cibaeño75 previously said:

When he was finished, eight million Arawaks -- virtually the entire native population of Hispaniola -- had been exterminated by torture, murder, forced labor, starvation, disease and despair."

You began this thread by posting an article that negates the statement I just quoted. If all the Tainos were exterminated why are we finding their genetic markers in current populations? That their population was decimated is beyond debating but obviously many were simply absorbed into newly forming populations.

cibaeño75 previously said:

"It's very obvious they did not kill the pretty girls... can you say rape"

I understand what you're saying. What I'm saying is that it is a fallacy to say that the Tainos were exterminated. That's just perpetuating a myth. 60% of the individuals on a neighboring island can trace their matrilineal ancestry to the very Tainos we are discussing. I don't know about you but I'd say 60% of a population is a significant number. Hell, 18% of a population is significant. Indeed Taino culture is dead (though its influence is very much a fabric of the Spanish-speaking caribbean) but the descendants of the Tainos are alive and well today.

cibaeño75 previously said:

"they are trying to hide the past it's very embarrassing to the Catholic Church."

Paisano our history is shrouded in false interpretations and gross distortions of events. Pero el sol no se tapa con un dedo y tarde o temprano todo sale hacia la luz. And the Catholic Church has alot to be embarrassed about but one would need a concious to feel embarrassed. The Church has no shame.

yumnuk3 previously said:

Abolish Columbus Day

Why celebrate a day that pretends this country was empty when it was “discovered”? That’s like claiming the U.S. “discovered” Iraq in 2003. (Maybe that’s what the history books George Bush dreams about will say in 200 years). It’s an insulting myth and makes light of the genocide that started during that time period.

The “Columbus Day” holiday is the only national holiday that is overtly insulting to millions . It is now universally understood that Christopher Columbus did not “discover” the American continent. That concept is one that is deeply insulting to American Indians and many native-born Americans of all cultures. It is also historically incorrect. American Indian people have been on this continent at least 10,000 years, and scientists have proven that numerous other explorers had arrived on this continent from other parts of the world long before Columbus. It is also now known that many of the things we once believed about Christopher Columbus were myths, and that much of what we did not know about him would seriously tarnish his image, to say the least. . . . . We therefore request that our Congressional Representatives re-name the federal holiday known as “Columbus Day” to “First Americans Day.” We also urge state and local elected officials, as well as businesses to do the same.


Columbus took the title 'Admiral of the Ocean Sea' and proceeded to unleash a reign of terror unlike anything seen before or since. When he was finished, eight million Arawaks -- virtually the entire native population of Hispaniola -- had been exterminated by torture, murder, forced labor, starvation, disease and despair.