New World

Imagine the "Eden", called Borikén. It was ruled by nature. A place that was almost completely a rain forest from shore to shore. A place filled with alelís, ceibas, orchids, wild mushrooms - some over 6 feet wide, over 100 species of palm trees, bamboo, giant guava trees. A place where wildlife such as cangrejos, manatees, giant sea turtles, iguanas, cotorras, and carpinteros lived undisturbed by man. Giant fish jumped out of rivers and oceans. Each evening Borikén was cooled by the breezes of the Mar Caribe and serenaded by trillions of coquíes.

This was our Isla del Encanto during the reign of the brave Taíno people. They spoke Arawakan. Their society was communal and polygamy was common. The Taínos were farmers and fishermen.

Columbus wrote in his journal that Taínos had beautiful, tall, slender bodies. Their color was dark or olive, and they wore short haircuts with a long hank at the back of the head. They were clean-shaven and hairless. The islands were densely populated. According to Columbus, the Taíno tongue was "gentle, the sweetest in the world, always with a laugh."

Bartoleme de Las Casas arrived in the Caribe with Columbus, and describes the natives in his Account of the Devastation of the Indies:

"And all the land so far discovered is a beehive of people; it is as though God had crowded into these lands the great majority of mankind.

And of all the infinite universe of humanity, these people are the most guileless, the most devoid of wickedness and duplicity, the most obedient and faithful to their native masters (...) They are by nature the most humble, patient, and peaceable, holding no grudges, free from embroilments, neither excitable nor quarrelsome. These people are the most devoid of rancors, hatreds, or desire for vengeance of any people in the world (...) The sons of nobles among us, brought up in the enjoyments of life's refinements, are no more delicate than are these Indians, even those among them who are of the lowest rank of laborers. They are also poor people, for they not only possess little but have no desire to possess worldly goods. For this reason they are not arrogant, embittered, or greedy (...) As to their dress, they are generally naked, with only their pudenda covered somewhat (...) They are very clean in their persons, with alert, intelligent minds."