La Republica Dominicana : Quisqueya la Bella by Alan Cambeira 50-100

Summary:
Rural and suburban Dominican families take extreme pride in their conucos. Conucos are a small plot of cultivated land set for the family's vegetable garden. Dominicanos grow platanos, yuca, batata, yautia, and mapuey in these fields. These conucos are usually visited on the weekends where the entire family comes together and kills a goat or a pig and feasts for the day. In addition, Los Tainos or a group of indigenous people, immensely influenced the vocabulary of Dominicans. In particular, the words barbaco: barbecue, bohio: palm house, guagua: bus, hamaca: hammock, and mani: peanut are all words derived from the Tainos. Also, most of the fishes found in waters of la Quisqueya still have their Taino names. On another note, when the Spanish arrived in Dominican Republic in 1492, there goal was to find gold and become rich. Luckily, la Quisqueya had exactly what they needed. As a result of their ambition, the Spanish tried exterminating the Tainos so that they could stay with all of the island's riches. In fact, the Spanish created an intense system of labor called the Encomienda. Encomenderos, usually Spaniards, were given the right to collect tribute and demand manual labor from the Tainos. Quickly  this system enslaved the entire indigenous population and with the help of Small Pox, the Tainos became annihilated. In particular, the Tainos were overworked and exploited to death. There was no compensation for their labor, so many of their family members died of starvation. Friars such as Antonio de Montesinos, Pedro de Cordova, and Bartolome de las Casasa, raised protests to denounce this malicious system of labor. Furthermore, a very  bold Taino, started a rebellion against the Spanish. Enriquillo also known as El Primer Heroe de America, launched guerilla attacks against the Spaniards and created secured villages for women, children, and elders.With the help of Cimmarrones or runaway African slaves, Enriquillo was able to succeed for many years. Even though so many efforts were made to restore the Tainos at the time,  Christopher Columbus and the Spanish made it impossible with the encomienda.

Quote:
"This strange but very useful and practical lexicon enriched the Spanish language... mainly in the form of nouns, these words can be heard quite casually among the people in various parts of the island" (Cambeira 42).
 Reaction:
I never really noticed how every day words derived from the language of the Tainos. I knew many Spanish words derived from Arabic but since the Tainos were exterminated, I never thought I used them in my conversations. It still shocks me how Dominicans have worked so hard to preserve their history. In the Dominican Republic, there are museums and sites dedicated particularly for Tainos. At first I felt I would be cheating myself by reading about the Dominican history, but I did not know half of the information I have learned in these two posts. La Quisqueya has a very interesting history and as a Dominican American, I feel very ignorant in Dominican topics especially politics. This book has widened my own horizon in ways that benefit me.