It was a barbaric pattern that would be repeated across the Americas.
0:54:39 > 0:54:40It's a horrific story,
0:54:40 > 0:54:45and it's arguable if these islands ever fully recovered.
0:54:45 > 0:54:48The Taino were killed, forced to work in gold mines,
0:54:48 > 0:54:52died of disease, subjugated into slavery.
0:54:52 > 0:54:56The Taino and their entire way of life was on the edge of extinction.
0:55:15 > 0:55:21For many years, historians assumed that the Taino had disappeared,
0:55:21 > 0:55:24that they had died within a century of the Spaniards' arrival.
0:55:39 > 0:55:43But just as the Europeans didn't discover the Taino culture,
0:55:43 > 0:55:45nor should they declare it extinct.
0:55:47 > 0:55:50500 years after their presumed demise,
0:55:50 > 0:55:53interest in the Taino has never been greater.
0:55:53 > 0:55:57In 2003 a genetic survey of the people of Puerto Rico
0:55:57 > 0:56:02revealed that 61% of the population showed traces of indigenous DNA.
0:56:04 > 0:56:07In other words, remnants of Taino DNA.
0:56:08 > 0:56:12And in recent years, on sacred days of the Taino calendar,
0:56:12 > 0:56:15the people of these islands have been rediscovering
0:56:15 > 0:56:20their historic roots and taking pride in their indigenous identity.
0:56:20 > 0:56:24- I am proud to be a Taino. - Soy Taino.- We're Taino.
0:56:24 > 0:56:26Soy Taino.
0:56:26 > 0:56:29I am from New York and I am Taino.
0:56:29 > 0:56:31Soy Taino.
0:56:31 > 0:56:35RHYTHMIC DRUMBEAT
0:56:51 > 0:56:56There's something incredibly moving about seeing people reconnecting
0:56:56 > 0:56:58with the ancient traditions of their ancestors.
0:56:58 > 0:57:01RHYTHMIC DRUMBEAT
0:57:01 > 0:57:02And in many ways,
0:57:02 > 0:57:07pre-Columbian Caribbean history is still up for grabs.
0:57:07 > 0:57:10By re-enacting ancient Taino ceremonies, these modern
0:57:10 > 0:57:14Puerto Ricans are at last beginning to take pride in their own story,
0:57:14 > 0:57:17and retelling it in their own way.
0:57:18 > 0:57:22THEY CHEER AND PLAY INSTRUMENTS
0:57:23 > 0:57:27CONCH REVERBERATES
0:57:28 > 0:57:30THEY CHEER
0:57:46 > 0:57:50George Orwell said that the most effective way to destroy a people
0:57:50 > 0:57:54is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.
0:57:54 > 0:57:57For too long, the story of the Taino has been told through
0:57:57 > 0:57:59Western eyes, as if it wasn't valid
0:57:59 > 0:58:03unless it was observed by people of European descent.
0:58:03 > 0:58:06But with the resurgence of interest in the Taino culture
0:58:06 > 0:58:09and appreciation of the sustainable way
0:58:09 > 0:58:11in which they managed their resources,
0:58:11 > 0:58:13an understanding that ideas,
0:58:13 > 0:58:17goods, genetics have been mixing here for thousands of years.
0:58:17 > 0:58:20It enriches everyone on these islands and serves
0:58:20 > 0:58:21as a cautionary tale
0:58:21 > 0:58:25about just how fragile an idyllic island life can be.