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Origin: A Genetic History of the Americas

by Jennifer Raff

by Jennifer Raff

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Spaniards talk about <strong>the</strong> Taino <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Greater Antilles as “good, peaceful<br />

and noble Indians” and describe <strong>the</strong>m in opposition to <strong>the</strong> “fierce and<br />

cannibal” Caribs <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Lesser Antilles. This false dichotomy probably<br />

has a lot to do with <strong>the</strong> fact that by <strong>the</strong> 16th century <strong>the</strong> Crown dictated<br />

that only Indigenous peoples who rebelled against colonial rule could be<br />

enslaved. Unfortunately, this misnomer continues today in <strong>the</strong><br />

conceptualization <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se peoples reproduced in history books and even<br />

by some scholars. L. Antonio Curet has written eloquently about this<br />

issue in “The Taíno: Phenomena, Concepts, and Terms,” Ethnohistory<br />

61, no. 3 (2014): 467–495.<br />

20. Lizzie Wade, “Ancient DNA Reveals Diverse <strong>Origin</strong>s <strong>of</strong> Caribbean’s<br />

Earliest Inhabitants,” Science, June 4, 2020,<br />

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/06/ancient-dna-reveals-diverseorigins-caribbean-s-earliest-inhabitants.<br />

21. Nägele, Posth, Orbegozo, et al., “Genomic Insights into <strong>the</strong> Early<br />

Peopling <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Caribbean.”

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