The
Lucayans (pronounced ) were the original inhabitants of
the Bahamas before the arrival of Europeans. They were a branch of the
Taínos who inhabited most of the Caribbean islands at the time. The Lucayans were the first inhabitants of the Americas encountered by
Christopher Columbus. The Spanish started seizing Lucayans as slaves within a few years of Columbus's arrival, and they had all been removed from the Bahamas by 1520.