Taíno Settlement of Hispaniola

By the seventh century CE, Taíno-speaking Arawak peoples had settled across Hispaniola, establishing a hierarchical society organized under caciques. The island was divided into five chiefdoms — Marién, Maguana, Higüey, Xaragua, and Magua — each governed by a paramount cacique supported by sub-chiefs (nitaínos) and a priestly class (behiques). Agriculture centered on cassava cultivation in conuco mounds; ceremonial life was organized around the batey ball game and the worship of zemís, carved spiritual figures embodying ancestral and natural forces. Population estimates at contact range from 300,000 to over one million.