The African Influence

The introduction of the African slaves into the islands resulted in some distinct changes in the Taino fighting system. The first was that many of the Spanish soldiers would not involve themselves in direct conflicts with the Taino. They instead preferred to have their African slaves or Native "Mansos" (tame Indian's or Indian's who fought on the side of the Spanish) do the fighting for them. The slaves were not equipped with swords and frequently fought with weapons that were as crude as those employed by the Taino. This resulted in direct combat, and the Taino could move in on the slave aggressors without worrying about avoiding a blade.

Many of the Spanish who inhabited the coastal regions of Puerto Rico avoided the inner part of the island due to the concentration of free hostile Taino that inhabited the jungle-dense mountains. African slaves would flee into this area preferring death in an unknown land to bondage. This was the second influence in early Guazabara history. Some of the slaves who escaped and  avoided capture found their way to the hidden Taino encampments and were immediately accepted into the tribes. The Taino believed that aiding the escapees would add to their own population and reduce the amount of slaves that were willing to fight for the Spanish. The Taino referred to these men and women as Cimmaron. These warriors would be referred to by the Spanish as Black Taino's. The Cimmaron   may have directly contributed to bringing Kalenda stick fighting from Africa to the Caribbean, this type of fighting spread to the lower Antilles and later to the mainland.

It is unknown what African tribe contributed the most to Guazabara, but it may have been those from the Congo region such as the  Mandinga, Mende, Dohomey or Yoruba as their food, language and religion (Santeria) had the strongest influence over the Caribbean Islands and its people.