The first known inhabitants of Jamaica were the Tainos , an Arawak-speaking tribe that travelled throughout the Caribbean after leaving South America. The Tainos left very little evidence of their time on the island, but their influence was profound. The Tainos' Arawak name for the island was “Xaymaca,” which means “Land of wood and water.” This was later written phonetically by Spanish explorers, who substituted a J for the X at the beginning of the word.



This was not the only name given to the island. During Columbus' second voyage to the Caribbean in 1494, he “discovered” Jamaica and named it for a saint, the way he named many other islands. In this case, St. Jago, but only the Arawak name of Xaymaca stuck to this beautiful island.

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Before the arrival of the Spaniards, the Tainos farmed and fished and were even the creators of the hammock. Unlike many other islands in the area, they were never at war with the Carib tribes that peppered the region. After the arrival of the Spanish, Jamaica’s history was no longer as peaceful; the Tainos’ new enemy was the Spanish , who began enslaving the natives around the time they established their first settlement in 1510.

This settlement was Sevilla Nueva, “New Seville.” By the late 16th century, the Tainos had been almost completely wiped out, whether from the hard farm labour, European disease, or by their own hand— committing suicide to escape slavery. There were almost completely extinguished, and many Africans were imported to replace the Tainos as slaves.



Source: http://jamaica-guide.info/past.and.present/history/index.html