• James Cameron referenced the encounter between the Europeans and the Native Americans as the basis for the movie
• Zoe Saldana is Haitian, Dominican and Puerto Rican

Similarities

• Clothing: both Na’Vi and Taino wore very little clothing, wearing only a loincloth, and uncovered chest/breast
  • In Taino culture, men wore loincloth (guayúko), married women wore a cotton skirt (nágua). Higher ranks or chiefs would wear a longer nágua.
• Weapons
  • Na’Vi: had bows & arrows, knives, axes made from wood and stone
  • Taino:
    • bows & arrows with poison (using the main crop of the Taino (yúka) and barbs from stingrays)
    • knives made from stone and clamshells
    • axes made from stone and conch shells
    • spears with fish hooks
    • wooden club (makána) - deadliest hand-to-hand combat weapon
• Bed - hammock (jamáka)
• Chief - The Na’Vi used a word similar to the Taino word for chief (kasíke)
• Bioluminescent Qualities
  • Bioluminescent bays could be found all over the Caribbeans
    • Cayman Islands (kaimán)
    • Jamaica (Yamayéka)
    • Puerto Rico (Borikén)
  • Taino had a special relationship with fireflies
    • light (kúyo)
    • firefly (kokúyo)
    • Used as mosquito repellant - Since fireflies eat mosquitoes, Taino would collect fireflies and release them indoors.
    • Used as light
• Relationship with Nature
  • Na’Vi: Home tree. Tree of Souls, Tree of Voices. Used to communicate with each other and ancestors.
  • Taino: Believes that trees (yabisí) inhabits 3 realms
    • Branches - spirit world above
    • Trunk - Earth in the middle
    • Roots - Land of dead ancestors
    • Asks the tree permission to cut it and seek advice on what it should be used for
    • Would place a hand on the tree for energy, and place forehead against the tree for answers
    • The silk-cotton tree (ceiba) is thought to be the Daughter of the Great Spirit (Yaya), and Handmaiden to Our Mother (Atabey/Atabeira; the Mother of the waters; Mother of all humans; Female personification of Yaya)