Borinquen MadePeriod
Before 1493
The entries in this magazine that fall in these years, in the order the events occurred. Freeze 2026-08-22. Not current events in these History essays; News is. Not original historical research.
Who were the Taíno? Origins and the name Borikén
Before Columbus, the island had a name, a people, and a deep history: here the story begins.
Taíno society: caciques, nobles, and common people
Taíno life was not a loose band of villagers: it was an organized, hierarchical, matrilineal society with real political structure.
Cemís and areítos: Taíno spiritual and ceremonial life
The Taíno world was alive with spirits that governed hurricanes, harvests, and fate, and their stories lived on in ceremonies sung and danced.
Conucos and cassava: how the Taíno farmed the land
Long before European plows arrived, the Taíno had designed a method of farming built for a tropical island prone to hurricanes.
The batey: Taíno ball games and ceremonial plazas
A rubber ball, a stone-bordered plaza, and stakes that could include peace between rival villages: the batey was sport, diplomacy, and ceremony at once.
Words the Taíno gave the world
Every time someone says huracán, barbacoa, hamaca, or canoa, they are speaking Taíno: words that outlived the culture's officially declared extinction.