May 5 is Taino Day
May 3, 2010
The Jamaica National Heritage Trust (JNHT) is inviting all Jamaicans to observe Wednesday, May 5 as Taino Day in honour of the island's first inhabitants. The organization with responsibility for preserving and promoting the nation's heritage will be observing the fourth annual Taino Day with an exhibition at 79 Duke Street, downtown Kingston and Seville Heritage Park in St. Ann.
Taino Day was introduced in 2007 to celebrate publicly the lives of the early Jamaicans who often get left out of annual cultural celebrations. The day is especially important as it aims to remind the nation especially the children, that Jamaican history began long before the arrival of Christopher Columbus and his crew of colonisers.
The Tainos lived here for hundreds of years before the Europeans. They hunted, fished, farmed, traded with their Caribbean neigbours and generally lived in a peaceful society. In 1494 when Columbus appeared Jamaica had an estimated Taino population of approximately 60,000. They lived mostly in the plains, near rivers and by the sea in places such as White Marl, St. Catherine, Seville, St. Ann, Jacks Hill, St. Andrew and Botany Bay, St. Ann. Within 50 years of Spanish occupation they were virtually extinct. Many were forced into labour gangs and tortured by the Spanish from whom they contracted diseases to which they had no immunity. Some fled to the hills and cohabited with the Africans, thereby creating Maroons. By the time the English arrived they all but disappeared, surviving only in the culture of the maroons.
In addition to the exhibitions which will showcase a number of artefacts inclusive of Zemis and Taino utensils, there will be lectures in schools on 'The Taino influence on Jamaican folk traditions.' The JNHT will also present a series of colourful posters to several schools and libraries across the island. The posters are sponsored by ScotiaBank.
Taino Day is celebrated on May 5 each year. The day is significant as it was on May 5, 1494 that Columbus landed and met the Tainos on Jamaica's north coast. It marked a huge turning point in their lives and a significant milestone in the life of the nation.
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For further information contact:
Andrea Braham
885-8105/416-6490
