# Travel >> Destinations >> Caribbean

Pre-Columbian Jamaica: The Taíno People of Xaymaca

Long before Christopher Columbus sighted Jamaica in 1494, the island was home to the Taíno — an Arawakan-speaking people who called it Xaymaca, meaning "Land of Wood and Water" or "Land of Springs".

Who Were the Taíno?

Language Family: Arawakan (Maipurean) — related to Lokono (Guyana), Wayuu (Colombia/Venezuela)
Origins: Migrated from South America (Orinoco basin) → Lesser Antilles → Greater Antilles c. 600–900 CE
Society: Cacicazgos (chiefdoms) led by caciques; matrilineal descent; villages (yucayeques) of 1,000–3,000
Economy: Conuco agriculture (cassava, maize, sweet potato, beans), fishing, hunting (hutia, iguana), cotton weaving, pottery
Spirituality: Zemis (spirit representations), cohoba (hallucinogenic snuff) rituals, areyto (ceremonial dance/song)

Jamaican Taíno Specifics

Population at Contact: Estimated 60,000–100,000
Major Settlements: Sevilla la Nueva (North coast), St. Ann's Bay area, Portland (East)
Distinctive: Less hierarchical than Hispaniola/Puerto Rico; more maritime adaptation

Columbus & Aftermath

1494: Columbus lands (2nd voyage); claims for Spain
1509: Juan de Esquivel establishes first Spanish settlement (Sevilla la Nueva)
Encomienda System: Forced labor, tribute, disease (smallpox, measles, influenza)
Collapse: By 1550, Taíno effectively extinct in Jamaica — mortality >90% from disease, overwork, displacement, suicide
Replacement: African slaves imported (1517+) for sugar; later, Maroons (escaped slaves) form free communities in mountains

Legacy in Modern Jamaica

Words: Hammock (hamaca), canoe (canoa), tobacco (tabaco), hurricane (juracán), barbecue (barbacoa), cassava (casabe), guava (guayaba)
Place Names: Ocho Rios, Moneague, Liguanea, Caguar (possible Taíno roots)
Genetics: 2018 study: ~10% mitochondrial DNA (maternal) in Jamaicans traces to Indigenous American — Taíno survival via Maroon mixing
Revival: Yamaye Guani (Jamaican Taíno) organization reclaiming identity, language, culture