Ciguayos

The Ciguayos were a group of indigenous people who inhabited the Peninsula of Samaná and its adjoining regions in the present-day Dominican Republic. Since the moment of contact early Spanish writers perceived them as a threat and portrayed them flaunting long hairs and branding bows with poisoned arrows. Though speculation has surrounded their origins, studies on linguistics claim to have found connections to Central America. Their archery tradition, however, is linked to the Kalingos, or Island Caribs. Their legacy has spawned folktales, and since the 19th century, their memory has been at the center of the Dominican indigenist movement.