Extinct Arawak Indian group of the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea.
They also inhabited Puerto Rico and the eastern tip of Cuba. They grew cassava and corn (maize), hunted birds and small animals, and fished. They were skillful at working stone and wood. Their society consisted of three tiers
nobles, commoners, and slaves
and they were ruled by hereditary chiefs and subchiefs; religious beliefs centred on a hierarchy of nature spirits and ancestors. They became extinct within 100 years of the Spanish conquest.