Indigenous Bahamans prior to European-American conquest
Lucayans
Total population
Historical population: 40,000 (approximate)
Regions with significant populations
The Bahamas
Languages
Taíno
Religion
Native American religions
Related ethnic groups
Taínos
The Lucayan people (/luːˈkaɪən/loo-KY-ən) were the original residents of The Bahamas before the European colonisation of the Americas. They were a branch of the Taínos who inhabited most of the Caribbean islands at the time. The Lucayans were the first indigenous Americans encountered by Christopher Columbus. Shortly after contact, the Spanish kidnapped and enslaved Lucayans, with the displacement culminating in the complete eradication of the Lucayan people from the Bahamas by 1520.
The name "Lucayan" is an Anglicization of the Spanish Lucayos, itself a hispanicization derived from the Taíno Lukku-Cairi, which the people used for themselves, meaning "people of the islands". The Taíno word for "island", cairi, became cayo in Spanish and "cay" /ˈkiː/ in English [spelled "key" in American English].[1]
Some crania and artifacts of "Ciboney type" were reportedly found on Andros Island, but if some Ciboney did reach the Bahamas ahead of the Lucayans, they left no known evidence of occupation. Some possible Ciboney archaeological sites have been found elsewhere in the Bahamas, but the only one subjected to radiocarbon dating dated to the mid- to late-12th century, contemporaneous with Lucayan presence on the islands.[2]
Christopher Columbus's diario contains the only contemporaneous observations of the Lucayans. Other information about the customs of the Lucayans has come from archaeological investigations and comparison with what is known of Taíno culture in Cuba and Hispaniola. The Lucayans were distinguished from the Taínos of Cuba and Hispaniola in the size of their houses, the organization and location of their villages, the resources they used, and the materials used in their pottery.[3]
^Albury 1975, pp. 5, 13–14; Craton 1986, p. 17; Keegan 1992, p. 11.
^Craton 1986, p. 17; Granberry & Vescelius 2004, p. 46; Keegan 1992, p. 3.
The Lucayanpeople (/luːˈkaɪən/ loo-KY-ən) were the original residents of The Bahamas before the European colonisation of the Americas. They were a branch...
The Lucayan Archipelago (named for the original native Lucayanpeople), also known as the Bahamian Archipelago, is an island group comprising the Commonwealth...
Lucayan may refer to: Lucayan Archipelago, comprising the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands Lucayanpeople, the original inhabitants of the Bahamas...
Caicos Islands, a British Overseas Territory, tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and northern West Indies. It is the largest...
places. Acklins is home to numerous Lucayanpeople sites. An ancient site, thought to be one of the largest Lucayan settlements in The Bahamas, sits along...
consumed in The Bahamas since the settlement of the islands by the Lucayanpeople although the increasing harvest of juvenile conches has negatively impacted...
east of Acklins Island and west of Mayaguana Island. The indigenous Lucayanpeople called the islands Amaguaya, meaning "toward the middle lands". The...
Gambier, Old Fort Bay, Carmichael Road, and Love Beach. The indigenous Lucayanpeople called the island Nema, meaning "middle-water". The name New Providence...
as Toronto, Canada. The population in 2010 was 6,928. The indigenous Lucayanpeople called the Exuma Cays as Curateo, meaning "outer far distant land"....
needed] The practice of cranial deformation was also practiced by the Lucayanpeople of the Bahamas and the Taínos of the Caribbean. Proto Nazca elongated...
an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and 88%...
Jaragua. Caonabo was not native to Hispaniola, rather he was born on the Lucayan Archipelago of the Bahamas. The historian Bartolomé de las Casas, one of...
glacial shifting. The first known settlers to the Bahamas were the Lucayanpeople, relatives of the Arawaks who populated the Caribbean around 600 A.D...
Birds (25 species) Snakes (3 species) Bats (4 species) Ancient native Lucayanpeople Plant fossils are also well preserved at the bottom of blue holes, and...
stations, horseback riding, and nature trails for hiking. The indigenous Lucayanpeople called the island Guateo, meaning "distant land". "GeoNames.org". www...
indigenous population of the Caribbean islands consisted of the Taíno of the Lucayan Archipelago, the Greater Antilles and the northern Lesser Antilles, the...
colonization, the Turks and Caicos Islands were inhabited by Taíno and Lucayanpeoples. The first recorded European sighting of the islands now known as the...
district council are in Matthew Town. The original settlers were the Lucayanpeople, who arrived sometime between 500 and 800 CE, crossing in dugout canoes...
the name later became Eleuthera. The island's original inhabitants, the Lucayans, had been decimated through the slaving activities of the Spanish and the...
Part of a series on the History of the Bahamas Pre-Columbian Bahamas Lucayanpeople Columbus' voyage to Guanahani Spanish Bahamas Eleutheran Adventurers...
Westminster system. Originally inhabited by the Lucayanpeople, a branch of the Arawakan-speaking Taino people, the Bahamas were the site of Columbus' first...
arrival of people in the islands now known as The Bahamas was in the first millennium AD. The first inhabitants of the islands were the Lucayans, an Arawakan...
East Asia, but instead landed in The Bahamas. Columbus encountered the Lucayanpeople on the island Guanahani (possibly Cat Island), which they had inhabited...
the re-development of the Grand Lucayan Resort citing that it was 'not in the best interests of the Bahamian people'. Holistica continues to plan for...
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