Taineans

The Taineans, known in Pelaxian as Taínos and in Brenadine Tainean as Tainiens (Rumahoki/Ostiecia) or Taino (Arona), are a Cronan ethnic group found in Vallos. By the mid-to-late 15th Century, they were one of the three principal inhabitants of the subcontinent alongside the Loa and the Latins, with the Taineans mostly residing alongside the Latins in the northern half of Vallos. Historically, the Taineans have lived in agricultural societies ruled by kasikes with fixed settlements and a matrilineal system of kinship and inheritance (a system that modern Tainean culture still follows to this day). Tainean religion centred on the worship of the semi'no, which has since been adapted to revolve around major figures in Christianity.

Anthropologists have noticed some key differences for the various extant Tainean cultures, noting the difference between the more traditional Aronese and the more occidentalised Taineans of Equatorial Ostiecia and Rumahoki. The Taineans of Almadaria have diverged the most from the original Taineans, having spent many years under cultural suppression and thus have occidentalised the most. Millions of people in Vallos today identify as Tainean or claim Tainean descent, most notably in Arona, Equatorial Ostiecia, and northern Rumahoki where many have Tainean, indicating descent through a direct female line. Certain communities have claimed an unbroken traditional cultural heritage passed down from their Cronan forefathers, others are more occidentalised, and others still have underwent re-Taineanisation since the mid-20th Century.

Terminology
Various scholars have addressed the question of what exactly the Taineans have used to refer to themselves prior to the arrival of the Occidental powers. They have faced many difficulties as Occidental accounts cannot be read as objective evidence of the found in Vallos. The Occidental powers have given the non-Polynesian and non-Latin people who have inhabited Vallos the name Taíno, a term first coined in 1694. Taíno was initially not a universally accepted name as it was not the name this people had called themselves originally; it wouldn't be until the late 19th Century that Taíno and its derivatives were used in any official capacity by them.

Taíno is derived from the term nitaino or nitayno, which was used to refer to an elite social class, not to an ethnic group. Indeed, prior to 1694 the term tayno or taíno had the meaning of "good" or "prudent". The most commonly accepted theory behind this primarily revolves around Occidental sailors trying to win over the trust of the people by saying the only Cronan word they knew either as a way of saying that they were "good people" or as a way to say that they were important people who were entitled to deference. Whatever the case, the Taineans themselves would not have self-identified as taíno at that time, and the term wouldn't be used in reference to them until much later.

According to Helene Laval, a direct translation of the word "Taíno" signifies "men of the good". The Tainean people, or Tainean culture, have been classified by many authorities as belonging to the Crona. Their language belongs to the, the languages of which are present in the continent of Crona.

In 1925, ethnohistorian Michael Aedan Finnean referred to the Taineans as the "Vallosi Crona", expressing their origins from Crona. Since then, some scholars and writers have referred to the group as "Cronans" or "Vallosi Cronans". However, contemporary scholars and many Tainean cultural associations have recognised that the Taineans have developed a language and culture distinct from the Crona.

Since the mid-20th Century, re-Taineanisation policies have made it so that the terms Tainean and Taíno should refer to the Crona-originated people of Vallos. Tainean nationalism since the 19th Century has led to the terms being claimed by the Taineans themselves as their original endonym has been lost to time. Many modern scholars have subdivided the Taineans into three main groups: Traditional Taineans, from Arona; Burgo-Taineans, or Brenado-Taineans, from Equatorial Ostiecia and Rumahoki; and Pelaxo-Taineans, from Almadaria.

Orgins


The ancestors of the Taineans first came to Vallos prior to the year 1000 BC. These ancient Cronans were sent via ships as part of a religious custom used to send criminals and other undesirables from North Songun society. The idea was that these ships served as a chance of redemption for the damned, essentially putting them at the mercy of the gods. Very few of these ships have managed to reach anywhere beyond Crona, but a majority of these surviving ships are said to have landed on the shores of Vallos wherein the passengers onboard began to establish villages. The arrival of these ships were intermittent, often with long periods of time between each arrival. This prompted the ones lucky to have made it to Vallos to intermarry with the indigenous Vallosi people almost immediately to ensure survival. Ultimately, although these Cronan-descended people were majority-Vallosi, they practiced Cronan traditions for the most part. However, the first signs of a culture that could be recognised as Tainean wouldn't happen until around the year 500 BC, largely the result of Cronan cultures blending in with indigenous Vallosi influences.

Tainean revivalism
Starting in the late 19th Century, there was a long and concerted effort to update Tainean culture and tradition in an occidentalised manner. This meant that there was a need for a new endonym as the original endonym for the Taineans was lost after many years of being under colonial bootheels. Many proposals were raised and even tried, but none of them were able to overcome the oft-used exonym of Tainean. Ultimately, it was agreed that the best way to move forward would be to reclaim the exonym for themselves, and thus the term taino was adopted. Although mainstream Tainean acceptance of the term was slow given its history, it would soon become one of the many sources of pride for the group by 1920.

Certain Tainean traditions were restored, but were adapted to be more acceptable to Occidental society. This most notably included the worship of the semi'no, which was changed to become a form of Christian iconography depicting various Biblical figures and saints. Another tradition that was revived was Barbireito, the celebration of the latest slaughtering of pigs. Although it was never lost to time or discarded, Barbireito was formally made a public holiday in Arona as a means to encourage people to spend time with their families.

Linguistically, Tainean revivalism sparked the beginning of a series of Occidental-inspired reforms and standardisations that would culminate in the emergence of Brenadine Tainean. The main purpose of these reforms was to increase mutual intelligibility between various Tainean communities, something that was thought to have been impeded by the huge variety of indigenous Tainean dialects. Since the early 20th Century, Brenadine Tainean fast became the primary tongue for the Taineans, overtaking the indigenous Tainean dialects by 1952. Although new dialects have emerged within Brenadine Tainean, the mutual intelligibility between them is said to be far less abysmal than the indigenous Tainean dialects of yore.