Re: The Taino spoke an Arawakan language. They still exist as an ethnic group, but speak now mainly Spanish. Lots of English words (via Spanish) are of Taino origin: potato, barbecue, hammock, yuca, casava, et al.


i didn't think (almost sure!) the potoato was not know out of south america before the arraival of the europeans.
corn made it (from mexico) to what is current day NE, but potatoes didn't... i suspect there might be an arawack word for the sweet potato (which was known in east, up and down the coast) and perhaps it was even the word potato, (which also was applied to white potatoes?) but it seem unlikely, since we have potatoes, sweet potatoes, (and yams). and its unlikely the generic word potato would have been first used to describe a yellow fleshed tuber, and then the same word used for totally different white fleshed tuber.. (with the plain word going to the 'new comer' and the modifed (sweet) term for the original.

and certainly the spanish were very effecient at spreading native american foods through out the world.. Peanuts are considered 'domestic' foods by both the main land asian (who don't know better) and by many african people.


my other obsession