Talking Taino: Caribbean Natural History from a Native Perspective

6. Catch of the Day (2007)

6 Catch of the Day Here the fishes are so unlike ours that it is amazing; there are some like dorados, of the brightest colors in the world—blue, yellow, red, multi-colored, colored in a thousand ways; and the colors so bright that anyone would marvel and take a great delight in seeing them. —Christopher Columbus, October 17, 1492 The islands of the Bahama archipelago are truly blessed. The crystal clear waters surrounding the islands contain an abundance of marine life. As Columbus noted, many of these are marvelous to see, while others are marvelous to eat.The Spanish recorded more than sixty Taíno names for fishes, sharks, and marine mammals. Several of the names such as manatee (manati) and barracuda (baracutey) are in common use today. There is a tendency to think that peoples in the past consumed foods simply to satisfy their hunger. Yet, every culture in the world has developed its own unique cuisine. Unfortunately, the Spanish did not record any Taíno recipes. Nevertheless , we know that the Taínos grilled, barbecued, smoked, salted, and stewed fish with vegetables and chili peppers.They may also have baked fish in stone-lined pits (much like the modern clam bake), and fried fish on flat clay griddles. Fish was the mainstay of the Taíno diet. In fact, one might wonder how many children complained to their mothers: “Grouper for dinner, again?” Taíno meals were not as one dimensional as we might expect. At the Coralie site on the north end of GrandTurk, we excavated the remains of meals that were prepared in an overturned carapace of a sea turtle, which included fishes and iguanas in addition to turtle meat. The Spanish noted that the most common Taíno fishing techniques used hook and line, basket traps, nets, and weirs. With regard to weirs, older residents of Middle Caicos told us that Farm Creek Pond (near Bambarra) once had a natural Catch of the Day / 37 barrier (a sandbar) across its mouth, and that during periods of extreme low tide you could walk out on the dry lakebed and pick up fish by hand. Today, this pond is entirely landlocked. In similar ponds and shallow bays, the Taínos kept fish in corrals of interwoven branches or canes. In this way the fishes were kept alive until they were needed as food. Archaeologists are able to identify many of the fishes consumed in preColumbian sites using a comparative method that is known as zooarchaeology. Zooarchaeologists carefully collect samples of animal bones from archaeological sites and then identify them by comparing the bones to known species. Using this approach we now know that the most common fishes in West Indian archaeological deposits were grunts, parrotfishes, groupers, snappers, and jacks. The Spanish recorded Taíno names for many different species within these common fish families (see chapter 9). The most common food fish at the site of MC-6 on Middle Caicos was bonefish. This is due to the location of this site, which is on the southern bank-side shore of the island. Flats fishes were readily available close by the site, unlike reef fishes.Today , catching bonefish is a popular activity among sport fishermen and women, yet very few people consider eating them. However, their flesh is firm and flakey between all those small bones. Unlike today, “boniness” was not a criterion in prehistoric times for determining the palatability of various fish species. TAÍNO WORD TRANSLATION Manati Manatee Baracutey Barracuda Bonasí Black grouper Guajil Yellowfin grouper Jocú Dog snapper Pargo Snapper or red snapper Caji Schoolmaster snapper Chibí Bar jack Guaymen Yellow jack Buyón Parrotfish (large and esteemed ), likely stoplight Cachicata Grunt Jallao Margate (large grunt) 38 / Chapter 6 Flesh preferences are often culturally defined. Looking at archaeological sites throughout the Lucayan Islands, the Taínos’ favorite fish appears to be parrotfish and grunts. Is this because they couldn’t as easily capture the “better tasting” snappers or groupers? Were these high-quality resources overfished, necessitating the focus on lower-quality fish? Is it possible they really preferred these fish species? Parrotfish are a soft-fleshed but flavorful fish that is not esteemed in modern fish markets primarily because the flesh tends to spoil quickly. This would not have been a factor in prehistoric times. Grunts have tasty, firm white flesh that is perfect for smoking. Grunts and parrotfish are the...