Under A Mango Tree

by ana Hernandez

Under a Mango Tree is a story set in the Caribbean island of the Hispaniola (today occupied by the Dominican Republic and Haiti) about a group of Taino Indians. This six chapter book introduces the everyday life of the Taino Indians viewed through the eyes of a young Taino boy. Pablox is a 12-year-old boy who began to assume a series of responsibilities expected of all Taino young men coming of age in a pre-Columbian Taino society. Pablox lived in the chiefdom of Magua, one of the five chiefdoms that occupied the island in the pre-Colombian period. Pablox and his three friends, Nagarix, Banex and Nabox, found themselves involved in a number of complicated and dangerous situations that required the boys to use defensive techniques learned from their elders. While there is plenty of written evidence left behind by the Spaniards about this incredible group of people, and material evidence that substantiates their culture and customs, there is still a vast amount of unknown historical information about the Tainos. Pre-Colombian Taino life is still mostly myths and speculation. The one thing that is certain is that a great number of customs, myths and legends in the greater Caribbean islands are known to be directly inherited from the Tainos. Under a Mango Tree is a bridge connecting us to a distant Taino world.

48 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2004