Talking Taino: Caribbean Natural History from a Native Perspective

16. Partying, Ta

16 Partying, Taíno Style Music and dance are integral parts of human life. Every culture in the world has songs and dances that are used to mark important occasions and special ceremonies . Among the Taínos these were called arieto. Taíno communities are characterized by the arrangement of houses around a cleared central space. Dancing and singing associated with communal ceremonies were most often conducted in this central plaza. One of the most important ceremonies was the autumn feast. Men and women wore wreaths of grasses and flowers on their heads and strings of shells on their arms, hips, and legs; and in the Lucayan Islands they are said to have worn crowns made of feathers. The ceremony began with a procession into the central plaza with the people dressed in little more than their ornaments, although married women wore a short skirt made of woven cotton . During this ceremony food was offered to the cemís (cemís are both spirits and objects that represent spirits). The shamans (behique) would give a small piece of the cassava bread, which had been offered to the spirits, to each of the participants. These pieces were carefully preserved until the following year (much as Catholics keep palm leaves from Palm Sunday until the following Easter). Their singing and dancing was accompanied by drumbeats. Drums were used only on the most solemn of occasions. These included celebrating the deeds of the ancestors, preparations for war, and ceremonies associated with marriage and death. Men and women danced by themselves in rows or circles with their arms around the waist of their neighbors.The songs that were sung were part of their sacred knowledge passed down from the chiefs to their successors. Partying, Taíno Style / 89 These songs—oral histories—sang the praises of the gods and the heroic deeds of the ancestors. Each song could last three to four hours, and the dancing continued until the dancers collapsed from exhaustion and intoxication, the latter the result of consuming copious quantities of “beer” made from either fermented cassava (uicu) or fermented corn (chicha). During some ceremonies the chiefs would inhale a narcotic snuff made from the crushed seeds of the piptadenia tree. The snuff (cohoba) was placed on a platform atop a carved wooden statue representing the cemí with whom the chief wished to communicate. By entering a trance, the chief was able to ask the spirit for special assistance and to divine the future. These visions set the course for future actions. At times, this was accompanied by the playing of a ball game, called batey. The game consisted of two opposing teams of ten to thirty players who attempted to move a spongy “rubber” ball the length of the court without using their hands or feet. Both sexes played the game, but always separately. The outcome of the game could be used as a public justification for community-wide decisions on a proper course of action. One chronicle records a particular game in which the life of a captive Spaniard hung in the balance; life or death depended on the outcome of the game. The importance of arieto as sacred knowledge is apparent in early Spanish attempts to establish control and extract tribute from the Taínos. Faced with insatiable demands from the Spanish, the Taínos organized a war party consisting of over six thousand men under the leadership of the cacique Guarionex with the inTA ÍNO WORD TRANSLATION Arieto/Ariete Ceremonial song and dance Cemí Spirit of the dead and an object that represents a spirit Behique Shaman Uicu Cassava “beer” Chicha Corn “beer” Cohoba Narcotic snuff Batey Ball game Gioia Narcotic herb Maguay Wooden drum Maraca Gourd rattle 90 / Chapter 16 tention of wiping out the Spanish colony at La Isabela. Bartholomew Columbus received advance warning of the planned attack and, in violation of Taíno rules of behavior, attacked after dark and captured the caciques that were directing the rebellion. The caciques, including Guarionex, were released after promising never to rise up against the Spanish again. However, shortly thereafter Columbus realized that he had made a mistake and sought to take Guarionex as his captive. Guarionex had gone into hiding among the Macorix (a group on Hispaniola who spoke a language different from Taíno). The Spanish demanded that Mayobanex, the cacique of the Macorix, turn over Guarionex. Although his sub-chiefs argued that...