52 THK ABORIGINES OF PORTO RICO - The aborigines of Porto Rico and neighboring islands

West

Indies

employed

practically the

same method

as that

now

used by^the kindredpeople ofVenezuela and Guiana.

The

details of cassava manufacture vary

somewhat among

those Indians

who now

use theroot, Init allseemtoadopta similar

method

of extracting the poisonous juice.

Good

descriptions of the process adopted

by

theOrinocoracesare givenin Gilii."butperhapsthemost comiDlete account, withillustrations, isby imThurn,''as follows:

One woman,squattingonherhams,and armedwithabigknife, peelsoff tlieskin ofthe cassavaroots,whichlieinaheapatherside. Eachroot,afterbeingi)eeled, isA\ashedandthenthrownontoanewheap. A^littlewayoffanotherwomanstands, and, grasping oneofthe peeledrootswithboth hands, scrapes^itup anddownan oblong boardor graterstudded with small fragmentsofstoneandsoroughenedlike anutmeggrater. Oneendofthegraterstandsina troughontheground, the other rests againstthewoman'sknees. Jtisviolent exercise.

As^thewomanscrapes,herbodyswingsdownand upagainfrom her hiiis. The rhythmic "swish" causedbythescrapingofthejuicyrootisthechiefsoundinthe house,forthe laboristooheavytopermitoftalking. Thecassava,whichslipsas pulpfrom the scraperintothe trough,iscollectedandputintoa longwicker-woven matapie,whichhangs from theroof. Thismalapie,or cassavasqueezer,isin principle exactlylikethe notuncommontoyknownasa " Siameselink." Itisacylinder,7or 8 feetlongand.5or 6inchesindiameter,madeof closelywovenstrips ofjiliantbark.

Theupperendisopen andhas ahoop by whichthe matapiemaybe suspended from oneofthebeamsofthe house; the lowerendisclosed,butitalso hasahoop, the u.seofwhichwillpresentlyajipear.

Thecassava, saturated with itshighly poi.«onous juice, is nowforced into the matapie;through the loopatthebottomofthisaheavypoleispassed,oneendof whichisallowedto restonthe groundand istherefastened by meansofaheavy stone orsomeotherdevice,while the otherisraised intheair.

A

woman nowsits

ontheraisedendofthe poleandher weight stretchesthe malapie downwards. In proportionasthe lengthofthe cylinderincreasesitsdiaiueterisofcoursereduced.

Thepressurethusappliedtothe cassava pulp immediatelyforcesthe poisonousjuice out through the wallsofthemalapie.

Thejuicedropsdownintoabuck-potwhichstandsontheground;anditisthis which,when it isafterwardboiled,becomescassareep,a thick treacle-like liquid, which isnolonger poisonous. . . . Thecassava,nowdryandfreefromjuice, is taken from thematapie, brokenintoasieve, and sifted,so thatit becomesa coarseflour. This iseitherwra|)pedin leavesandput aw'ayforfutureuse orisat oncemadeintobread.

A

large circular griddle, or ^]ilate, ofF,uro])eanmanufacture,isnowplacedover thefire or,bysomeoftheremote Indians,aflatslab ofstoneisused for thispur- pose,andtherecanbe littledoubtthat thisstonewasoriginally universally used.

On

thegriddle,whateveritsmaterial, athin layer ofthemealisspread.

A

woman, fan inhand,sitsbythefirewatching. Withherfanshesmoothstheuppersurface ofthecakeandmakesitsedges round. In averyfew minutes oneside ofthelarge, round, white cakeisdone; and,whenithasbeen turned,inyetacoupleofminutes thebreadisready.

When

a sufficientnumberoftheseoatcake-like pieces ofbread havebeenmade,they are taken outofthehouseand thrown upontheroof todryin the sun. . . .

When

thoroughly sun dried the bread is hardand crisp,with aflavor likethat of freshlygatherednuts. Inthisstate,ifguarded from damp,it willkeepforanindefinitetime. ^. ^. ^.

<iF. S. Gilii,.Saggio di Storia .^mericanft.Romf.17S2.

!>Among^tlifliicliansnfGuiana.London,1S.S3.

FEWKESi RELKilON^

53

Someofthe True Caribs slightlydivergefrom the method of making bread, inthattheypoundthemealina mortarbefore siftingit,and,ifitistobe keptfor anylength oftime beforeuse,slightlysmokeit. Thebread thus producedismuch morefriable, andmuch moreeasily digestible than thatmade bythe ordinary process.

When

cassavaisveryscarceitsbulkissometime.- increasedby mixingthechopped leaves ofthe cassavaplant,orthepoundedseedofthemoratree{Moraexcelsa),or of thegreenhearttree(Neclandrarodicci),orevenpoundedrottenwood, with the meal.

"The women,"

say.sCharlevoix, "_toe.scapebeing en.slaved ^{l)}^}the Spaniard.s,committedsuicideby drinkingthe poi.sonou.s juice of the manioc."

Oviedogivesanaccount,accompanied withfigure.s,of

how

the

West

Indians kindledfirewith

wooden

sticksandwith thetireboard,thelat- ter being twosticks joinedtogether; he describesalsothe

method

of therotarytire drill.

The

favorite

wood

fortirestickswasthat called bytheIndiansguasunas; thetiredrillwas aboutthesizeof theindex finger.

KELKilOX

A

prominentwriterstates thatthe aborigines ofPorto Rico were whollydestituteof areligion. Thisisamistake. Ifthe

word

religion be limited to a belief in ethical gods,in a beneficent creatorand a malevolentdevil,theBorinquefloshad noreligion,but the

word

should not be solimited.

The

Antilleans certainly believed in supernatural beingsand hadatheoryof theirnatureand power, implyingthepos- sessionof a mythology, and they

employed

awell-developed system ofrites,ceremonies,andotherprocedurestoinfluencethese beings.

Itwould be erroneoustosuppose that theIndians called all their godsdevils,

meaning by

thatterm malevolentspirits,or that theyhad any knowledgeof asupreme God,the creator of the universe. All theirsupernatural beingswere thought topossess

power

forgoodor

ill inmaterialways,whichthepriestsbelieved thatthey could control fortheweal or

woe

ofthe individualor thecommunity.

From

the availablehistoricalmaterial it ma}^ be suj)posed that the ancient Antilleans believed in two greatsupernatural beings, called zemis,thatwereparents of allothers. Thesemaj-be

known

asearth goddessand skygod, or personifications of themagic

power

ofearth andsky.

One was

male, the other female, and

from them

originated allminorgods,men, andanimals; l)utneither oftheseparents created the imiverse, which was supposed alwaystohaveexisted. These

two

firstparentswere.symbolizedbyidols,

made

of.stone,wood,orclaj',to which theIndiansaddressedpra\'ersandinthepresence ofwhichthey performedritesfor the well-being of the

human

race.

A

groupof secondarvsupernatitral beings,alsocalled zemis,were tutelary in nature, representing ancestors of the clans. These also were symbolized by idols

made

of stone, wood, orlike materials,but

THE ABORIGINES

PORTO

RICO ^[etii.^{ann. 25} the cultusof theseidolswas^limitedto families,andtheirimages were k(>pt inahouseof thecaeique thatVi'asdevotedto this specialpurpose.

While

theworshipof the

two

nature powersrepresenting thesky fatherandtheearthmother wasthehighest

form

oftheirc-ultus,itis

probablethatmostoftheir riteswere devotedtotheirsemis,thetute- larygods representing ancestors." Idols,aswell as the spiritsthey represented,werecalledsemiii,andthename,

meaning

originallymagic power,

came

tobe appliedto allsupernatural beings and their sym- bolic representations.

A

^clearer understanding of the Antillean cultus

may

be hadif theirterm^3<??«/ be considered in several of its applications.

Zemiism

The

woi'dsemi,se?n/\chemiisbelieved^l)y

some

authorstobe a cor- rupted

form

of (JnilIIII,"ruler;"byotlierstobe derived

from

iiuemi.,

"animal." (Jolumbus, wliowas regarded

by

the natives as a supernatural being,wascalled<jiii(iiii-que-ni,"_ruler,_orgod, of earth, water, andsky."

The

Caribstill speakof theirpriests as ceci-semi. It

may

be worth mentioning that in several

Arawak

dialects the

word

for tobacco^isfchemi,andvariants, evidently referringtoitsmagic

power

orzeiiii.

The name

ivas apparently applied to gods,symbolsof thedeities, idols. l)ones or skulls of the dead, or anything supposed to have magic power.

The

dead,or thespiritsof thedead,werecalledbythe

same

term.

The

designation applied bothtothe magic

power

of the sky, the earth, the sun, andthe

moon

as well astotiietutelar^'ances- torsofclans. Zi'iniswererepresented s^anbolicallybysevei-alobjects,

among

which

may

be mentioned: (1) stone or

wooden

images; (2)

imagesof cottonandothei fabricsinclosing bones;₍₃₎preparedskulls;

(4)masks; (5) frontal amulets; (G) pictures and decorations on the body.

The

Indians of Haiti,accordingtoBenzoni and Pane,had ^scmif<of man}'* different forms,''

some

consistingsimply of bones of parents or I'elatives, others being manufactured^of wood,clay, gold,silver, and stone. TheseIndians believed that certain sends increased the food supply and others l)roughtrain, whilestillotherscaused winds.

As we

^have^no special account of the characterand

meaning

of the conception of semis

among

the prehistoricPorto Kicans

we

areobliged to relymainlyondescriptions ofthose recognized bytheir kindred, thepeopleofHaiti.

a PrehistoricPortoRico,avice-presidentialaddressbeforeSectionHof^tlieAmericanAssociation.

Science,July18,1902; Proceedingsof theAmericanAssociation/ortlieAdvancemento/ Science, 19Q2.

Germantranslation in Globus, no. 18and19,1902.

'»Anearlywriterinforms usthattherewasanislamlnearHaititlicwholepo|nil:itiniiofwhichwas occupiedinmakingidols.

(•Accordingtosomewritersthereare indications of phallieism in theformsofthe idols.au e.vplana- tiuuwhichisregardedby the authorashighlyfanciful.

TEWKEs]

RELIGION

Names

ofdifferent se?)!^occurintheworksof

Ramon

Pane",Peter Martyr, andotherwriters,but the lack ofuniformityinspellingused b}'theseauthorsandthe

number

of namesappliedtoeachse»ii

make

itdifficult to determine their identity. There is,however,in earlj' writings abundantmaterialwhich^ishighly instructive andwhichcan be used togreat advantage inthis comparativestud}'. Speakingof theirzeriils,

Columbus

wrotethesewords:

"They

alsogive theimage a name, and Ibelieve itis their father's or grandfather's, or both, for theyhave

thanone,and

some

about ten,allin

memoiy

of their forefathers,as I said before." Peter Martyr's account of the religionofthe nativesisderivedfromPane'sbook.

The

earthgoddesshadat least five differentnames,and to thisluim-

l)er ni^a^'be addedothers thatappear in

some

of the accounts.

The

skyfather likewisehadseveraldifferentnames;possibly descriptive of attril)utesorpeculiarities.

The

followinglist, compiled from Peter

Martyr

and

Ramon

Pane, containscorrespondingnamesof theearthmother mentioned by two contemporaryobservers

RAMON PANE PETER .MARTYR

1. Atabei.^'' 1. Attalieirii.

i. lermaoguacar. ^2. Maniona.

3. Apito. 3. Guacarapita.

4. Apito, orSiella. 4. Liella.^''

5. Suiiuaco(Ziiimaco). 5. (Tuimazua.

The

great aboriginal cultus hero, Yocahu,or Jlara/tl^a beneficent god,sometimes spokenofasson of the universalmothei',was regarded astheir GreatSpirit,theanalogueof theCi'eator inhigherreligions.

The

severalnamesofthisson,

"who

lives inthesun,"andhisattri- bute

"Lord

ofEarth,'' aregiveninthefollowinglist:

Sol'RrE GODDE-SSOKGoD

RamonPane ^• Jooakuvague-Maorocon.

Peter^lartyr locauna-Guamaonocon.f'

Last'asas Yocahu-Vagua-Maorocoti.

InJamaica(accordingtoBachiller). Yocahuna.

InBorinquen(accordingtoBachiller) Yacana-<jumauoniocon.

«Theaccountofthereligion ofthe Antilleans bythisCatalanpriestappearsinFernandoColum- bus'slifeof his father. Although the authorshipof thislifehasbeen questioned byHarisse,Bachil- lery Morales wellsays that,whether theworkascribedtoFernandoColumbusisapocryphalor not, the relation ofFrayRamonPane mustbe regardedasgenuine. Fromtheedition oftheHistoria delSignorDon FernandoColumbus, printed \n Milanin 1614,Bachillerhastakensection1ofthe secondpart of hiswork. AccordingtoTorquemada(Mon.Ind.,p.296),Pane wasoneofthree zealouspriests ofHaitiwho, having learned the Indian tongue,employeditinteachingthe natives.

He,withFray ElBermejoandFrayJuandeTisim,wentamongthe Indians,learnedtheirlanguage, andrejjorted to Columbustheir ritesandceremonies. ThemostsatisfactorysummaryofFray Ramon'sstudies,thatusedby theauthor,isfoundintheApologetica, in vol.v,HistoriadelasIndias ofLasCasas,andChurchill's Collection ofVoyages,n.667-f)7S.

'»-Ua,"first;"b€i,"existence.''

cPossiblya corruptionofthe SpanishUcn-a,"earth."

rfThefirstelement,^ua/na,accordingto Bachiller,possiblymeans "lord"or "ruler,''uroit,"earth."

Dalam dokumen The aborigines of Porto Rico and neighboring islands (Halaman 50-54)