TheCiboney, orSiboney, were aTaíno people ofCuba,Jamaica, and theTiburon Peninsula ofHaiti. A Western Taíno group living in Cuba during the 15th and 16th centuries, they had a dialect and culture distinct from theClassic Taíno in the eastern part of the island, though much of the Ciboney territory was under the control of the eastern chiefs. Confusion in the historical sources led 20th-century scholars to apply the name "Ciboney" to the non-TaínoGuanahatabey of western Cuba and variousarchaic cultures around theCaribbean, but this is deprecated.

At the time ofSpanish colonization, the Ciboney were the most populous group inCuba. They inhabited the central part of the island, between westernPinar del Río Province and easternOriente Province.^[1]Bartolomé de las Casas, who lived among the Ciboney in the early 16th century, related that their dialect and culture was similar to that of theLucayans of the present-dayBahamas.^[2] As such, scholars classify the Ciboney as a WesternTaíno group, associating them with the peoples of the Bahamas,Jamaica, and westernmostHispaniola, while distinguishing them from the Classic Taíno of eastern Cuba, most of Hispaniola, andPuerto Rico.^[3] In addition to the Classic Taíno in eastern Cuba, the Ciboney shared the island with theGuanahatabey, anarchaic people inhabiting western Pinar del Río Province.^[4] The Ciboney spoke a dialect of theTaíno language conventionally known as Ciboney Taíno; it was distinct from, but mutually intelligible with, Classic Taíno.^[5]

The Ciboney were the dominant population in Cuba until around 1450.^[6] Las Casas states that unlike the highly organized Classic Taíno to the east, the Ciboney had no integratedchiefdoms or wider political structure.^[7] In the mid-15th century, Classic Taíno from Hispaniola began migrating into eastern Cuba, overcoming the Native Ciboney. These "Cuban Taíno" established chiefdoms concentrated in Oriente Province, though they established settlements as far west asHavana Province.^[6] However, the Cuban Taíno never established an island-wide political structure as existed in Hispaniola and Puerto Rico.^[7] Classic Taíno migration from Hispaniola to Cuba increased after Spanish contact, with many Taíno leaving to escape the Spanish incursion. Notably, Hispaniola Taíno chiefHatuey fled to Cuba with most of his people; he remained there until the Spanish captured and executed him.^[2] Following the Spanish conquest of Cuba in 1511 underDiego Velázquez de Cuéllar, the population of all Native groups declined precipitously until they had disappeared as distinct groups by the end of the century.^[8]

In the 20th century, misreadings of the historical record led scholars to confuse the Ciboney with both a neighbouring group, theGuanahatabey, and with archaic-level populations around the Caribbean. Las Casas referred to both the Ciboney and the Guanahatabey, but he was clear they were different: the Guanahatabey were aprimitive society ofhunter-gatherers in western Cuba, and they spoke a separate language distinct from Taíno. A confusion of the sources led archaeologists to use the term "Ciboney" for theaceramic (lacking pottery) archaeological sites found on various Caribbean islands. As many of these were found in the former Guanahatabey territory, the term became associated with the historical non-Taíno Guanahatabey.^[9][10] Scholars recognized the error in the 1980s and have restored the name "Ciboney" to the Western Taíno people of Cuba.^[11]

• Siboney, Cuba, a town in eastern Cuba.
• Taíno, Indigenous people of the Greater Antilles and northern Lesser Antilles

• Granberry, Julian; Vescelius, Gary (1992).Languages of the Pre-Columbian Antilles. University of Alabama Press.ISBN 081735123X.
• Rouse, Irving (1992).The Tainos. Yale University Press. p. 40.ISBN 0300051816.
• Saunders, Nicholas J. (2005).The Peoples of the Caribbean: An Encyclopedia of Archeology and Traditional Culture. ABC-CLIO.ISBN 1576077012.
• Harrington, Mark Raymond (1921).Cuba Before Columbus. Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation. RetrievedAugust 9, 2022.

• Ciboney people
• Taíno
• Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean
• Indigenous peoples in Cuba
• Paleo-Indian period
• Ethnic groups in Antigua and Barbuda
• History of Barbuda
• History of Hispaniola
• Indigenous peoples in Jamaica
• Indigenous peoples in Haiti
• Extinct Indigenous peoples of the Americas

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata