
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiti
Etymology
The name Haïti comes from the indigenous Taíno language. It is the French spelling for the original word Ayiti, which was the native name given to the entire island of Hispaniola to mean, "land of high mountains". The original spelling is kept in Haitian Creole, but since the h is silent in French, the pronunciation remains the same. The ï in Haïti, is a diacritical mark used to show that the second vowel is pronounced separately, as in the word naïve.[27] In English, the rules for the pronunciation are disregarded; thus the spelling Haiti is used, pronounced as "Hay-ti".[28]
Pre-European history
Main article: Chiefdoms of Hispaniola
The five caciquedoms of Hispaniola at the time of the arrival of Christopher Columbus.
At the time of European encounter, the island of Hispaniola, of which Haiti occupies the western three-eighths,[29][30] was one of many Caribbean islands inhabited by the Taíno Indians, speakers of an Arawakan language called Taino, which has been preserved in the Haitian Creole language. The Taíno name for the entire island was either Ayiti or Kiskeya (Quisqueya). The people had migrated over centuries into the Caribbean islands from South America. Genetic studies show they were related to the Yanomami of the Amazon Basin. They also originated in Central and South America. After migrating to Caribbean islands, in the 15th century, the Taíno were pushed into the northeast Caribbean islands by the Caribs.[31]
In the Taíno societies of the Caribbean Islands, the largest unit of political organization was led by a cacique, or chief, as the Europeans understood them. The island of Ayiti was divided among five Caciquats: the Magua in the north east, the Marien in the north west, the Xaragua in the south west, the Maguana in the center region of Cibao and the Higuey in the south east or six long-established caciquedoms[32][33] The caciquedoms were tributary kingdoms, with payment consisting of harvests.
Taíno cultural artifacts include cave paintings in several locations in the country. These have become national symbols of Haiti and tourist attractions. Modern-day Léogane, started as a French colonial town in the southwest, is located at the site of the former capital of the caciquedom of Xaragua.[31]