HaitiLibre Quiz

Tainos 3.1 HAITI

Difficulty Level: N3 Hard
This 3rd Quiz in the series on the difficult level of the Tainos is designed to test adventurers of history and museums on the Taino civilization. Beyond preconceived ideas, delve into the complex details of their culture. Take on this last challenge with rigor and enrich your knowledge!
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What technical term designates the system of matrilineal political inheritance of the Tainos, where the title of cacique often passed to the son of the chief's sister?

75% of players answered correctly.

THE CORRECT ANSWER: Avuncular infraclanism

The political organization of the Tainos was based on complex rules of succession which greatly confused the Spanish chroniclers of the colonial era. Although decision-making power and the function of cacique were generally exercised by men, the transmission of this supreme office followed a strictly matrilineal lineage.This system, similar to avuncular infraclanism, established that the legitimate successor of a deceased cacique was not his own biological son, but the eldest son of his sister. This structure guaranteed the continuity of royal blood within the maternal clan, considered more certain.If the chief's sister had no male descendants, power could then fall to other close maternal relatives or, in exceptional cases, to a woman of the nobility, as demonstrated by the historical examples of Queens Anacaona or Iguanamá on the island of Ayiti.