Editing Taíno

{{Era|Organizations}}{{WP-REAL}}
{{Quote|There are those who say the Taíno are already extinct. But we will never be extinguished. Our fight continues.|Opía Apito to Edward Kenway, 1716|Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag}}
The '''Taíno''' were the principal indigenous peoples of the [[Caribbean]], native to what is now [[Cuba]], [[the Bahamas]], the {{Wiki|Greater Antilles|Greater}} and {{Wiki|Lesser Antilles}}, [[Jamaica]], and [[Haiti]]. Conquered by the [[Spanish Empire]] in the wake of their colonization of the [[Americas|New World]], the Taíno were driven to the brink of extinction by the early 18th century. In that period, the surviving Taíno joined the [[Assassins|Assassin Brotherhood]], establishing a mobile [[Assassin bureau|bureau]] under [[Opía Apito]] that was virtually untraceable. Despite popular consensus that they are extinct, their lineage may live on in the [[modern times|modern]] inhabitants of the Caribbean of indigenous descent.

==History==
[[File:Right Hand Man 8.png|thumb|250px|The pirate Edward Kenway meeting with Opía Apito, a Taíno Assassin]]
The Lucayan branch of the Taíno were the first indigenous people encountered by the [[Europe]]ans during [[Christopher Columbus]]' journey to the New World in 1492.{{Cite|June 2019}} In short order, the Spanish Empire moved to conquer the whole of the Caribbean at the expense of the inhabitants that preceded them. In the 16th century, a Taíno chief by the name of {{Wiki|Hatuey}} led a resistance against the Spaniards for which he attained the status of a legendary hero after his death.<ref>{{WP|Hatuey}}</ref>

Nevertheless, the Taíno failed to stem the tide of Spanish conquest. Under [[Spain|Spanish]] oppression, they were driven to the brink of extinction by the early 18th century and were already classified as such by as many as half the sources on them from this period. Exacerbating this, in 1707 the Spanish [[Templars|Templar]] [[Alejandro Ortega de Márquez]] attacked one of their villages, enslaving and massacring most of its residents. His raid, however, cost him his life due to the Taíno's spirited defense.<ref name="AC4">''[[Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag]]''</ref>

Because of these atrocities, at least one Taíno, Opía Apito, embraced the cause of the [[Assassins]] and was inducted into the [[West Indies Brotherhood of Assassins|West Indies Brotherhood]] of [[Assassins]]. Opía, a survivor of Alejandro's assault, founded an exceptionally elusive [[Assassin bureau]] near the [[Cayman Islands]] whose base was highly mobile and virtually untraceable. It operated based on a traditional Taíno principle of inflicting harm by stealing from the enemy and sparing his or her life long enough to experience its loss.<ref name="AC4" />

In 1716, the daughter of Alejandro, [[Lucia Márquez]], undertook an operation to destroy the Taíno bureau, rallying her forces at Alejandro's former base on [[Isla de la Juventud]]. Alerted by the [[piracy|pirate]] [[Edward Kenway]] beforehand, Opía decided upon a preemptive strike, and the two assassinated Lucia on the island.<ref name="AC4" />

This success did not forestall the Taíno's progressive decline, and by the 21st century, they are generally regarded as extinct though descendants of indigenous peoples of the Caribbean beg to differ.<ref name="AC4" />

==Appearance==
*''[[Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag]]''

==References==
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Taíno]]
[[Category:Indigenous peoples of the Americas]]