For a long time textbooks taught us the Arawaks were the orignial inhabitants of Jamaica. The textbooks have been re-written. We are now being told that Jamaica's indigenous people were actually Tainos who came from South America 2,500 years ago.
They named the island Xaymaca, meaning "land of wood and water". They were a short, gentle race with thick black hair, who flattened their newborns' foreheads to achieve the "Tainos' round-faced look".
They grew ground provisions and tobacco, built villages across the island on or near the coast as they were mainly fisher-folk.
The Tainos led quiet lives until the introduction of the Spaniards in 1494.
They named the island Xaymaca, meaning "land of wood and water". They were a short, gentle race with thick black hair, who flattened their newborns' foreheads to achieve the "Tainos' round-faced look".
They grew ground provisions and tobacco, built villages across the island on or near the coast as they were mainly fisher-folk.
The Tainos led quiet lives until the introduction of the Spaniards in 1494.