The first inhabitants of Cuba arrived from the American continent by sea. It is believed that Cuba concentrated prehistoric migrations of hunters and gatherers from all over the continent, from what we now know as North America to the southern tip of present-day Venezuela, which led to the settlement of differentiated groups.
Some history
These groups of Native Americans, upon arriving on the island, divided into three main ethnicities: the Taínos, the Guanahatabeys, and the Siboneys. It is considered that the oldest corresponds to the Guanahatabey culture, followed by the Siboney and the Taína.
The Guanahatabeys mainly lived off the sea, had reddish skin, and their civilization was quite simple, as instead of building huts, they seemed to use caves to protect themselves from the elements.
Although not very frequently, as the mild climate of the island hardly required it and they could comfortably survive in the open air. They developed shell instruments and were primarily collectors and hunters.
The other two ethnicities - the Taínos and the Siboneys - did build huts and were knowledgeable about pottery. They settled both on the beach and inland, and besides being hunters, they implemented rustic agriculture techniques that they perfected over the centuries.
They possessed an animistic religion full of rituals, which blended well with the Afro-Cuban tradition of the Black slaves.
Traditional diet
Their diet was rich in seafood and in manatee meat, rodents, and reptiles.
Fruits were plentiful on the island due to the warm climate and geographic location, thus the vitamin supplement was plentiful and sufficient. Legumes and tubers also formed a fundamental part of their diet. In general, history tells us that the Cuban aborigine, before the conquest, was a healthy and happy individual.
The Indocuban aborigine and their encounter with the old world
Cuba is an island characterized by its rich miscegenation, and part of its roots date back to the first settlers of the Island.
Today, most of the primitive Indocuban ethnicities that inhabited what we now know as the island of Cuba are extinct. Naturally, this was due to the consequences of the Spanish conquest. The Europeans brought technologies and animals that the natives were unfamiliar with.
However, they also brought with them slavery, greed, and diseases, for which the primitive Indian immune system was not prepared.
It is said that when the Spaniards dominated the natives and installed the first sugar mills, they did not last even a month subjected to the inhuman treatment and grueling workdays imposed on them.
They fell mortally ill in a matter of weeks. That is why the Spaniards, when they virtually wiped out the aboriginal population, opted to start importing African slaves, who had years of experience in exploitation and whose resistance to heavy workdays had already been proven for decades and decades of trafficking.
However, the aborigines who remained, subjected to less harsh work and many of whom were women, often reproduced with Black slaves.
At the same time, the Spanish immigrant peasants, from the lower class, who came to dedicate themselves to tobacco plantations, often also procreated with the Indo-Cuban. Thus, the known and diverse miscegenation that today is one of the qualities that define the population of Cuba began to take shape.
