What name was given to the leader of the Arawak village?

What name was given to the leader of the Arawak village?

• A. The Shaman
• B. The Chief
• C. The Cacique
• D. The Sachem

Answer: (C)

Indigenous Caribbean village leadership was held by a village chief with ceremonial duties, and the standard term used to describe this leader is cacique. This title comes from the Taíno word and was used by historians and colonizers to refer to Arawak leaders who held political authority over a community or district. A shaman is a spiritual healer rather than a political head, sachem is the term used for leaders in some northeastern Indigenous groups (Iroquoian-speaking), and chief is a general English label that doesn’t capture the specific title used by the Arawak. So the leader of the Arawak village was called a cacique.

Indigenous Caribbean village leadership was held by a village chief with ceremonial duties, and the standard term used to describe this leader is cacique. This title comes from the Taíno word and was used by historians and colonizers to refer to Arawak leaders who held political authority over a community or district. A shaman is a spiritual healer rather than a political head, sachem is the term used for leaders in some northeastern Indigenous groups (Iroquoian-speaking), and chief is a general English label that doesn’t capture the specific title used by the Arawak. So the leader of the Arawak village was called a cacique.