The Arawaks

Without having to go into prehistoric time, we can safely say that the first inhabitants of the Antilles were The Arawaks. Just prior to 1,000 AD they were expelled from the Lesser Antilles by the Caribs, a people originating, like them, from the lower Orinoco region. Short, copper colored, having black and straight hair, the Arawaks, due to their early arrival in the region, were by the time of Columbus' arrival, peaceful and sedentary. Living from agriculture, hunting and fishing, they grew a soft variety of corn and sweet potatoes. They also knew how to make casava bread using an elaborate process to leach out the poisonous juice of this root.
They hunted little mammals or lizards with sticks, and birds with stones. They had domesticated a breed of dog, which they used for hunting and occasionally as food. Since the sea providing them with a great bounty, they had therefore developed much more efficient ways of fishing and navigating. The proximity of the island favoring sight navigation they did not embark in long sea faring expeditions as Polynesians will in the Pacific Ocean. If they lived in round dwellings, there also existed rectangular houses, with porches, reserved for dignitaries. Their art of weaving was highly developed and the cotton hammock in which they slept was one of the few long lasting contributions they made to European culture. They made good baskets and agricultural tools; and sometimes sculpted wooden seats. Their pottery was extremely refined and of real artistic value; even though they ignored the potter's wheel, like all pre-Columbian American Indians.
Their clothing was limited to a short skirt for women; it cut, color and way of wrapping indicating their social class and age. Men and women wore ornaments, usually composed of strips of cotton tied up above their knees and around their upper arms.
At their feasts they danced to the sound of flutes and drums. They played a game, somewhat similar to soccer, except that the raw rubber ball had to be tossed with the head, shoulder, elbow or most professionally, by the knee. Their minstrels, called Sambas, sang comical or sad stories, of war and/or peace times.
The Arawaks were "animists", which means that they believed in the inner connection of the two worlds (the visible and the invisible one) and in the existence and survival of the soul in the environment (tree, rivers, etc.). They adored the sun, the moon, the stars and the springs, and the Butuous, their respected priests and medicine men are, according to Metraux, the ancestors of present-day Haiti's "docteurs-papier' or ('Docteur-Feuilles')." The Arawaks believed in eternal life for the virtuous. In Hispaniola they situated their "heaven" in a remote part of the island, where the elected would go to rest and eat the delicious Haitian "apricot." Very little is known abut their political organization. Substantial kingdoms existed and their Kings - the Caciques- exerted absolute power on their subjects.
The quiet and peaceful Arawaks have totally disappeared from the surface of the Earth. This was accomplished in a very short time after the arrival of the Europeans. Aside from the animals imported by the Europeans (in particular the pigs) which left free to roam devastated the tuberous crop of the Arawaks, many were killed in the defensive wars they undertook to preserve their freedom. Others, after being ruthlessly enslaved and submitted to a meager diet of cassava and sweet potatoes, died from malnutrition and overwork in the mines or plantations. Finally, the rest of them died after contracting European diseases from which they were not immune. Their disappearance was so swift and the need for cheap and able labor was so great that 30 years after Columbus' landing the massive deportation of Africans had started.