Cabeza de Vaca's Primahaitu Pidgin (O'odham Nation, and Euskaldunak)

Pima, adj. Spanish, shortening of Pima Ayto, from Pima pimaha'icu 'nothing', perhaps a shibboleth.

—Oxford English Dictionary

Lurralde osoan hizkuntza antzekoa dute,ezberdintasun gutxikoa,eta darabiltenei "Primahaitu" esaten zaie,geure Espaiñian "Vascongados" esaten diguten bezala.

—Karlos Antruejo, Primahaitu

The word "pima" originates in the grammar of languages spoken in the so-called Pimería. It means "no." Such a meaning immediately calls to mind the misunderstandings at the origin of geographical names such as "Yucatan," in Mexico, or "Las dos hermanas," in Navarra, Spain.¹ It must be said from the beginning that "Pima" is one of the many words that even today reminds us of the brutal clash after the Columbian arrival to America. The Pima refers, at least, to the Akimel O'odham, who are related to Tohono O'odham (the Papago), among other groups. The use of the word "pima" in this essay does not mean to be unrespectful of the real name "O'odham." As I am writing this, the Navajo Nation has just rejected a change name proposal from Navajo Nation to Dine Nation, and I am totally aware of the importance of the orignal names that supersede colonial unfelicities.

The first written proofs we have of this word and related ones, such as "primahaitu," to my knowledge, are in written Spanish texts from the 16th century. This word, its variations (pijma, prima, pimos, etc.), and compounds of it (tepima, pimería, primahaitu) appear later in English texts, and even later in dictionaries both in Spanish and in English, such as the Corpus del Nuevo Diccionario Histórico del Español (CNDHE) and the Oxford English Dictionary. After looking at these texts, one is under the impression that the history of the word in Spanish and English texts is uneven and complex. This essay has the objective of tracing a non-exhaustive history of the word starting from the use that Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca made of it in the compound word "primahaitu," to refer to a language or a pidgin used among tribes in what today are Sonora and Arizona in Mexico and in the United States.²

In 1537, according to Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, the variety of languages spoken by the natives of the region called Pimería Alta made communication a daunting task.³ To mitigate the consequences of this Tower of Babel built upon the hundreds of languages spoken among the peoples encountered by Cabeza de Vaca and his group, he says that the natives of a certain area—many leagues long—use a language called Primahaitu, which he compares to the tongue of Biscay (Vizcaíno).

We do not know with certainty if Cabeza de Vaca was inserting here one more of his self-serving and grandiose portraits as a broker in the wilderness at the service of Emperor Charles V, or if this counts as representation of his ignorance, or if he is bluntly dwelling in one more of the stereotypes on Basque culture during the early modern period. Here I revisit Cabeza's linguistic conception of the Tepima linguistic family as a sort of Vascongados' language to create a tentative and partial history of the designation Primahaitu in English and Spanish.

In 1537, according to Cabeza de Vaca, the variety of languages spoken by the natives of the region—known as Reyno de Nueva Navarra, or Papagería, or Pimería Alta—made communication a daunting task. To ease the consequences of this Babelian tower, caused by hundreds of languages spoken among the peoples encountered by Cabeza de Vaca and his group, he says that the natives use the "primahaitu" language. Perhaps this was a Native American sign language, or a pidgin, but in an attempt to explain himself about the status of this so-called Primahaitu, Cabeza de Vaca compares it with the Vizcaíno or Basque language. At first glance, the explanation is a non sequitur for anyone who would know about the Basque language and dialectology. Critical editions of Cabeza de Vaca's Naufragios ignore the word or give...