The Taino PeopleThe country of Haiti makes up one-third of the island of Hispaniola, which is located in the Western Hemisphere. The first inhabitants of the island of Hispaniola were the Arawarks, or Tainos. They called the island Ayiti, meaning mountainous land. The natives of the West Indies were nomadic in nature and settled in Haiti around 250 AD Initially described as primitive by early European settlers, the Taino had well-established societies and religious systems. Their patriarchal society was organized into a hierarchy. There were multiple kings called caciques in their individual kingdoms. Similar to other indigenous groups, men performed the heavy labor. They worked the lands, cultivating the fields and hunting for food. Men also engaged in woodworking, including, but not limited to, basket weaving. Women, however, contributed to household chores by preparing and cooking food and helping to weave baskets. The Taino were polygamous; the average man had three wives, the king could have ten times as many. Tainos had an established religious system with belief in gods and goddesses (Zemis), myths, worship and devotion to minor deities, and various rituals. The polytheistic religion of the Tanios was led by Yocaju, the creator god. Yocaju shared the powers of creation with his mother, Atabex. She is the goddess of fertility, fresh water and the moon, while he is the god of the sea and cassava, a staple product of the island. Minor deities are associated with other natural events such as Guabancex who is the goddess of storms. Of the numerous Tanio myths, one in particular concerns the creation of the ocean. Tanios believed that a god had killed his son and preserved his flesh... in the middle of a sheet of paper... the actors hold dual belonging to the original religious groups. It has been a common thing to recite Catholic prayers and Hail Marys before ceremonies that are supposed to be dedicated to Vodou spirits. Bibliography African Holocaust. “Voodoo: African Spiritual Religious Systems.” African Holocaust. 2014. http://www.africanholocaust.net/news_ah/vodoo.htm (accessed April 2014).Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti. Performed by Maya Deren. 1985.Edmonds, Ennis B. and Michelle A. Gonzalez. Religious history of the Caribbean. New York and London: New York University Press, 2010.Graves, Kerry A. Haiti (Countries and Culture). Mankato: Capstone Press, 2002.Mitchell, Mozella G. Crucial Issues in Caribbean Religions. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., 2009.Rouse, Irving. Tainos: Rise and decline of the people who greeted Columbus. Yale University, 1992.