Topic: The Taino
Read and watch the Overview Work on research paper- it’s due in week four Examine the following: This is a nice video on the scenic Caribbean. One can see the attraction of the environment to hunters and gatherers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbtpt-WYgDM
This site gives a really nice overview of the Arawaks: http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/43a/100.html
This is a documentary on the Taino: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELaWOXw4oKA
This is a documentary piece on the Arawak. As you probably know by now, the Taino were just one of many Arawak tribes across the Caribbean: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZblVcXltcg
This article talks about the rediscovery of the Taino and their connection to modern Cuba and Puerto Rico: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/what-became-of-the-taino-73824867/ Discussions: You have three discussion posts to be done.
1) When we see the Taino or Arawak, we see a lifestyle very different from that of the later Europeans or Americans. How so. Offer one example of something you got from the material that made Taino life seem different to you than ours.
2) The environment of Puerto Rico is tropical, and clearly well loved, both by tourists and by the people that live there. But it offers dangers as well. How would the island’s geography affect the life of the Arawak? Give an example of how geography had a firm hold on the lives of people on the island. Geography includes weather, the Land and sea.