The Taino peopleThe country of Haiti represents one third of the island of Hispaniola, located in the Western Hemisphere. The first inhabitants of the island of Hispaniola were the Arawarks, or Tainos. They named the island Ayiti, which means mountainous land. The native West Indians were nomadic in nature and settled in Haiti around 250 CE. Initially described as primitive by early European settlers, the Tainos had well-established societies and religious systems. Their patriarchal society was hierarchical. There were several kings called caciques over their individual kingdoms. Like other indigenous groups, men carried out the heavy labor. They worked the land, cultivated the fields and hunted for food. Men also did woodworking, including but not limited to basket weaving. Women, for their part, contributed to household work by preparing and cooking food as well as helping with basketry. The Tainos were polygamous; the average man would have 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 lesser 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 crop on the island. Lesser deities are associated with other natural phenomena such as Guabancex, the goddess of storms. Among the many myths of the Tanios, one in particular concerns the creation of the ocean. Tanios believed that a god killed his son and kept his body...... middle of paper ......activists hold dual membership in the original religious groups. It is common to recite Catholic prayers and a Hail Mary before ceremonies supposedly dedicated to voodoo spirits.BibliographyAfrican Holocaust. “Vodoo: African Spiritual Religious Systems.” African Holocaust. 2014. http://www.africanholocaust.net/news_ah/vodoo.htm (accessed April 2014). Divine Riders: 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 (Country 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 welcomed Columbus. Yale University, 1992.