Mining:
To stay in the trading business in the Caribbean, the Spanish decided to recruite the Taino to mine gold. There wasn't much gold though. To get the Taino to mine they set up an institution called encomiendas which were land grants to Spanish settlers with total control over local people. Encomenderos (Spanish people) looked after the Tainos health, welfare, and encouraged them to convert to Christianity.

Decline of the Tainos:
Brutal abuses by the encomenderos brought decline of Taino populations. The Tainos did have some rebellions but their bows,a rows, and slings didn't cut it verses steel swords and firearms.
Heavy Taino population decline happened when smallpox reached the Caribbean region. To replace the dead Taino people, encomenderos raided towns to kidnap and enclave Tainos and other peoples. All this did was increase the decline of the indigenous people's population.
With the epidemics, the native population declined from 6 million to only a few thousand in 50 years. Few cultural elements of the Tainos survived (canoe, hammock, hurricane, barbecue, maize, tobacco). The Spanish built a European society in its place

Continued Spanish and Caribbean