Question

Describe some aspects of the Taino culture that you find strange, exotic or aberrant. Explain your reasoning to judge such cultural features

Answer 1

Aome aspects of Taino culture-

1. They had maternal system of kinship and not paternal like other cultures.
2. Taíno practiced polygamy. Men, and sometimes women, might have two or three spouses.
3. Male rulers were more likely to be succeeded by his sister's children than his own, unless their mother's lineage allowed them to succeed in their own right.
4. The Taino practiced a high-yielding form of shifting agriculture to grow their staple foods, cassava and yams. They would burn the forest or scrub and then heap the ashes and soil into mounds that could be easily planted, tended, and irrigated.
5. Taíno spirituality centered on the worship of zemís. A zemí is a spirit or ancestor and not gods or goddesses.
6. Taíno women had extensive control over their lives, their co-villagers, and their bodies. Since they lived separately from men, they were able to decide when they wanted to participate in sexual contact.