Hispaniola
The primary indigenous group on the island of Hispaniola was the Arawak/Taíno people. The Arawak tribe originated in the Orinoco Delta, spreading from Venezuela. They travelled to Hispaniola around 1200 CE. Each society on the island was a small independent kingdom with a lead known as a cacique. In 1492, which is considered the peak of the Taíno, there were five different kingdoms on the island, the Xaragua, Higuey (Caizcimu), Magua (Huhabo), Ciguayos (Cayabo or Maguana), and Marien (Bainoa). Many distinct Taíno languages also existed in this time period. There is still heated debate over the population of Taíno people on the island of Hispaniola in 1492, but estimates range upwards of 750,000.
Indigenous peoples of Costa Rica
Christopher Columbus arrived in Costa Rica in 1502 on his last trip to the Americas. Costa Rica received its name from Gil Gonzalez Davila when he arrived and thought he found the most gold he had ever seen; therefore naming it the "Rich Coast". To the Spanish, it was less organized from other indigenous groups they had discovered, mainly because they lived in separate groups rather than one large group. During the colonization, Costa Rica was very poor, mainly because it was isolated from the majority of the Spanish Empire. Its Indigenous peoples have lived in Costa Rica for what stretches back to at least 10,000 years before this. Colonies that were set up initially were unsuccessful because of disease, as well as the tropical rain forests. Costa Rica did not become a province of Spain until the 1560s, when a community was created that used the volcanic soil for agricultural purposes. By the time that Columbus arrived, there were about 20,000 Costa Rican natives, but this number greatly declined. That was primarily due to disease, particularly smallpox as well as the fact that many indigenous people were enslaved to work and oftentimes escaped from them.