Early inhabitants of the islands of the Caribbean were the indigenous people known as the Ciboney and later the Taino. Both the Ciboney and the Taino descend from the Arawak, who entered the Caribbean from South America between 500 BC and 200 BC. The word Taino meant “the good people” in their language. By the time of European contact in the 15th century, the Taino were the primary inhabitants of most of Cuba.
Prior to the arrival of the explorers, the Taino lived peaceful lives and fed their families by hunting, fishing and cultivating crops. Some of the plants that were cultivated as food by the Taino and are also commonly consumed today, were also in use at that time as medicine.
One of these plants is the root vegetable known as manioc, yuca or cassava. The Taino were some of the earliest cultivators of this tuber, which was later introduced to the world by way of Portuguese traders. Today cassava is the third-largest source of food carbohydrates in the tropics, after rice and corn.
The Taino were also early cultivators of tobacco for use as a treatment for snakebite and for their sacred rites of worship. In fact, the word tobacco is derived from the Taino language.
The early adoption by the Taino of the use of medicinal plants for healing is the origin of the “Green Medicine” in use in Cuba today. The interest in phytotherapy or the use of herbal medicine will no doubt continue to rise as the cost of prescription drugs makes them prohibitive to many.
Comments