Resources......

Cassava or Yuca

Maize

Mamey

Guava

Puerto Rico had an abundant amount of natural resources on the island which was possessed by the Taino Indians before colonization. They had many fruits and they used plants and trees for specific use which was used intelligently. The primary natural resource that the Taino Indians used was the Yuca or the Cassava. This plant is starch rich and a major source of carbohydrates but very low in proteins. They also harvested yautías, mamey, guava, maize, and anón. "Taínos believed that corn grew with the moon so they planted it on hillsides during the new moon. Some corn was picked while young and tender and it was eaten raw. Fully ripened corn was roasted." ("Tainos." El Boricua Un Poqutio De Todo (1996). The Tainos built a dwelling from a single tree which was called the Royal Palm, it was also used for buldings. Many other trees were used for chairs, bowls, and spears. They also built canoes from several other trees that could carry more than a hundred people. Tainos used the jagua tree for dyeing cotton, the guama for makingf rope and the jucaro for underwater construction. The Indians houses which were called bohois were made of palm tree. They made hammocks from cotton cloth and wooden bowls for mixing and displaying food. Also used gourds for drinking water.


The Tainos were skilled farmers, sailors, fishermen, hunters, and navigators. Their efficient ways of using their natural resources and surronding aspects made their well being pretty attainable before colonization because they had nutrition foods and technical materials with skills they produced. They not only were skillful in the agricultural aspect of it but also in the artisitc side. They produced magnficent pieces of art, " Not much of it has survived but there are sculptures, ceramics, jewelry, weaving, scepters, daggers, cemís, dujos, game belts and other Taíno artifacts in museums today. Most of their ceremonial artifacts were hidden from the Spanish in caves." (Tainos." El Boricua Un Poquito De Todo. (1996).

A major import that arised into Puerto Rico in 1516 when colonization was apparent was sugar cane. It's been said that Christopher Columbus carried sugar cane stem cuttings from the Canary Islands and then other Spanish colonists spread the crop to Puerto Rico. The European colonists not only the crop but also brought the technique to use it which was planted by plowing furrows. With this new cultivation that means lots more work and needed hands so slavery evolved with the work that was needed all around Puerto Rico not only sugar canes but mines also. The Native Americans specifically the Taino Indians were forced into slavery and left behind their stable way of living at the hands of the colonists. "A Catholic priest named Bartolomé de las Casas asked King Ferdinand of Spain to protect the Taino Indians of the Caribbean by importing African slaves instead. So, around 1505, enslaved Africans were first brought to the New World." ("Sugar and Slavery: Molasses to Rum to Slaves.") In 1598, Ginger replaces sugar as Puerto Rico's main cash crop. It wasn't until 1776, that an export was produced from Puerto Rico and that was of coffee.

Sources:

-Barreiro, Jose. "A Note on Tainos: Whither Progress?" Northwest Indian Quarterly, pp. 66-67. (1990).

-Figueroa, Ivonne. "Taínos." El Boricua Un Poquito De Todo....a monthly cultural publication for Puerto Ricans. (1996). http://www.elboricua.com/history.html

-Rivera, Magaly. "Tainos Indians Culture" (2008). http://www.topuertorico.org/reference/taino.shtml

-West, Jean. "Sugar and Slavery: Molasses to Rum to Slaves." http://www.slaveryinamerica.org/history/hs_es_sugar.htm