Nitainos: Social categories Hispaniola: caciques, Nitainos, Behiques, Naborias

Social categories Hispaniola: caciques, Nitainos, Behiques, Naborias

The Chiefs or Caciques –Maximum authority in the Taino community, was a leader both spiritually as well as in battle, assisted by helpers and a counsel of elders. Also served as judges, imposing punishment for wrongdoings; incest and adultery were heavily condemned, robbery usually lead to death.

Speaking about the caciques in his first trip, Christopher Columbus refers to “all these gentlemen are of few words and very beautiful traditions, and they rule by simply making hand signs, and which are understood that is marvelous.”⁴

The caciques had the right to several wives, although the Tainos in general practiced monogamous marriage. Social positions were inherited and if a cacique died, the order of succession in case he didn’t have children, would go to his sister’s oldest son. Apparently, women could also reach this position, as was the case with the casica Anacaona, killed in the conquest period.

The Nitainos – were the cacique’s assistants, that being the primary males were called “noble” by the Spanish. Las Casas presents them as “centurions and decurions or jury, that had under their government and regiments many more”.⁵

The NiTainos supervised communal labor and were sent to establish trade relations with other regions. The had the best canoes and it is believed that they organized the transportation and storage of harvests.

The Buhuitihu or Behique – Very important figure, was the shaman or a kind of witch-healer that maintained communication with the Taino divinities. Responsible for watching over the health of the community, and, probably, of creating idols and ceremonial objects.

In order to heal, the behique was obliged to follow the same diet as the patient, and after purifying the patient, initiated a ceremony in which he used hallucinogens powders (cohoba). To the beat of the maracas, sang ritual songs to “speak” with the divinities or cemies, who, supposedly, revealed to him the origin of the sickness, seeming like the behique, by taking into his body the patient’s sickness, would literately strip it from the patient. Before performing the cure, he would fill his mouth with bone or stone fragments that he would spit as symbols of the disease.

With a good dose of superstition, the behiques still possessed wide knowledge of medicinal plants which contributed to effectively relieved the sick from their ailments. It was in his best interest that the patient lived, because if the patient died, a lot of times, the relatives would avenge the dead by breaking every bone in the behique’s body.

Common People –The main population was made up of men and women who labored on the communal survival of the village.
Women helped their husbands with farming, as well as, getting water, preparing food, making pottery, weaving baskets and cloth for daily use.

The men collected fruits, cut trees and conditioned the soil. Excellent fishermen, utilized nets, javelins and hooks made from conch or bone. Another technique was to drug the fish by diluting in the water a tonic made from a plant named baigua. They also worked in the construction of homes and provided the materials for diverse craft projects.

Naborias –Were below the Tainos and were considered servants or servants who worked on the heavier jobs directly for the cacique. It is possible that they may have belonged to the before-mentioned groups that were subjugated by the Tainos.

su transformación en el tiempo

• Mario R. Cancel
• Historiador y escritor

Los arahuacos insulares o taínos son la comunidad natural mejor conocida. Existe una notable arqueología profesional desde la Segunda Guerra Mundial. A partir de la década del 1980, la arqueología puertorriqueña ha sido revisada y reinterpretada por los especialistas más jóvenes. Si a ello se unen las numerosas fuentes etnográficas e históricas que dejaron los conquistadores, se comprenderá mejor porqué se les conoce tan bien.

Si bien es cierto que los españoles generaron documentos sobre los taínos, se debe reconocer que los mismos estuvieron llenos de equívocos. La imagen del taíno en los mismos, estuvo mediada por los prejuicios culturales de los conquistadores. El propósito de los documentos generados no era conocer a los taínos, sino facilitar su control y explotación como fuerza laboral.

Los taínos dominaron todo Puerto Rico -Baneque- , Española -Aití- y el Oriente de Cuba – Cubanacán-. Los especialistas están de acuerdo en que alcanzaron el mayor grado de desarrollo entre Baneque y el este de Aití, hoy República Dominicana.

Restos arqueológicos

Los más notables restos arqueológicos asociados a estas comunidades son las plazas ceremoniales, parques de pelota o bateyes. Los mismos se usaban para celebrar un juego ritual muy común entre las comunidades pre-hispánicas de América. El mismo era practicado por equipos de 20 o 30 personas de ambos sexos y diversas edades. Consistía en mantener una pelota dura -elaborada de raíces, hojas y caucho- en el aire golpeándola con el cuerpo. Si la bola caía al suelo, significaba una derrota. Probablemente se usó lo mismo como un entretenimiento colectivo que como un espacio para resolver conflictos entre grupos. Es probable que, en ocasiones, la derrota significara la muerte del perdedor. Los parques también se usaban para discutir problemas colectivos como la guerra o la paz, y para llevar a cabo ceremonias mágicas relativas a los ciclos agrarios. El modelo más importante de una plaza es Caguana con sus monolitos ilustrados demarcando el campo de juego.

El trabajo artístico más notable son ídolos de tres puntas, conocidos como trigonolitos y, popularmente identificado con el concepto cemíe, término que utilizaban para nominar a sus espíritus tutelares. Por lo regular, los ídolos de tres puntas representaban al dios agrario principal: Yucahú. Su forma se ha asociado al signo de la montaña o el predio de sus siembras que los hispano-europeos llamaron conuco. Las imágenes  grababan en estos objetos sagrados recuerda el cuerpo de la rana y a la serpiente. En síntesis, se trata de símbolos ligados al agua y a fertilidad que auspician buenas cosechas. Su uso en los conucos, al lado de las semillas de yuca, parece reafirmarlo.

Otra muestra del arte de los taínos son los cinturones o collares y los codos de piedra. Se trata de piedras pesadas con diseños de rostros humanos o de animales, parecidos a los reproducidos en los de los ídolos de tres puntas. Los collares, de uso desconocido, se han asociado al juego de pelota. Los codos han sido considerados por algunos implementos para el parto y, por lo tanto, propiciatorios de la fertilidad.

Por último, están los duhos o asientos ceremoniales, considerados un signo de poder social. Se trata de sillas o escabeles bajos, casi raseros con el suelo, que eran propiedad de caciques o jefes poderosos, a manera de trono. En una sociedad que acostumbraba añangotarse,  posición  de reposo, el duho elevaba la imagen y daba una señal de dignidad especial.

El orden social

La sociedad arahuaco-taína estaba estratificada de acuerdo con las destrezas y tareas sociales.  El Nitaíno representaba el sector social del cual emanaba el poder. Se trataba de administradores de la agricultura, de la cacería y la pesca, que fungían como jefes militares o asesores del cacique. Es probable que de ese sector social surgieran los caciques o jefes regionales e incluso, los behíques. La función del médico-brujo, el astrólogo y el hombre de ciencia, era tan importante como la del cacique. Los nitaínos son un grupo minoritario y respetado que disfrutaba de privilegios tales como una mejor alimentación y residencia. Debieron contar con distintivos de poder tales como más compañeras sexuales, objetos rituales como bastones o guanines de oro y hasta un maquillaje corpóreo más complejo. La sociedad taína no era una sociedad igualitaria, pero tampoco era una era una sociedad de clases.

Los naborías eran la gente común: los trabajadores, pescadores, cazadores que servían a las órdenes de los nitaínos y se sometían a la orientados de la ciencia del behíque. En los márgenes de la sociedad taína estaban los caracaracoles o desclasados. Se trataba de los “raros”, de gentes con deformidades físicas que eran considerados hombres mágicos. Todos los excesos sorprendían a los taínos: los partos múltiples eran fenómenos reverenciados, todo lo anormal era celebrado en los mitos aldeanos.

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Posted in Arahuacos insulares, Behíques, Caracaracoles, Educación en historia, Historia de Puerto Rico, Naborias, Nitainos, Puerto Rico en el siglo 16, Sociedades agro-alfareras, Sociedades amerindias, Taínos | Etiquetado: Arahuacos insulares, Behíques, Caracaracoles, Educación en historia, Historia de Puerto Rico, Naborias, Nitainos, Puerto Rico en el siglo 16, Sociedades agro-alfareras, Taínos | Comentarios desactivados en Los arahuacos insulares o taínos: apuntes generales

EASTERN ISLANDS OF THE CARIBBEAN | History of mankind. America | Volume 4. VII-XVI centuries

Lesser Antilles

The native villages that existed in the Lesser Antilles between the 7th and 15th centuries were relatively simple and sparsely populated. The existence of numerous petroglyphs, burials with offerings and anthropomorphic stone sculptures testify to the influences of the mainland and the Greater Antilles. Ethnohistorical conclusions based on descriptions made in the 16th century. Italian humanist, the first historian of the Spanish conquests in America, Pedro Martir de Angleria i Labat (Labaf) (Fewkes, 1914) allow us to speak of the existence of villages or dwellings near the coast or on the banks of rivers, where there were good opportunities for fishing, collecting sea or land mollusks, and for hunting game. Buildings of one type served as common dwellings, while buildings of another type, which occupied a central position in the villages, were used as sanctuaries, where the ritual stones of the semis (zemis) were kept. In some villages there were up to 20-30 houses located in a ring around the central square. A family group lived in each house, including the head of the family, his wives and unmarried children. nine0005

Greater Antilles

In the Greater Antilles, including, among others, Puerto Rico, Haiti and Cuba, the most remarkable historical feature between the 7th and 16th centuries. was the emergence of hierarchical formations such as chiefdoms, known as the Taino culture or the Boca-Chica tradition, which caused profound changes in the methods of settlement, socio-political organization and ritual life. A characteristic feature is the construction of various types of artificial mounds from rammed earth, which served as places for common dwellings, fields for growing cassava and maize, and burial places. In some cases, complexes of such mounds are located around a field for playing pelota, or batey, marked by a row of stones, sometimes decorated with petroglyphs. nine0005

In some cases, real necropolises were created, in which the magnificence of funeral offerings, consisting of pottery and objects carved from stone and shells, was striking. On the other hand, the forms and methods of making stone and wooden statues have also reached a high degree of complexity. Among them, carved pyramidal stones called semis (zemis) stand out, which depict Yuca-u Bagua Maorocoti (Yuca-hu Bagua Maorocoti), the god of cassava.

People lived by growing bitter cassava, from which they made flour and bread (casabe), as in the north of South America, maize and various tubers; in addition, they fished, collected seafood and hunted. Agriculture was dominated by slash-and-burn farming, the main component of which was the cultivation of wild plants. This is evident from the predominance of the deity Yuka-u in Taino mythology. On the other hand, cassava bread, baked on maize-bread (budares) dishes decorated with notches, recalls the customs of the Barrancas culture of the peoples of the lower reaches of the river. Orinoco and Salados cultures of the peoples of the northeastern part of Venezuela. From finer flour, they could bake bread intended for consumption by the most important leaders. On each side, such bread was decorated with geometric or biomorphic plots, which, perhaps, were associated with the genealogy of a particular person. nine0005

By the end of the 15th century. society secretly became aristocratic in character and highly stratified. The most important position in society was occupied by the main leaders, which, apparently, was determined by maternal descent. Then followed a retinue of “noble people” (nitainos), and then servants or slaves – paboria. Perhaps there was also a class society. We believe that Taino society, or the boca chika tradition, may have been modeled after the hierarchical chiefdoms of Venezuela, Colombia, and southern Central America. The latter are a form of tribal organization in the era of the decomposition of the primitive communal system and are characterized by the development of hierarchical social relations, state in nature, which is a fundamental feature that is gradually being transformed, thereby creating the possibility of developing states and the legislative apparatus of class society. nine0005

Among the most outstanding features of the boca chika tradition is the spread of the game of the pilot, or batey, and all the accessories associated with it, for example, the products found in abundance in the form of “yoke” (yugo) and “elbows” (kodos), carefully made from stone. These highly remarkable objects speak of the region’s possible links with Mesoamerica through the Yucatán Peninsula between the 7th and 9th centuries. (ill. 289-293).

Source – History of mankind. In 8 volumes. Volume 4. VII-XVI centuries. Edited by M. A. Al-Bakhit, L. Bazin and S. M. Sissoko

Cuba. History of Cuba. Cuba before Columbus. Articles dedicated to Cuba

The oldest discovered human traces in Cuba date back to the 4th millennium BC. The Indian tribes of Guanahacabites and Siboneans, who lived on the island at the beginning of our era, lived in caves and were mainly engaged in hunting and gathering.

In the 7th-11th centuries AD, the Taino Indians from South America moved to the northeast of Cuba.

9000 9000

The Arawakan (a group of Indians in northeastern South America) inhabited the Greater Antilles (including Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, and Puerto Rico) in the Caribbean at the time Christopher Columbus arrived in the New World. nine0005

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The Taino culture made a great impression on the Spaniards (who saw them for the first time) and modern sociologists. Arawakan achievements included the construction of ceremonial stadiums whose boundaries were marked by vertical stone dolmens, the development of a universal language, and the creation of a complex religious cosmology.

They developed a divine hierarchy, gods who inhabited the sky; Yocahu was the supreme Creator, another god, Jurakan, was constantly angry and controlled the power of hurricanes, other mythological figures were the gods Zemi and Maboya. Zemi, the god of both sexes, was represented by images in the form of human and animal figures, and a collar made of wood, stone, bones, and human remains. The Taino Indians believed that being in favor with the zemi would protect them from disease, hurricanes, or the calamities of war. Therefore, they donated cassava bread (cassava) as well as drinks and tobacco to their zemi as apologetic offerings. Maboyas, on the other hand, was a nocturnal deity who destroyed grain and was feared by all the Indians, to the point that huge sacrifices were made to him to appease him. nine0005

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Myths and traditions have been perpetuated through ceremonial dances (areytos), drumming, oral traditions, and a ceremonial ball game played between opposing teams (10 to 30 players per team) with a rubber ball; winning this game was thought to bring a good harvest and strong, healthy children.

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The Taino Indians lived in theocratic kingdoms and had hierarchical leaders or leaders. Taíno society was divided into three social classes: the naborias (worker class), the nitainos or sub-chiefs, and the nobles, which includes the bohiques or priests and medicine men and chiefs or chiefs. nine0005

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The Taino people were well acquainted with agriculture and hunting, and the Taino were good sailors, fishermen, canoe makers, and navigators. Their main crops were cassava, garlic, potatoes, mamey, guava, and anon. They had no calendar or kept track of time, and could only count to twenty using their fingers and toes. Their personal possessions consisted of wooden stools with four legs, hammocks made of cotton cloth, clay and wooden bowls for mixing and serving food, pots for drinking water, their most valuable possessions were large canoes (hollowed out boat), for transportation, fishing , and water sports. nine0005

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The chiefs lived in rectangular huts called caneyes located in the center of the village. The nobility lived in round huts called bohios. The structure of both building types was the same: thatched wooden structures with earthen floors, and sparse interior furnishings. But the buildings were strong enough to withstand hurricanes. The Taino were not cannibalistic and warlike, unlike other peoples of the region.

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The complete disappearance of the Taino Indians in Cuba, and even more so on the islands of Hispaniola (Haiti) and Puerto Rico, was not questioned by academic science throughout the 20th century. However, by the beginning of this century, the growth of national identity and the revival of interest in their roots in the Caribbean revealed interesting facts. nine0005

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Back in 1847, the Spanish scientist Miguel Rodriguez Ferrera, who visited the east of Cuba, reported on the Indian communities he found in the villages of Caney, Jiguani and on the banks of the Yumuri River near Baracoa. José Martí, poet and legendary figure of Cuban independence, in his last days in 1895, in his letter to General Antonio Maceo, noted that the Indians of Yateras (“Indians of Yateras”) had gone over to the side of the rebel groups and opposed the Spaniards. nine0005

Another confirmation of the existence of the Taíno Indians in Cuba is the official map of the province of Oriente, where, until 1936, Indian reservations were noted in Tiguabos (Tiguabos) and Palenque (Palenque).

Later, the famous American archaeologist Mark Harrington did extensive research in the east of Cuba in the 1920s. It was to his share that a large number of interesting finds fell. So, after visiting Cuba, he took 36 containers with priceless finds to the New York National Museum of the American Indians, including a 400-kilogram fragment from the Cueva de la Patana cave near Maisi with petroglyphs of Cuban natives. nine0005

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After the revolution, the Cuban government began systematic work to study the history of the indigenous inhabitants of the island. Research began on the largest Taino Indian settlement discovered in the 40s of the 20th century on the northern coast of the province of Ciego de Avila.

Since 1994, a Cuban-Canadian team of archaeologists has been working here in Los Buchillones. Despite the fact that for more than 500 years the remains of the settlement were hidden by the waters of the Caribbean Sea, the remains of the aboriginal houses were well preserved, and more than 1000 household and cultural items were found. The analysis showed that people lived in the settlement from 1220 to 1620.