 He proposes that the American Spanish word derives ultimately from the Arawakan root word "simarabo", construed as 'fugitive', in the Arawakan language spoken by the Taíno people native to the island.In the New World, as early as 1512, enslaved Africans escaped from Spanish captors and either joined indigenous peoples or eked out a living on their own.Sir Francis Drake enlisted several "cimarrones" during his raids on the Spanish.