jamaica anthem - jamaica, land we love

In September 1961, it was announced that the competition for the words of the National Anthem would be judged in the first instance. The successful script would then be published and a contest for the music put in train. Nearly one hundred entries for the words were received and it was subsequently announced on March 17 that the competition for the words of the National Anthem would close on Saturday March 31, 1962.

First People in Jamaica

Posted By Juan Fernando Montes Alcaide

Jamaica is regarded as a cultural melting pot due to its unique history and the racial diversity that has contributed to the country's cultural heritage.

One such group that is often overlooked are the Tainos, who are featured on the country's Coat of Arms. The Tainos were the first inhabitants of Jamaica. They would have migrated from South America and reached the Greater Antilles somewhere around 700 to 1000 AD.

Most people are more familiar with the name Arawak, we now believe that these groups of people were Arawak speaking people so Arawak refers to a group of languages spoken by these people and you had different groups of Arawak speaking people in the Greater Antilles.

In appearance the Taino were short and muscular and had a brown olive complexion and straight hair. They wore little clothes but decorated their bodies with dyes. Religion was a very important aspect of their lives and they were mainly an agricultural people although they did have some technological innovations. Today, some of their practices and different aspects of their culture such as their language, and food, are still in use in Jamaica.

The Tainos had no system of writing. What we know about the Tainos comes from archaeological finds, rock and stone art. They were artists and they made a number of drawings in caves. We would have also learned from the writings of the Spaniards who encountered them, as subjective as those writings may be.

As the language of first contact, Taíno was one of the most important sources of Native American vocabulary in Spanish, involving hundreds of words for unfamiliar plants, animals, and cultural practices, and through Spanish to other European languages such as English. English words of Taíno derivation include canoe, potato, cay/key, barbecue, hurricane, hammock, maize, cassava, Caribbean,cannibal, Cuba, Jamaica, Bahamas, iguana, savannah, papaya/pawpaw, guava, yucca, maguey, manatee, mangrove, chigger, and maybe tobacco.

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ta%C3%ADno_language             http://www.uctp.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=228&Itemid=2

Spanish Rule

Posted by Carlos de la Puerta

SPANISH RULES

The members of Arawak's tribe were the natives from Jamaica. They called this island "Xaymaca" that means land of forest and water. They were pacific and self-sufficient

Original Chistopher Columbus card about Jamaica

Christopher Columbus (Cristobal Colón) discovered the island of Jamaica on 5 May 1494, and he called it Santiago. He wrote in his diary "they dont wear weapons neither they know it, because I show them one, they took it for the blade and cut themselves". In the year 1509, the island became a Spanish colony. Giacomo Colombo (Diego Colón), brother of Christopher, named Don Juan Esquivel gobernor of the island.

Spanish Town, was the first settlement and the capital for 350 years, it was founded in 1523.

What was what Christopher Colombus wanted? In the first two weeks, there was a word that it was repeated seventy-five times in his diary "Gold". He thought that this island was complety full of gold, but as he noticed later, there weren't so many brillant metal. Disappointed, he used the island as a base to hold on the American conquest.

Because of the diseases and internal fights, the Arawaks disappeared fastly, so he had to bring some african slaves to work collecting gold.

In 1655 an English fleet, ordered by sin William Penn, landed in Kingston's port, with 5.000 soldiers and sailors.