Successive waves of Arahuaco immigrants, moving north from the Orinoco delta in South America, settled on the Caribbean islands. Around 600 AD, the Taíno Indians, an Arahuacan culture, arrived on the island, displacing the previous inhabitants. The last Arawak migrants, the Caribs, began to move to the Lesser Antilles in the 12th century, and invaded Taíno villages on the eastern coast of the island at the same time as the Spanish arrived in 1492.
The Taínos called the island Quisqueya (mother of all lands) and Haiti (land of high mountains). At the time of Columbus's arrival in 1492, the island's territory consisted of five chiefdoms: Marien, Maguá, Maguana, Jaragua, and Higuey. These were governed respectively by the chiefs Guacanagarix, Guarionex, Caonabo, Bohechío and Cayacoa.
The Taínos called the island Quisqueya (mother of all lands) and Haiti (land of high mountains). At the time of Columbus's arrival in 1492, the island's territory consisted of five chiefdoms: Marien, Maguá, Maguana, Jaragua, and Higuey. These were governed respectively by the chiefs Guacanagarix, Guarionex, Caonabo, Bohechío and Cayacoa.
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