Lucayan people
（重定向自Lucayans）
![](/Images/godic/202501/25/Coat_of_arms_of_the_Bahamas.svg1507.png")
![Map of The Bahamas (excluding the Turks and Caicos Islands, east of Great Inagua off the right edge of the map)](/Images/godic/202501/25/CIA_map_of_the_Bahamas1507.png")
The Lucayans (pronounced /luːˈkaɪən/ loo-KY-ən) 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.